Zayante Creek

River in California, United States

37°9′21.81″N 122°0′4.85″W / 37.1560583°N 122.0013472°W / 37.1560583; -122.0013472^[1] • elevation1,000 ft (300 m) MouthSan Lorenzo River

• location

Felton

• coordinates

37°2′52.82″N 122°4′4.87″W / 37.0480056°N 122.0680194°W / 37.0480056; -122.0680194^[1]

• elevation

233 ft (71 m)^[1]Length10.3 mi (16.6 km)^[1]Basin featuresRiver systemSan Lorenzo RiverTributaries • leftMountain Charlie Gulch, Bean Creek • rightLompico Creek

Zayante Creek (Ohlone: Sayant) is a 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km) stream within the San Lorenzo River watershed in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The U.S. government has designated Zayante Creek as impaired with respect to sediment.^[3] Lompico Creek, a tributary of Zayante Creek, is listed for impairment by pathogens.^[4] In the period 1998 to 2000 a restoration project was conducted for this stream to improve anadromous fish passage, rearing and spawning.^[5] There has been a permanent U.S. Geological Survey gauging station on Zayante Creek which has operated since the year 1959; the mean altitude of the Zayante Basin, carved within the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, is 1,000 feet (300 m).^[6] Significant tributaries to Zayante Creek are Lompico Creek and Bean Creek.

Geology

Soils formations along the mainstem of Zayante Creek by ascending altitude are: Monterey Formation, Zayante Formation, Vaqueros Sandstone and Lompico Sandstone;^[7] about midway through its course, Zayante Creek is bisected by the Zayante Fault.

Ecology

Several notable ecological features are present in the Zayante Creek watershed, including the occurrence of a rare forest type: maritime coast range ponderosa pine forest, which contains two endangered arthropods. Regarding specific avafauna species there are sightings of Townsend's warbler.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Zayante Creek
^ Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin - The Sayant and Achistaca
^ Federal impairment classification for Zayante Creek
^ Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board: Impairment Listing for Lompico Creek (2006)
^ State of California Zayante Creek Restoration Project
^ U.S. Geological Survey Stream Gauge Summary
^ C. Michael Hogan, Leda Patmore, David Crimp et al., San Lorenzo Basin Groundwater Recharge and Water Quality Study, Earth Metrics Incorporated, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, July 7, 1978
^ David Suddjian, Santa Cruz Birds, Albatross, March/April 1993 (Vol 38, No. 4)