Santa Ana River

src: upload.wikimedia.org

Santa Ana River is the largest river in Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside County, before cutting through the Santa Ana Mountains north through Santa Ana Canyon and flowing to the southwest through the Orange urban areas to flow into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage pool is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km ²) in size.

The Santa Ana drainage basin has a diversity of terrain, ranging from the high mountain peaks of the north and east, to the hot dry hinterland and the semi-desert basin of the Inland Empire, to the flat coastal plains of Orange County. Although it includes alpine and highland forest areas, the majority of the watershed consists of arid desert and chaparral environments. Because of low rainfall areas, rivers carry only a small stream except during short winters, when it is prone to severe flooding. The San Jacinto River, which drains the southern half of the watershed, rarely reaches Santa Ana except in very wet years. However, various animal and plant communities rely on riparian zones and remaining wetlands along the Santa Ana River.

Humans have been living on the Santa Ana River for at least 9,000 years. In the period before and during the European colonization, there were four distinct indigenous groups in the area. The river was first seen by Europeans in 1769, when it received its name from a member of the Spanish Portola expedition. Because it is the only reliable source of water in a large area, many large ranchos thrive along the river and one of its tributaries, Santiago Creek. Once the area became part of the United States, the economy turned to agriculture, before urbanization in the 20th century. Many cities established during this time including Santa Ana, Riverside and Anaheim derived their name from the river. To protect the urban areas from the threat of river floods, the main drainage and containment projects were carried out in the 20th century, resulting in the loss of many natural river channels.

Video Santa Ana River

Course Edit

The Santa Ana River soars in the southern San Bernardino Mountains, at the confluence of two small rivers, Heart Bar Creek and Coon Creek, at an altitude of 6,991 feet (2,131 m). Its highest source is Lake Dolar, at 9,288 feet (2,831 m), and the Dry Lake, at 9,068 ft (2,764 m), both on the north side of Mount San Gorgonio, in the upper Santa Ana South River. The river flows to the west through a wide, deep and heavily wooded valley. About 18 miles (29 km) upstream, he receives the first tributary, Bear Creek, which enters from the north. Bear Creek receives its water from Big Bear Lake, a popular mountain recreation lake. The river turned south, past Seven Oaks Dam, and reached the barren Lowlands of the Inland Empire which covered most of San Bernardino County and Riverside County. It receives Mill Creek from the south and passes to south San Bernardino, then receives City Creek from the north and San Timoteo Creek from the south. Due to the diversion of water to recharge ground water, river beds are usually dried out on this stretch between Mill Creek and outlets from the Veolia water treatment plant north of Riverside, which restores year-round flow. From there to Prado Dam, the river supports riparian zones with many green plants.

Not far below meeting with San Timoteo Creek, Lytle Creek enters from the north. Lytle Creek is one of the largest tributaries in Santa Ana, up from three forks in the San Gabriel Mountains and flowing into the southeast, before emptying into the Santa Ana River as Lytle Creek Wash. From there, the river turns to southwest, and after passing through west of Riverside, it is dumped into a normally dry reservoir of flood control formed by Prado Dam. Two main tributaries join in the reservoir area: Chino Creek from the north, and Temescal Creek from the south. Temescal Creek drains the largest area of â€‹â€‹all creeks, as it provides an outflow from Lake Elsinore, to which the San Jacinto River flows. It is also one of the longest, with a length of 32 miles (51 km). Except during the wettest years when Lake Elsinore fills high enough to overflow, Temescal Creek contributes little to no water to the Santa Ana River.

Under the Prado Dam, the Santa Ana River crosses into Orange County, and cuts between the Santa Ana Mountains and Chino Hills through the narrow Santa Ana Canyon. The river roughly divides the two districts as it flows southwest into the ocean. In Anaheim, entire streams (except during the rainy season) are diverted to spreading areas for groundwater filling in northern Orange County, providing about half of the district city's water supply. Downstream from there, the river is mostly confined to a concrete channel, serving only for flood control and urban runoff drainage, and usually dry or small droplets. On Orange receive Santiago Creek from the east before entering Santa Ana. After crossing under Interstate 5 past the River View Golf Course, one of the few non-concrete parts in Orange County, and then into a concrete channel again through most of Santa Ana and Fountain Valley to the point below the 405 Freeway, where the riverbed became natural (although the bank remains concrete). The river mouth is located in a small tidal lagoon between Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, at the northern end of Santa Ana River County Beach.

