Central Valley Geography

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The Central Valley is approximately 450 miles long and 50 miles wide. It is located in the center of California and is known for the Sierra Mountain range, rich agricultural land, and the dry heat climate. The location of the Central Valley provides travelers an option to stop and view the many attractions available to them. Many people end up returning to the area to visit the many benefits from the mountains, agriculture and climate. The region of the Central Valley is conveniently located off of two main branches of traveling routes, Highway 99 and Interstate 5. Both routes run the entire length of California from the Northern border to the Southern border. For example, the travel routes through the Central Valley provide many options…show more content…
The Central Valley is huge and contains a lot of main attributions to the State of California. Michael Hogan explains, “Two Rivers flow from opposite ends of the valley, and form a major confluence at mid-valley to form the extensive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that discharges to the San Francisco Bay” (Hogan, 2014). The Central Valley is basically two valleys in one. There is the north side, which has the “Sacramento Valley drained by the southward-flowing Sacramento River” (page 7). The south side is known for the San Joaquin Basin. “The San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys meet in the Delta area where the combined discharge of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flows through the Central Valley's one natural outlet, the Carquinez Strait, on its way to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean” (Faunt and Hanson). Most people know the central valley as being the core of agriculture for California. According to Berkeley Journal of African-American Law and Policy, “There are more than 300 crops produced in the region. In many communities, especially the small rural ones, as many as seventeen percent directly or indirectly depend on agriculture to survive” (Whiteside,…show more content…
California has high temperatures that have reached up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit! With the heat and dryness there isn’t much rain during the winter or summer. California has been in a drought for years, which doesn’t help our agriculture system at all. This year was one of the hottest years we have ever had and one of the most devastating droughts in state history. In order to have plenty of water and conditioned soil for our agriculture system we need more rain. California has been suffering from this drought and the heat can potentially ruin the agricultural economy within the Central Valley. Living in the Central Valley is nice during the wintertime because it’s not too cold and we don’t have to worry about the

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