High Ground levee

This so-called “high ground” levee is proposed to be built around Stewart Tract. Construction would take place inside of the existing levee, which would remain. This diagram gives a sense of how the levee and adjacent landscape might work, and describes some of the benefits of the new inner levee.

Windfarm

The Altamont Pass windfarm.

Wine Factory

Industrial-scale winery near Interstate 5, in the Delta’s Secondary Zone, and in the Borrow Pit Exchange Authority. The large-scale, often industrial or infrastructural, elements that are beginning to dominate this area need to be organized in more effective, sustainable ways.

South Delta Exchange Authority

The South Delta Exchange Authority trades development, water quality, agricultural, environmental, and tourism interests. See Levee Urbanism for a description of the SDEA at an architectural scale.

Shimasaki Village

These are among the buildings that will be destroyed if Bacon Island becomes a reservoir. The building on the right would be saved in the Shimasaki Memorial project. It was a bunkhouse, kitchen and dining room.

River Islands development plan

River Islands is a development proposed for Stewart Tract in the southeast Delta. It would build a new community protected by a “super levee.”  This new levee is seen by adjacent landowners as a breach in the long-standing agreement to build levees to the same height, thereby ensuring that all would share equally in the risk of flooding. If realized, River Islands would set a new precedent for in-Delta suburban development.

Oxbow Marina, trailer morphology

Oxbow Marina was created by breaching the levee wall and allowing water to enter. It is an example of Levee Urbanism principles in use already in the Delta.

Newport Dr cul-de-sac

Mark’s garden, corner of Newport Drive and Bolinas Place, Discovery Bay, Contra Costa County.

Levee sections

Sections of existing Delta building types, shown in relation to the levee.

Housing Construction

Spanos Park West housing under construction, winter 2004

Discovery Bay aerial

Infrared aerial image of Discovery Bay, a cul-de-sac community of recreational boat owners.

Delta Wetlands Project islands overview

Bouldin Island, Webb Tract, Holland Tract, and Bacon Island are the four islands that comprise the Delta Wetlands Project.

Delta Wetlands Project, Bacon Island diagram

Diagram describing the Delta Wetlands Project proposal to develop Bacon Island into a reservoir, showing pump locations and island cross sections.

Delta Tours and Exchange Authorities

Diagram describing tourist itineraries, landmark locations, and the exchange authorities of the Delta National Park.

Delta Loop

Pirate’s Lair is part of the Delta Loop, the only existing tourist trail in the Delta.

Borrow Pit Exchange Authority Diagram

Borrow Pit Edge - Ground Leveling Precision

Edge of fields in the Borrow Pit Exchange Authority. Right to left is field edge, toe ditch, (riparian) levee bank and levee crest, the constituent elements of the Delta’s levee infrastructure.

An Urbanizing Perimeter

Nearly the entire perimeter of the Delta is undergoing rapid urbanization, making the delta an increasingly important recreational space.

This diagram situates some of the speculative “exchange authority” elements proposed by the Delta National Park design team.