Piner Creek

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Coordinates: 38°26′43″N 122°46′35″W / 38.44528°N 122.77639°W / 38.44528; -122.77639
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Piner Creek
Piner Creek immediately above the confluence with Santa Rosa Creek
Piner Creek is located in California
Piner Creek
Location of the mouth of Piner Creek in California
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSonoma County
CitySanta Rosa, California
Physical characteristics
SourceFountaingrove Lake
 • locationSanta Rosa, California
 • coordinates38°29′12″N 122°43′10″W / 38.48667°N 122.71944°W / 38.48667; -122.71944[1]
 • elevation495 ft (151 m)[1]
MouthSanta Rosa Creek
 • location
west of Santa Rosa, California
 • coordinates
38°26′43″N 122°46′35″W / 38.44528°N 122.77639°W / 38.44528; -122.77639
Basin size6.3 sq mi (16 km2)

Piner Creek is a

agricultural uses including plum orchards, which fruit was subsequently processed for prunes
.

The Piner Creek

architectural features of Sonoma County is within the Piner Creek catchment basin: A well preserved Round Barn, constructed in 1899, a testament to the 19th century pasturage uses within this watershed.[6]

Hydrology

Fountaingrove Lake, the origin of Piner Creek

Piner Creek originates in the lower Mayacmas Mountains at

U.S. Highway 101. West of the U.S. 101 Freeway, Piner Creek winds through a retail and commercial/industrial area, before crossing under Piner Road near Coffey Lane; in this reach there is a large historic release to groundwater of solvent
from manufacturing uses stemming back to the 1970s and 1980s.

Water quality of Piner Creek is characterized by pH levels that are mildly basic, with upper reach pH levels about 8.5, declining to lower reach levels at 7.8 just above the discharge to Santa Rosa Creek.[7] The headwaters soils are typically of pH about 6.9. Water quality of Piner Creek is generally low in turbidity, except for highest flow periods resulting from heavy rains; the water is free from odor. Springtime water temperatures are typically in the range of 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 18 degrees Celsius).

Piner Creek terminates at its confluence with

watercourse discharges to the Laguna de Santa Rosa; the Laguna de Santa Rosa ultimately forms a confluence with the Russian River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean
.

Geology

Piner Creek before its confluence with Santa Rosa Creek, on the Santa Rosa Plain

As recently as the

tectonic movement, the headwaters region of the Mayacmas Mountains emerged above the ocean. Piner Creek was one of the drainages that began to drain the new landmass, in formation of the eventual Santa Rosa Plain, through which the middle and lower reaches of Piner Creek flow. Occasional basaltic outcrops are seen in the upper reach of Piner Creek, betraying the volcanic origin of the Mayacmas Mountains.[8]

The upper reach of Piner Creek watershed is characterized by presence of Goulding cobbly clay loam soil; this soil has slopes of up to 15 percent and is subject to moderate erosive potential.[9] The actual soil depth is typically only about 20 inches (50 cm) and may contain up to 25 percent cobblestones. Historic use of this soil has been for grazing. As the stream approaches the Santa Rosa Plain immediately east of U.S Highway 101, slopes diminish to a gradient of five to 15 percent and the predominant soil type is Felta very gravelly loam. This Felta soil is characterized by an upper surface grayish-brown color and texture of a fine, sticky and plastic nature.

West of U.S. Highway 101, Piner Creek flows over the Santa Rosa Plain at gradients of less than two percent. Here the predominant soil type is Zamora

alluvial fan as the floodplain formed.[9] The upper soil surface of the Zamora material is grayish-brown hard, firm, sticky and plastic. Permeability is moderately slow and fertility is high for these lower reach soils, which has resulted in historic orchard use and present day vineyards
.

Ecology

Formal

cattail, Typha latifolia, stands are observed. A considerable number of bird species
are found along the stream banks of Piner Creek.

Based upon

dissolved oxygen
levels).

See also

Historic Round Barn, built in 1899, located in the Piner Creek watershed

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fountaingrove Lake
  2. U.S. Geological Survey
    , Santa Rosa Quadrangle (1954, photorevised in 1980)
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey, Aerial photograph stereo pair series (years 1957, 1965, and 1973)
  4. ^ Environmental Site Assessment, 3230 and 3240 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa, California Earth Metrics Incorporated, October 4, 1989
  5. ^ a b c "Biological and Physical/Habitat Assessment in the Santa Rosa Watershed (2002)" (PDF).
  6. ^ "The Domain Name AP.net is Now Available for Purchase". ap.net. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Water chemistry of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Watershed, Lumina Technologies, Santa Rosa, Ca. (2007)
  8. ^ Volcanic Regions: Mayacamas and Sonoma Mountains
  9. ^
    Soil Conservation Service
    , Government Printing Office, Washington DC, May 1972
  10. ^ E.B. Welch and T. Lindell, Ecological effects of wastewater, F P Spoon, London, England(2000)
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