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California / Waters /

Sacramento River

River in California, past Anderson, Butte City, Chico, Clarksburg, Colusa, Fraziers Landing, Grimes, Hamilton City, Knights Landing, Locke, Los Molinos and Meridian

Current status

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received

Radar shows that recent rain at a combined sewer system's outlets has reached the amount set for that system, and its operator has not reported a discharge. It reads "discharge likely" where the amount is the one at which that system has discharged before, or a rain trigger its state publishes, and "discharge possible" where only this site's default of 0.1 inch applies. This is an estimate, not a report. This status since . Why this status, and its source

Map sources: water outlines and launches from OpenBoatLaunch and OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database License); wastewater outlets from EPA and state records; downstream estimates by DirtyWaterWatch using U.S. Geological Survey maps and flow data. Base map: OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles.

Solid dots mark combined sewer outfalls. Ringed dots mark treatment plant outfalls. A yellow ring with a dashed edge means discharge likely or possible: heavy rain, no report received. Square boat markers mark boat launches listed by OpenBoatLaunch. Larger round markers with a label mark beach and other official advisories nearby.

Check City of Anderson's notices · Bookmark this water page and check it before each trip · Report a missing notice or error

About this status

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received: heavy rain at a sewer operator's outlets reached this site's default amount, and no report received; shown for 48 hours after the rain (site rule). 2.5 in of rain fell in the 24 hours to Nov 6, 2026, 12:00 AM PST at City of Sacramento Department of Utilities: Combined Wastewater Collection and Treatment System's outfalls (NOAA radar estimate).

Source: NOAA National Weather Service, MRMS radar-only rainfall estimate, valid Nov 6, 2026, 12:00 AM PST, retrieved 2026-11-06 08:57 UTC; threshold: site default; rule: How it works, discharge likely or possible. · Updated

The last 90 days

Last 90 days, hour by hour. Red: discharge or advisory reported. Amber: caution. Hatched amber: end not confirmed. Plum: algal bloom advisory. Red or amber with a light line inside: beach advisory or caution. Dotted: monthly report (days with discharge, dates not given). Grey: no current status on the water outline. Purple hatching: a status resting on a source that could not be checked on schedule.

Source: DirtyWaterWatch calculations using the reports named above and the published status rules. Updated 2026-11-06 09:03 UTC.

Reported discharges over time

  • Discharges affecting the Sacramento River in California, last 12 months33 affecting this stretch: 3 reported on the Sacramento River; none arriving from upstreamDecember 2025 to November 2026Verified reports where available, else notices; revisions and duplicates counted once. Arriving discharges are estimated from modeled downstream reaches.
  • Days with a discharge affecting the Sacramento River in California, last 12 months13Reported on the Sacramento River in California: 13 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0 (counted apart; together they need not equal the total)December 2025 to November 2026A day counts once however many discharges were under way on it.
  • Hours with a discharge or advisory status on the Sacramento River in California, last 12 months228Reported on the Sacramento River in California: 228 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0December 2025 to November 2026Red hours by the map's rules: each discharge to its reported end plus the state's post-discharge period; overlapping hours count once.
  • 2026 season with a discharge or advisory status on the Sacramento River in California5.2%May to October 2026Share of May 1 to October 31 hours with red status by the map's rules, of the hours a source covered.
  • Records behind the last-90-days strip for the Sacramento River in California4Reported on the Sacramento River in California: 3 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0 · Other records (rain-likely and similar): 1last 90 daysEvery distinct record the strip lists for its red, yellow and unresolved hours, notices and unresolved reports included; counted as the strip counts them.

Combined sewer overflow (CSO): sewage mixed with rainwater spills from a shared sewer system. Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO): sewage spills from a sewer meant to carry sewage separately from rainwater. Treatment bypass: wastewater skips one or more treatment steps. Blended discharge: wastewater that skipped some treatment is mixed with treated wastewater. Outfall: a pipe or outlet where wastewater enters a water body.

Reported discharges per month

3 reported discharges, January 2022 to November 2026.

  • Combined sewer overflow
  • Sanitary sewer overflow
  • Treatment bypass, blended or other
  • Incomplete source coverage

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Hours with a discharge or advisory status per month

Hours when this water had a discharge or advisory status under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Incomplete source coverage

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Days with a reported discharge per month

A day counts when any counted discharge was under way on it, from its start to its reported end in Eastern Time; a report with no end counts its start day.

