Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

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California Central Valley Portal

The San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. The Sacramento River flows into the delta from the north, flowing south then west into Suisun Bay which empties into San Pablo Bay via the Carquinez Strait. 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 levee can result in the flooding of vast tracts of both agricultural land and developed cities. 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]