Ed Imhoff, was a top Interior Department official who headed a $50 million five-year study of the drainage problems on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley from 1985 to 1990. He saw my story on Felix Smith in the Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/888598.html [1] , and sent me the following note:
Thank you Lloyd for acknowledging the key role Felix Smith has played in trying to protect the San Joaquin River, Delta and Bay/ estuary from selenium poisoning. It is not unusual for a good field biologist, such as Felix, to sort out the scientific cause of a disaster like Kesterson Reservoir, and that of the much larger problem of irrigation-induced contamination of much of the Westside San Joaquin Valley. But it is unusual for a governmental scientist to persist in spreading the truth and in demanding remedial action, when such personal initiatives could well end or materially damage a career. So, thank you, Felix, for not remaining silent and for never giving up. As always, you are on the right track. Short of very large-scale land retirement, there may be no solution to the agricultural drainage problems of the Westside San Joaquin Valley."
Edgar Imhoff, former manager, San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program
Links:
[1] http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/888598.html