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The Calaveras River is a river in the San Joaquin Valley of California.
It flows roughly southwest for from the confluence of its north and south forks in Calaveras County to its confluence with the San Joaquin River in the city of Stockton.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed March 11, 2011
In the past, it has been used for agriculture and irrigation, drinking water, and for recreational purposes. There have been many improvement projects on the Calaveras River to address its pollution and efficiency for local residents.
Later, human remains were of the native Miwuk people killed by Spanish soldiers after they banded together to rise against Spanish missionaries. The Stanislaus River is named for Estanislau, a coastal Miwuk who escaped from Mission San Jose in the late 1830s. He is reported to have raised a small group of men with crude weapons, hiding in the foothills when the Spanish attacked. The Miwuk were quickly decimated by Spanish gunfire.
In 1836, John Marsh, Jose Noriega, and a party of men, went exploring in Northern California. They made camp along a river bed in the evening, and when they woke up the next morning, discovered that they had camped in the midst of a great quantity of skulls and bones. They also gave the river the appropriate name: Calaveras.Lyman, George D. John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-blazer on Six Frontiers, pp. 207-8, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.Winkley, John W., Dr. John Marsh: Wilderness Scout, pp. 54-5, The Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1962.Thompson, Thomas Hinkley, and West, Albert Augustus. History of San Joaquin County, California, p. 13, 1879.
Downstream from the Calaveras River is Mildred Island, a submerged island that also provides recreation such as fishing.
The Mormon Slough, a distributary of the Calaveras, splits away about five miles east of Linden, California. In east Stockton, the Stockton Diverting Canal reconnects the Mormon Slough and the Calaveras. Downstream from this flood control channel, the often dry Mormon Slough continues on its southerly path, through downtown, to the Stockton Channel. The Calaveras makes a northerly arc, passing through farmland, orchards, and the University of the Pacific Stockton Campus, then alongside its namesake Brookside district, before flowing into the Deepwater Channel about three miles downriver from the Mormon Slough. Thus much of central Stockton, being completely surrounded by these waterways, is itself one of the many which make up the San Joaquin Delta.
Hundreds of thousands of people are licensed to fish in the Bay Area and Delta regions, and 90% of people from low-income communities depend on fish from these rivers for food. The Calaveras River has various species of fish that people catch, eat, and even some that are federally protected such as steelhead and rainbow trout.
As the Calaveras River is used for agriculture, use of pesticides and herbicides also impact cleanliness of the water. Although present in small amounts, diazinon and chlorpyrifos are toxic to water life. Organophosphate pesticides are brought to the water by seasonal stormwater runoff. Poor drainage for soils and the amount of pesticides farmers are using affect the water to varying degrees. Since learning about the effect of pesticides, farmers have started to reduce the use of them either by switching to more organic options, diluting the chemicals, etc.
There have been hazardous material spills in the past from maintenance issues such as sewers overflowing as well as recreational accidents such as fuel spills from boats and vehicles.
In 2014, the Calaveras River was struggling to house natural wildlife because of its past diversions that spread the river water too thin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked with residents to restore bridges and rebuild structures that would serve to connect residents on both sides of the river while not inhibiting the natural migration of fish species, the Caprini Crossing for example. After these restorations, the river was able to produce more salmon and steelhead, considerable amounts for the relatively small system that is the Calaveras River.
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