Trifecta, Santa Clara River Preserve, Saticoy, CA (#111)

 

The airline app shows we’ll arrive 45 minutes early. On an east-to-west flight — already a 27-hour day — that’s nearly 28 hours. A nice perk for us mortals, and just enough cushion for my perhaps overly optimistic itinerary.

 

When I step out of my rental car at The Nature Conservancy (TNC)’s Santa Clara Preserve in Saticoy, California, a pungent urine smell fills the air.  Wasn’t expecting that.  I assume the worst: a mountain lion has marked its territory, so my guard immediately goes up as I enter the trail system.  My wife hates when I travel alone, and trudging into lion country is one of the reasons, I’m sure.  Back east, I rarely worry about wildlife encounters.  But out west, the threats are stout – and few are stouter than mountain lion. 

 

Located just north of the congestion of Los Angeles, the Santa Clara River is one of the most threatened rivers in America – a trifecta of threats. The Santa Clara River is a vital source of drinking water for the local community, a key resource for many farmers, and offers some of the last riverside and freshwater habitat for wildlife. 

 

Drink it?

Farm it?

Let wildlife thrive in it?

 

When TNC got involved in 1999, they realized the key was the river’s floodplain.  They partnered with the farmers and other agencies to develop innovative land-use, flood-control, and ecologically compatible farming techniques.  These compromising efforts protected both the habitat and water supply, preventing the river from suffering from the concrete-lined fate of other Southern California rivers while keeping the farmers’ livelihoods intact.

 

Though I have a 28-hour day to work with, my time at this preserve is limited, so I use it well, setting out directly for the river’s edge.  The half-mile walk starts through a mostly open area of the floodplain with expansive views of the mountains on the southeast side of the river.  Classic California scenery. 

 


 

Nearing the river, the trail narrows and ducks into a thriving, dense thicket where I spot primrose and datura flowers, a sand wasp, and side-blotched lizard.  The trail ends at small sandy plateau.  At river’s edge, the air feels cooler, and the sound of rushing water helps put the mechanical sounds of today’s travel behind me.  It also immediately reveals the true measure of success for the efforts TNC, local agencies, and farmers have made to protect this vitally important river struggling to maintain its trifecta of importance.



LEARN MORE ABOUT SANTA CLARA RIVER HERE.
Location: Santa Paula, CA, USA

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