California Central Valley Portal

The San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. The Sacramento River enters the diagram from the north, flowing south then west. The San Joaquin River enters from the south, flowing north past Stockton. The open water near the bottom of the image is Clifton Court Forebay, where pumps lift water to be sent south. Several other open areas in the right half of the image are flooded "islands", now sunk well below sea level, flooded due to levee failure

A view from Windy Cove, inside the delta

The San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta is an expansive inland river delta in northern California in the United States. It is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the Sacramento River at its confluence with the San Joaquin River just east of where the river enters Suisun Bay (an upper arm of San Francisco Bay). The city of Stockton is located on the San Joaquin River near the southeast edge of the delta. Image File history File links Portal. ... Sacramento River Delta -- The Sacramento River flows into the delta from the north, meeting the San Joaquin River as it flows from the south. ... Sacramento River Delta -- The Sacramento River flows into the delta from the north, meeting the San Joaquin River as it flows from the south. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2404 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sacramento River Delta Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2404 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sacramento River Delta Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The California Central Valley Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The California Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. ... A spring at the Sacramento River headwater The Sacramento River is the longest river in the state of California. ... The San Joaquin River, 330 miles (530 km) long, is the second-longest river in California, United States. ... San Pablo bay with Suisun Bay at upper right Suisun Bay (pronounced sue-soon) is a shallow tidal estuary located in central California of The United States of America. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... City nickname: Californias Sunrise Seaport City slogan: Stocktons Great, Take A Look! County: San Joaquin Area code: 209 ZIP code: 952xx Area:  - Total  - Water 144. ...

Description

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is given as an example of an inverted river delta. The fan-shaped area of the delta converges downstream, rather than diverging, as the two rivers are forced to exit the Central Valley through the Coast Range via the narrow channel known as the Carquinez Strait leading into the San Francisco Bay. An inverted river delta is special category of river delta in which the narrow end of the delta is located at the point of outflow of the delta, rather than the point of inflow. ... The Pacific Coast Ranges are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico. ... Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ...

Location

The delta consists of myriad small natural and man-made channels (locally called sloughs), creating a system of isolated lowland islands and wetlands (defined by dikes or levees). The extensive system of earthen levees has allowed wide-spread farming throughout the delta, one of the most fertile agricultural areas in California. However, a burst dike can result in the flooding of a vast tract of land. On June 3, 2004, a 350 foot (110 m) section of a levee 10 mi (16 km) west of Stockton collapsed, flooding the Upper Jones Tract, a 648 acre (2.6 km²) "island".[1] The term slough (in the UK, pronounced to rhyme with cow; In the US, pronounced slew) has several meanings related to wetland or aquatic features that seem to derive from local experience. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... June 3 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years), with 211 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Transportation and recreation

The Three-Mile Slough drawbridge on State Route 12 near Rio Vista

The many channels throughout the delta are a popular destination for boating and fishing, and provide habitat for migratory birds. Before the building of more modern highways, automobile transportation throughout the area was accomplished by roadways along the levees and one of the most extensive systems of cable ferries in North America. Today, channels of the delta are spanned by over 50 drawbridges. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2401 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sacramento River Delta Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2401 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sacramento River Delta Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital... Drawbridge at the fort of Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle, but the term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges. ... State Route 160 is a discontinuous California State Highway consisting of 2 sections. ... Rio Vista is a city located on the eastern end of Solano County, California, on the Sacramento River in the Sacramento River Delta region. ... Coin operated cable ferry at Espevær in Bømlo, Norway A cable ferry is a means of water transportation by which a ferry or other boat is propelled and guided across a river or other larger body of water by means of cables or chains connected to both shores. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Drawbridge at the fort of Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle, but the term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges. ...

External links

• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Atlas published by the California Department of Water Resources
• Sacramento Delta History
• SFGate: Deluge in the Delta (4 Jun 2004)
• http://www.californiadelta.org