Temescal Wash

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Temescal Wash
Temescal Creek
Temescal Wash (marked orange) in the river system of the Santa Ana River

Temescal Wash (marked orange) in the river system of the Santa Ana River

Data
Water code US :  274063
location Riverside County , California , United States
River system Santa Ana River
Drain over Santa Ana River  → Pacific Ocean
origin Lake Elsinore
33 ° 42 ′ 52 "  N , 117 ° 22 ′ 34"  W.
Source height 379  m
muzzle at Corona in the Santa Ana River coordinates: 33 ° 54 '22 "  N , 117 ° 36' 50"  W 33 ° 54 '22 "  N , 117 ° 36' 50"  W
Mouth height 153  m
Height difference 226 m
Bottom slope 7.1 ‰
length 32 km
Catchment area 2200 km²
Drain MQ
 850 l / s
Left tributaries Rice Canyon Creek, Horsetheif Canyon Creek, Indian Canyon Creek, Mayhew Canyon Creek, Coldwater Canyon Creek, Brown Canyon Creek, Bedford Canyon Wash, Joseph Canyon Creek, Main Street Canyon Wash, Oak Avenue Drain
Right tributaries Wasson Canyon Creek, Arroyo Del Toro, Dawson Creek, Olsen Canyon Creek, Cajalco Canyon Creek
Reservoirs flowed through Lee Lake
Big cities corona
Medium-sized cities Lake Elsinore

The Temescal Wash (unofficially Temescal Creek ) is a river in Riverside County , California . It rises from Lake Elsinore and leads in a north-westerly direction through several valleys and canyons to Corona , where it flows into the Santa Ana River . With a catchment area of ​​2200 km², the Temescal Wash is its most important tributary.

geography

From a hydrological point of view, the water from the 1900 km² catchment area of ​​the San Jacinto River is fed via the Temescal Wash into the Santa Ana River and over it into the Pacific Ocean . The river rises from Lake Elsinore at an altitude of 379 m and leads over a length of 32 km to Corona , where it flows into the Santa Ana River at 153 m.

The river flows through dry areas in the rain shadow of the Santa Ana Mountains , which is why it only carries water at times along its entire route.

Watercourse

Today the Temescal Wash begins as the Elsinore Spillway Channel on Lake Elsinore and is used to relieve the lake during floods. It continues through the town of Lake Elsinore , then north-west through the Warm Springs Valley . There it flows together with Wasson Canyon Wash and passes a sewage treatment plant. From its confluence with Arroyo Del Toro , the Temescal Wash is a natural watercourse. It now leads through Walker Canyon and meets Rice Canyon Wash at Alberhill . It then crosses Interstate 15 , merges with Horsetheif Canyon Creek and then into Lee Lake . This is caused by damming the Temescal Wash by means of an earth dam . Indian Canyon Creek then flows into the Temescal Wash. Here the river is bounded in the northwest by the Santa Ana Mountains . The Temescal Wash descends in another canyon . Here the watercourse bends in a semicircle around the mountain range and continues north of Lee Lake, where it enters the Temescal Valley . The Canyon Wash then passes through Estelle Mountain Canyon and a natural river bed before it joins some streams, namely Mayhew Canyon Wash , Dawson Canyon Wash , Coldwater Canyon Creek , Brown Canyon Wash , Olsen Canyon Wash , Cajalco Canyon Wash , Bedford Canyon Wash and Joseph Canyon Wash , meets before entering Temescal Canyon . To the north of El Cerrito , the stream meets a reservoir for the second time and emerges from it again as a canal . It runs through the northern part of Corona , flows together with Main Street Canyon Wash and Oak Avenue Drain , and then meets the Prado Flood Control Basin, which was created by the Prado Dam , which impairs the Santa Ana River . In this marshland, the Temescal Wash finally flows into the Santa Ana River. During floods, the estuary becomes its own lake, so that the confluence of the two rivers can no longer be recognized as such.

history

Before 1886 the Temescal Wash carried significantly more water than it does today. In May of that year, the South Riverside Land and Water Company was founded, which bought land in the area, established a settlement called South Riverside , and also secured the rights to the Temescal Wash, its tributaries and Lee Lake . Dams and pipelines were constructed to direct the water to South Riverside. From 1889 the newly created Temescal Water Company supplied the settlement. They acquired all areas of water in the Temescal Valley and began drilling artesian wells ; the first water was brought up from a depth of almost 100 m. When the water levels began to drop, pumping stations had to meet the demand for water. Later, the water from both Temescal Wash itself and Coldwater Canyon Creek only ran through pipelines. Headwaters were drained, and so the Temescal Valley became dry and desolate over time. Farms and orchards had to be given up.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lake Elsinore in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
  2. ↑ Temescal Wash in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)