The Cuyama River (

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...

: ''Kuyam'', meaning "Clam") is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 15, 2011 river in southern

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

, northern

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

, and northern

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It joins the

Sisquoc River The Sisquoc River is a westward flowing river in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Maria River, which is formed when the Sisquoc River meets the Cuyama River at the Santa Barbara County and San Luis Ob ...

forming the Santa Maria River. The river's name comes from an Indian village named for the

* Pentateuch (dis ...

word ''kuyam'', meaning "clam" or "freshwater mollusk".

Course

The Cuyama River's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

is in

San Emigdio Mountains The San Emigdio Mountains are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southe ...

, within the

Chumash Wilderness The Chumash Wilderness is a wilderness area within the southern Los Padres National Forest. It is located in the Transverse Ranges, in northern Ventura County and southwestern Kern County in California. The wilderness was created by the U.S. C ...

area of the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

at an altitude above .Santa Maria River Tributaries: Cuyama River and Sisquoc River
, The Trust for Public Land The river's upper reaches are in Ventura County, where several tributaries join before the mainstem river exits Los Padres National Forest. After leaving the national forest the river enters Santa Barbara County and flows through the

Cuyama Valley The Cuyama Valley (Chumash: ''Kuyam'', meaning "Clam") is a valley along the Cuyama River in Central California, in northern Santa Barbara, southern San Luis Obispo, southwestern Kern, and northwestern Ventura counties. It is about two hours d ...

, which lies between the

Caliente Range The Caliente Range is a west-east trending zone of uplift mountains in the California Coast Ranges, in central California. The highest peak of the range is Caliente Mountain at in elevation, located in southeastern San Luis Obispo County. Geol ...

and the Sierra Madre Mountains. The river flows past the towns of Cuyama and New Cuyama. Through most of the Cuyama Valley and downriver to its confluence with the Sisquoc River the Cuyama River forms the approximate boundary between Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. Downstream from the Cuyama Valley the river enters

Twitchell Reservoir Twitchell Reservoir is a reservoir (water), reservoir in southern San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County in California. The reservoir has a capacity of a ...

, after which it flows another to its confluence with the Sisquoc River. The joined streams are called the Santa Maria River, which flows about to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The river's course has evolved over its history by fault displacement.

Management

About from its source the river reaches

, formed by Twitchell Dam. The dam provides flood control and allows water to be released gradually, so that as much of it as possible will seep into the soil and recharge the

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

aquifer. The water is released as quickly as possible while still allowing it to percolate into the ground, so the

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

is often empty. The river and the reservoir are usually dry during the summer, when there is little or no rain. However, large flows can occur following winter storms.

References

External links

*
Floods in Cuyama Valley, California, February 1998

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Cuyama Valley Photos

{{Authority control Rivers of Southern California Cuyama Valley Rivers of Santa Barbara County, California Rivers of San Luis Obispo County, California Rivers of Ventura County, California Los Padres National Forest San Emigdio Mountains