This summer, a CNN contributor named John Sutter traveled the entire length of California’s 417-mile San Joaquin River that American Rivers named the country’s “most endangered river”. During his journey from the upper reaches of the Sierra Nevada to the famous Golden Gate Bridge, Sutter saw the river in its many different forms. He saw the rapids, dams, farms, and water diversion points for one of the most important water supplies in California. However, what struck me most about his trip was that although he planned to use a kayak for (most of) the trip, the middle section of the river regularly runs dry. In a year of severe drought like this, the San Joaquin runs dry for about 60 miles (see the map below). The current state of the river is a far cry from the 1850s when riverboats regularly traversed its waters to bring passengers from the coast inland and vice versa. Continue reading →