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Show AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION California under 10 inches 10-15 15-20 2O40 40-60 60-60 over 80 inches Source: U. S. Weather Bureau FIGURE 1 into Tulare Lake and constituting a third section. Only rarely in recent times has this lake overflowed into the San Joaquin. The waters of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers meet about midway in the valley, and have formed a low-lying, marshy delta which is crossed by a maze of winding, sluggish channels and sloughs. This is really a fourth section of the valley, distinct in its problems but small in area by comparison to either the Sacramento or San Joaquin Valley. Population Three million people live in the Central Valley. In addition, the 2.5 million people of the San Fran- cisco Bay metropolitan area are dependent on the water resources of the valley for almost all of their water needs. The principal cities in the valley are Sacramento, Marysville-Yuba City, Stockton, Fresno, Bakers- field, Merced, Modesto, Redding, and Chico. Sac- ramento, with a population of 134,000, is the largest, and the only city of considerable size in the valley. Over 60 percent of the people live in the San Joaquin section. The population in the valley is predominantly rural and its distribution follows closely the distribu- tion of irrigated land. The livelihood of most of the people of the valley is closely tied to agriculture, either directly as farmers or indirectly by furnishing goods and services to the farm population or by processing agricultural products. This close de- pendence on agriculture by most of the population suggests that expansion of irrigation agriculture will have an important effect on the Central Valley economy. 911610-51- 83 |
