Delta Works Delta Works </div> The Delta Works () is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland. The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works, the Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the
Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta of the Delta near present-day Sacramento. The Spanish conscripted large numbers of Native Americans for labor on missions; many Native Americans fled deep into the Delta in order to escape their European masters. However, this did not protect them from diseases. A malaria epidemic in 1833 decimated local native populations; this was probably exacerbated by the marshy geography of the area, which bred large amounts of mosquitoes. The agricultural value of the Delta was first recognized during the California Gold Rush, when farmers planted orchards on Delta islands to provide fresh fruit for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada. Because