This preliminary coarse-scale mapping depicts the historical habitat types and channels of the core river-wetland corridor of the Sacramento Valley, representing average conditions prior to substantial Euro-American modification (mid-1800s). They include the Sacramento River, adjacent riparian forest and major wetland areas within the valley’s flood basins. This covers the American, Sutter, Colusa and Butte basins; the Sacramento and Yolo basins were included in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Historical Ecology Investigation (Whipple et al. 2012). The initial phases of this project were funded by a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and executed in partnership with CalTrout and KSN, Inc.
The mapped area encompasses nearly 500,000 acres of the Sacramento Valley, 122 miles of the Sacramento River and 372 miles of additional sloughs and streams. The northern extent is southwest of Chico, near Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park, and the southern extent is slightly north of Sacramento, adjoining the northernmost area mapped in Whipple et al. 2012.
San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center (SFEI ASC). 2025. "Sacramento Valley Historical Habitats and Channels v1.0 GIS Data." Accessed [date retrieved]. http://www.sfei.org/data/sacramento-valley-historical-habitats-and-chan…
Historical ecology mapping for this reconnaissance effort drew from a subset of high-priority historical data sources, and relied primarily on cartographic data sources with broad spatial coverage. As a result, both the level of detail and the level of certainty represented by the historical mapping are lower than what would be achieved through a more comprehensive historical ecology study, which would also include the synthesis of a much larger number of archival data sources.
Confidence or certainty varies geographically due to differences in source data or methods. This geodatabase provides direct information about the certainty level of each feature’s presence, shape, and location, noted in the fields titled Interp_Cert, Shape_Cert, and Loc_Cert, respectively. These certainty levels are rated as high, medium, or low. Referring to these attributes allows the user to assess the applicability of the data for the chosen technical question.
Technical users are strongly encouraged to read the Technical Appendix to gain a stronger understanding of the strengths and limitations of the dataset.
Disclaimer: In no event shall the creators, custodians, or distributors of this information be liable for any damages arising out of its use (or the inability to use it). These data are not legal documents or of survey quality and are not intended to be used as such. Although extensive effort has been made to produce error-free and complete data, all geographic information has limitations due to the scale, resolution, date and interpretation of the original source materials. Users should consult available data documentation (metadata) for these particular data to determine limitations and the precision to which the data depict distance, direction, location or other geographic characteristics. Data may be subject to change without prior notification. If this data is modified, changes should be documented in a metadata record that should accompany all redistributed data. If data is transmitted or provided in any form to another user, the data must be accompanied by a copy of this disclaimer and all documentation provided with the original data set, including the full metadata record. SFEI requests that the use of these data in any map, publication, or report should cite the data source(s) used and give proper attribution and credit to the originators of the data.
