Chipps Island
An aerial image of an island.
Chipps Island from the south, in an aerial photo from 2015
Chipps Island is located in Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Chipps Island
Chipps Island
Chipps Island is located in San Francisco Bay Area
Chipps Island
Chipps Island
Chipps Island is located in California
Chipps Island
Chipps Island
Chipps Island is located in the United States
Chipps Island
Chipps Island
Geography
LocationNorthern California
Coordinates38°03′19″N 121°54′43″W / 38.05528°N 121.91194°W / 38.05528; -121.91194 (Chipps Island)[1]
Adjacent toSuisun Bay
Administration
State California
CountySolano
United States Geological Survey aerial photo of Chipps Island.

Chipps Island is a small island in Suisun Bay, California.[2][3] It is part of Solano County. It is also known as Knox Island,[1] Its coordinates are 38°03′19″N 121°54′43″W / 38.05528°N 121.91194°W / 38.05528; -121.91194 (Chipps Island)[1] by which name it appears on an 1850 survey map of the San Francisco Bay area made by Cadwalader Ringgold,[4] as well as an 1854 map of the area by Henry Lange.[5] In 1959, the state of California used Chipps Island in a legal definition of the western boundary of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta.[6]

In 1960s, during efforts to devise large-scale hydrological engineering projects in San Francisco Bay and adjacent estuaries, Chipps Island was proposed as the site of a dam across the Carquinez Strait as a "more feasible" alternative to the very expensive Reber Plan.[7] The Chipps Island dam was estimated to cost $194,400,000 in 1963 ($1.86 billion in 2022), and retain 1,380,000 acre⋅ft (1.70×109 m3) of fresh water (which would otherwise be emptied into the Pacific Ocean).[7] However, the project faced barriers to implementation, including potential hazards to wildlife (as it was expected to cause the flow of the San Joaquin River to reverse during part of salmon's migration period, preventing them from swimming upstream).[8] [9] The Sacramento Bee quoted "state fish and wildlife experts" as saying that the "seriousness of this apparently insolvable problem" was significant enough to "postpone further investigation of the other effects of the Chipps Island plan".[8] By 1964, new plans from the Inter-Agency Delta Committee had "discarded" the Chipps Island water barrier in plans for managing freshwater in the region.[10]

Chipps Island is located close to hydrocarbon deposits, and in 1967, bids were opened for oil and gas rights on parcels in the vicinity of the island.[3]

While a duck club had once operated on Chipps Island, it was in disuse by the mid-1970s; in 1974, police arrested a "bustling" ring of illicit amphetamine producers using the abandoned structures to store large amounts of the stimulant.[11]

In the 2010s, Chipps Island was part of a large purchase of Delta land attempted by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (along with nearby Bouldin and Bacon Islands, as well as much of the Holland and Webb Tracts).[9] The district was subsequently sued by several northern California environmental groups, water agencies, and the counties of Contra Costa and San Joaquin.

A photo of Chipps Island taken in March 2021 from Bay Point. Van Sickle Island can be seen to the north.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chipps Island
  2. ↑ California State Automobile Association (1999). San Francisco Bay Region (Map). 1:190,000. American Automobile Association.
  3. 1 2 "State Resets Suisun Bay Oil-Gas Bidding Date". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. 1967-11-08. p. 39.
  4. ↑ Ringgold, Cadwalader; Stuart, Fred D.; Everett, Chas.; Harrison (1850). "General Chart embracing Surveys of the Farallones Entrance to the Bay of San Francisco, Bays of San Francisco and San Pablo, Straits of Carquines and Suisun Bay, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, to the Cities of Sacramento and San Joaquin, California". David Rumsey Map Collection. San Francisco Common Council. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Lange, Henry (1854). "Bai San Francisco und Vereinigung des Sacramento mit dem San Joaquin". David Rumsey Map Collection. George Westermann. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Bay drowning Delta". Oakland Tribune. 1964-09-21. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "Simple Barrier Favored Over Reber Bay Plan: Chipps Island Dam Called More Feasible". Daily Independent Journal. 1963-07-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Water Project Has Wildlife Hazards". The Sacramento Bee. 1963-12-22. p. 116. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 "Groups sue to block south state water district purchase of Delta islands". The Modesto Bee. 2016-04-15. p. B4. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "$300 Million Plan For Delta Canal". Oakland Tribune. 1964-09-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "'Speed' Ring Broken In Delta Boat Raid". Petaluma Argus-Courier. 1974-06-29. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
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