  • Incomplete source coverage

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Reported volume per year

Gallons (axis: K thousand, M million), summed from the 3 reports that gave a volume as a number.

  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited records

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Hours with a discharge or advisory status per year

Hours with a discharge or advisory status each year under DirtyWaterWatch rules; 2026 to date.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited records

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Share of the May to October season with a discharge or advisory status

Share of the hours from May 1 to October 31 with a discharge or advisory status under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Reported discharges by calendar month, all years

Every counted discharge report, by the calendar month it began.

Months are summed over every year a tracked source covers; the table gives the number of years behind each month.

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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Reported discharges by wastewater outlet

Wastewater outlets with the most tracked discharge records: 3 of 3, all years. Counts depend on reporting coverage and do not measure legal compliance or harm.

Source: ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

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How these charts are counted

We count each discharge once. Where a source publishes notices and confirmed reports, we use confirmed reports for an operator's month when available; otherwise we use notices. We combine revisions and exclude duplicate state reports copied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monthly and yearly totals appear separately. Status hours follow this site's rules. Shaded gaps mean missing coverage, not zero discharges.

  • ca-swrcb-ciwqs-spills-flatfile: records from January 1, 2022 to the latest update
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sewer overflow records: records from May 3, 2022 to the latest update (limited records)

Reports linked to Sacramento River

3 sewage reports · 7 algal bloom advisories

Cyanobacteria (harmful blue-green algae) can make water unfit for contact; the issuing authority decides when its advisory ends.

Reports linked to Sacramento River, newest first
WhenReportStatus
to 11:40 PM PDTCity of Rio Vista · River Rd. Lift Station · SSO · 4,000 gallons report · notice · mapended
to Sep 16, 11:01 AM PDTCity of Sacramento Department of Utilities: Combined Wastewater Collection and Treatment System · Joe's Crab Shack Lateral · SSO · 313 gallons report · notice · mapended
to Sep 9, 12:07 PM PDTCity of Sacramento Department of Utilities: Combined Wastewater Collection and Treatment System · [house number removed] Front St. Joe's Crab Shack Old Sacramento · SSO · 1,173 gallons report · notice · mapended
to Sep 2 ’22California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Brannan Island State Recreation Area · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Sep 2 ’22California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Sandy Beach · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Dec 31 ’21California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Between gibson and sims exits. Near shotgun hole creek · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Dec 31 ’21California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Delta Marina · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Dec 31 ’21California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Delta Marina at Rio Vista · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Dec 31 ’21California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Sandy Beach State Park (Beach) · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted
to Dec 31 ’20California State Water Resources Control Board (FHAB program) · Sacramento River, near Riverfront Docks north of Tower Bridge · Algae advisory · volume not reported report · notice · maplifted

Sources: State Water Board CIWQS Sanitary Sewer System spill data: Cat1-2-3-Spills.txt (nightly flat file), retrieved 2026-11-05 15:08 UTC; Surface Water - Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms, retrieved 2026-11-06 03:07 UTC. A report's record id and times show when you hover or focus its "report" link.

Download these reports as CSV

All reports in California by year: 2026 (3 here) · 2022 (2 here) · 2021 (4 here) · 2020 (1 here)

Wastewater outlets on this water

Combined sewer outfalls

6 outfalls · discharge possible now at 6

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received at 6 outfalls now: radar rainfall has reached the operator's threshold and no discharge report has arrived (NOAA radar estimate).

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national combined sewer outfall inventory (ECHO) and state outfall layers. Open or closed as EPA's inventory lists it. DirtyWaterWatch links outlets to waters using permit numbers, locations and names.

Treatment plant outfalls

12 outfalls

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit records (ICIS-NPDES permitted features): where a treatment plant’s permitted discharge leaves. No national source says whether a plant outfall is open or closed.

Sewer operators listed for this water: City of Anderson, City of Chico, City of Corning, City of Dunsmuir, City of Mt Shasta, City of Red Bluff, City of Redding, City of Rio Vista, City of Sacramento Department of Utilities: Combined Wastewater Collection and Treatment System, Rio Alto WD, Sacramento Area Sewer District.

Boat launches

Source: OpenBoatLaunch launch records (public agency data and OpenStreetMap, Open Database License). · Sacramento River on OpenBoatLaunch

Nearby waters

Sources covering this water

10 records linked to this water: 3 sewage reports, 7 algal bloom advisories. Updated .