Return to the Flood
Control page.
In 1880, the State Engineer designed a flood control plan for the Sacramento Valley. This plan included a system of levees and bypasses for transporting floodwaters away from protected areas. In 1917 Congress authorized the Sacramento Flood Control Project, which was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1960. Storage reservoirs and similar protective measures have been provided on the San Joaquin River. As shown on the map, these systems, denoted "project levees" to distinguish them from other levees, provide effective flood control for a portion of the Delta.