Sacramento River

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  2. Wildlife
  3. Recreation
  4. History
  5. Links

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The Sacramento River forms the western boundary of Sutter County. It is 447 miles long, making it the longest river that is entirely within California. It drains from three separate forks (north, middle, and south) near reddingMount Shasta in the [wikipedia]Cascade Mountain Range and flows south through the Sacramento Valley. Its four main tributaries are the [wikipedia]Pit River and [wikipedia]McCloud River, which both flow into it at reddingLake Shasta near reddingRedding; the Feather River, which flows into it at Verona; and the [wikipedia]American River, which flows into it at sacramentoSacramento. The Sacramento River meets the [wikipedia]San Joaquin River near [wikipedia]Antioch, and together they form the [wikipedia]Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which empties into [wikipedia]Suisun Bay, the northern arm of the sfSan Francisco Bay.

In Sutter County, Meridian, Cranmore, Kirkville, and Verona are all located on the east bank of the Sacramento River.

It has been said that the Sacramento River, at least at one time, was used for the shipment of more products than any other river in the world.1

Places

Wildlife

Every year in October, California's native [wikipedia]chinook salmon return to the river from the Pacific Ocean and migrate to spawning grounds upstream. Yearly salmon runs can stretch all the way through December. The winter-run chinook salmon is a federal and state endangered species. Other runs of chinook salmon also spawn in the Sacramento River, and the populations of all of them are declining. [wikipedia]American shad, [wikipedia]bass, [wikipedia]Rainbow trout, and various [wikipedia]sturgeon also spawn in the Sacramento River.2

On the riverbanks, rare populations of [wikipedia]Swainson's hawk and [wikipedia]bank swallow can be seen nesting, while rare [wikipedia]willow flycatcher populations migrate seasonally.3

Recreation

History

The Sacramento River used to be navigable as far north as [wikipedia]Red Bluff. Due to the 96,000,000 cubic yards4 of mine tailings that were dumped into the river and its many tributaries from hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush, which raised the riverbed substantially, the river is no longer navigable north of [wikipedia]Colusa. These mine tailings also caused the river to flood sacramentoSacramento repeatedly in the 1870s, until steps were taken to better protect Sacramento from flooding.

Links

[wikipedia]Sacramento River entry on Wikipedia
chicoSacramento River entry on ChicoWiki
sacramentoSacramento River entry on SacWiki
[WWW]Sacramento River Portal and Library
[WWW]Water Quality in the Sacramento River Basin
[WWW]Sacramento River Recreation Directory Websites on paddleboating, conservation, fishing, camping & hiking in and around the Sacramento River watershed, colected by Bruce R. Thomas
[WWW]Sacramento River Paddlesports Guide Kayaking, rafting, canoeing & innertubing on the Sacramento River, collected by Bruce R. Thomas
[WWW]Sacramento River Fishing Report by J. D. Richey

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