Santa Clara River (California)
The Santa Clara River () is an long river in Ventura and Los Angeles counties in Southern California. It drains parts of four ranges in the Transverse Ranges System north and northwest of Los Angeles, then flows west onto the Oxnard Plain and into the Santa Barbara Channel of the Pacific Ocean. The watershed has provided habitat for a wide array of native plants and animals and has historically supplied humans with water, fish, and fertile farmland. The northern portion of the watershed was home to the Tataviam people while the southern portion was occupied by the Chumash people. Much of the Santa Clara River Valley is used for agriculture which has limited the use of structural levees to separate the natural floodplain from the river. Although it is one of the least altered rivers in Southern California, some levees exist where the river flows through areas of significant urban development. History The Santa Clara River was originally named the Río de Santa Clara on August 9, 1769, by the Portolá expedition on the march north from San Diego to found a mission at Monterey, to honor Saint Clare of Assisi who died on August 11, 1253. The Santa Clara River Valley was then known as the Cañada de Santa Clara. The Santa Clara-Mojave River Ranger District of the Angeles National Forest is named after the Santa Clara River. Floods The failure and near complete collapse of the St. Francis Dam took place in the middle of the night on March 12, 1928. The dam was holding a full reservoir of of water that surged down San Francisquito Canyon and emptied into the river. Course The Santa Clara River's headwaters take drainage from the northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains near the Angeles Forest Highway, inside the western part of the Angeles National Forest. Its largest fork, Aliso Canyon, is about long and forms the primary headstream. These branches combine into the broad wash of the main stem near the town of Acton which flows west through Soledad Canyon, crossing under California State Route 14 near the town of Canyon Country. The Sierra Pelona Mountains on the north provide additional watershed and seasonal tributaries. The river receives Bouquet Creek, Placerita Creek, and San Francisquito Creek within the City of Santa Clarita. The riverbed surface remains dry most of the year here, except on extreme occasions of heavier than average rainfall. The river then crosses west under Interstate 5 and receives Castaic Creek from the right. After the Castaic Creek confluence, the river starts to flow primarily southwest through the Santa Clarita Valley. Near the county line between Los Angeles County and Ventura County, the river enters the Santa Clara River Valley flowing past Buckhorn and Fillmore, incorporating additional flow from Piru Creek and Sespe Creek, both from the right, and Santa Paula Creek at the town of Santa Paula, where it passes the large South Mountain Oil Field on the south bank. The Santa Clara River then bends southwest,