Welcome to the Delta California style! Over 1,000 miles of waterways lure sportsmen, boaters, and outdoor enthusiasts to the largest estuary in the western United States, surpassed nationally only by the Mississippi River Delta. For generations, the promise of lazy summer days has beckoned travelers to cruise the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Along with vacationers, however, agricultural users and commercial vessels from around the globe share in the California Delta's bounty.

Over 23 million Californians rely on the delta watershed for drinking water, and diversions sustain the largest agricultural industry in the nation. The small towns dotting the sloughs from Collinsville to Stockton to Walnut Grove tell of a simpler time, while today's delta faces such challenges as wildlife-habitat restoration, water rights, housing development, and politics. Complicating these issues, aging levees throughout the low-lying region threaten a disaster of national proportions�and with that prospect, the very future of the California Delta.

Carol A. Jensen, noted author of Arcadia's Byron Hot Springs, draws from local museums, private collections, and the archives of Hal Schell to capture the romance and reality of life amongst the cattails and tule grasses. Seen here in vintage imagery, the delta encompasses natural resources, agriculture, recreation, and more.

This book is part of The Images of America series that celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.