101 Sacramento River Facts The Largest River In California

Sacramento River is the largest river in California and is also the main river in Northern California of the United States.Sacramento River rises in the Klamath Mountains and flows in the south direction towards the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. The 400 mi ( 643.7 km) river is known to be flowing through 19 California counties and has a drainage area of about 26,500 sq mi (68,635 sq km) with mostly the fertile agricultural lands in the river’s path.The drainage area of the Sacramento River covers the fertile agricultural area bordered by the areas of the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada, also known as the Sacramento Valley. The drainage area also extends to the volcanic plateaus of Northeastern California. The watershed of the Sacramento River is as far as the northern parts of south-central Oregon. In this region, the drainage Goose Lake doesn’t experience the southerly outflow into the Pit River much. Pit River is the most northerly tributary of the Sacramento River.The wide natural floodplain of the Sacramento River and the river itself was once home to a lot of fish and aquatic creatures like the most popular chinook salmon in North America. For the last 12,000 years or even more, people have depended on the waters of the river and the natural resources associated with it. The watershed of the Sacramento River had one of the densest populations of Native Americans in California. Since ancient times, the Sacramento River has provided a route for transport and trade. Even the fish Chinook salmon was a part of the trade and the mode of fishing in the Sacramento River. Hundreds of tribes with different cultures, customs, and traditions resided in the Sacramento Valley in the Sacramento River. These tribes only came into contact with explorers from Europe in the late 1700s. When the Spanish explorers came, one of them Gabriel Moraga designated the Sacramento River - Rio de Los Sacramentos in 1808. It was later shortened to the Sacramento River we know today.Gold was also found in a tributary of the river in the 19th century. This started the California Gold Rush and there was a large population coming to the state after that. The Siskiyou trail and the California trail and many other overland trails were used by thousands of people to go to the gold mines. However, the latter part of the century saw the work of mining cease and people and immigrants started working on agriculture and ranching. Along the Sacramento River, many known communities were established. The state capital of Sacramento also included the area near the river. With the influx of people and irrigation and mining practices, the pollution in the river also increased a lot and changes to the river came into being. From the ’50s, the American River’s watershed has been developed for the generation of hydroelectric power and water supply in the entire state. Now, all of the parts of the Sacramento River and its tributaries have large dams on them. Irrigation falls under the very common uses of the Sacramento River in Northern California, as well as Southern California. This is only possible due to the canals of the giant state and federal water projects of California. The Sacramento River today provides water to half of the population of the state of California. The river also provides water for the irrigation practices in the region which is the biggest economical strength of the state, but while doing so, it has also changed the river’s natural state and led to the decline of the river’s fish and plants. Chinook salmon is such a species that have been vanishing from the American River. Additionally, the river is also on the verge of drying up as recent water diversion projects, and increasing average temperatures, have taken a heavy toll on the river in recent years.The river is known to flow around 400 mi (643 km) south-southwest between the ranges of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade flowing through the northern section of the Central Valley. Thus forming a delta that is common with the San Joaquin River before entering the northern arm of San Francisco Bay. The northern arm of San Francisco Bay is known as Suisun Bay.The river is known to be navigable for 256 mi (412 km) and also accommodates ocean-bound vessels until the city of Sacramento. Flowing through the Sacramento Valley, the Sacramento River has many tributaries which include the Pit, Feather, and American rivers. Redding and Sacramento cities are run through the Sacramento River. Apart from the American River, Pit River, and Feather River, other tributaries of the Sacramento River include Cache Creek and Putah Creek. The Feather River has Bear River and Yuba River as its tributaries while the Pit River has McCloud River.Fun Facts About The Sacramento RiverOnce called the Nile of the West, the Sacramento River is found to be draining the inland slopes of the Klamath Mountains, the Coast Ranges, the Cascade Range, and the western slopes of the northern Sierra Nevada.This is the largest river system in the entire state of California. The river itself carries 31% of the total surface water runoff of California.The Sacramento River basin covers an area of 26,500 sq mi (68,635 sq km).By the measurement of flow, length, and the area of drainage in the basin, the Sacramento River is the largest river in the state of California. The Lower Feather River to the Sacramento River is the largest natural tributary. The Sacramento River meets the San Joaquin River, California’s second-longest river, near the southern part of Sacramento city. The Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River meet and