Maps Santa Ana River

Dasur Edit

The Santa Ana River flows the largest watershed of the Southern Coast of California region, covering 2,650 sq miles (6,900 km ²) in parts of San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles County. Although the river does not pass through Los Angeles County, some of its tributaries, including San Antonio Creek extend into it. The watershed consists mainly of the high mountains that surround and divide the large dry alluvial valleys. The San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino and San Jacinto encircle the Inland Empire's lowlands in the north and east. The Santa Ana Mountains and Chino Hills divide the Inland Empire from the Orange County coastal plains; Santa Ana Canyon is the only natural break between the two lowlands. The southern part of the watershed, dried by the San Jacinto River to Lake Elsinore and through Temescal Creek to the Santa Ana River, constitutes about 45% of the total area and extends its boundaries as far south as the Colorado Desert in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This river has more than 50 so-called tributaries, most of which are alternating streams.

In 2000, approximately 4.8 million people lived in the Santa Ana River watershed. Most of the population is concentrated close to rivers in urban centers such as San Bernardino, Riverside, Anaheim and Santa Ana. The Inland Empire still has a large area dedicated to agriculture and livestock, despite rapidly urbanizing. In Orange County, almost all the valleys are in urban areas. Some of the major water bodies in the watershed include Irvine Lake, Mathews Lake, Lake Perris, Diamond Valley Lake, Skinner Lake, and Big Bear Lake. All of this is a reservoir of water supply built by state or state water bodies, and with the exception of Big Bear, much water is imported from other parts of California because of the arid local climate. Diamond Valley Lake, with a storage capacity of 800,000 acres feet (0.99 km ³), is the largest and most recently built. Lake Elsinore is the only major natural lake in the watershed.

The Santa Ana River watershed shares boundaries with many adjacent river basins. In the northwest is the San Gabriel River, which boils down to the Pacific at Long Beach. In Orange County, San Diego Creek, Aliso Creek and the San Juan Creek watershed borders the Santa Ana basin to the south. Further south, in San Diego County, the watershed is bordered by San Mateo Creek, the Santa Margarita River and the San Luis Rey River. To the east, the watershed division is bordered by the Whitewater River and Coachella Valley, flowing into the Salton Sea, and in the north by the Mojave River, which flows into the Mojave Desert's endorheic basin.

In Orange County, the river flows across a very gentle and sloping alluvial fan formed from its own sediment and thus its drainage basin is very narrow as the surrounding land slopes off the river bed. In its natural state, the river will often turn into one of the many intermittent channels that spread across the plains. Currently, these additional streams have been transformed into flood control channels, including the empty Talbert and Huntington Beach channels to the Pacific that are very close to the Santa Ana River estuary. The Talbert-Huntington Beach watershed drains 21.4 square miles (55 km ²) of most suburban land. Initially the river has many different places in the Pacific, one of which extends even northward like the San Gabriel River. The original mouth of the river is located in Newport Bay, which flows into the Pacific Ocean, on this day is the entrance to Newport Harbor. Based on the US Coastal Survey from 1878, Newport Bay is largely a river mouth with several open channels. The river flows into the bay carrying with heavy mud and making boating difficult. To finally make Newport Harbor, the sand that the Santa Ana River keeps has to be dredged constantly. In 1920, the Bitter Point Dam was built to divert the river from the bay and on its way to the ocean in Huntington Beach. Jetty stone built to form a new river mouth. All islands in Newport Harbor are the result of dredging and man-made forms of sand and sediments stored from time to time by the Santa Ana River.

Scenic Santa Ana River Could Get LA-River-Style Revitalization ...

src: cdn.vox-cdn.com

Geology Edit

Frozen rocks, metamorphs and ancient sediments underlie and form the geological basis of the Santa Ana River Basin. Most of the layers in flat valleys and basins from the basin are based on thousands of feet of sediments deposited by shallow seas that cover parts of Southern California in ancient times. Most of the mountains in and around the basin consist of granite batholiths aged about 75 million years old. However, above the altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m) of ancient metamorphic rocks aged up to 1.7 billion years of exposure. These rocks originally formed at the base of the Pacific Ocean ancestor and lifted to the highest peak of the mountain by tectonic action. Even during the ice age, the Southern California mountains did not experience extensive glaciation, so coral reefs persisted for tens of millions of years without significant erosion.

