The District of California

The battle for water in California has always been fierce, but the stakes have perhaps never been higher. This is not a dry policy debate, but really goes to the heart of who we are and how we move forward in CA and in The District of CA. The California Water Wars have a long, complicated and controversial history. What I am going to do in this series of posts is present to you brief vignettes that show this issue in different lights from practical to cultural concerns.

Dave Sellers, who is a top-flight NorCal artist and sport fisherman, has some unique perspectives on this subject. He is also a friend and I own several of his works. Here are some of his thoughts in words and pictures.

Dave's Word and Image Fly Fishing on the Russian River

In Dave’s words:

“In California, a mighty little fish called the delta smelt has distilled a question of values more than any creature in our state. It is a species of fish nearly extinct but was once abundant. The rapid decline of this species of smelt is viewed by fisherman as a clear indication of the death knell of California’s great anadromous fisheries in our states greatest rivers. It is also viewed by environmentalists and fishers alike as the best tool available to halt abusive water management. To growers, this endangered little fish is seen as an obstacle, without which our “priorities” can be properly redirected toward generating subsidized agriculture income and the jobs that go with it.”

“In the west we still posses a vestige of the frontier spirit in both our mythology as well as our souls. The forces of the wild are the essence of this mythology. Without the direct or even remnant representations of our wild past, we are left wanting. Our souls impoverished, and for me, my work is left without purpose. This is why I spend so much time outdoors when my calculations instruct me that I have many lifetimes of reference at my disposal in my studio and my time is best spent at the easel. But at that point I too would be redirecting my “priorities” toward a shallow end. I fish, I paint, I hike and generally take every opportunity at my disposal to be outdoors. I have grown to learn that our outdoor heritage is not only rich in it’s past but essential for our future and I do all within my power to convey this simple truth in my work. Perhaps I am asking too much of my limited abilities as an artist but my hope is that I can communicate a fragment of the profound inspiration I experience in nature through my work and help those unimbued with a such inspiration to begin to see, to feel, and want to preserve what is our most precious inheritance.”

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