Salt Creek, of Salt Creek Beach Fame

       Lately I've been reading and thinking about the tragic story of how a wild stream turns sour and sad. It is a very small stream and basin, only about 4 miles in length and only draining 6.1 square miles. Since the area began to be heavily developed in the late 80s and early 90s, the hilltops were pushed into the canyon bottoms and the natural water channels were replaced by concrete pipes. Below is a map of the many miles of channels that were laid during the expanse of the suburbs.

A little while ago, I made an entry on the Wikipedia page detailing the effects of this channelization. It reads as follows:

Due to channelization during urban development, the source of Salt Creek, which was a small marshy wetland but has been replaced by a community pool, is no longer where was before the area was developed in the 1990s. At that point, The flow of Salt Creek is channeled into storm drain K01P07, which ends about 1/2 mile to the northeast of the original source at 33.52508, -117.68814. The various storm drains and the obliteration of the original source have in effect moved the source to an area completely under the street of Marina Hills. In addition, the flow of the stream is almost entirely urban runoff during dry seasons. This is evidenced by a constant annual flow, albeit low, which is low in life and the fact that it is choked with stringy algae, the growth of which is stimulated by nitrates from yard fertilizer. Also as a result of this intense channelization, Salt Creek has no surface tributaries and is inhospitable for all but the smallest mosquito fish and tadpoles. Oftentimes, there are soap suds visible on the water's surface, originating from the many residential and commercial entities in the watershed.

Upon rereading this, I note several things that are accepted and true, but yet not quite 

how I wanted them presented. I should first of all point out that I meant to say there are no surface tributaries, as a side canyon contains an annual stream that contains a slot canyon and a waterfall with constant flow, no thanks to the affluent community on the hilltops above. I have been to the bottom of this canyon many times, and it was extremely peaceful and I even dug stairs into the steep bank to make access less dangerous. The slot I speak of is choked with invasive Giant Reed and other brush but it is worth it to travel to the end of the slot and stand in a wide space, probably 20 feet deep. Here are some pictures of this spot. 

Over the several times I have returned to this spot and the top of the waterfall, which is easily accessed, the water flow has carried greatly. This depends on the time of day as well, usually more in the morning because people are using their sprinklers. Of course the flow is entirely runoff, which has a surprising flow at times. I returned just a few weeks ago for the first time in nearly a year, and found the area was highly degraded. There was loose plant life and trails everywhere, probably due to the explosion of the coyote population recently. I've seen more in the last four months than the rest of my time living here. Alas, I digress.

The waterfall occurs where a clay layer ends, allowing the constant flow to eat in to the very soft sediment that makes up the San Joaquin Hills in this area. The sediment is roughly 27 million years old, when the uplift of the hills began on the San Joaquin Hills Blind Thrust. Because it is so young, it has not had a chance to properly form solid rock many places, thus the (essentially mud) sediment is very soft and fragile, though high in clay.

Back to Salt Creek. On two occasions I have traveled the extensive culverts that now contain the entire flow of the creek, and found interesting things both times. A large part of the flow enters in the portion between Camino del Avion and the mouth at the ocean, mostly from drains K01S01 and K01S04. The main storm channel closest to the ocean has many nice mineralizations on the walls and it is clear to see where the original tunnel was before the golf course was built above in the early 90s. I'm not sure when the original culvert was built, but it was long before the current one. The easily distinguished original channel is much smaller in width and is Gothic-arch in shape. The floor is covered by mats of orange algae, and the stringy green algae is not present at all underground. Also, I saw several crayfish, which I was not expecting to find as I had never seen them before in this watershed. I plan to return later this year to explore K01S04 and K01S01 as far as they can be traveled, simply because it is nice to get underground sometimes as there are few mines within a three-hour-drive radius. Given that, I close this lengthy post, leaving the reader to consider the following: before you dump it in the gutter, know where it goes. Its interesting and fun to know about your local water courses.