The California Delta

Images of America: California

by Carol A. Jensen, Hal Schell Archives, East Contra Costa Historical Society

Welcome to the delta California style! Over 1,000 miles of waterways lure sportsmen, boaters, and outdoor enthusiasts to the largest estuary in the western United States, surpassed nationally only by the Mississippi River Delta. For generations, the promise of lazy summer days has beckoned travelers to cruise the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Along with vacationers, however, agricultural users and commercial vessels from around the globe share in the California Delta's bounty. Over 23 million Californians rely on the delta watershed for drinking water, and diversions sustain the largest agricultural industry in the nation. The small towns dotting the sloughs from Collinsville to Stockton to Walnut Grove tell of a simpler time, while today's delta faces such challenges as wildlife-habitat restoration, water rights, housing development, and politics. Complicating these issues, aging levees throughout the low-lying region threaten a disaster of national proportions and with that prospect, the very future of the California Delta.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2007

Reviews

[Loren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to learn more about the people who settled the California Delta, the different "islands" and what they were used for, and mostly, what sets the towns apart. I wanted to know more than 4 pages of information about the towns founded by the Chinese. Instead 38 pages of this 126-page book dwelled on paddlewheel boats, trains, and bridges. So very disappointing.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of photos with captions about life in the Delta. I took a field class about this area in 2014 and I recognized a lot of the island names. I would've preferred more "now" pictures to complement the "then" pictures, and some color ones from modern times, but overall worth looking through.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical glimpse into the weird, wonderful, terrible world of the California Delta. This book is a good survey of some of the weird old towns lost in time on flood plains, left behind levee walls and forgotten.

[Meleya]

Interesting local history. I love this series of books.