 USGS aerial imagery of Headreach Island, with the Headreach Cutoff to its south, Fern Island to its northwest, and Tule Island to its southeast. | |
  Headreach Island  Headreach Island  Headreach Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Northern California |
| Coordinates | 38°01′55″N121°29′04″W / 38.03194°N 121.48444°W /38.03194; -121.48444 (Headreach Island)[1] |
| Adjacent to | Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta |
| Highest elevation | 7 ft (2.1 m)[1] |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| State |  California |
| County | San Joaquin |
Headreach Island is a small island in theSacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, innorthern California. A naturally-formed island existing in a complex withTule Island to the southeast andFern Island to the northwest, it was used for farming as late as the 1920s. While several proposals for real estate development on the island were made in the late 20th century, it now consists mostly of marsh and submerged land.Black rails live on the island.
Headreach Island is part ofSan Joaquin County. Its coordinates are38°01′55″N121°29′04″W / 38.03194°N 121.48444°W /38.03194; -121.48444 (Headreach Island);[1] it is part of a complex of three directly-adjacent islands, which also includes Fern Island and Tule Island.[2] TheUnited States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 7 ft (2.1 m) in 1981.[1]
Headreach Island is mentioned as early as 1910, when several high school students took a boat there from nearbyAcker Island.[3] Headreach island appears in a 1923 report on the hydrography of the San Joaquin River, in which its total area was given as 200 acres (81 ha).[4]: 180 Of this, 175 acres (71 ha) were irrigated as farmland, with 25 acres (10 ha) devoted to onions and 150 acres (61 ha) devoted to potatoes.[4]: 180
In the 1930s, the construction of theStockton Deepwater Shipping Channel involved constructing protective levees around many islands in theSacramento–San Joaquin River Delta,levees across Headreach Island andRoberts Island were built by the Franks Contracting Company withclamshell dredgers.[5] By June 1931, the levees were 50% completed.[6][7][8][9]
The island appears on a 1952 USGS map of the area.[10] In a 1972 report from theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Fern-Headreach-Tule complex was addressed in a proposal for a project to protect the banks of theStockton Ship Channel. The report noted that (in contrast to other islands in the area) the complex was "not reclaimed agricultural land, but an area of near-natural state". At the time, the complex contained "virtually no permanent residential developments".[2] A 1974 report, by the same agency, said that Headreach Island had been used in the past for the disposal ofdredging spoils. The 1974 report also specified that around 12 acres (4.9 ha) of Headreach Island was covered with vegetation (shrubs and grass), and that the remainder of the island was either marshland or totally submerged.[11]
In 1978, the island was owned by thePort of Stockton.[12]The Modesto Bee reported in January that a $5 to $6 million development (equivalent to $24.1 million to $28.9 million in 2024) on Headreach Island and nearby Tule Island had been proposed (including a two-story marina, a restaurant, and bar).[13] In May, theBee reported that the "major recreational area" had been approved on Headreach Island by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.[12]
In 1982, a feasibility report on environmental enhancement measures for the area noted that the island complex was a habitat for the black rail and other waterfowl. A proposal was made, in that document, to construct a "boater destination site" at Headreach Island consisting of a day-use dock as well as two chemical toilets.[14]: 166
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Map: Islands ofSuisun Bay and theSacramento–San Joaquin River Delta | |
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