Our History

From the early settlers who sought to tame the mighty rivers, to the families today who work tirelessly to create a sustainable future for both people and wildlife, one constant has remained for 150 years, the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors’ commitment to creating a prosperous Sacramento Valley.

The Beginning

The Sacramento River Settlement Contracts involves some of the oldest water rights in California, tracing its roots to the late 1880s. The first settlers in the Sacramento Valley began using water from the Sacramento River to irrigate farms across the region. Individual property owners, irrigation and reclamation districts, and mutual water companies throughout the region were established and granted water rights on the river prior to 1914.

Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps holding press conference

1930s

In the 1930s, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) began exploring the need for canals to deliver much-needed water to sustain people and farms across the Central Valley.

  • After the Central Valley Project (CVP) was authorized, contractors holding water rights on the Sacramento River protested the issuance of CVP water rights. The contractors contended that construction and operation of the CVP would reduce their ability to divert water from the river under their senior rights.

Signed in 1964

Following nearly two decades of negotiation, more than 100 agricultural and municipal senior water rights holders in the Sacramento Valley reached agreements with federal officials to protect these senior water rights.

The Sacramento River Settlement Contracts were first signed in 1964, covering a 40-year term, and renewed in 2005 for another 40 years.

SRSC Today

Today, total water covered by the contracts is approximately 2.2 million acre-feet annually – covering 450,000 acres of land in the Sacramento Valley. Water diverted to members helps support farms, ranches, cities, rural communities, fish habitat and wildlife refuges.

With various changes in weather patterns and increasing demands, the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors remain committed to working with Federal and State agencies to manage water resources in the Sacramento Valley for multiple beneficial purposes.