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Inventory of the Records of the California Central Valleys Flood Control Association
C103
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Title: Records of the California Central Valleys Flood Control Association
Dates: 1926-1981
Collection number: C103
Creator:
California Central Valleys Flood Control Association
Creator:
Flood Control Association of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers System
Creator:
Sacramento Valley Water Users Committee
Creator:
Sacramento River and Delta Water Association
Creator:
Sacramento River and Delta Water Committee
Creator:
Delta Water Agency
Creator:
Delta Counties Consulting Board
Creator:
North Delta Area Water Quality Committee
Extent:
17 cubic feet of textual records, and 18 maps.
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The California Central Valleys Flood Control Association (CCVFCA) records consist of 17 cubic feet of records and 18 maps
created and collected by the CCVFCA, its predecessor, related committees, and affiliated groups. The records are arranged
into 24 series. The bulk of the records in this collection were created in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection documents
the efforts of the CCVFCA, composed of individual landowners, irrigation districts, reclamation districts, drainage districts,
and others, in working with federal and state agencies for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a Central Valley
flood control system. The CCVFCA also took an interest in water rights, area of origin issues, water diversion and use, and
water quality issues.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], California Central Valleys Flood Control Association Records, C103.[series number], [box /folder
number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
Acquisition and Custodial History
The California Central Valley Flood Control Association donated the records to the California State Archives in 1996.
The California Central Valleys Flood Control Association (CCVFCA) began its existence as the Flood Control Association of
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers System (FCA) in 1926. Various private interests formed the FCA in order to promote Central
Valley flood control issues with both the state and federal governments, as stated in Article II of the FCA's Articles of
Association:
This association is organized for the following purposes:
(a) To keep before the National Government, and particularly before the National Congress, the established and recognized
principle that control of the flood waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries is a national problem
which must be financed by the United States Government in co-operation with local interests; and to endeavor to secure from
time to time an equitable distribution of the cost of such flood control between the National Government, the State Government,
and the lands subject to benefit from such control.
(b) To secure through the executive and legislative branches of the United States and the State of California adequate annual
appropriations to continue the construction and maintenance of works to control the flood waters of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries....
The Central Valley's history of devastating floods led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' California Debris Commission (CDC)
to develop plans for a levee and bypass flood control system in the Sacramento River watershed, called the Sacramento Flood
Control Project (also known as the Sacramento River Flood Control Project). Assessments of landowners supplemented by monies
from both the state and federal governments were to fund the construction and maintenance of the Project. In 1911, the California
Legislature adopted a Flood Control Act formally approving the CDC's plan and creating a State Reclamation Board to supervise
such reclamation activities across the state. The federal government endorsed the Project in 1917 as part of the first national
Flood Control Act.
Although construction on the Sacramento Flood Control Project began almost immediately, activity slowed in the 1920s. American
farming entered a depression early in this decade, initiated by drastic decreases in farm prices after World War I. As a
result, landowners could not afford to pay the large assessments imposed by the state to cover the soaring construction costs
of the Project. State and federal negotiations ensued, in order to re-evaluate a means of funding the Project. In 1926,
various Central Valley landowners decided that they needed an organization designed specifically to lobby for, and safeguard
private interests in, the development, construction, and financing of a flood control system on the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers. They created the FCA.
Membership in the FCA consisted of reclamation, levee, and drainage districts in the watersheds of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin rivers; landowners outside such districts but within the watershed; and the cities of Sacramento and Stockton. The
governing body consisted of a Board of Directors elected biennially by the Association's constituents. By 1929, 43 districts
had joined the FCA, with a total area of 725,027 acres. The FCA levied assessments on its members periodically, financing
the activities of the Association in promoting the position of private interests in regard to flood control. Such activities
included monitoring state and federal legislation that impacted flood control projects and cooperating with state, federal,
and local government agencies (like the State Reclamation Board) in the planning and construction of flood control works.
The Great Depression took its toll on Central Valley landowners however, and by 1933 the activities of the financially struggling
FCA had virtually ceased.
Interest in the Association revived in the late 1930s. In 1938, representatives of various reclamation, flood control, levee,
and drainage districts met to organize a new association. Although they adopted Articles of Association very similar to those
of the FCA, the representatives chose a different name for the new organization: the California Central Valleys Flood Control
Association (CCVFCA), by which it was known until the mid-1970s. After that time, the organization took on its current name,
the California Central Valley Flood Control Association.
