The California Debris Commission was a federal commission created in 1893 by an act of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

to regulate California streams that had been devastated by the sediment washed into them from

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mining operations upstream in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. It was created to mitigate the damage to natural seasonal river flow and navigation, which had been caused by the extensive use of

hydraulic mining Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...

. The act was codified under Navigation in 33 U.S.C. Chapter 14 (§§ 661-683).CHAPTER 14—CALIFORNIA DEBRIS COMMISSION
/ref> Given substantial power by Congress, the commission significantly reduced the stream damage caused. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

(USACE) had conducted similar works for the government since the beginning of the

internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...

program and it was considered the most knowledgeable organization. However, work involving California streams was outside its assigned responsibilities under the

Rivers and Harbors Act Rivers and Harbors Act may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation in 1824. At that time Congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and ...

. A commission was established to support the stream protection work instead of the normal Congressional House Committee on Rivers and Harbors. The commission consisted of three officers of the Corps of Engineers, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. As with the other works, they operated under the supervision of the

Chief of Engineers The Chief of Engineers is a principal United States Army staff officer at The Pentagon. The Chief advises the Army on engineering matters, and serves as the Army's topographer and proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs. ...

and under the direction of the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

, who was later replaced by the

Secretary of the Army The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, insta ...

. Hydraulic mining causes large-scale erosion where employed to move unconsolidated sediments for mineral processing; it also causes similar large-scale sedimentation in downstream areas with a decreased stream gradient. The tons of sediment moved in this man-made and natural process resulted in raising the riverbeds along the Yuba,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, and some other rivers. This in turn increased the threat of floods in areas along the rivers, including such towns as Marysville on the Yuba. Over time this sediment would eventually move downstream to other river confluences and San Francisco Bay, disrupting navigation in those channels. Congress created the California Debris Commission to address the man-made damage and mitigate its effects. Several methods were used to solve the adverse effects. The commission dredged the sediment from the rivers and deposited it on available land nearby; in some areas they constructed larger basins to contain the debris, along the Yuba River and other rivers, the mountains of sediment were piled along its banks, effectively making

levees A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlin ...

from the debris to protect against future flooding. Among the members of the commission were

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

in the early 1900s and

Ulysses S. Grant III Ulysses Simpson Grant III (July 4, 1881August 29, 1968) was a United States Army officer and planner. He was the son of Frederick Dent Grant, and the grandson of General of the Army and American President Ulysses S. Grant. Early life and educat ...

in the early 1920s. The

Water Resources Development Act of 1986 The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (WRDA 1986) is part of {{USPL, 99, 662, a series of acts enacted by Congress of the United States on November 17, 1986. WRDA 1986 established cost sharing formulas for the construction of harbors, inland ...

eliminated the commission, with its work now the responsibility of the Corps' South Pacific Division.

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See also