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 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 ...

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 was ...

to the Port of Stockton and the Stockton Channel in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. The

Stockton Ship Channel The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich Agriculture, agricultural region of the northern San J ...

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 Channel ( ...

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 distinguishe ...

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 contine ...

. 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 ...

History

At the time of the 1849 California Gold Rush 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 ...

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 law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

. 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 d ...

; however, the plans were delayed by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. 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 ban ...

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 cal ...

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 the ...

, 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 United States, 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, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...

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 c ...

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. John Finley Baldwin Jr. (June 28, 1915 – March 9, 1966) was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California from 1955 to 1966. Early life Born in Oakland, California, in 1915 to John F ...

, 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 ...

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

Port Costa Port Costa is a small village and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, located in East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 at the 2 ...

, Port Chicago, Ryer Island, 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 ...

, Crolona Heights, Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, Richmond, 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 ...

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 * West Island * Antioch Bridge * Sherman Island * Big Break - Big Break Regional Shoreline * Bradford Island * Blind Point *

Jersey Island Jersey Island is an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta of Contra Costa County, California, approximately east of Antioch. The bounded on the west by the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel, on the north by th ...

* 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 into the Central Valley and ul ...

* Webb Point * Potato Point - Little Potato Slough * Bouldin Island * 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 Rough and Ready Island is an island in the San Joaquin River, in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. It is in San Joaquin County, California, and its coordinates are . The United States Geological Survey The United States Geological ...

- San Francisco Naval Communication * Port of Stockton * Stockton Channel * 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