The bypass itself runs south, parallel to the Sacramento, and drains into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a few miles north of Rio Vista.

[4]: 3.6-4 Congress approved the Sacramento River Flood Control Project in 1911, with a plan to divert the water through multiple weirs and bypasses.

The western and eastern edges are defined by levees separated by a distance ranging from 7,000 to 16,000 feet (2,100 to 4,900 m) apart, except for an 8-mile (13 km) long segment immediately south of the mouth of Putah Creek.

[6] The Knights Landing Ridge Cut, where the Colusa Basin Drainage Canal empties, also contributes to the flow in the Yolo Bypass near this point.

The water eventually flows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, just above Rio Vista, and from there into San Francisco Bay.

Using adaptive management, there is a balance between providing efficient flood protection, agriculture, and habitat benefits in the Yolo Bypass year-round.

The entire bypass forms a valuable wetland habitat when flooded during the winter and spring rainy season.

The natural flooding provides an exceptionally good nursery habitat for native fish species, including the endangered Chinook salmon.

[12] Other special-status wildlife residing in the Yolo Bypass includes giant garter snake, fairy shrimp, bald eagle, Swainson's Hawk, and more.

The Yolo Bypass is somewhat of a pit stop for the waterfowl, and it provides nesting habitat and food for this abundance of birds.

The most widely-grown crops include rice, safflower, processing tomatoes, corn, sunflower, and irrigated pasture.

The already-harvested land creates foraging area, and food opportunities, such as seeds for mourning dove and the non-native ring-necked pheasants.

The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Headquarters provides summer educational programs for children in kindergarten through high school.

These programs include hands on activities on plants, animals, and wetlands, using the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area as a classroom.

Its plan is to put a notch at the top the Fremont Weir to allow for more water to flow, increasing the frequency of flooding for fish habitat.

This research is being conducted to determine how floodplains, particularly flooded rice fields, can provide habitat to endangered species such as the Chinook Salmon.

In the summer these fields are used for the production of rice, while in the winter, the land can be flooded to create ideal wetland habitat for salmon.

They have been experimenting for the past four consecutive winters, and have documented the fastest growth of juvenile Chinook Salmon ever recorded in the Central Valley.

The experiment aims to mimic the natural annual flood cycle of the Sacramento River, which most native fish species relied upon.