Salinas River (California)
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The Salinas River is the largest river of the central coast, California, draining nearly 4,200 sq mi. It flows principally north-northwest and drains the Salinas Valley that stretches through the Coast Range south from Monterey Bay. The Salinas acts as a natural aquaduct and wildlife corridor and thus provides the principal source of water from its reservoirs and tributaries for the local farms and vineyards of the valley.
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[edit] Description
The southern end of the river starts in central San Luis Obispo County, at the north end of the La Panza Range, approximately 20 mi (32 km) east of San Luis Obispo. Its only dam forms a relatively small lake, Santa Margarita Lake. The Salinas flows parallel to the Santa Lucia Mountain Range past Atascadero and Paso Robles. It receives outflow from lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio, two large lakes, through their river tributaries in southern Monterey County. It flows through the Salinas Valley, between the Santa Lucia and Gabilan mountain reanges, past many small towns including King City, Greenfield, and Soledad, where it receives the flash-flood prone Arroyo Seco River. It flows past the city of Salinas just to its south before approaching the south-central edge of Monterey Bay. The river does not reach the Pacific ocean in its main channel but is diverted northward along the edge of the bay in the Old Salinas River, joining a slough on Monterey Bay southwest of Watsonville. The river changed its pathway as a result of the 1906 earthquake.
[edit] Agricultural use
The use of the river for irrigation in the valley makes it one of the most productive agricultural regions in California. It is especially known as one of the principal regions for lettuce and artichokes in the United States. The river is shallow above ground, periodically dry, with much of its flow underground. The underground flow results from numerous aquafers, which are recharged by water from the Salinas, especially from release from Nacimiento and San Antonio lakes during the dry months. In the 18th century, the river valley provided the route of El Camino Real, the principal overland route from southern to northern California, used by early Spanish explorers and missionaries.
