From the river: A different view of Sacramento’s erosion protection
At some locations, barges and heavy equipment are placing rock along the shoreline. A short distance away, completed sites show what that construction is designed to become as native vegetation takes hold along the rebuilt riverbank.
Project team members traveled the river Sept. 30 to view active and completed portions of the Sacramento River erosion protection work, part of the American River Common Features 2016 project.
The trip included active construction at Sites 7 and 8 along the east bank of the river in Sacramento’s Pocket and Greenhaven area. The group also viewed completed erosion-protection work from earlier contracts near Pocket-Greenhaven and Little Pocket to see how the riverbank and vegetation are developing after construction.
For Sacramento residents, the work addresses a problem that can be difficult to see from streets, trails and neighborhoods behind the levee: erosion occurring along the river side of the flood control system.
The Sacramento River’s east levee helps reduce flood risk for communities and critical infrastructure in the Sacramento area. Over time, river currents can erode the bank protecting the levee. If left unaddressed, that erosion can work its way toward the levee itself.
Sacramento’s location at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers makes flood risk reduction a longstanding regional priority. The erosion work is part of a larger system of levee improvements designed to reduce flood risk for hundreds of thousands of people, homes and critical infrastructure across the Sacramento area.
“At the active sites, you’re seeing the construction necessary to prevent seepage and stabilize the levee,” said Roberta Tassey, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. “Seeing it from the river really gives you a different perspective on the scale of the work and how all of these features fit together.”
Along the Pocket and Greenhaven stretch of the river, including areas near Garcia Bend, crews at Sites 7 and 8 are using barges to deliver and place large quantities of rock along the east bank. Working from the water allows crews to access the shoreline while reducing the amount of construction traffic moving through nearby neighborhoods and along the levee.
The rock helps stabilize the riverbank and protect it from the constant force of the river. But rock is only part of the design. The project also incorporates features such as planting benches and in-stream woody material to provide erosion protection while supporting habitat along the river’s edge.
The work Sacramento residents see today is part of Sacramento River Erosion Contract 3, which covers about 2.8 miles of riverbank along the east side of the Sacramento River in the Pocket neighborhood. The $71.1 million contract was awarded by USACE to The Dutra Group in April 2026. Construction began in June and is expected to continue through December 2027.
But active construction sites were only half of the view from the boat.
The group passed completed portions of Sacramento River Erosion Contracts 2 and 4, including stretches of riverbank between Miller Park and the Pocket-Greenhaven neighborhood and near Chicory Bend in Little Pocket.
Those sites illustrate an important part of the project that can be difficult to envision while excavators, barges and exposed rock dominate an active construction area. Where conditions allow, erosion-protection features are designed to incorporate native vegetation and habitat features alongside the engineered bank protection.
“That’s an important part of seeing these projects after construction,” Tassey said. “The finished product isn’t just what you see when we place the last rock. We continue to look at design performance and the vegetation establishment over time.”
The Sacramento River erosion work is one piece of the larger American River Common Features 2016 project, a federal, state and local effort to reduce flood risk for the Sacramento region. USACE is constructing the improvements in partnership with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency.
The broader Sacramento River effort includes up to 10 miles of erosion protection along the east bank, extending from near the confluence with the American River south toward Freeport.
For people traveling along the river, using nearby trails or watching construction from Sacramento neighborhoods, the barges, heavy equipment and exposed rock represent a temporary stage of a much longer process.
Viewed from the water, the active and completed sites provide a side-by-side look at progress — from barges placing rock today to new native habitat growing along riverbanks where construction wrapped up as recently as last year.
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