Mugu Lagoon (;

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

: ''Muwu'', meaning "Beach") is a

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

located within the

Naval Base Ventura County Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) is a United States Navy base in Ventura County, California. Formed by the merger of NAS Point Mugu and CBC Port Hueneme, NBVC is a diverse installation composed of three main locations — Point Mugu, Port Hueneme ...

at the foot of the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

. The

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

extends for 4.3 miles parallel to a narrow barrier beach. The first European to come ashore here was

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ( pt, João Rodrigues Cabrilho; c. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the firs ...

on October 10, 1542. Cabrillo was the first European to visit present-day California, and he named it ''Muwu'', which is

meaning "beach" or "seashore". When the Europeans first discovered the lagoon, it functioned as the capital village of the

Chumash Indians The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu ...

settled around

Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term ...

Geography

The

Calleguas Creek Calleguas Creek (; Chumash: ''Kayïwïsh'', meaning "the head") is the terminus of a river system in Ventura County, California. It drains the Calleguas Creek Watershed, an area 30 miles long and 14 miles wide (343 square miles), which includes Sim ...

, and its tributaries such as

Arroyo Conejo Arroyo Conejo (Spanish for “Rabbit Creek”) is the longest creek in the Conejo Valley, sprawling over the cities of Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, and the communities of Newbury Park, Casa Conejo and Santa Rosa Valley. Arroyo Conejo is the pri ...

and

Arroyo Simi The Arroyo Simi (Spanish language, Spanish for "Small Stream of Simi", sometimes also referred to as Simi Creek)Appleton, Bill (2009). ''Santa Susana''. Arcadia Publishing. Page 27. . is a westwards-running Arroyo (creek), creek, located in Calif ...

, discharges into the Pacific Ocean at its estuary in Mugu Lagoon. Historically, Calleguas Creek flood flows spread across the floodplain and the deposited sediment created the rich agricultural lands of the

Oxnard Plain The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpora ...

. With year-round agriculture in the floodplain, concrete channels and dirt levees have been built to contain the flow. This has delivered increased sediment to Mugu Lagoon and flooding during extreme rain events.

References

Lagoons of California Estuaries of California Bodies of water of Ventura County, California Geography of Ventura County, California Beaches of Ventura County, California {{VenturaCountyCA-geo-stub