Ventura River

The Ventura River is a river in Ventura County, California. The river forms at the confluence of Matilija Creek and North Fork Matilija Creek, 16.5 miles (26.6 km)[1] upstream from the Pacific Ocean. San Antonio Creek joins the river halfway to the ocean and Coyote Creek does the same a couple of miles downstream.

Contents

Ecology

Genetic analysis of the steelhead in the Ventura river watershed (both above and below Matilija Dam) has shown them to be of native and not hatchery stocks.[2]

Dams

However, the flow from Coyote Creek has not been very large since the completion of Casitas Dam, which forms Lake Casitas. The dam is about 2 miles upstream of the junction with the Ventura River. There is also a dam on Matilija Creek, Matilija Dam. Completed in 1948, it was built to store 5,000 acre feet (6,200,000 m3) of water, but sediment has reduced its capacity by 90%. Many groups, including some governmental ones, are working towards the removal of the dam. On November 8, 2007, the 110th Congress overturned President Bush's veto of a bill delegating approximately $89.7M to the project. Finally, Robles Dam, which is 2 miles downstream from Matilija Dam, diverts water to Lake Casitas, further reducing the river's flow.

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 16, 2011
  2. ^ Anthony J. Clemento, Eric C. Anderson, David Boughton, Derek Girman, John Carlos Garza (2009). "Population genetic structure and ancestry of Oncorhynchus mykiss populations above and below dams in south-central California". Conservation Genetics: 1321–1336. http://www.springerlink.com/content/7305l85175847n20/fulltext.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-11. 

See also