Diverse and complex damage and geological instability have formed the Santa Ana River Basin. The San Andreas fault crosses the northern part of the basin and is responsible for the formation of the San Bernardino Mountains and San Gabriel, part of the Transverse Mountains of Southern California. The Elsinore-Whittier Distraction zone crosses the Santa Ana River further downstream, near the Orange/Riverside County line. This tectonic action along the fault creates the Santa Ana Mountains, the Puente Hills, the East Orange Hills, the Chino Hills, Loma Ridge, and other mountains and mountains flowing northwest-southeast at the bottom of the watershed - Peninsular Mountains on the coast. While the Transverse Range rises above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in many places, Peninsular Ranges' highest peaks reach less than half that height.

The cutting of Santa Ana Canyon across the Peninsular Peninsular is associated with a more wet Southern California climate during Wisconsin Glacier and earlier ice ages, where rivers in Southern California are substantially larger in volume. The Santa Ana River, which existed before the creation of the Peninsular Mountains, retained its path as a predecessor stream due to its increasing erosive power. The canyon is eroded through the bedrock that today divides the groundwater basin of the Inland Empire and the coastal plain. Since groundwater in the watershed generally flows from east to west, it is forced to surface in the "rocky" bedrock of the Santa Ana Canyon, producing a perpetual stream that before development flows freely across the coastal plains into the Pacific. During this period, Santa Ana changed its course several times, eroding the now-dry winds of the Rimba Peninsula and the coastal areas around Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

Bear Creek (Santa Ana River tributary) - Wikipedia

src: upload.wikimedia.org

Ecology Edit

Hundreds of animal and plant species characterize the climate diversity and the vegetation zone of the Santa Ana River. There are more than ten of these vegetation zones in the watershed - including rare alpine and subalpine zones in mountain vegetation, central pine forests, lodgepole and oak, chaparral, coastal sage jumps, rare riparian forests and swamps along the riverbeds, overflowing with trees and haste, and thinly vegetated coastal areas almost flat to sea level. Watersheds support up to 200 species of birds, fifty species of mammals, 13 species of reptiles, 7 species of amphibians, and 15 species of fish, including steel trout.

The largest part of the watershed, part of the Inland Empire, is dominated by a hot, dry desert climate that supports rare wildlife, while the climate and vegetation of the San Jacinto River and Temescal Creek watershed resemble the southern Valley of the South. Downstream deserts used to be coastal sandbows and dry grassland communities in the Orange County coastal plains, but the area was almost entirely lost due to urbanization. Rimming the dry part of the watershed is a chaparral zone, which consists of sclerophyllous, thick, low shrubs and small trees. Kaparal is commonly found between 1,000 feet (300 m) and 6,500 ft (2,000 m), and occurs mainly closer to the shores on the windward side of the Peninsular Ranges. The oak scrub is one of the most common plants in the chaparral area, forming a solid groundcover that makes it difficult for humans and large animals such as mountain lions, coyotes, and Bobcats to traverse. Chaparral growth is determined by forest fires and drought, and depends on the semi-arid climate of the region.

Seasonal and seasonal streams are often lined with living oaks and sycamores, which transition into the riparian zone of the Santa Ana River main trunk. Inland riparian swamps upstream of the Riverside/Orange County line, although degraded by pollution, in contrast most remain in their natural state. Although many riparian systems along the river have been degraded, one of the largest spots where there is a large swamp behind the Prado Dam, a closed area for development because it serves as a flood control basin, similar to the Sepulveda Dam. Santa Ana suckers, minnows below, have been found throughout the riparian zone, but are now rarely seen in the Santa Ana River drainage. Near the mouth, the river was once abundant in salt marshes, which stretched for miles on either side of the river, even near Upper Newport Bay, which also served as the river's alternate mouth.

The alpine and subalpine zones, although high elevations (above 9500 feet, 2900 meters) and significant rainfall (at least 35 inches, 89 cm per year, except in drought years), rarely vegetate. Terrain in the alpine zone is a small brush and weed, while the trees - mostly pine and jugular little junipers - occur in valleys and sheltered layers in the subalpine zone. Ground elevation above 5,000 feet (1,500 m) supports much denser forests. Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, black oak, lodgepole pine, and willow are mostly forested land. Mountain habitats in the watersheds support many of California's typical mountain ranges, including squirrels, squirrels, black bears, donkey deer, and many species of migratory birds. In the valley of San Bernardinos, rivers abound in rainbow trout and coated with alder, willow and cottonwoods. Where the great rivers and tributaries emptied the mountain valleys into the Inland Empire basin, they were surrounded by alluvial scrub zones, a mixture of deserts and upper riverside vegetation. Along the main trunk, this zone starts at the base of the Seven Oaks Dam and ends at the Lytle Creek meeting.

