Ten Mile River (California)
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Ten Mile River (also known as Ten Mile Creek) is in northern
Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...
, United States. It is named for the fact that its mouth is north of the mouth of the
Noyo River The Noyo River (Pomo: ''Chemli-bida'') is a river on the north coast of California in Mendocino County. The river's headwaters are in the steep Mendocino Range, but downstream the river flows through gently sloping marine terraces before draini ...
.. The lands around lower Ten Mile River provide valuable freshwater and saltwater marsh habitat for a variety of birds. The Ten Mile River Estuary, Ten Mile Beach, and Ten Mile State Marine Reserve together form a marine protected area that extends from the estuary out to . Ten Mile Beach is also part of
MacKerricher State Park MacKerricher State Park is a state park in California in the United States. It is located north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. It covers of coastline and contains several types of coastal habitat, including beaches, dunes, headlands, coves, ...
, which extends approximately southward from the mouth of the river to Cleone and includes approximately of the "most pristine stretch of sand dunes
n California N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
"


History

The Ten Mile River basin has been logged continuously since the early 1870s. At first, trees were cut using single-bladed axes and dragged by
oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...
to mills at
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
, to the south. Railroad lines were introduced on the South Fork in 1910 and on the other parts of the river in the 1920s. In the 1930s, the railroads were replaced by tractor roads; after the passage of the California Forest Practice Act in 1973, tractor logging on steeper slopes was supplanted by more environmentally friendly practices such as the use of cables.Timber Harvest in KRIS Ten Mile
Klamath Resource Information System, retrieved 2010-08-21.
The timber on both sides of the river was logged by the Georgia Pacific Company until 1999, when Georgia-Pacific's holdings in the area were acquired by the Hawthorne Timber Company.. Timber in the area is logged on a 60-year rotation. An 1861 story in
Harper's Monthly ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
includes a passage recounting the crossing of Ten Mile River: "We found the crossing a little dangerous on account of the tide, which sometimes renders it impassable for several hours, except by swimming. With some plunging, spurring, and kicking, the opposite side was gained in due time". Later, the river was spanned near its mouth by a bridge on
California State Route 1 State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At , it is the longest state route in California, and the second-longest in the US after Monta ...
, north of the community of
Inglenook An inglenook or chimney corner is a recess that adjoins a fireplace. The word comes from "ingle", an old Scots word for a domestic fire (derived from the Gaelic ''aingeal''), and "nook". The inglenook originated as a partially enclosed heart ...
. A concrete beam bridge replaced an older wooden
deck truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or s ...
in 1954. After studies found that the 1954 bridge was insufficiently earthquake-safe, a new concrete
box girder bridge A box girder bridge, or box section bridge, is a bridge in which the main beams comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box. The box girder normally comprises prestressed concrete, structural steel, or a composite of steel and reinf ...
on Highway 1 was constructed in 2009. The new bridge is wide and long; it cost $43.5 million to construct.Ten Mile River Bridge
California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...
, retrieved 2010-08-21.
In 2012, the Ten Mile River Estuary was designated as a State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) under the
Marine Life Protection Act The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) was passed in 1999 and is part of the California Fish and Game Code. The MLPA requires California to reevaluate all existing marine protected areas (MPAs) and potentially design new MPAs that together form a s ...
. At the same time, Ten Mile Beach SMCA and Ten Mile State State Marine Reserve were established, creating a continuous
Marine Protected Area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...
(MPA) zone that extends from the upper limit of the estuary out to . The MPA zone complements the protections for neighboring lands, including
MacKerricher State Park MacKerricher State Park is a state park in California in the United States. It is located north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. It covers of coastline and contains several types of coastal habitat, including beaches, dunes, headlands, coves, ...
and Inglenook Fen-Ten Mile Dunes Natural Preserve.


