The pro-dam leaders in the fight over the Stanislaus River

These four were at the center of those in favor of flooding the Stanislaus River with New Melones Reservoir (from top left, clockwise):  Cliff Humphrey of Modesto, who founded Ecology Action and was a strong proponent of using New Melones water to improve the lower Stanislaus River riparian zone;  John Hertle, a dairy farmer and perhaps the most significant leader of flooding the Stanislaus (President of Friends of the Dam); State Senator John Garamendi (in sport coat, with Kramer and Hertle), who worked the Legislature (first as an Assemblyman) to favor the dam and flooding (read Melinda Wright’s great expose of his role); and paid Friends of the Dam publicist Milton Kramer, the key leader of the anti-Proposition 17 campaign. Tim Palmer took these photos during research for his book about  Stanislaus: Struggle for a River – a must-read for those who want to fully understand the issues around flooding the Stanislaus and the campaigns to stop that.