| Salinas River | |
|---|---|
 View of the Salinas River nearSan Ardo in May 2008. During the rainier winter months, the river may occasionally reconnect with Monterey Bay. The San Ardo Oil Field is visible in the distance. | |
 Map of the Salinas River watershed | |
| Native name | ua kot taiauačorx (Southern Ohlone) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Cities and towns | Paso Robles,Soledad,Salinas |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Los Machos Hills in theLos Padres National Forest |
| • location | San Luis Obispo County, California |
| • coordinates | 35°12′57.2394″N120°13′26.112″W / 35.215899833°N 120.22392000°W /35.215899833; -120.22392000[3] |
| • elevation | 2,150 ft (660 m) |
| Mouth | Monterey Bay |
• location | 6 miles north ofMarina, California |
• coordinates | 36°44′58″N121°48′13″W / 36.74944°N 121.80361°W /36.74944; -121.80361[3] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 175 mi (282 km)[5] |
| Basin size | 4,160 sq mi (10,800 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | nearSpreckels |
| • average | 421 cu ft/s (11.9 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 95,000 cu ft/s (2,700 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Nacimiento River,San Antonio River,Arroyo Seco |
| • right | Estrella River, San Lorenzo Creek |
TheSalinas River (Rumsen:ua kot taiauačorx)[6] is the longest river of theCentral Coast region ofCalifornia, running 175 miles (282 km) and draining 4,160 square miles (10,800 km2).[7] It flows north-northwest and drains theSalinas Valley that slices through the centralCalifornia Coast Ranges south ofMonterey Bay.[3] The river begins in southernSan Luis Obispo County, originating in the Los Machos Hills of theLos Padres National Forest. From there, the river flows north intoMonterey County, eventually making its way to connect with theMonterey Bay, part of thePacific Ocean, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south ofMoss Landing. The river is awildlife corridor, and provides the principal source of water from its reservoirs and tributaries for the farms andvineyards of the valley.
In 1769, when the river was first discovered by non-Native peoples via thePortola expedition, it was reported by them as being a "river watering a luxuriant plain" filled with fish weighing 8 to 10 pounds (3.6 to 4.5 kg).[8] As of the end of 2016, the river had been transformed into little more than a dry bedded run-off feature for the majority of its length.
Until 1989 the Salinas River had a continuous flow throughout the year, stretching back to at least 1941 when theUnited States Geological Survey (USGS) began complete monitoring records in the Salinas area. Most probably primarily due to recent increases in agricultural water demand in the Salinas Valley, and the resultant lowering of water tables, the lower reaches of the Salinas river (north of King City) remained entirely dry during the three years 2013–2016.[9]
Nonetheless, with sufficiently heavy rains, and on rare occasions, this now normally dry runoff feature is still capable of quickly transforming itself back into a fast-flowing river. In rainfall-induced flood conditions, it can at times measure over a mile in width. During the 20th century, such flood conditions are reported to have generally occurred approximately once every 3–10 years. The last similar flooding event along the river was reported in 1998.[10]
The atypical drought-breaking rains of the winter of 2016–2017 restored the river's flow to its lower northern reaches in January 2017.
The current most typical dry or zero flow state of the majority of the river may be more the result of human activity than of any recent changes in weather patterns. Rainfall patterns of recent years in the Salinas area have not significantly changed from historical average rainfall patterns; the 139-year average annual rainfall in Salinas is 13.26 inches (337 mm) per year, and the average annual rainfall since 2000 is 11.01 inches (280 mm) per year.[11][12] Recent increases in water use, primarily in the agricultural sector, and the damming of the river and its tributaries may be contributing factors causing the now mostly-dry condition of the riverbed.[13]
The Monterey County Water Resources Agency currently operates a water use monitoring program which requires that all agricultural water users self-report annually on the estimated amount of groundwater pumped from the shrinking Salinas Valley aquifer.[14][15] This is in contrast to some areas of the country where various water authorities both monitor and regulate water use for agriculture.[16]
The river ecosystem, which once includedsteelhead trout and numerous other species throughout the watercourse, has been drastically impacted in recent years by both the increasingly heavy demand for agricultural water in the Salinas Valley and the resulting dry river conditions.[17]
Despite regularly running dry, the Salinas River has had occasional notable floods, including in 1964[18] and 1995.[19]
The geological history of the ancient Salinas River is currently held bytectonic plate theory to likely be rather unique among the many rivers of the western North American seaboard: The shifting position of the raised section of thePacific Plate that the river flows through was in ancient times aligned with theNorth American Plate at a point far south of its present location.