The CCVFCA concentrated most of its efforts upon flood control issues surrounding the Sacramento River watershed. Since its
inception, the CCVFCA has worked closely with federal, state, and local government agencies as well as its constituents to
promote the development, construction, and maintenance of effective flood control systems integrated with the numerous irrigation
and other water projects constructed throughout the Central Valley, such as the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State
Water Project. The Association has taken a close interest in various issues regarding the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta,
as well as the water rights of its members. Currently, the CCVFCA has 75 members, consisting primarily of reclamation, drainage,
and levee districts.
At times throughout its existence, the CCVFCA developed committees to deal with specific issues, or made arrangements with
like-minded organizations, some of the records of which are included in this collection. These records are described below
as subgroups of the CCVFCA collection. These subgroups include: Sacramento Valley Water Users Committee (1942-1960); Sacramento
River and Delta Water Association (1950-1970); Sacramento River and Delta Water Committee (1970-1972); Delta Water Agency
(1963-1971); Delta Counties Consulting Board (1961-1966); and North Delta Area Water Quality Committee (1974-1981).
The California Central Valleys Flood Control Association (CCVFCA) records consist of 17 cubic feet of records and 18 maps
created and collected by the CCVFCA, its predecessor, related committees, and affiliated groups. The records are arranged
into 24 series. The bulk of the records in this collection were created in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection documents
the efforts of the CCVFCA, composed of individual landowners, irrigation districts, reclamation districts, drainage districts,
and others, in working with federal and state agencies for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a Central Valley
flood control system. The CCVFCA also took an interest in water rights, area of origin issues, water diversion and use, and
water quality issues, especially in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s when the massive federal Central Valley Project and the State
Water Plan were implemented.
The earlier records of the CCVFCA, including those of its predecessor the FCA, deal primarily with flood control issues in
the 1930s and 1940s. Series C103.01 through C103.04, as well as Series C103.07, includes records regarding flood control
project works planning, operation, and maintenance. After most of the initial construction work on the Sacramento River Flood
Control Project had been completed, the CCVFCA turned its attention to other water issues affecting its members. At this
point, a major division in the records is apparent: records dealing with the Sacramento River above the City of Sacramento
and records pertaining to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Those records regarding the Sacramento River and its tributaries appear in Series C103.05 through C103.16, C103.18, C103.19,
and C103.024, and include records of the CCVFCA, the Sacramento Valley Water Users Committee, and the Sacramento River and
Delta Water Association. When the federal government began full-scale operation of the Central Valley Project, many landowners
and districts in the Sacramento Valley felt that their present and future water rights were threatened by diversions to the
San Joaquin Valley. Many of these records focus on protests to and other issues surrounding applications by the United States
Bureau of Reclamation for the appropriation of water in the Sacramento River system. The Bureau, as well as the California
Division of Water Resources (later Department of Water Resources), undertook several studies of water rights, water diversion
and use, land use, and water quality along the Sacramento River. These studies, and the data that contributed to them, are
often included in these records. Most of this work was done in the 1950s and 1960s, when federal and state agencies were
negotiating water use contracts with many of these landowners and districts.
The records pertaining to the Delta appear in Series C103.05, C103.07, and C103.13 through C103.024. Most of these records
date to the mid-1960s and early 1970s, when negotiations began in earnest between Delta landowners and federal and state governments
over water diversion from the Delta. The CCVFCA and affiliated groups (such as the Sacramento River and Delta Water Association,
Sacramento River and Delta Water Committee, Delta Water Agency, Delta Counties Consulting Board, and North Delta Area Water
Quality Committee) participated in these negotiations. Water rights was only one of the topics discussed in regard to the
Delta - also of interest for the parties involved were issues of water quality, salinity intrusion, flood control issues specific
to the Delta communities, and area of origin concerns over the protection of both present and future water needs. The State
Water Rights Board (later, the State Water Resources Control Board) held several hearings regarding the Delta in the late
1960s and early 1970s. Background information to the decisions subsequently reached by the State boards is included in this
collection.
Most of the major issues facing Central Valley water users in the mid-twentieth century are addressed by records in this collection:
flood control, water rights, water quality, water use and diversion, irrigation, and the friction between landowners, local
districts, and municipal, state, and federal government agencies. Researchers are also encouraged to review the records of
the California Water Commission, State Reclamation Board, State Water Rights Board, and Department of Water Resources at the
California State Archives for additional information on these topics.
No further accruals are expected.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California Central Valleys Flood Control Association
Water rights
Water Management
Central Valley (Calif.)
Irrigation water
Sacramento San Joaquin Delta
Floods California
Sacramento River (Calif.)
Related Material at the California State Archives
California Water Commission Records
Department of Water Resources Records
State Reclamation Board Records
State Water Rights Board Records