Series 3: The Sculpting of a Valley Landscape: Mining, Agriculture, and the History of the Big Chico, Little Chico, Butte and Dry Creek Drainages

This presentation traces the historical impact of mining, diversion, and irrigation which combined have re-sculpted south-Chico's major drainages, landscapes, and hydrology. Early maps, land and water claims, legislation and water policy, legal filings and court rulings, and historic-era documents are consulted for a broad-scope look at the early ranchos, their collapse and sub-division, the area's earliest irrigation projects, hydraulic mining and its catastrophic consequences, and the area's massive reconfiguration in response to rice agriculture.

Presenter: Greg White