Historically, Santa Ana was named "the best river in Southern California [for trout-headed trout habitats]". Steelhead is an anadromous fish, similar to salmon, which migrate into rivers and streams to spawn. Unlike salmon, which usually only reproduce once, the steelhead can reproduce several times and have a longer life span. Steelhead was found along the main trunk of the Santa Ana River, as well as in several tributaries - Santiago Creek, San Antonio and Chino Creeks, Cucamonga Creek, Lytle Creek, City Creek, and Mill Creek. Some, if any, steelheads were present at Temescal Creek (although one of its tributaries was stocked in the 1930s) and none were inhabited by the San Jacinto River, being cut off from most Santa Ana River systems. Until the 1950s, large numbers of steel trout still migrated from the oceans. Due to pollution and modifications to the river, very few steel heads still use the river. There is a population of upstream upstream rainbow basins from Seven Oaks Dam and at the top of several tributaries. Despite the scarcity of steelheads, in recent years fin samples of 13 trout were collected from Harding Canyon in the creeks of the Santiago Creek of the Santa Ana River and genetic analyzes have shown them to be indigenous rather than hatchery stock.

Invasive species - those who are not native to the region - have caused problems in the watershed for years. One of the most troublesome invasive species is the giant reed, which struck much of Southern Southern California's waters. The giant grass is similar to tall grass or thin bamboo, but grows rapidly and can take over the original stands of vegetation, block streambed, hurt the habitat of native animals, and increase the danger of forest fires. Perhaps the biggest effect that giant reeds have is the use of water. To support its rapid growth rate, the giant alang-alang population in the Santa Ana River Basin can consume 56,200 feet of acre (69.3 million m ³) of water per year.

Other invasive species also affect the Santa Ana River. One of the most prominent is the brown-headed cowbird, which feeds on parasites and insects identified with cows, which were brought to Southern California during the Spanish Rancho period. Cowbird-headed chocolates are "parasitic parent", or birds that lay their eggs in other bird's nests. One of the most afflicted birds is the least Bell vreo, whose population also suffers from loss of riparian habitat. Vreo Bell is the least regarded as an endangered species, as are the southwestern fly swallow, whose habitat is often shared with other birds. The saltcedar is another large invasive weed that also, like a giant reed, uses a large amount of water. Unlike giant reeds, saltcedar has deeper roots, not only makes it harder to remove but allows to access and use deep ground water. However, a similar saltcedar in that case also provides little habitat that can be used for native animals.

Entering and exiting the Santa Ana River Trail in Costa Mesa ...

src: www.marcperkins.net

History Edit

First person Edit

Human settlements on the Santa Ana River date back 9,000 to 12,000 years ago, close to the early stages of the Holocene period. The first Native Americans living in the area were nomadic tribes who traveled from one place to another, grazing animals in lush pastures and collecting fruits and seeds for food. The ancestors of these early people came from the Shoshone and Uto-Aztecan tribes in the northwest of the United States. Finally, the human population in the watershed reaches a peak of about 15,000. About 8,000 years ago, the climate changed to become more arid and the nomadic tribes initially began to stay in individual places longer, becoming semi-nomadic. However, they do not build agriculture, nor do they raise livestock or live in the village. Like many native American tribes in California, acorns are the staple food for many people in the valley's outback. People closer to the sea often fish and hunt for small animals, often from tidal pools and coastal areas, for food.

Some of the main premodern Native American groups eventually occupy the land along the river: the Yuhaviatam or Yuharetum in the upper valley, the Payomkowishum in the southeast valley, the Cahuilla in the desert area of â€‹â€‹the basin, and the Tongva people in the lower valley. Yuhaviatam generally live in the upper reaches of the Santa Ana River and its tributaries overflowing in the current Inland Empire valley, in the current San Bernardino region, as well as in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. Tongva lives on a flat coastal plain in Orange County just south of the Santa Ana Mountains today. They are also larger than two groups, controlling all the coastal land from the San Gabriel Mountains in the north to Aliso Creek in the south, including all the Los Angeles Basin.

Spanish period Edit

When Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed along the coast of Southern California on his voyage in 1542, he passed the Santa Ana River estuary without recording it. The two did not explore the next Spanish explorer who left written notice of the river mouth.

