| Laguna de Santa Rosa | |
|---|---|
 Looking northeast across the Laguna de Santa Rosa with theMayacamas Mountains in the background | |
  Location of the mouth of Laguna de Santa Rosa in California | |
| Etymology | Spanish |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Sonoma County |
| Cities | Santa Rosa,Sebastopol,Cotati |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | west ofCotati,California |
| • coordinates | 38°19′4″N122°43′21″W / 38.31778°N 122.72250°W /38.31778; -122.72250[1] |
| • elevation | 260 ft (79 m) |
| Mouth | Mark West Creek |
• location | east ofForestville,California |
• coordinates | 38°28′12″N122°50′27″W / 38.47000°N 122.84083°W /38.47000; -122.84083[1] |
• elevation | 46 ft (14 m)[1] |
| Length | 22 mi (35 km) |
| Basin size | 254 sq mi (660 km2) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Washoe Creek,Blucher Creek |
| • right | Santa Rosa Creek,Hinebaugh Creek,Five Creek |
| Protection status | |
| Official name | Laguna de Santa Rosa Wetland Complex |
| Designated | 16 April 2010 |
| Reference no. | 1930[2] |
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TheLaguna de Santa Rosa is a 22-mile-long (35 km)wetland complex that drains a 254-square-mile (660 km2)watershed encompassing most of the Santa Rosa Plain inSonoma County, California, United States.
TheCalifornia Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has issued a safe eating advisory for any fish caught in Laguna de Santa Rosa due to elevated levels of mercury andPCBs. In addition, there is a notice of "do not eat" forblack bass.[3]
The Laguna, whose principal tributarystreams rise on the southern slopes of theSonoma andMayacamas Mountains,[4] is the largesttributary ofMark West Creek. The sinuous watercourse and associated wetlands form a significant floodplain during the heavy winter rains, capable of storing over 80,000 acre-feet (99,000,000 m3) ofstormwater.
Beyond itshydrological significance, the Laguna is Sonoma County's richest area ofwildlifehabitat, and the mostbiologically diverse part of the county, having been called a "national treasure" for itsecological wealth.[5] A number ofrare andendangered species occur in the Laguna, including federally listedthreatened andendangeredanadromoussalmonid species and three endangered plants that areendemic here. From about 1870 to 1990water quality andbiota deteriorated in the Laguna, due to intensification of urban development[6] and associatedagricultural encroachment into the floodplain. In the 1990s the trend began to reverse, but the watercourse is still listed as impaired under the federalClean Water Act forsediment,nitrogen,phosphorus,temperature,mercury, anddissolved oxygen, rendering it the most impaired water body on the North Coast of California.[7] Notwithstanding the large historical reduction in resource extent, the Laguna de Santa Rosa is presently the second-largest freshwaterwetland in coastalNorthern California and still habitat to over 200species ofbirds,threatened andendangeredsalmonid species,bald andgolden eagle,osprey,mountain lion,river otter,coyote,bobcat,mink, andgray fox.
While the Laguna has been heavily impacted by human activities in itswatershed over the past century, in recent years a movement has grown to preserve and restore it both for ecological functions such ashabitat values andflood control capacity, and for outdoorrecreation,education, andresearch. Thenonprofit Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, founded in 1989, has professionalized and expanded the scope of its programs since 2002, spearheading efforts to protect, restore, and create opportunities for the public to enjoy and learn in the Laguna.
The principal source of the Laguna de Santa Rosa lies in the hills on the east side ofU.S. Route 101 nearCotati, California.[1] Its waters descend to the west, crossing under U.S. Route 101 and into Cotati at the West Sierra Avenue interchange. It flows under the Old Redwood Highway just south of Charles Street and joins with a drainage channel near the end of Marsh Way. (Some sources consider this channel to be the main Laguna de Santa Rosa.)
