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Arroyo Grande Creek
Arroyo Grande Creek is a major stream in San Luis Obispo County on the Central Coast of California. The creek flows in a southwesterly direction, from the Santa Lucia Range to the Pacific Ocean. It is a major source of water supply for southern San Luis Obispo County. The creek's name is derived from the Spanish for "large watercourse", and was sometimes called the "Roaring Grande" in the 19th century due to its propensity for flooding. The city of Arroyo Grande, established in 1867, was named after the stream. Course Arroyo Grande Creek begins in the southern foothills of the Santa Lucia Range, just outside the Los Padres National Forest. It flows west through ranches and farms, and is joined by Saucelito Creek and Phoenix Creek from the left. The creek then flows into Lopez Lake, impounded by Lopez Dam about upstream from the mouth. Wittenberg and Lopez Canyon Creeks both originate in the Los Padres National Forest and flow into the lake from the north. The creek turns sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arroyo Grande, California
Arroyo Grande (Spanish language, Spanish for "Big Creek") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 18,441 as of the 2020 census, up from 17,252 as of the 2010 Census. History The earliest inhabitants of the Arroyo Grande Valley were Chumash people, Chumash Indians, who conducted extensive trade with other Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American tribes at a considerable distance. The first Europeans to see this stretch of coast were the crew of Portugal, Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (Cabrilho in Portuguese), working in the service of Spain. The Spanish Portolá expedition was the first European visit by land, passing through the area on Timeline of the Portola expedition, September 4, 1769. When Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was established nearby, the Portolà trail became part of the road connecting the 21 Spanish missions (today called El Camino Real (California), El ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lopez Lake
Lopez Lake is a reservoir near the city of Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is formed by Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The creek drains about above the dam and below. The dam was built in and is operated by the San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The earth-fill dam was retrofitted to protect against earthquakes between 2001 and 2003. The winter of 2022-2023 brought the reservoir to the capacity of . In March 2023 the lake overflowed into the spillway for the first time since 1998, some 25 years prior. Lopez Lake provides drinking water for Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach. It also provides groundwater recharge, water for irrigation and flood control. Unlike most municipal water supplies, human contact with the water is permitted. Sailing, wind surfing, water skiing, swimming, fishing and camping are popular activities. There is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow Trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead. Adult freshwater stream rainbow trout average between , while lake-dwelling and anadromous forms may reach . Coloration varies widely based on subspecies, forms, and habitat. Adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males. Wild-caught and hatchery-reared forms of the species have been transplanted and introduced for food or sport in at least 45 countries and every continent except ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo, California, San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1772, and San Luis Obispo grew around it. The small size of the county's communities, scattered along the beaches, coastal hills, and mountains of the Santa Lucia range, provides a wide variety of coastal and inland hill ecologies to support fishing, agriculture, and tourist activities. California Polytechnic State University has almost 20,000 students. Tourism, especially for the wineries, is popular. Grapes and other agriculture products are an important part of the economy. San Luis Obispo County is the third largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa counties. Strawberrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Oak Woodland
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal California; in interior valleys of the Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges; and in a ring around the California Central Valley grasslands. The dominant trees are oaks, interspersed with other broadleaf and coniferous trees, with an understory of grasses, herbs, geophytes, and California native plants. Oak savannas occur where the oaks are more widely spaced due a combination of lack of available moisture, and low-intensity frequent fires. The oak woodlands of Southern California and coastal Northern California are dominated by coast live oak (''Quercus agrifolia''), but also include valley oak ( ''Q. lobata''), California black oak ( ''Q. kelloggii''), canyon live oak ( ''Q. chrysolepis''), and other California oa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires. Chaparral features summer-drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found often on drier, southern facing slopes within the chaparral biome. Three other closely related chaparral shrubland systems occur in central Arizona, western Texas, and along the eastern side of central Mexico's mountain chains (mexical), all having summer rains in contrast to the Mediterranean climate of other chaparral formations. Chaparral comprises 9% of California's wildland vegetation and contains 20% of its plant species. The name comes from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adenostoma Fasciculatum
''Adenostoma fasciculatum'', commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specialized lignotuber underground and at the base of the stem, known as a burl, that allow it to resprout after fire has off burned its stems. It is noted for its greasy, resinous foliage, and its status as one of California's most iconic chaparral shrubs.Rundel, P. W. (2018)California chaparral and its global significance. In ''Valuing Chaparral''(pp. 7). Springer, Cham. Description Morphology It is a shrub with long, arching stems of brown to gray bark, and is usually less than 4 meters high. It is diffusely branched and spreading in habit, with some forms prostrate. The stems are slender, numerous, and erect, and generally lack permanent branches. The young stems have reddish bark, and become gray with exfoliating bark in later age. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceanothus Cuneatus
''Ceanothus cuneatus'' is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names buckbrush and wedgeleaf ceanothus. Distribution This ''Ceanothus'' is native to Oregon, California, and northern Baja California, where it can be found in a number of habitats, especially chaparral. Description ''Ceanothus cuneatus'' is a spreading bush, rounded to sprawling, reaching up to three meters in height. The evergreen leaves are stiff and somewhat tough and may be slightly toothed along the edges. The bush flowers abundantly in short, thick-stalked racemes bearing rounded bunches of tiny flowers, each about half a centimeter wide. The fragrant flowers are white, sometimes tinted strongly with blue or lavender. The fruit is a round capsule with horns. It is about half a centimeter wide and contains three shiny dark seeds which are dispersed when the capsule explodes and propels them some distance. Harvester ants have been known to catch the seeds, which can lie dormant for a long time sinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes is the largest remaining dune system south of San Francisco and the second largest in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses an stretch of coastline on the Central Coast of California and extends from southern San Luis Obispo County to northern Santa Barbara County. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex is home to a unique dunes ecosystem as well as many endangered and threatened species of plants and animals. To protect the dunes environment, much of the Complex has been set aside for conservation. In addition, it is recognized as a National Natural Landmark. Another portion of the Dunes is utilized for recreation, such as camping and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes is owned by a number of federal, state, and local agencies, and private companies, organizations and individuals. These include the counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, California State Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Land Conservancy of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceano, California
Oceano ( Spanish: ''Océano'', meaning "Ocean") is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 7,286 at the 2010 census, up from 7,260 at the 2000 census. Geography Oceano is located at (35.102680, -120.611471). Oceano is part of the 5 Cities Metropolitan Area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (0.98%) is water. Oceano's beach is the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, a coastal sand dune. As the only state park in California where visitors may drive vehicles on the beach, tourists are attracted from all over the United States. Activities on this beach include riding the sand dunes on all-terrain-vehicles, swimming, clamming, camping, surfing, surf fishing, hiking, and bird watching. Demographics 2010 At the 2010 census Oceano had a population of 7,286. The population density was . The ethnic makeup of Oceano was 5,105 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization's work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The agency was founded on March 3, 1879. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior; it is that department's sole scientific agency. The USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, and Menlo Park, California. The current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is "science for a changing world". The agency's previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its hundredt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Lucia Range
The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from the coast.''Big Sur: Images of America'', Jeff Norman, Big Sur Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing (2004), 128 pages, The range forms the steepest coastal slope in the contiguous United States. Cone Peak at tall and three miles (5 km) from the coast, is the highest peak in proximity to the ocean in the lower 48 United States. The range was a barrier to exploring the coast of central California for early Spanish explorers. Geography The Santa Lucia Mountains are part of the Outer South California Coast Ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges System. The coastal side of the range rises directly from the shoreline, with oceanfront ridges rising directly to the crest of the coastal range. The crest of the range is never more than fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
