This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape as we learned about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply. All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. This year, special attention was paid to the flood event at Oroville Dam and the efforts to repair the dam spillway before the next rainy season. 

This 3-day, 2-night tour traveled across the Sacramento Valley and follows the river north from Sacramento through Chico to Redding and Lake Shasta, where participants took a houseboat ride.

Experts talked about the history of the Sacramento River as the tour wends through riparian woodland, crop fields and nut orchards. The tour tracked important water issues for farming and environmental uses, visits potential storage sites, discusses innovative programs for flood management, groundwater management and salmon restoration.

Planned Stops Included:

• Oroville Dam Visitors Center
• Environmental restoration sites
• Flood control projects
• Feather River Fish Hatchery
• Rice fields and other agricultural operations
• Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project
• Shasta Dam
• Clear Creek Restoration Project
• The site of the proposed Sites Reservoir

Topics Included:

• Oroville Dam damage and repair efforts
• The significance of the Sacramento River to California’s water supply
• Flood management and levee safety
• State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations
• Restoration of endangered Chinook salmon
• Groundwater, conjunctive use and area-of-origin water rights
• Environmental restoration projects
• Agriculture/wildlife conservancies and wildlife refuges
• Impacts of mining on water quality
• Farming in the Sacramento Valley
• Proposed water storage locations
• Wetlands