Floods are very common in the Yuba-Sutter area, mostly because the bottoms of all four rivers in the area have been raised by the vast amounts of hydraulic mining debris dumped into them during the Gold Rush. As a result, an extensive system of levees, dams, and river pumps has become necessary to attempt to minimize flood damage. The most severe floods in the Yuba-Sutter area took place in the following years.

1839 – 1840 1847 1850 1852 1853 1861 – 1862: A monument near the Marysville Levee Commission building quotes W. T. Ellis, Jr.'s warning: "Remember the winter of 1861-62." 1867 – 1868 1878 1881 1886 1889 – 1890 1907 1909 1928 1937 1940 1950 1955: The old bridge over the Yuba River on D Street, Marysville was destroyed by flooding. It was replaced by the current bridge one block west, on E Street, Marysville. 1963 1964 1986 1997