Ecology

The Ten Mile River has intermittent ocean connectivity, so that the estuary effectively becomes a freshwater lagoon in some years. As a result, seasonal use by anadromous and marine fishes varies significantly from year to year. When the mouth is open, Ten Mile River Estuary serves as a migration corridor for anadromous salmonids and a rearing area for juvenile coastal fishes, including flatfish and surfperch. In summer, juvenile shiner surfperch (''Cymatogaster aggregata'') will flock to the highly productive
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 ...
es when tidally flooded. This changes in years when the mouth is closed - salinities are reduced, slack tides can persist for hours, and the winter fish community of sculpins and
Three-spined Stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...
(''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') continues to dominate through summer. Lagoon conditions are ideal for the endangered
Tidewater goby ''Eucyclogobius newberryi'', the Northern tidewater goby, is a species of goby native to lagoons of streams, marshes, and creeks along the coast of California, United States. The Northern tidewater goby is one of six native goby species to Califo ...
(''Eucyclogobius newberryi''), which prefers slow-moving habitats. The goby is found in the estuary and several miles upstream in areas impounded by California Golden beavers (Castor canadensis subauratus). The dunes surrounding the estuary are home to rare plant species, while the freshwater and saltwater marshes along the estuary provide critical bird habitat. The area is popular for paddle sports and birding. Historically, the Ten Mile River had an important Coho Salmon population, but it has since been surpassed by Steelhead. The river provides cold freshwater habitat for fish migration and spawning, but is environmentally impacted by logging like many rivers in the area. A
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
study reported that "Sediment was determined to be impacting the cold water fishery, a beneficial use of the Ten Mile River watershed, including the migration, spawning, reproduction, and early development of cold water fish such as coho salmon and steelhead trout. Cold freshwater and estuarine habitats are also designated beneficial uses of the Ten Mile River watershed." The spawning population of
coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...
in Ten Mile River has been observed to decrease from an estimate of 6000 fish in the early 1960s to much lower numbers ranging from 14 to 250 in the 1990s. Contributing factors to this decline include natural variability, excessive
sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
from logging, increased water temperatures due to the removal of riparian vegetation, and reduced woody debris in salmon habitats. As a result of these impacts, the river was listed as sediment impaired under section 303(d) of the Clean water Act in 1998. Improved timber harvest practices and regular road maintenance have reduced sedimentation and allowed continued active management for timber harvest in 45% of the Ten Mile River watershed.


Watershed

The Ten Mile River mainstem begins at the confluence of North Fork Ten Mile River and Middle Fork Ten Mile River, flows southwest then northwest to the Pacific Ocean south of Westport. The North Fork Ten Mile River begins at elevation . The Middle Fork Ten Mile River begins at elevation on the north side of Sherwood Peak. The middle and north forks of the river are each long, and the river extends longer from their confluence to its mouth 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 watershed drains approximately and is neighbored to the south by the
Noyo River The Noyo River (Pomo: ''Chemli-bida'') is a river on the north coast of California in Mendocino County. The river's headwaters are in the steep Mendocino Range, but downstream the river flows through gently sloping marine terraces before draini ...
watershed and to the east and north by the South Fork Eel River watershed. River flow is precipitation-driven. Annual rainfall averages on the coast and inland. Under low flow conditions, sand bars constrict the narrow river mouth, often blocking it entirely in summer. When this occurs, the estuarine portion of the Ten Mile River temporarily becomes a freshwater lagoon, where salinity and tidal influence are both reduced. Estuarine conditions return when large storm events re-establish ocean connectivity.


See also

*
List of rivers of California This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of California, grouped by region. Major lakes and reservoirs, if applicable, are indicated in italics. North Coast (north of Humboldt Bay) Rivers and streams between the Oregon border and Humboldt Bay th ...


References


External links

{{commons cat
KRIS Ten Mile project
Klamath Resource Information System.
California Watershed Browser - Ten Mile River
Rivers of Mendocino County, California Rivers of Northern California