"Sacramento and the lower Sacramento Valley are blessed with a mild climate and an abundance of sunshine the year-round. The summers are virtually cloudless with warm, dry days and mild, pleasant nights. During the winter "rainy season" (November through February), over half the total annual precipitation falls, yet rain in measurable amounts occurs only about 10 days monthly during the winter. Mountains surround the Sacramento Valley to the west, north and east. The Sierra Nevada snowfields are only 70 miles east of Sacramento and usually provide a plentiful supply of water to the valley streams during the dry season. Because of the shielding influence of the high mountains, winter storms reach the valley in a modified form. However, torrential rain and heavy snow frequently fallen the western Sierra slopes, the southern Cascades, and to a lesser extent, the Coastal Range. As a result, flood conditions occasionally occur along the Sacramento River and its tributaries. Excessive rainfall and damaging wind storms are rare in the valley"--Page 1

Born of a country's collective desire for riches, Sacramento was resolute in its survival while other Gold Rush towns faded into history. It battled catastrophic fires, floods, and epidemics to become the original western hub and laid claim to the capital of a state that would one day have the world's fifth largest economy. The community's flourishing growth is not just a product of its economic viability, but a direct result of the cultural vibrance and fortitude of a diverse populace that remains the backbone of our country's most dynamic state.

Often referred to as “the Big Tomato,” Sacramento is a city whose makeup is significantly more complex than its agriculture-based sobriquet implies. In River City and Valley Life, seventeen contributors reveal the major transformations to the natural and built environment that have shaped Sacramento and its suburbs, residents, politics, and economics throughout its history. The site that would become Sacramento was settled in 1839, when Johann Augustus Sutter attempted to convert his Mexican land grant into New Helvetia (or “New Switzerland”). It was at Sutter’s sawmill fifty miles to the east that gold was first discovered, leading to the California Gold Rush of 1849. Nearly overnight, Sacramento became a boomtown, and cityhood followed in 1850. Ideally situated at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, the city was connected by waterway to San Francisco and the surrounding region. Combined with the area’s warm and sunny climate, the rivers provided the necessary water supply for agriculture to flourish. The devastation wrought by floods and cholera, however, took a huge toll on early populations and led to the construction of an extensive levee system that raised the downtown street level to combat flooding. Great fortune came when local entrepreneurs built the Central Pacific Railroad, and in 1869 it connected with the Union Pacific Railroad to form the first transcontinental passage. Sacramento soon became an industrial hub and major food-processing center. By 1879, it was named the state capital and seat of government. In the twentieth century, the Sacramento area benefitted from the federal government’s major investment in the construction and operation of three military bases and other regional public works projects. Rapid suburbanization followed along with the building of highways, bridges, schools, parks, hydroelectric dams, and the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant, which activists would later shut down. Today, several tribal gaming resorts attract patrons to the area, while “Old Sacramento” revitalizes the original downtown as it celebrates Sacramento’s pioneering past. This environmental history of Sacramento provides a compelling case study of urban and suburban development in California and the American West. As the contributors show, Sacramento has seen its landscape both ravaged and reborn. As blighted areas, rail yards, and riverfronts have been reclaimed, and parks and green spaces created and expanded, Sacramento’s identity continues to evolve. As it moves beyond its Gold Rush, Transcontinental Railroad, and government-town heritage, Sacramento remains a city and region deeply rooted in its natural environment.

The discovery of gold launched a rush of humanity to California's Sierra foothills and many of those miners and minerals flowed into a settlement that grew where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet. Today downtown and Old Sacramento, a 28-acre state historic district, are thriving, graced by such treasures as the restored State Capitol Building, the art deco Tower Bridge, and scores of historic structures and attractions like the Leland Stanford Mansion and the California State Railroad Museum.

Preface : united by nature, guided by science -- Extreme events, life in the new normal -- Big bay to tech town -- A changing harvest -- Keeping forests green and snow white -- Climate canaries -- Los Angeles plants itself -- Riding the California current.