Before European contact, the indigenous population of the Sacramento Valley has been estimated at about 76,000 people. ===European exploration and settlement=== The first outsiders to see the river were probably the members of a Spanish colonial-exploratory venture to Northern California in 1772, led by Captain Pedro Fages.
The Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga named the river Rio de los Sacramentos in 1808, later shortened and anglicized into Sacramento. In the 19th century, gold was discovered on a tributary of the Sacramento River, starting the California Gold Rush and an enormous population influx to the state.
In 1808, explorer Gabriel Moraga, on a journey to find suitable sites for the construction of missions, became the first foreigner to see the river clearly.
In the following years, two more Spanish expeditions traversed the lower part of the river, the last one in 1817. The next visitors were Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur trappers exploring southwards from the disputed Oregon Country, starting in the 1820s.
In the following years, two more Spanish expeditions traversed the lower part of the river, the last one in 1817. The next visitors were Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur trappers exploring southwards from the disputed Oregon Country, starting in the 1820s.
The first organized expedition, led by Peter Skene Ogden, arrived in the area of Mount Shasta in 1826.
In 1841, Sutter and his men built a fortress at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers and the Mexican government granted him almost of land surrounding the two rivers.
He was friendly with some of the tribes, and paid their leaders handsomely for supplying workers, but others he seized by force to labor in the fields. After the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846 and the Mexican–American War, in which California became part of the United States, Sutter and other large landholders in California held on to their properties.
In 1848 Sutter assigned James W.
In the early 1850s, several treaties were signed between the U.S.
Sacramento was officially established in 1850 and was recognized as the state capital in 1854.
Sacramento was officially established in 1850 and was recognized as the state capital in 1854.
Since then, this inland sea has periodically reformed during times of intense flooding, the most recent being the Great Flood of 1862.
Many parts of the railroad were treacherous, especially in the mountainous areas north of Dunsmuir. It was not long after Sacramento surpassed a population of 10,000, then the Great Flood of 1862 swept away much of it (and almost everything else along the Sacramento River) and put the rest under water.
Therefore, in 1863, the tribes from the area surrounding the middle Sacramento and Feather rivers, the Konkow group, were removed and marched forcibly to the Round Valley Indian Reservation near the Eel River.
Army Corps of Engineers and the State of California completed reports as early as the 1870s and 1880s which outlined future development of the Sacramento, Feather, Yuba and Bear rivers. In 1873, Colonel B.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and the State of California completed reports as early as the 1870s and 1880s which outlined future development of the Sacramento, Feather, Yuba and Bear rivers. In 1873, Colonel B.S.
A flood in 1875 covered the city of Marysville and when it subsided the town's streets were filled with debris and rocks washed down from the "hydraulicking" going on upstream. Repeated floods and increased demand for Sacramento River water saw a plethora of massive changes to the environment beginning in the 20th century.
As the economy of the Sacramento Valley grew, the Southern Pacific Railroad established tracks along the river to connect California with Oregon following the ancient path of the Siskiyou Trail, in the 1880s and 1890s.
Army Corps of Engineers and the State of California completed reports as early as the 1870s and 1880s which outlined future development of the Sacramento, Feather, Yuba and Bear rivers. In 1873, Colonel B.S.
In 1880 State Engineer William H.
Goose Lake, straddling the Oregon–California border, occasionally overflows into the Pit River during wet years, although this has not happened since 1881.
As the economy of the Sacramento Valley grew, the Southern Pacific Railroad established tracks along the river to connect California with Oregon following the ancient path of the Siskiyou Trail, in the 1880s and 1890s.
Hall recognized that with the combination of flat topography and extremely heavy winter runoff volumes, a system of levees alone could not hope to contain flooding, as had been proven time and again in the flood prone city of Sacramento. ===Sacramento River Flood Control Project=== The Sacramento River Flood Control Project was authorized by the federal government in 1917.
Although termed "bypasses", the system essentially reconnects the Sacramento with a portion of its historic flood plain, which it would have naturally flooded had the levee system not been in place. ===Central Valley Project=== During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the first concrete proposals for a statewide water engineering project emerged, but when the state government could not sell the necessary bonds to fund the project, the federal government took over.
Bureau of Reclamation beginning in 1935.
Construction of Shasta Dam, the principal water storage facility in the Sacramento River system, started in 1938 and was completed in 1945.
