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COVER HIGHLIGHTS

THE LOST LEVIATHANS who wandered into the Delta's labyrinth in May-and finally found their way out to sea again- may have been the largest wildlife celebrities in the Estuary in recent months, but they weren't necessarily the most popular. In downtown Martinez, two beavers took up residence on Alhambra Creek, building a 4-by-8-foot dam, and a lodge, complete with a baby beaver. Like the whales, the beavers have become a tourist attraction. "The beavers have generated an amazing amount of interest and promoted environmental awareness like no speech or ad campaign could," says Friends of Alhambra Creek's Igor Skaredoff.

WITH THIS PAST WINTER the driest on record since 1988-as of late April the snowpack was 38 percent of average-water agencies are worried. The S.F. PUC, EBMUD, Zone 7 Water Agency (Pleasanton, Livermore, and Dublin), and Sonoma County Water Agency are all calling for voluntary conservation from customers. DWR has no plans to reduce water allocations to its 29 contractors; however, BurRec has cut water allocations to farmers south of the Delta by 50 percent. Cities south of the Delta will get 85 percent of their normal federal supply. Water managers caution that it is too early to panic about a drought, but admit that the dry winter could provide a sneak preview of the kinds of variable weather climate change may bring in the future.

BATTLE CREEK'S FISH may soon no longer have to battle upstream. The state will spend $67 million to tear down five small dams on this tributary to the Sacramento River, the culmination of a twodecade effort to make the creek more hospitable to salmon and steelhead. The 12-15-foot concrete dams are all located between Manton and the Coleman National Fish Hatchery near Anderson; the dam removal opens up almost 50 miles of stream unavailable to the fish since the early 1900s, when eight dams were built to divert water to electricity-generating powerhouses. PG & E will replace the lost power with other sources, says DFG's Mike Berry. The project, funded by a Prop 50 CALFED grant, is the largest such restoration project ever undertaken by the state.

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