The San Antonio River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 15, 2011

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

in southern

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

. The river was used as an irrigation source for

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon. Founded on July 14, 1771, it was the third mission founded in Alta California ...

Geography

The river travels southeast from its

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition Th ...

s in the

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 fro ...

in the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mon ...

and into Lake San Antonio. This is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

behind the San Antonio Dam, an earth-fill dam on the river that forms the largest lake in the county. Downstream from the dam, the river travels east until it joins the Salinas River. The

Nacimiento River , name_etymology = , image = Nacimiento_River_1.jpg , image_caption = The river downstream of Nacimiento Dam , image_size = 300 , map = Salinas River watershed.png , map_size = 300 , ...

, which feeds Lake Nacimiento and is also a Salinas River tributary, parallels the San Antonio River's path several miles to the southwest.

Ecology

After depletion by 19th century fur trappers,

California golden beaver The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and introduced in South America ( Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland a ...

(''Castor canadensis subauratus'') have expanded their range from the San Antonio River below the reservoir to the Salinas River mainstem.

References

{{Coord, 35.85982, -120.803656, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Rivers of Monterey County, California Salinas River (California) Santa Lucia Range Monterey Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest Rivers of Northern California