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Inventory of Recreational Facilities — PREFACE
The Delta Protection Commission was formed as a result of State legislation passed in 1992. The legislation states "the delta's waterways and marinas [and] recreational boating within the delta is of statewide and local significance and is a source of economic benefit to the region..." (Public Resources Code Section 29712).
The Commission was charged with developing a "comprehensive long-term resource management plan for land uses within the primary zone of the delta" including "preserve and protect open-space and outdoor recreation opportunities" and "preserve and protect opportunities for controlled public access and use of public lands and waterways consistent with the protection of natural resources and private property interests" and "preserve, protect, and maintain navigation".
The Commission prepared a series of background reports, including one on recreation and access, which noted a lack of current data on recreational uses of the Delta Primary Zone. The Commission and the Department of Boating and Waterways entered into a contract with the Department of Parks and Recreation to prepare a user survey [see Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Recreation Survey, August 1997]. In addition, the Commission's staff was directed to prepare a survey of recreational facilities in the Delta, focusing on the Primary Zone.
This survey of recreation facilities does not adequately describe the scope and extent of recreation in the Delta, because those facilities serve many individuals who come from out of the Delta to use the Delta waterways. For example, the number and location of launch ramps does not adequately indicate the number of users of the waterways, nor does it adequately describe the economic impacts of recreationalists in the Delta.
The Delta is part of an extensive area of waterways that cover San Francisco Bay, and stretch north and south along the rivers in the Delta watershed. Within the Legal Delta, water covers approximately 61,000 acres of the 738,493 acres; the Primary Zone is 51,000 acres of water covered area within the total 491,774 acre area (Department of Water Resources, Report on Land Use Patterns in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 1993).
The regional population for the Bay Area is approximately 6.5 million with another two million persons in Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Yolo Counties. This creates a pool of 8.5 million persons of potential recreationalists within a reasonable travel distance of the Delta.
While the inventory of marinas in the Legal Delta indicates over 12,000 berths, the number of registered vessels in the nine Bay Area counties and the Delta counties total almost 250,000 (Department of Motor Vehicles, Total Vessel Registration by County as of December 31, 1996); which is more than 28% of vessels registered Statewide. Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties alone have 67,613 registered vessels including anything from a large sailing vessel to a personal watercraft (aka jet ski).
Statewide, of the 881,092 vessels registered with Department of Motor Vehicles, more than half are less than 16 feet in length. About one-third of those small vessels are "jet" propelled, and a little less than half are outboards. Many of these vessels are stored at home-- in driveways and garages throughout the region.
Vessels of varying sizes are stored in the hundreds of dry storage spaces located in and around the Delta region. While many marinas provide dry storage spaces (13 in the Delta area are listed in the 1997 Cal/North Directory) almost twice as many dry land storage facilities are located in and around the Delta region (24 are listed in the 1997 Cal/North Directory).
In addition to the large number of people served by the recreational opportunities in the Delta, there is a large economic benefit to the region and the State as a whole. A 1997 report prepared for Department of Boating and Waterways indicated gross receipts statewide of over $28 million from dry storage; $178 million from marinas (wet storage); $123 million from launching fees; almost $11 million from marina service stations; $1.1 billion from boat dealers; and $78 million from personal watercraft dealers. Boaters impact spending on other industries, such as groceries, restaurants, gas stations and drugstores in connection with their boating activities. The 1995 expenditures in these non-boating industries by boaters statewide totaled $1.3 billion. Lastly, the survey looked at taxes generated by the boating industry; including state taxes generated (personal and corporate income taxes, gasoline taxes, and boat licensed and fees); local property taxes (boats, marinas, and other boating businesses); and other local revenues (sales tax and business licenses). For the entire State, those revenues were over $588 million in 1995.
Recreational facilities in the Delta should be evaluated along with the survey of users prepared by the Department of Parks and Recreation for the Delta Protection Commission and the Department of Boating and Waterways. The inventory of facilities is intended to gather into one document information about public and private facilities which provide recreational opportunities in the Delta area which takes advantage of the unique Delta resources, particularly the waters of the Delta.
The inventory of recreational facilities is not intended to be a guidebook, merely a resource for private and public planners, and the general public interested in what types of recreation facilities are located in the Delta. The inventory does include information about how to obtain specific information about the recreation facilities listed in the inventory.