Zayante Creek

Coordinates: 37°08′07″N 122°01′07″W / 37.1354°N 122.0186°W / 37.1354; -122.0186 Zayante Creek is a 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km)[1] stream within the San Lorenzo River watershed in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The U.S. government has designated Zayante Creek as impaired with respect to sediment.[2] Lompico Creek, a tributary of Zayante Creek, is listed for impairment by pathogens.[3] In the period 1998 to 2000 a restoration project was conducted for this stream to improve anadromous fish passage, rearing and spawning.[4] There has been a permanent U.S. Geological Survey gauging station on Zayante Creek which has operated since the year 1959; the mean altitude of the Zayante Basin, carved within the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, is 1,000 feet (300 m).[5] Significant tributaries to Zayante Creek are Lompico Creek and Bean Creek.

Soils formations along the mainstem of Zayante Creek by ascending altitude are: Monterey Formation, Zayante Formation, Vaqueros Sandstone and Lompico Sandstone;[6] about midway through its course, Zayante Creek is bisected by the Zayante Fault. Several notable ecological features are present in the Zayante Creek watershed, including the occurrence of a rare forest type: maritime coast range ponderosa pine forest, which contains two endangered arthropods. Regarding specific avafauna species there are sightings of Townsend's warbler.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 15, 2011
  2. ↑ Federal impairment classification for Zayante Creek
  3. ↑ Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board: Impairment Listing for Lompico Creek (2006)
  4. ↑ State of California Zayante Creek Restoration Project
  5. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Stream Gauge Summary
  6. ↑ C. Michael Hogan, Leda Patmore, David Crimp et al., San Lorenzo Basin Groundwater Recharge and Water Quality Study, Earth Metrics Incorporated, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, July 7, 1978
  7. ↑ David Suddjian, Santa Cruz Birds, Albatross, March/April 1993 (Vol 38, No. 4)


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