The Sacramento River is California's longest river. It is about 610 km (380 miles) long and rises near Mount Shasta in the north of the state. It then flows generally in southwestern direction to Suisun Bay, which is an arm of San Francisco Bay. There it merges with the San Joaquin River to form a large delta.
The Sacramento's chief tributaries are the Pit, Feather, McCloud and American rivers. At high water, the Sacramento River is navigable by small steamers all the way to Red Bluff, which is 420 km /260 miles) from its mouth. The surrounding valley was the scene of the great gold strike of 1848 and many of the cities that lie on or near the river and its tributaries, where established during the ensuing gold rush. Sacramento is the largest of these cities.
The Sacramento River flows through the northern part of the Central Valley, which has become an important agricultural region. In the last few decades of the 20th century, the Central Valley Project was developed to use the waters of the Sacramento with greater efficiency, particularly in the fertile but dry San Joaquin region, which forms the southern part of the Central Valley. Shasta Dam and Keswick Dam on the Sacramento River are major units of the project. They also generate electricity.
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