A separate gauge on the bypass recorded an average throughput of between 1939 and 2013, mostly from December–March.
By comparison, the Sacramento River at Delta gauge, a few miles above Shasta Lake, recorded an average of for the period 1945–2013.
Construction of Shasta Dam, the principal water storage facility in the Sacramento River system, started in 1938 and was completed in 1945.
The average flow between 1949 and 2013 was .
Intensive agriculture and mining contributed to pollution in the Sacramento River, and significant changes to the river's hydrology and environment. Since the 1950s the watershed has been intensely developed for water supply and the generation of [power].
Starting in the late 1950s, two major canals were extended to irrigate the western side of the Sacramento Valley – the Tehama-Colusa and Corning Canals.
Since the 1960s, the McCloud River flow has been reduced and the Pit River flow increased due to diversion of water for hydropower generation; however the total volume of water entering Shasta Lake remains the same.
Starting at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam on the Sacramento, the canals are and long respectively, and divert a total of over of water to irrigate some . ===State Water Project=== In 1960, construction began on the State Water Project, whose primary purpose was to deliver water to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since 1960, when the big pumps at the head of the California Aqueduct in the Delta began their operation, the pattern of water flow in the Delta has been changed considerably leaving the fish confused as to where to go, resulting in many generations dying off because they have not been able to find their way upstream.
Both projects were defeated by local resistance, opposition from environmentalists, as well as the high capital cost. ===Navigation=== The Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel was completed in 1963, and was built to facilitate navigation of large oceangoing ships from the Delta to the port of Sacramento.
At the USGS Montgomery Creek gauge, the average flow of the Pit River was for the period 1966–2013.
The McCloud River had an average discharge of for the 1967–2013 period.
The maximum recorded flow was on February 19, 1986; the lowest was on October 15, 1977.
In October 1985 a humpback whale affectionately named "Humphrey the humpbacked whale" by television media traveled up the Sacramento River before being rescued.
The maximum recorded flow was on February 19, 1986; the lowest was on October 15, 1977.
The highest recorded flow was on February 20, 1986.
Due to environmental damage and fish kills in the Trinity River, the volume of diverted water has been limited by law since the 1990s.
Mercury pollution continues today and will probably continue for decades or centuries into the future. In July 1991, a train derailed near Dunsmuir, California alongside the Sacramento River.
As of 2010, the salmon run has shown slight signs of improvement, probably because of that year's greater precipitation. In 1995, a gate on the Folsom Dam on the American River broke open, causing the river's flow to rise by some .
In 2004, only 200,000 fish were reported to return to the Sacramento; in 2008, a disastrous low of 39,000. In 1999, five hydroelectric dams on Battle Creek, a major tributary of the Sacramento River, were removed to allow better passage of the fish.
Millions of salmon once swam upstream to spawn in the Sacramento; as recently as 2002 eight hundred thousand fish were observed to return to the river.
This has resulted in a ban on coastal salmon fishing for several years since 2002.
In 2004, only 200,000 fish were reported to return to the Sacramento; in 2008, a disastrous low of 39,000. In 1999, five hydroelectric dams on Battle Creek, a major tributary of the Sacramento River, were removed to allow better passage of the fish.
Rescuers downstream broadcast sounds of humpback whales feeding to draw the whale back to the ocean. On May 14, 2007, onlookers and media spotted two humpback whales traveling the deep waters near Rio Vista.
By May 30, 2007, the cow and calf apparently slipped out unnoticed under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific Ocean, likely under cover of night. ===Pollution=== For a river of its size, the Sacramento is considered to have fairly clean water.
In 2004, only 200,000 fish were reported to return to the Sacramento; in 2008, a disastrous low of 39,000. In 1999, five hydroelectric dams on Battle Creek, a major tributary of the Sacramento River, were removed to allow better passage of the fish.
In 2010, about of the river's riparian forests are undergoing active restoration. ===Anadromous fish=== Second only to the Columbia River on the west coast of the United States in Chinook salmon runs, the Sacramento and its tributaries once supported a huge population of this fish.
As of 2010, the salmon run has shown slight signs of improvement, probably because of that year's greater precipitation. In 1995, a gate on the Folsom Dam on the American River broke open, causing the river's flow to rise by some .
The average flow between 1949 and 2013 was .
A separate gauge on the bypass recorded an average throughput of between 1939 and 2013, mostly from December–March.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05