San Gregorio Creek
San Gregorio Creek Arroyo de San Gregorio, Arroyo Rodrigues [1] | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
Region | San Mateo County |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Confluence of La Honda Creek and Alpine Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains |
Source confluence | |
• location | United States of America |
• coordinates | 37°19′45″N 122°16′58″W / 37.32917°N 122.28278°W |
• elevation | 320 ft (98 m) |
Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• location | San Gregorio, California |
• coordinates | 37°18′36″N 122°16′37″W / 37.31000°N 122.27694°W[2] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Alpine Creek |
• right | La Honda Creek, Harrington Creek, Bogess Creek, El Corte de Madera Creek, Clear Creek, Coyote Creek |
San Gregorio Creek (Spanish for: Saint Gregory) is a river in San Mateo County, California. Its tributaries originate on the western ridges of the Santa Cruz Mountains whence it courses southwest through steep forested canyons. The San Gregorio Creek mainstem begins at the confluence of Alpine and La Honda Creeks, whence it flows 12 miles (19 km) through rolling grasslands and pasturelands until it meets the Pacific Ocean at San Gregorio State Beach. It traverses the small unincorporated communities of La Honda, San Gregorio, Redwood Terrace and Sky Londa.[3]
History
San Gregorio Creek is historically significant as the campsite for Spanish explorer
Watershed
The San Gregorio watershed is located approximately 11 miles (18 km) south of Half Moon Bay and covers approximately 61 square miles (160 km2). It is the second largest drainage in coastal San Mateo County, with approximately 45 miles (72 km) of "blue line" (perennial) streams.[3] The mainstem of San Gregorio Creek begins at the confluence of Alpine Creek and La Honda Creek in La Honda, and flows 11.8 miles (19.0 km) to its mouth at San Gregorio State Beach in San Gregorio.[5]
The creek ends in a lagoon primarily in the incised channel upstream from the
This river floods occasionally on its path down
Ecology
The mainstem of San Gregorio Creek, in combination with its tributaries of
San Gregorio Creek is also part of the Central California Coast steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) ESU and historically supported a run of 1,000 fish as recently as 1971.[7]
In 2007, the San Gregorio Creek watershed was targeted by the
In a 2008 survey, both coho salmon and steelhead were noted in the creek but threatened by Highway 84 related barriers to fish passage, as well as pressure from sedimentation from residential development, grazing and logging. The primary threat to salmonids in this report were bridge culverts at three sites which impede fish passage during low creek flows, and one site where a culvert from a small tributary is completely impassable in any season.[9]
Four special-status animal species - California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), coho salmon, steelhead, and tidewater goby are the focus of a June 2010 Watershed Management Plan.[3]
Tributaries
From mouth to head:
- Palmer Gulch
- Coyote Creek
- Clear Creek
- El Corte de Madera Creek
- Bogess Creek
- Kingston Creek (left bank)
- Harrington Creek
- La Honda Creek
- Alpine Creek
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Gregorio Creek
- ^ a b c d e Carson Cox; Elizabeth Soderstrom (June 2010). San Gregorio Creek Watershed Management Plan (PDF) (Report). Natural Heritage Institute. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ Syd Whittle. "Portola Camp, The Historical Marker Database". Retrieved Apr 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c Recovery Units and Watersheds, Chapter Six in Coho Salmon: Recovery Strategy for California (PDF) (Report). California Department of Fish and Game. Feb 4, 2004. p. 6.46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-27. Retrieved Apr 4, 2010.
- ^ R. H. Brady III; S. Pearce; L. McKee; S. Overton; C. Striplen (2004). Fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, and riparian habitat of La Honda Creek along the Highway 84 transportation corridor, San Mateo County, California (Report). Oakland, California: San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ Coots, M. (Jan 1973). A Study of Juvenile Steelhead, Salmon gairdnerii gairdnerii Richardson, in San Gregorio Creek and Lagoon, San Mateo County, March Through August 1971 (Report). California Department of Fish and Game Report No. 73-4.
- ^ County Road Maintenance Guidelines for Protecting Aquatic Habitat and Salmon Fisheries (PDF) (Report). FishNet4C, MFG Inc, and Pacific Watershed Associates. 2007. Retrieved Apr 4, 2010.
- ^ Alford, Chris (2008). Parallel passageways: An assessment of salmon migration in the San Gregorio watershed (Report). UC Berkeley: Water Resources Center Archives. Retrieved Apr 4, 2010.