Whitewater River (California)

Whitewater River
Country  United States
State  California
Tributaries
 - left Mission Creek[1], Garnet Wash [2], Thousand Palm Canyon Wash[3]
 - right South Fork Whitewater River[4], San Gorgonio River, Chino Wash, Palm Canyon Wash[5], Cathedral Canyon [6]
Cities Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Indio, Coachella, Mecca
Source Confluence of North and Middle Forks [7][8]
 - location Near San Gorgonio Mountain, San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County
 - elevation 4,787 ft (1,459 m)
 - coordinates 34°03′48″N 116°44′50″W / 34.06333°N 116.74722°W / 34.06333; -116.74722 [9]
Mouth Salton Sea
 - location South of Mecca, Riverside County
 - elevation −233 ft (−71 m)
 - coordinates 33°30′30″N 116°03′26″W / 33.50833°N 116.05722°W / 33.50833; -116.05722Coordinates: 33°30′30″N 116°03′26″W / 33.50833°N 116.05722°W / 33.50833; -116.05722 [9]
Length 53.9 mi (87 km) [10]
Basin 1,500 sq mi (3,885 km2)
Discharge for Indio
 - average 3.53 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) [11]
 - max 11,400 cu ft/s (323 m3/s)
 - min 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
The course of the Whitewater River highlighted on a map of the Salton Sea drainage basin

The Whitewater River is a small permanent stream in western Riverside County, California, with a small upstream section in southwestern San Bernardino County. Its headwaters are in the San Bernardino Mountains and mouth—terminus in the Colorado Desert. The Whitewater River is in the endorheic Salton Sea drainage basin.

The community of Whitewater is named after the river. In 2001 Huell Howser Productions, in association with KCET/Los Angeles, featured the river and nearby community in California's Gold.[12]

Geography

San Bernardino Mountains

The Whitewater River has three significant tributaries: the North, Middle and South Forks, all within the Sand to Snow National Monument.

The North Fork begins in the subalpine zone at about 10,000' (3,000 m.) on San Gorgonio Mountain and descends steeply southeast to the Middle Fork, which flows east through a wide arroyo. The South Fork flows northeast through a narrower wooded canyon, joining the Middle Fork lower down. The upper watershed is in the San Gorgonio Wilderness and San Bernardino National Forest, then it reaches land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Below the confluences the arroyo is at least 1/2 mile (1 km.) wide, paved with accumulations of boulders, gravel and sand brought down by floods and brushy except in stream channels cleared by floodwaters. Due to floods and shifting channels there is almost no riparian forest development, except very locally along unnamed minor tributaries with relatively stable channels.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) enters the arroyo from the north and follows it downstream to a trailhead at the Whitewater Preserve, owned by The Wildlands Conservancy.[13] A few fish have escaped upstream, establishing a small population of wild but non-native Rainbow Trout. These fish are confined to places where there is shade or tributaries with cooler water. Apparently they are not sufficiently adapted to elevated summer temperatures to colonize the rest of the stream.

Coachella Valley

Below the PCT trailhead the enclosing hills fall away so the arroyo exits from the San Bernardino Mountains near Morongo Valley into the western Coachella Valley. The San Gorgonio River which rises further west on the south side of San Gorgonio Mountain then joins it. Garnet Wash, Mission Creek, Chino Canyon Wash, Palm Canyon Wash, Cathedral Canyon and Thousand Palm Canyon Wash also join, but the water mainly penetrates through the porous desert floor, providing groundwater recharging of the Coachella Valley aquifer.

Before approaching Palm Springs, the Whitewater River is fed imported water from the Colorado River Aqueduct, managed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.[14] During rare floods, surface water may reach the endorheic basin of the Salton Sea, below sea level.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mission Creek
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Garnet Wash
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Thousand Palm Canyon Wash
  4. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Whitewater River
  5. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Palm Canyon Wash
  6. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cathedral Canyon
  7. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Whitewater River
  8. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Middle Fork Whitewater River
  9. 1 2 "Whitewater River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1981-01-19. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  10. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 16, 2011
  11. ↑ "USGS Gage #10259300 on the Whitewater River near Indio" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1966-present. Retrieved 2011-07-07. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ↑ Howser, Huell; Levy, Tom; Kenna, Jim (September 25, 2001). "Whitewater – Palm Springs Week (003)". California's Gold. Chapman University Huell Howser Archives. OCLC 47732513.
  13. ↑ Wildlands Conservancy Whitewater Preserve
  14. ↑ http://www.pe.com/localnews/banning/stories/PE_News_Local_D_whitewater20.167f567.html
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