The Sacramento
River is the principal river of Northern and Central California in the
United States. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for 445
miles (716 km) before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and San
Francisco Bay.
The Sacramento and its wide natural
floodplain were once abundant in fish and other aquatic creatures. For about
12,000 years, native peoples have drawn upon the vast natural resources of the
watershed, which had one of the densest American Indian populations in
California.
In the 19th century the discovery of gold
in the Sierra Nevada led to an enormous population influx of American settlers.
By the late part of the century, many populous communities had been established
along the Sacramento River, chief of which was the booming city of Sacramento.
Intensive agriculture and mining contributed to pollution in the Sacramento,
and significant changes to the river's hydrology and environment.
Since the 1950s the watershed have been
intensely developed for water supply and the generation of hydroelectric power.
Today, large dams impound the river and almost all of its major tributaries.
The Sacramento is used heavily for irrigation and serves much of Central and
Southern California through the canals of giant federal water projects. While
now providing water to over half of California's population and supporting one
of the most productive agricultural areas in the nation, these changes have
left the Sacramento greatly modified from its natural state and have caused the
decline of its once-abundant fisheries.
This postcard came from Sam Shea (12 Mar 2014) Swap-bot. It shows the Sacramento River with Sutter
Buttes in the background.
Hey that postcard looks familiar lol. I grew up about 2-3 miles away from the River. I lived on Meridian Road, which is parallel to River Road. Very beautiful yet very dangerous. During the hot holidays, the kids tubing down the Sacramento River. Up near Redding or Redbluff they have the Ducky Derby. It is a fundraiser, people buy rubber duckies and the money goes to a charity, and then the duckies go down the river. I also used to live in Marysville, they have Beckworth Days which is really neat,right next to the river. On Saturday, we went to my mother's home in Marysville. On the way home we saw a beautiful view of the Sutter Buttes. A few places you might be interested in checking out (and will probably receive postcards later) would be Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shasta Caverns, Avenue of the Giants and Fort Bragg :D Have a great day! :D Sammie :)
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