From this confluence, the Laguna turns to the northwest and crosses under East Cotati Avenue, providing portions of the boundary between Cotati andRohnert Park. It crosses back under U.S. Route 101 near Southwest Boulevard and leaves Cotati, continuing northwestward through a series of confluences, withCopeland Creek,Washoe Creek,Hinebaugh Creek, andFive Creek. It crosses Llano Road near the regional water treatment plant, then crosses Todd Road and joinsBlucher Creek. East ofSebastopol, it crosses underState Route 12 at milepost 9.63 and turns to the north. Just south of Guerneville Road, the Santa Rosa Flood Control Channel enters the Laguna, bring water fromSanta Rosa Creek and its tributaries. The Laguna continues north, emptying intoMark West Creek amidst the wetlands east ofForestville.
Archaeological data in southern Sonoma County indicates the land surrounding the Laguna de Santa Rosa was under the control of three Pomotribelets which together, controlled about 350 square miles (910 km2). These Pomo peoples were called the Konhomtara, the Kataictemi, and the Bitakomtara, whose languages were mutually unintelligible.
The Konhomtara’s territory included "…the area of present day Sebastopol, bounded on the east by the Laguna, on the north by the Russian River, on the west by the summit of the mountains nearest the coast, and on the south by an indeterminate line that extended from the south end of the Laguna to the western border (Stewart, 1943)".
The Kataictemi held the land on both sides of the Russian River north of Mark West Creek. Their northern border was about two miles (3 km) north of present-day Healdsburg, and included the lower portion of Dry Creek.
The Bitakomtara may have been two tribelets, with one located at the head of Santa Rosa Creek, and the other located in Santa Rosa, the latter holding the eastern Laguna lands. Bitakomtara territory occupied the land that was bordered on the north by Mark West Creek, on the West by the Laguna, on the south by "an indefinite line that ran from the top of Sonoma Mountain to the South end of the Laguna" and on the east by the summit of the Mayacamas Mountains southward to the peak of Sonoma Mountain (located adjacent to Rohnert Park).
The "South end of the Laguna" was and is as far south as the town of Cotati, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Rohnert Park.
Supporting the claim that these three Pomo tribelets were the occupants of the territory is the fact that there are over 80 archaeological sites that have been identified within the Laguna's historic marshlands as being Pomo. Some of the sites are on the floodplains on the western margin of the Laguna.
The rich wetlands of the Laguna were an important resource for the Pomo people. Control of these resources created a reported tension between the three Pomo tribelets themselves, and territorial borders appear to have been strictly enforced. Permission was needed to pass through each tribelet's territory. If, for example, the Konhomtara wished to fish on the Russian River, they had to gain permission from the Kataictemi. (Note: The above paragraphs are based on the work of David A. Fredrickson, Ph.D. and Daniel W. Markwyn, Ph.D.)
The ancient Laguna of 2000 BC supported these tribes with abundant fish, fowl andtule reeds for constructing homes andcanoes.[8] In 1833, the originalMexicanland grant occurred that involved lands of the Laguna watershed. In the year 1870, therailroad arrived with associated channelizations and intensification of agricultural uses. By the 1960s, encroachment of the vast eastern plain was almost complete, and the previously rich run of 1.6 millionanadromous fish had virtually collapsed. By 1989 over 92 percent of the Laguna's historicriparian habitat had been lost, and its water quality had reached critically poor levels.
Historically the Laguna was the receiving waters for untreated (and later treated)sewage from adjacent cities, which eventually joined to participate in a regional sanitation district under the management ofthe city of Santa Rosa; to some degree due to regulatory action, litigation and pressure from local advocates, the City has become a partner in Laguna restoration by improving thetreatment level of this wastewater and minimizing discharge through tertiary wastewater irrigation reuse forhay farming. Though concerns remain relating to compliance and management of this system, Santa Rosa's wastewater treatment and management system is considered to be one of the most progressive in the nation.
In that year the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation was formed to mobilize public and private resources for preservation and restoration of this natural area. The Foundation has developed education programs, implemented a number of hydrological andecological restoration projects, and publishedEnhancing and Caring for the Laguna, a restoration and management plan for the Laguna watershed, in 2006. Primarily funded by theCalifornia Coastal Conservancy and developed with participation by hundreds of Lagunastakeholder organizations and individuals, the plan serves as a framework for improvement of the Laguna'secological functions and development oftrail access. The Foundation is now in the process of designing, funding and implementing projects to meet the goals of this plan.
