California’s Green Trade Corridor, is part of the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel San Joaquin River watershed

Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel also called the Baldwin-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel or Stockton Deep Water Channel is a manmade deepwater

water channel Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

that runs from

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

and the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel The Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel (also known as Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel or SRDWSC) is a canal from the Port of Sacramento in West Sacramento, California, to the Sacramento River, which flows into San Francisco Bay. It wa ...

to the

Port of Stockton The Port of Stockton is a major deepwater port on the Stockton Ship Channel of the Pacific Ocean and an inland port located more than seventy nautical miles from the ocean, in Stockton, California on the Stockton Channel and San Joaquin Riv ...

and the

Stockton Channel Stockton Channel (or Stockton Waterfront) is a waterway in California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. It runs 2.5 miles from the San Joaquin River- Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel at the Port of Stockton to McLeod Lake in ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Stockton Ship Channel is long and about deep, allowing up to

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

size ocean

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s access to the Port of Stockton at the City of Stockton. The Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel is part of the vast

Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, or California Delta, is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California. The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San ...

that has a connection to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel is also called the lower

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

History

At the time of the 1849

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

ocean steamboats could travel up the

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. As

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

grew agriculturally and river water was used for crops, the river became shallow. With slower moving water, silt began to build up in the river and it became even shallower. By 1890 the city of Stockton had lost its importance as a

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

. By 1910 the city had created proposals to increase the depth of the lower river by

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

; however, the plans were delayed by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1925 the city began a $1.3 million bond campaign dedicated to dredging the lower San Joaquin. Stockton partnered with the federal and state governments in 1926 to form a $8.2 million fund to change the river to a new channel. In 1928 the river-channel project began. The river was both widened and deepened. To straighten the river,

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

s and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s were removed. Major straightening cuts were built at Hog Island, Venice Island and

Mandeville Island Mandeville Island is an island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta located about northwest of Stockton, in central California in the United States. The island covers about , and lies between the Old River to the west and Middle River to th ...

, along with five minor straightening cuts. The new deepwater channel was now long and had a depth of . As silt build-up still continues, major dredging was performed in both 1968 and 1982. The Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel can handle fully loaded ocean vessels of up to and up to long.

Environmental concern

The slowing of the river-channel has unexpectedly caused low dissolved oxygen levels in the lower San Joaquin River water. The low dissolved oxygen has hurt the fish populations. The three causes are the straightening of the river, pollution from the harbors and cities, and poor tidal mixing. Wpdms nasa photo san pablo bay

Baldwin Deepwater Shipping Channel

Baldwin Deepwater Shipping Channel, also called the John F. Baldwin Shipping Channel, runs from the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

through the

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water ch ...

and

to the entrance to the Stockton Ship Channels. Baldwin Deepwater Shipping Channel has a maximum depth of 45 feet and is maintained to 35 feet. The Baldwin Shipping Channel is 600 feet wide. Named after John F. Baldwin Jr., an American military officer and later a U.S. Representative from California. The

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait in Northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is lo ...

is part of the John F. Baldwin Shipping Channel. Also on the John F. Baldwin Shipping Channel is the: Browns Island, West Island,

Winter Island Winter Island is an island connected by a causeway to Salem Neck in Salem, Massachusetts. It is about in size, and is bounded by Smith Pool to the northwest, Cat Cove to the west, Salem Channel to the south and east, and Juniper Cove to the ...

, Broad Slough, New York Slough, Kimball Island, Sherman Island, Sherman Lake, Chipps Island, Mallard Island, Simonons Point, Stake Point, Honker Bay,

Roe Island Roe Island is an island in Suisun Bay at the mouth of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Solano County, California, 10 km east of Benicia. Its western tip is named Preston Point, and its eastern tip is Gillespie Point. It is shown, l ...

, Port Costa, Port Chicago,

Ryer Island Ryer Island is an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta surrounded by Miner Slough and Steamboat Slough at their confluence with the Sacramento River, 6.5 miles north-northeast of Rio Vista. It is in Solano County, California, and ...

, Point Edith, I-680, Bayo Vista, Mococo, Benicia,

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

, Crolona Heights,

Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Interstate 580 and

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

Ship Simulation Study of John F. Baldwin (Phase II) Navigation Channel San Francisco Bay, California
/ref>

On Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel

On the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel: *

- John F. Baldwin Shipping Channel *

* Dow Wetlands Preserve * City of Antioch * Kimbell Island *

Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is a sensitive sand dune habitat located near the city of Antioch, California on the south shore of the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. It serves as a refuge for three endangered sp ...

* West Island *

Antioch Bridge The Antioch Bridge (officially the Senator John A. Nejedly Bridge) is an automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian bridge in the western United States. Located in northern California, it crosses the San Joaquin River- Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channe ...

* Sherman Island * Big Break - Big Break Regional Shoreline * Bradford Island * Blind Point * Jersey Island * Jersey Point * False River * Three Mile Slough * Santa Clara Shoal * Fisherman's Cut * Oulton Point * Libordi Shoals * San Andreas Shoals *

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the Ce ...

* Webb Point * Potato Point - Little Potato Slough *

Bouldin Island Bouldin Island is an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, northwest of Stockton on the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. It is in San Joaquin County, and managed by Reclamation District 756. Geography The island is bounded ...

* Old River * Hayes Point * Prisoner's Point * Rindge Tract *

* Mandeville Tip County Park * Mandeville Point * Mandeville Cut * Venice Island * Venice Reach *Middle River * Three River Reach * Medford Island * Burns Reach * Little Potato Slough * Ward Island * Ward cut * Tinsley Island * White Slough * Whiskey Slough * Columbia Cut *Fern Island * White Slough *Headreach Island * Tule Island * Shima Bend * Haypress Reach *Spud Island * Hog Island Cut * Hog Island * Acker Island * Turner Cut * White Slough * Vulcan Island * Tenmile Slough * Riverpiont landing * Buckley Cove Park * Burns Cutoff * Calaveras River * Stockton Golf and Country Club * Browns Island * Smith Channel * Louis Park * Atherton Island * Ruff and Ready Island - San Francisco Naval Communication *

* City of Stockton * Upper

References

{{Clear San Joaquin Valley *Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel Tributaries of San Pablo Bay Geography of the San Joaquin Valley Geography of the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Bay watershed Shipping channels Canals in California

History

Environmental concern

Baldwin Deepwater Shipping Channel

On Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel

See also

References