This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape as participants 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. Tour participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway repairs.

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

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

Contact Nick Gray, programs manager, with any questions via email or call 916-444-6240.

What attendees say about the tour:

What did you like best?

“Diversity of speakers, seeing Sites Reservoir site firsthand, good food. Organization was great!”

“Seeing Chinook salmon at the Feather River … and Sites Reservoir.”

“The broad range of water issues and market sectors covered by the tour. Also appreciate the extensive experience & local knowledge of the resource speakers & site-specific speakers.”

Stops Included:

• Oroville Dam
• Environmental restoration sites
• Flood control projects
• 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 spillway 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
• Impacts of 2018 Camp Fire
• Restoration of endangered Chinook salmon
• Groundwater, conjunctive use and area-of-origin water rights
• Environmental restoration projects
• Agriculture/wildlife conservancies and wildlife refuges
• Farming in the Sacramento Valley
• Proposed water storage locations
• Wetlands

Tour Start and End Point:

The tour began on October 2 at 7:30 a.m. and ended on October 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Sacramento International Airport. We spent the nights at hotels in Oroville and Redding. 

Pricing Details:

Regular Price – $895 (one person, single-occupancy room)

Early Bird Price – $865 if you register online by September 3. Click on the orange registration button above.

Fee includes all tour meals, transportation, materials, snacks and hotel accommodations once the tour begins. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the tour’s beginning and end point.

Cancellation and Refund Policy:

Deadline to cancel and receive a refund is three weeks prior to the first day of the tour due to hotel, meal and transportation bookings. Substitutions are allowed up to five business days before the tour. Refunds may be subject to a 10% processing fee.

Continuing Education Credits:

Continuing education credits are available for California attorneys for an additional fee, and may be available for water plant/wastewater plant operators and other vocations/professions.