- City:
- Oakley, CA
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Flood and Erosion Control
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1935
- Completed:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Jersey Island sits right on the outskirts of Oakley, California and consists of approximately 3,200 acres and 16 miles of levees located in Contra Costa County in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. Jersey Island is owned and operated by Ironhouse Sanitary District. Ironhouse’s recycled water is sent to Jersey Island to 450 acres of irrigated field that grows 2,000 tons of hay per year. Part of the hay is fed to approximately 2,200 head of cattle owned by Ironhouse. The rest is sold to feed lots in the Central Valley and local ranches. Ironhouse leases property on Jersey Island for natural gas wells.
At the turn of the century, the island was a small farming community run by a corporation owned by the Halsey family that produced mostly asparagus. On March 11, 1911, California State Act 2966h created the reclamation district to be called Reclamation District No. 830.
The WPA had two projects on the island. WPA Project No. 65-3-1819, $27,654, App. Date 10-23-35, “Dredge and place material on levee.”
WPA Project No. 65-3-1819, $10,550, App. Date 4-21-36, “Dredge & place material on levee, spread, load & unload rock, riprap, bale and place brush for protection.”
Source notes
WPA job cards, Fresno Public Library, San Joaquin Valley Heritage & Genealogy Center
https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/03/16/around-oakley-jersey-island-now-100-years-old/
https://www.ironhousesanitarydistrict.com/199/Jersey-Island
Site originally submitted by Andrew Laverdiere on October 25, 2018.
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