Sisquoc River

The Sisquoc River is a river in Santa Barbara County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Maria River, which is formed when the Sisquoc River meets the Cuyama River. The 50-mile long river originates at 6,590 feet atop San Rafael Mountain, in the San Rafael Mountains, which are part of the California Coast Range. The Sierra Madre Mountains form the watershed's boundary to the north, while the San Rafael Mountains form the southern boundary. The first half of the river, in the Los Padres National Forest, specifically the San Rafael Wilderness, travels roughly northwest. Outside of Los Padres, the river flows roughly west to its confluence with the Cuyama River, about 20 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The river is completely free flowing and does not have any diversions. Its sole dam is a 3-meter dam on Horse Canyon, one of its tributaries, but it is filled with sediment and causes little restriction to the river's overall flow.

The watershed has a Mediterranean climate and chaparral vegetation. Annual precipitation in the watershed varies from 13 to 38 inches, 95% of which falls between November and April. This means that the river is dry part of the year, as there are no reservoirs to store water. The lack of rain also causes the vegetation to get very dry and the fire hazard can be very high during the summer.

Zaca Fire

The Zaca Fire burned a large portion of the Sisqouc River watershed in the summer of 2007.

References

* [http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/F07_santamaria.pdf The Trust for Public Land] (PDF)
* [http://www.bartleby.com/69/99/S12199.html Columbia Gazetteer of North America]
* [http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres/documents/crmp/sisquoc-pln.pdf United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service] (PDF)
* [http://www.carcd.org/wisp/cachuma/index.htm CACHUMA Resource Conservation District Santa Maria/Sisquoc River Basin]