Santa Maria River on the
Central Coast of California
The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles County and south of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and includes the rugged, undeveloped ...
, is formed at the confluence of the
Sisquoc River
The Sisquoc River is a westward flowing river in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Maria River, which is formed when the Sisquoc River meets the Cuyama River at the Santa Barbara County and San Luis Ob ...
and
Cuyama River, just east of the city of
Santa Maria, and flows
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed March 15, 2011 to its delta at the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
.
The entire river defines the border between northern
Santa Barbara County and southern
San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.
JunÃpero Serra founded the Mission ...
, up to the Sisquoc River, with a major bridge on
Highway 101
Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...
passing over it. The
Santa Maria River Fault
Santa Maria River Fault is a tectonic fault in Santa Barbara County, California.
It roughly corresponds with the Santa Maria River, until veers south towards Santa Ynez. It passes just north of the city of Santa Maria, California, and lies south ...
is a tectonic fault that roughly corresponds with the course of the river.
There are no
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
s or
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s on the Santa Maria River itself, although
Twitchell Reservoir is formed by a dam on the tributary Cuyama River. Twitchell Dam was built by the
United States Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...
and provides
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
control and
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
recharge of the
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
. The Sisquoc River is also free-flowing, and a
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
.
During much of the year, the Santa Maria River has very little water, but it can swell greatly during winter storms.
See also
*
List of rivers of California
References
Rivers of Southern California
Rivers of Santa Barbara County, California
Rivers of San Luis Obispo County, California
Santa Maria, California
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