Effort To Restore San Joaquin River Endures During Drought

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A multi-billion dollar project to bring salmon back to a dried-up section of California's second-longest river is moving forward despite the state's historic drought.

Federal biologists tell The Fresno Bee that the San Joaquin River Restoration Program is yielding valuable information about spawning conditions in a part of the river where salmon hadn't been seen for almost 60 years and that suspending the effort now would mean sacrificing hundreds of young fish.

The six-year-old project resulted from a legal settlement between an environmental group and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The Bee reports the drought has kept the bureau from releasing water specifically for the river restoration for more than a year. But so far, the fledgling salmon populations have been able to survive on water supplies meant for farmers.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.