The discovery of theMonterey Canyon, the remarkably deepsubmarine canyon extending into the Pacific from the mouth of the Salinas River, is the basis for the proposal of what is presently thought to be the most probable geological history of the Salinas River.[20]
The long and deepsubmarineMonterey Canyon dwarfs all other such canyons along the Pacific coast of North America. However, the known flow-rates and drainage area of the Salinas River in no way indicate the river as it presently stands was ever capable of creating such a largesubmarine outflow canyon. The current hypothesis is that, at one point in theMiocene epoch, many millions of years ago, the river was probably located in the vicinity of what is nowLos Angeles County, having been carried north to its present position due totectonic plate drift at the same rate as currently. When the ancient Salinas river was in that southern location, it may have served as the mouth of a river that drained the catchment of theColorado River, that currently flows from theRocky Mountains into theSea of Cortez in westernMexico.[20]
The Salinas River is also thought to have been, about 700,000 years ago, the outlet for prehistoricLake Corcoran.Lake Corcoran once filled much of what is now California'sCentral Valley, prior to the lake's developing an outlet via theCarquinez Strait, to empty through the presentSan Francisco Bay.[21]
Peoplefirst appeared along the California coast approximately 13,000 years ago, during the latter part of thePleistocene epoch.
Up until European settlement inAlta California, theindigenous people who lived along the Salinas River were theRumsen in the northernSalinas Valley, and theSalinan in the southernSalinas Valley.TheChalon andEsselen peoples also lived in the general vicinity of the Salinas River.
The Salinas river was first sighted by European settlers on 27 September 1769. This first European contact with the river was recorded by the Spanish "colonizing expedition" ofGaspar de Portolà. As was the practice of the Spanish government in theNew World at the time, soldiers and priests were then typically sent out together on such colonizing expeditions.
The Portolá expedition included Franciscan priests, who soon thereafter established two missions along the banks of the Salinas river (then referred to asel Rio de Monterey.)The new missions built along the banks of the Salinas river were theMission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad established in 1791, and theMission San Miguel Arcángel, established in 1797.
TheMission San Antonio de Padua was established during this same time period in the Salinas Valley, but not on the river itself. These three missions were a part of the chain of21 missions, then commissioned by the Spanish government inAlta California, now the U.S. State ofCalifornia. All three of the Salinas Valley missions remain intact to this day, the Soledad mission having evolved into theCity of Soledad, and the San Miguel mission having evolved into the unincorporatedvillage of San Miguel. The San Antonio mission is now embedded inFort Hunter Liggett (a U.S. Army garrison).
The mission period ended with the Mexican revolution and the replacement of missions withranchos in the 1820s and 30s. Ranchos around the Salinas river includedRancho Las Salinas,Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo
The Rancho period ended with the 1848 American seizure of California from Mexico. TheCity of Monterey, about 10 miles south of the mouth of the Salinas (at that time), was the capital city ofAlta California, and the site of the 7 July 1846 invasion by American warships, commanded by AdmiralJ.D. Sloat.
When Americans first arrived, the river approached Monterey Bay near Mulligan Hill just north ofMarina. It turned north to flow parallel to the bay, separated by sand dunes, before flowing intoElkhorn Slough and finally entering the bay north ofMoss Landing. Possibly because of flooding and human activity sometime between 1908 and 1910, the river mouth changed by 5.5 miles (8.8 km) to a new channel by Mulligan Hill. The old river bed was converted to farmland.[22]: 144–154
The historic increase in agriculture and settlement in the area, and the related increased water consumption demands have had a significant impact on the Salinas River. The river now typically remains dry or without flow for the majority of the year, and downstream (north) of King City remained fully dry or with zero flow during the years 2013–2016.[9][23]
During the Spanish / Mexican / Mission period, the river was namedEl Rio de Monterey. When first encountered by the SpanishPortola Expedition on 27 September 1769, the members of the expedition at first suspected that they had found theCarmel River, that had been discovered earlier byVizcaíno. One of the party members, Father Crespi, then proposed that the [Salinas] river might be a different river, and that it should therefore be given a new name, however he appears to have been over-ruled by the other members of his party at the time.
The first agreed upon name for the river, as it subsequently appeared on many Spanish and Mexican maps, wasRio de Monterey, presumably being named after the newly founded nearby town ofMonterey, the capital ofAlta California. The earliest recorded use of this name for the river was a reference made by Fr. Pedro Font on 4 March 1776. This name continued in use as late as 1850.[1]
After the American annexation of the area, it was renamed theSalinas River. The river was apparently renamed as the "Salinas" river by an American cartographer in 1858, ten years after the 1848 American seizure ofAlta California fromMexico. In 1858 the newer name "Salinas" first appeared on an American-made map as theRio Salinas, most probably so renamed after the nearby American-founded town ofSalinas, which in turn appears to have first been named in 1854 after the oldRancho Las Salinas land grant, parts of which included the city.[24]
The river begins in southernSan Luis Obispo County, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of the summit point of Pine Ridge,[25] at a point just off of Agua Escondido Road, coming down off of the slopes of the Los Machos Hills of theLos Padres National Forest.[26][27] The only dam situated directly on the Salinas River (theSalinas Dam) forms the smallSanta Margarita Lake.
