Planning Documents
Right Column
Recreation in the Delta
The Delta provides a variety of recreational opportunities including fishing, hunting, boating, camping, picnics, and viewing nature. With 700 miles of channels, nearly all of which are navigable, it is one of the largest waterway complexes in the western United States. The Delta also offers secluded, meandering sloughs cloaked with overhanging riparian vegetation. Even in drought years when reservoirs throughout the State were very low and unable to attract as much recreation, the Delta provided the same water-based recreational opportunities as in other years.
The 1996 Delta Boating and Fishing Surveys
In order to quantify the extent of recreational activities, and to identify future development needs of recreation facilities, the Delta Protection Commission contracted in 1996 with the Department of Parks and Recreation to study recreation uses of the Delta, in particular, those related to boating and fishing. The study provides current recreation use figures for the Delta for use by the Commission as well as by other federal, State and local agencies in their planning processes.
The survey involved two separate mail-out questionnaires. The first questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 10,000 registered boat owners and 10,000 licensed anglers throughout California, followed by a second questionnaire sent to approximately 1,500 people in each group. These questionnaires asked a variety of questions such as whether they recreated in the Delta or not and why, how often they participated in specific recreation activities, when and where these activities occur, how much money they spend while visiting the Delta, the adequacy of existing recreation facilities, and recent changes in their level of participation in these activities.
According to the surveys, 23.5 percent of registered boat owners and 23 percent of licensed anglers in California recreated in the Delta in 1996. For those who did not recreate there, the primary reasons given for not doing so was that the Delta was too far from home (53 percent of respondents), and that they were unfamiliar with the recreation opportunities in the Delta (43 percent of respondents).
Boater and Angler Characteristics and Activities
Located near the large population centers of the greater San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento, the Delta serves a growing urban and rural population. Table 2 shows the top ten counties of origin for the boaters and anglers. The list reveals how important proximity of residence to the Delta is in the decision of boaters and anglers to recreate there. While many of the top counties of origin are the same for both activities, they differ in their ranking for visiting the Delta.
Table 2 also lists the main boating and fishing activities, as well as the alternative activities, in which the recreators participated. The top activity for both boaters and anglers was fishing from the boat, with 77 percent of boaters and 88 percent of anglers saying they fished from boats. For boaters, the other boating activities in descending order of frequency were cruising, swimming from the boat, water skiing, sleeping in the boat, sailing and hunting from the boat. For anglers, fishing from shore was the second most popular activity and fishing in tournaments is third.
The next top ten activities that the boaters and anglers engaged in are also given in Table 2. Sightseeing and viewing wildlife are the top two activities for both boaters and anglers. Other popular activities for both groups include picnicking, swimming, walking, photographing nature, attending special events, RV camping, and visiting cultural or historical sites.
The map in Figure 3 gives the location of recreational facilities in the Delta, most of which are located along the waterways. Most of the recreation facilities are provided through private marinas. Of the public facilities, Brannan Island State Recreation Area provides boat launching, camping, swimming, nature interpretation and wind surfing, and the Department of Fish and Game owns five fishing access/launching facilities that are managed by Sacramento and Yolo Counties. Other public facilities include a Department of Parks and Recreation trail and access behind Locke, limited access to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Stone Lakes Refuge, several East Bay Regional Park District sites, San Joaquin County parks, fishing access at Clifton Court Forebay (Department of Water Resources) and many urban recreational sites in Antioch, Pittsburg, Rio Vista, Sacramento, West Sacramento, and Stockton.
Figure 3: Delta Recreation
Boater and Angler Recreation in the Delta
| Activity | Estimated # of Groups | Average # of Days/Year | Average # of People/Year | Average # of People/Trip | Estimated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boating | 186,000 | 26.1 | 4854,600 | 2.97 | 14,418,162 |
| Fishing | 169,200 | 24.0 | 4,050,800 | 2.91 | 11,816,928 |
* Boating & fishing activities can not be added together due to double-counting a large majority of boaters fished, and many anglers boated.
Sources: correspondence, California State Parks & Recreation, Sacramento San Joaquin Delta Recreation Survey, Aug. 1997; own calculations.
Table 3 provides the survey estimates of boating and angling activities, including their duration and frequency. The activities are counted in terms of group (e.g., family or friends) trips and days spent recreating in the Delta. An estimated 186 thousand groups boated on the Delta. These boaters spent an average 26.1 days in the Delta during the year. Therefore a total of 4.9 million group days were spent on boating recreation. The average size of a group was 3 people, implying a total of 14.4 million person days of recreational boating in the Delta per year.
An estimated 169 thousand groups go fishing per year in the Delta. These anglers spent an average of 24 days per year in the Delta. Therefore a total of 4.1 million group days were spent on recreational fishing. Since the average group size was 2.9 people, this implies a total of 11.8 million person days of recreational fishing per year.
The boating activities in Table 3 represent only boating by those who owned registered boats (boats with motors). Since people who do not own registered boats may also boat in the Delta with canoes, kayaks, rowboats or rented boats, this represents a lower bound for boating activities. In the same sense, activities connected with fishing in the Delta may be underestimated if people fish there without a licensed angler in the group.
We can not estimate combined fishing and boating activities in the Delta from the data. Adding the two activities together would lead to double-counting since many people would be both registered boaters and licensed anglers.