As recently as theMiocene period, this entire region was submerged below thePacific Ocean. Around 12 million years ago, processes of uplift andvolcanic action formed the Mayacamas and Sonoma Mountains to the east and established the maingeomorphic features of the present day landscape. Millions of years of stream erosion carving these mountains led to the rich soils of the Santa Rosa Plain and the Laguna de Santa Rosa drainage that meandered on the vast plain. The western hills are much less pronounced in elevation, and contribute far less to the drainage area of the basin.
Soil types within the Laguna are quite complex and vary by reach. Many of the soils of the immediate Laguna area are classified as Clear Lakeclay; these soils are associated with regions of poor drainage, and are underlain byalluvium andsedimentary rock.[9] The surface of these soils is typically dark gray, and soilsacidity ranges from slight to medium for the first 39 inches (100 cm) of depth; underlying this upper soil layer is a moderatelyalkaline dark gray clay. Deeper, typically below 46 inches (117 cm), is a gray and light brownish gray moderately alkaline clay. Wright loams are also present within the Laguna. The slope of the drainage basin is typically zero to two percent.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa is a principal tributary ofMark West Creek. Largest among the many tributaries of the Laguna areSanta Rosa Creek,Copeland Creek,Hinebaugh Creek,Five Creek,Washoe Creek andBlucher Creek. The Laguna consists of a winding ribbon of flow in the dry summer season and a massive floodplain that resembles a series of lakes in the winter storm season. There are numerousvernal pools on the floodplain that extend for miles to the east, which support manyrare andendangered species.
With regard to water quality, the Laguna de Santa Rosa is listed as Impaired under the federalClean Water Act forsediment,nitrogen,phosphorus,temperature,mercury, anddissolved oxygen, its six such listings being the most of any water body on the North Coast of California.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa provides recreation and agricultural and industrial water supply plus wildlife habitat including cold freshwater habitat.[10] The Laguna is a complex of habitat types including freshwaterriparianforest andfloodplains, seasonalwetlands andvernal pools, uplandvalley oaksavanna and freshwatertulemarsh. A number ofrare andendangered species are found in the Laguna, such as theCalifornia tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense),California freshwater shrimp (Syncaris pacifica) andSebastopol meadowfoam (Limnanthes vinculans). As an element of thePacific Flyway, the Laguna is home to a large variety ofavifauna includingRidgway's rail,Canada goose (Branta canadensis),turkey vulture (Cathartes aura),black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus),burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia),great egret (Casmerodius albus),great blue heron (Ardea herodias) andAmerican kestrel (Falco sparverius). More than 200species ofbirds are known to reside in or feed and rest in the Laguna in the course ofmigration.Salmonid species listed as threatened or endangered species are known to travel through the Laguna to spawn in itstributaries, includingsteelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) andcoho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch).
Much of the Laguna's most important habitat is in private hands, and multiple public agencies regulate various aspects of the Laguna's water, lands and natural resources. At the federal level, theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers has played a role in analysis of water quality, especially related to sediment issues, and theNational Marine Fisheries Service of theNational Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration regulates critical habitat and recovery efforts for threatened and endangered salmonid species. The state of California, through itsDepartment of Fish and Game, has ownership involvement as well as an enforcement role in species protection, while the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is responsible for regulating water quality in the Laguna. Locally, theSonoma County Water Agency manages areas of the Laguna for flood control, and the City ofSanta Rosa's Subregionalwastewater System's main plant is located in the Laguna floodplain and owns and manages adjacent lands for storage and agricultural reuse of treated wastewater as well as for habitat values. The City ofSebastopol also owns lands in the Laguna which it manages as public parkland. In theprivate sector, the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation plays an active role in planning, public education, restoration, research and implementation of education programs in the Laguna.
On February 2, 2011, theRamsar Convention on Wetlands recognized the Laguna as a wetlands of international importance.[11] The designation, affecting 3,894 acres (1,576 ha) took effect on April 16, 2011.[12]
At least ten bridges span the Laguna as it flows along the heavily populatedU.S. Route 101 corridor:[13]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
