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Background
The Sacramento Valley region, comprised of Sacramento, Yolo, Sutter, Yuba, Colusa, Glenn, Butte, Tehama, Shasta, and parts of Solano and Placer counties, is home to over 2.4 million people residing in rural-to-urban settings. The region is characterized by large expanses of agricultural production and rangelands, wetlands, riparian habitats, and forested foothills. Much of the region’s recreational, energy generation, and agricultural activity centers around three major river watersheds – the Feather, American, and Sacramento rivers – that converge in the Valley on their way toward the Delta. The region is also home to the state Capitol. Over 40% of the region’s residents live within 500-year flood plains in the Sacramento River watershed.
Extreme Heat
The Sacramento Valley Region will likely see annual average daily maximum temperatures increase by 10ºF by end-of-century. Rising temperatures are driving more frequent and intense heat waves and fewer cooling degree days and nights in the Sacramento Valley.
Drought and Flood
Annual precipitation is expected to remain about the same on average, or increase only slightly this century, though increased variability and frequency of extreme weather events means the region will be more prone to droughts and floods. Oscillation between extremely dry and extremely wet periods make the possibility of an extreme flood event more likely. Additionally, due to increased temperatures, storms will increasingly fall as rain rather than snow. Snowpack will diminish in the region, and seasonal snowmelt patterns will shift to earlier in the year, threatening the region’s water resources essential for the well-being of ecosystems and human populations.
Wildfire
Earlier spring conditions, potential for wetter winters that promote vegetation growth, and hotter, drier summers increase the risk of larger and more intense summer and fall wildfires. As experienced during large fire events during the last five years, fires within Sacramento Valley and in other parts of the state impact air quality.
Sea Level Rise
Sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay Area will increase flood potential in the Sacramento Valley region. Higher sea level will also push salty ocean water into the fresher waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.