Wood Canyon Creek
Wood Canyon Creek | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Wood Canyon Emergent Wetland |
• elevation | 600 ft (180 m) |
Mouth | |
• location | Aliso Creek |
• coordinates | 33°32′28″N 117°44′14″W / 33.54117228483748°N 117.73727830022864°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Length | 2.8 mi (4.5 km) |
Discharge | |
• average | Perennial |
Wood Canyon Creek is a 2.8 mi (4.5 km) perennial stream in Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, Orange County, California. A tributary of Aliso Creek, it drains a deep undeveloped valley to the west of Aliso Viejo.
The Wood Canyon was populated by the Acjachemen tribe hundreds of years ago; many archaeological sites along the creek provide evidence of their habitation. Spanish explorers and colonists arrived in the mid-18th century, establishing missions and a rancho that extended around the Aliso Creek watershed. Wood Canyon was used first as a cattle grazing area; after California became part of the United States, it was used to graze sheep. From the 1960s onward, the creek's flow has been heavily affected by urban runoff from suburban residential development.
The Wood Canyon watershed drains a portion of the
Course
The 2.8-mile (4.5 km) Wood Canyon Creek now begins slightly south of
About halfway along its length the creek receives effluent from the Muirlands Storm Drain, then is joined by the intermittent Mathis Canyon Creek from the right. Flowing past Temple Hill, a 1,000-foot (300 m) peak of the San Joaquin Hills to the east, it crosses the Wood Canyon Trail three times. Several grouted riprap drop structures have been built here to protect the trail from stormwater erosion. It then passes under the Aliso Creek Trail through a series of culverts and cascades down into Aliso Creek.[2][3]
Watershed
The Wood Canyon subwatershed is contained entirely within the San Joaquin Hills, a small coastal mountain range that follows much of Orange County's Pacific coast. It is a long, narrow valley about 3 miles (4.8 km) long and 1.2 miles (1.9 km) wide, bounded by arid slopes 700 to 1,000 feet (210 to 300 m) high, and covering about 4 square miles (10 km2). Nearly 80% of the Wood Canyon watershed forms the northern arm of Aliso Canyon. It is the second largest tributary of Aliso Creek, following Sulphur Creek.[4]
Running nearly parallel to
Modified extensively by man-made runoff and erosion control measures, Wood Canyon Creek is referred to by the Watershed and Coastal Resources Division of Orange County as the Wood Canyon Channel. Some stretches of the creek are lined with riprap and there are three grouted riprap drop structures on the creek, each 3 to 5 feet (0.91 to 1.52 m) tall. The riparian zone surrounding the creek is one of the most prominent in the Aliso Creek watershed as a whole, although urban runoff has degraded its health.
See also
Notes
- ^ Wood Canyon Emergent Wetland Project. City of Aliso Viejo.
- ^ "CULTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY AND EVALUATION FOR THE PROPOSED ALISO CREEK INN AND GOLF COURSE PROJECT, CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA" (PDF).
- ^ Map of Wood Canyon Creek (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. Google Maps. 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
- ^ Orange County California Watershed