The Salinas flows down the valley bounded on its southwestern side by theSanta Lucia Mountain Range, and bounded on its northeastern side by theGabilan Mountain Range. It flows pastAtascadero andPaso Robles (to Monterey). It receives the natural outflow of theEstrella River and the controlled outflows of theNacimiento andSan Antonio reservoirs through their respective river tributaries in southernMonterey County.
The river passes through the activeSan Ardo Oil Field, and then into and through theSalinas Valley. It flows past many small towns in the valley, includingKing City,Greenfield, andSoledad, where it combines with the flash-flood proneArroyo Seco, its fourth major tributary (in wet years).
It flows 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the city ofSalinas before cutting throughFort Ord and flows into central Monterey Bay approximately 3 miles west ofCastroville.
The final stretch of the river forms a lagoon protected by the 367-acre (1.49 km2)Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge and its outflow to Monterey Bay is blocked by sand dunes except during winter high-water flows.
The land owners altered the course of the river by filling in the river bed during the dry season. This allowed them to farm all of their land and use the water as they saw fit. The old stream bed went from the Old Salinas River, joiningElkhorn Slough on Monterey Bay nearMoss Landing, to the present course where the main channel'smouth is directly on thePacific Ocean.
The old Salinas River channel that diverts north behind the sand dunes along the ocean, acts as an overflow channel during the rainy season.
Commencing fromHill Town running south along the western banks of the Salinas River toGonzales is River Road (County Route G17). This road also falls along the edge of theSanta Lucia Highlands AVA, giving rise to its designation asRiver Road Wine Trail.
Before the arrival of Hispanic and American settlers in the area, the Salinas River was once home to abundant fish and beaver populations.
Regarding historical fish populations, the Arroyo Seco is the only major Salinas River tributary which has remained undammed and as of 2015, still supported a small remnant population of the threatened Central CoastSteelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that once spawned throughout in the Salinas River watershed. At one time it was also an important middle link for salmon migrating from the Salinas River toTassajara Creek and other tributaries.[28]
Estrella River also remains undammed. A 2015 assessment of the survivability of the river's steelhead trout indicated that such a survival may be unlikely, due to the river's recent tendency to run dry for most of the year.[17]
Other tributaries of the Salinas River that supported steelhead trout once included Paso Robles Creek, Jack Creek, Atascadero Creek, Santa Margarita Creek and Trout Creek in the upper reaches of the River. It once took over ten days for the steelhead from the upper part of the watershed to migrate to the Pacific Ocean near the City of Marina on Monterey Bay. From there, the steelhead would migrate to the area west of the Aleutian Islands before returning to the spawning grounds in the tributaries of the Salinas River.[7] As noted, the trout life-cycle which requires an annual migration to the sea and then back, was broken during the dry-river conditions of the years 2013–2016, and the current fate of the river's steelhead trout remains uncertain at best.
Father Pedro Font described salmon in the Salinas River (Rio de Monterey) on thede Anza Expedition in March 1776:
... there are obtained also many good salmon which enter the river to spawn. Since they are fond of fresh water they ascend the streams so far that I am assured that even at themission of San Antonio some of the fish which ascend the Rio de Monterey have been caught. Of this fish we ate almost every day while we were here.[29]
If Father Font was describing salmon (and not steelhead), then his records suggest that salmon once traversed the Salinas River main stem and up itsSan Antonio River tributary to Mission San Antonio near what is nowJolon. This may support other historical observer records primarily in the form of oral histories taken and compiled by H.A. Franklin[30] that placedChinook salmon in the mainstem as far south asAtascadero where Highway 41 crosses, as well as southern tributaries of the Salinas River, including theLas Tablas Creek tributary of the Nacimiento River, and Jack Creek, a tributary ofPaso Robles Creek west ofTempleton.[30]
In regards to the area's historical beaver population, after a period of depletion by 19th-century fur trappers,California golden beaver (Castor canadensis subauratus) populations rebounded and expanded their range from the Salinas River mouth to theSan Antonio River tributary below its reservoir and beyond to the upper Salinas River watershed.[31][32] More recent accounts suggested that beaver are no longer found along the northern reaches of the river,[33] a recent comprehensive survey found beaver throughout the entire Salinas River mainstem and virtually all of its major tributaries, including the Estrella River.[34]
The use of the river forirrigation in the Salinas Valley makes it one of the most productiveagricultural regions in California. It is especially known as one of the principal regions forlettuce andartichokes in the United States.[35]
The river is shallow above ground, periodically dry, with much of its flow underground. The underground flow results from numerous aquifers, which are recharged by water from the Salinas, especially from the Nacimiento and San Antonio lakes during the dry months. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the river valley provided the route ofEl Camino Real, the principal overland route from southern to northernAlta California, used by Spanish explorers and missionaries and early Mexican settlers.
Some "incomplete USGS site data" also available from 1929–1940.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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