The California Bay-Delta and the Rime of the Ancient Salmon

It’s not every day that my undergraduate study of the English romantic poets comes in handy. So when I saw this story last Friday, I had to chime in.   

As Mike Doyle’s story points out, Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” has been quoted liberally by all sides in water disputes. Congressman Tom McClintock quoted it recently in discussing environmental protections for the Bay-Delta. (The line, by the way, is “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”) Doyle does a good job of pointing out that the mariner in question discovered that killing an albatross had profound and unforeseen personal implications. It’s worth noting that the same is true for killing fish in the Bay-Delta. 

No one who has read about the closure of the California salmon fishery will be surprised that these fishermen, along with their families and communities, know personally the effects of environmental damage to the Delta fisheries. But beyond that, farmers and communities in the Delta have supported legal protections for these declining fisheries because those restrictions also protect local irrigation supplies and a Delta economy dependant on recreation. Many Californians would feel the effect of a permanent loss – even extinction – of fish in the Bay-Delta. Even water users south of the Delta have called for the restoration of fish species – rather than their extinction. They too know that the public supports healthy fisheries, and that restored fisheries will mean more reliable water supplies for them.   

It seems that the ancient mariner was on to something. Must have been a fisherman. 

The canary in the coal mine gets all the headlines when it comes to demonstrating the connection between environmental and human health. Coleridge’s albatross has been too long over looked. Worse still, he’s getting quoted by those who argue that we should increase – rather than reverse – the damage we cause to the natural world. That, Samuel would likely say, was not his point. 

Finally, for those who find water policy a little dull, or who think two century old poems are a little dry for modern tastes -- you’ll want to know that you can sing Coleridge’s masterpiece to the theme of “Gilligan’s Island”. Really.