merge to form the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, that we are extensively talking about. The delta is formed by the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River then moves to the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.The name Sacramento was earlier given to the Feather River in 1808 by Gabriel Moraga. It was only later given to the main channel.Below Shastra Dam, Clear Creek is the first main tributary of the Sacramento River. The Whiskeytown Dam stores and regulates the water from this Clear Creek watershed and also from diversions from the Trinity River. This Whiskeytown Dam was constructed in 1963. Clear Creek is going through many restoration efforts with habitat restoration and channel restoration processes, gravel augmentation, and other activities.When the Sacramento River combines with the Pit River it is considered one of the longest rivers in the United States found in a single state. The Trinity River in Texas and the Kuskokwim River in Alaska are longer than the Sacramento River.Did you know: Cottonwood Creek is the largest tributary to the upper Sacramento River basin that has been undammed and is the third-largest tributary in the whole Sacramento River!Geographical Facts About The Sacramento RiverThe headwaters of the Sacramento River is found near Mount Shasta. The river stretches from this position to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River.The river rises in Northern California’s Klamath Mountains, but it pauses immediately at the Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir. After pausing at this popular site, the river becomes the largest lake in the state.As the river converges with the San Joaquin River to actually form the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. A part of the river that should have flown through San Francisco Bay to drop in the ocean now diverts via state, local, and federal facilities to supply an enormous amount of water to central and Southern California, and also the San Francisco Bay area. The combined rivers flow west from the Carquinez Strait into San Francisco Bay. The two mentioned rivers get water from not only the Sacramento but also from many other river systems in the central and northern parts of the state of California.The Shasta dam, Keswick dam, and the Oroville dam are the main features of the Central Valley and Feather River power and irrigation projects that help the southern portions of the state of California.The Sacramento River basin lies between the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range on the eastern side and the Klamath Mountains and Coast Ranges in the west. The part of the Sacramento River basin drained by the Pit River however extends to the east of the Cascade.The main tributaries of the Sacramento River are the Pit, Feather, and American rivers.The Sacramento River enters the foothills region of the northern part of the Sacramento Valley. The river flows through the Keswick Dam which receives a large amount of water every year from the Trinity River too. However, a lot of environmental damage and killing of fish (including the Chinook salmon) in the Trinity River has restricted the volume of the diverted water by the law since the ’90s.The river also provides water to the San Joaquin Valley along with the San Joaquin River as they join to become the delta.Sacramento River Depth And Current SpeedBeing the largest river in the entire state of California, the Sacramento River receives a lot of attention from the people and has been used extensively for recreational and irrigation purposes.The controlling depth of the Sacramento River has been found to be about 10 ft (3 m). But above the city of Sacramento, the depth is about 6 ft (1.82). You get different depths in different locations of the river.The average flow speed of the river is about 28,139 cu ft/s (797 cu m/s).Flood is a problem and dams are built on the river and its tributaries for control and also for water supply, recreation, and power production purposes. The tributary Feather River sees Lake Oroville as the primary storage reservoir, while on the American River, the Folsom Dam is the main storage for the Central Valley Project. There are even bypasses built on the river to counter floods.Facts About The Sacramento River’s EcosystemThere are many distinct ecosystems in the Sacramento River basin. There are over 218 types of birds found in the river, along with around 60 species of fish.The river in the northern part moves through mixed conifer forests and also agricultural and urban areas. The region of the valley became a hotspot of wetlands, irrigated agriculture, and some riparian habitat. The riparian forest is important to a diverse range of species.There were also a lot of avian species and fish found in the river area, but development by humans has made the numbers quite less. There are some species that are still dependent on the Sacramento River including steelhead, sturgeon, native trout, and the Chinook salmon. There are sometimes large mammals seen in the waters of the river too. A lot of Chinook salmon fish are found in the waters of the Sacramento, or at least, used to be found. The native bird species in the river has become less steadily since the 19th century, however, you can still see migratory birds in the area.Cottonwood Creek is home to Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon and also California Central Valley steelhead fish. In 2021, reportedly more than 9500 adult winter-run Chinook salmon returned to the Sacramento River during their spawning season.

Sacramento River is the largest river in California and is also the main river in Northern California of the United States.