It is dawn and I have given up on the idea of sleep because of the beaver. Her regular tail slaps sound like gunshots on the water, right next to the boat, which serves as my floating bedroom. I roll over in my sleeping bag and watch the river awaken. I am moored on a sand and cobble beach, a mile long and empty of footprints. If I listen carefully, I can hear the hum of the morning commute traffic on Interstate 5. Nearby, a Bald Eagle is perched on a Sycamore branch. Across the river a deer appears from the tangle of Wild Grape and Cottonwood and wades chest deep in the green water for a drink.
We are on an oddly wonderful 300 mile river journey down the spine of California. Like most people, my knowledge of the Sacramento River came from a AAA map and a glimpse out a car window at 70 miles an hour. Here was this mysterious ribbon of blue sandwiched into a patch-work of orchard, highway, levee and suburban sprawl. This ‘ribbon’ fixed itself in my imagination. And now, many years later, along with my videographer friend Tom, we are exploring this terrain oar stroke by oar stroke, at the speed of the current. Our trip is a sort of floating Chataqua; meeting and filming people who live, work, study and play here. From scientists and researchers to canal operators and farmers. Great fun, but long days.
This region has been called “the most hydrologically altered” in the world, a place that has been swept over by a 200 year wave of civilization. The Gold Rush. Industrial farming. Dams on nearly every stem and tributary. A river constrained and channelized behind levees.
And yet, it is still a living river. We see otter, hawk, osprey and even pelicans. Swarms of endangered Bank Swallows. Endangered Chinook salmon begin and end their lives here. Prehistoric sturgeon lurk in the deep pools.
Photo by Tom Bartels
MITCH DION
A life-long Californian, Mitch Dion loves adventuring outdoors and has a particular interest in water policy and politics. This film, a collaboration with videographer Tom Bartels, is his first movie."