n so depleted that their economic value will have a hard time competing with big agriculture's need for river water, for industry's need to dilute its wastes and all the others that depend on water from salmon rivers. Roughly 25 million Californians get at least some of their water from sources in the northern, salmon-producing part of the state. If the recent rains don't significantly reduce the water crisis, it will take courageous leaders to resist the inevitable call to relax endangered species protection and delay recovery programs.
The salmon are a commodity, but they are also valued in ways that cannot be measured through market logic and its "invisible hand." The return of the salmon to the rivers of California was an event of such ecological, economic, historical, and even religious (for Indians) value that it was the place-defining event. Even in their depleted state, the return of the salmon is still important to many Californians. It can still evoke a sense of wonder in those who are fortunate enough to experience it, and is important to many who will never see the salmon swimming upstream, headed for home.
Salmon are part of the natural commons; they belong to all of us, and we have a shared responsibility to ensure their persistence. This collective responsibility can bring citizens of a community together for a common purpose. The commons are the glue that holds a community together. The salmon are one part of that glue. In a culture that places a high priority on the unfettered pursuit of individual and corporate wealth, care of the commons is often neglected. Neglect of the commons is even more likely during crisis, when economic factors capture more of the public's attention.
Political leaders need to take the long view and protect salmon because they help define California as a unique place. A future without robust salmon runs is hard for many of us to contemplate.
Jim Lichatowich is a salmon biologist and the author of "Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis," (Island Press, 1999) and "Salmon, People and Place: A Biologist's Search for Salmon Recovery," (OSU Press, 2014).