Only in 1769 Gaspar de PortolÃƒÆ' led the first land expedition north through the coast of Southern California - still largely unexplored in the province of Alta California New Spain - and named it the river. On July 28, the party camped "about three leagues" from which the Santa Ana River came out of the canyon through the northern Santa Ana Mountains, near Today. Fray Juan CrespÃƒÆ', a member of the expedition, writes in his diary that he calls the place "Jesus de los Temblores", referring to the earthquake that struck when they camped there. Crespi also notes that the soldiers call the river "Rio de Santa Ana", probably because they recently celebrated Saint Anne's Day. The name still exists today (the second-oldest place name in Orange County, after Santiago Creek), and the name of the mountains and the town comes from the river.

Although no mission is actually located along the Santa Ana River or in the watersheds, river valleys are virtually exhausted by natives as Spain forces them to work in nearby missions, including Mission San Gabriel Arcangel and Mission San Luis Rey. The affected tribes are usually renamed after the mission, which produces tribal names such as GabrieliÃƒÆ' Ã‚ Â± o and LuiseÃƒÆ' Ã‚ Â± o. Working and living conditions are difficult and European diseases such as smallpox kill many indigenous peoples for about 50 years of Mission Period. The Secularization Act of 1833, endorsed by the newly independent state of Mexico, finally ended the Mission Period. The original population of post-Mission Period was almost completely destroyed. The population is very few, their original religion is almost gone, and most of their land has been taken by the Spanish settlers. Although the original intention of the Mexican government with the Secularization Act was to provide Native Americans land and their own property, most of the provisions made by the law never really took place. Spanish settlers continued to press into the remaining tribal lands, and finally, the tribes were forced into the desert lands around it or into the high mountains.

After the Mission Period comes the Rancho Period. This happens when the immense land ownership of the mission is divided into rancho owned by individuals. Some of the new private ranchos are only modified mission ranchos. The first private Rancho along the Santa Ana River is Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, a 62,500 acre rancho (253 km) on the left bank of the lower Santa Ana River. This Rancho was acquired by Don Juan Pablo Grijalva at the beginning of 1801. Other rivers in the river followed, including those in the hinterland that had not been exploited in the Mission Period. The ranchos (started with a mission) established a cattle raising tradition on the coast of Southern California, a custom that was enforced until the late 19th century. Nevertheless, agriculture, although established, has not yet become a major industry. The raging flood at Santa Ana in 1825 caused the river lanes to change temporarily into the outlet in Newport Bay, draining the sediments that created some of Balboa Island. Scattered throughout the rancho on the Santa Ana River are several towns, military outposts and trading posts. The Santa Ana River Valley is one of the most prosperous areas in Southern California for decades.

American Settlement Edit

In the late 1840s, California fought for its independence from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The Santa Ana River plays an important role in America's victory over the Mexican army. In 1847, one year after the Rebellion of the Bear Flag, Mexican military forces went north to attack smaller American forces in the Los Angeles area. However, the Santa Ana River flooded, preventing Mexicans from crossing the river to attack America. When the river flows finally subsided, American troops have been strengthened enough to drive the Mexicans out of the territory.

When the Republic of California assimilated to the United States in 1848, American settlers began to move into the territory of the Santa Ana River in large numbers. Ranchos Mexico is divided into individual traits smaller, and irrigated farming starts on a large scale. The city of Santa Ana Viejo, the original location of Santa Ana, was established in this period. In 1854, Mormons settled in the Upper Empire's upper interior and started the town of San Bernardino, gaining prosperity by using water from the river, as well as Lytle Creek and Mill Creek, to irrigate crops. The livestock industry began to decline as livestock began replacing livestock. Soon, the white population in the region was more than Hispanics as well. The California Gold Rush around this time was responsible for attracting many of these people to the country, but many remained in Southern California thereafter.

In 1860, a much closer gold rush occurred in the San Bernardino Mountains when prospector William Holcomb found significant deposits, just above the northern drainage of the Santa Ana River. The discovery exploded into a full-scale gold mining operation on a daily basis. The Santa Ana River serves as a channel for miners traveling to the area and many of the forests in the upper basin have been clear-cut as a result of the high resource demands of the explosion. Gold was also found at Lytle Creek in the same year. Following the gold rush, citrus cultivation became the economic mainstay of the lower Santa Ana River region. Until the late 19th century, orange fields covered most of the coastal plains and led to the naming of Orange County.