Bill Jennings, standing near a bridge in the Stockton area, is a water person, a member of that insular society of experts and activists sometimes described as the Hydraulic Brotherhood. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
Retirees Rod Smith, front, of Vallejo and Mark Hale of Vacaville enjoy fishing off Bacon Island near Stockton. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
Max Flores of Santa Cruz holds his catfish catch of the day near Rio Vista, south of Sacramento. Flores and friends were camping for a week on a levee on Brannan Island along the Sacramento River in the delta region. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
Flowers decorate the dock at a private marina on Andrus Island in the delta region near Rio Vista. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
A home on stilts by a delta levee at Isleton speaks to the possibilities of flooding in case of a breach in the earthen wall. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
A car drives along the levee road on Twitchell Island next to Seven Mile Slough, near Rio Vista. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
Ducks make their way along Seven Mile Slough by Twitchell Island. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
