Sulphur Creek (California)

Sulphur Creek Cañada Salada, Arroyo Salada
In Laguna Niguel Regional Park
Map of Aliso Creek watershed with Sulphur Creek subwatershed highlighted
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Counties	Orange County
Cities	Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Convergence of several storm drain outlets, Laguna Hills
• coordinates	33°33′33″N 117°41′04″W / 33.55917°N 117.68444°W / 33.55917; -117.68444[1]
• elevation	190 ft (58 m)[1]
Mouth	Aliso Creek just above the beginning of Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park and downstream of Laguna Niguel Regional Park
• location	Laguna Niguel
• coordinates	33°32′32″N 117°42′16″W / 33.54222°N 117.70444°W / 33.54222; -117.70444[1]
• elevation	58 ft (18 m)[1]
Length	4.8 mi (7.7 km)[2]
Basin size	6 sq mi (16 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Alicia Parkway culvert, 130 yards (120 m) above the mouth
• average	2.3 cu ft/s (0.065 m3/s)
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
• maximum	2,000 cu ft/s (57 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Niguel Storm Drain
• right	Narco Channel

Sulphur Creek is an approximately 4.5-mile (7.2 km) tributary of Aliso Creek in Orange County, California.^[2] The creek drains about 6 square miles (16 km²) in the suburban cities of Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills.^[4] Although most of its watershed has been utilized for master planned residential development, the creek retains a natural channel with riparian and wetland habitat in parts of Laguna Niguel Regional Park and Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park. Urban runoff has changed the once seasonal creek into a perennial stream.

The Sulphur Creek watershed was once part of the territory of the semi-nomadic Acjachemen Native Americans, who were colonized by the Spanish in the 17th and 18th centuries and called the Juaneño after nearby Mission San Juan Capistrano. The creek later became part of the Rancho Niguel Mexican land grant and was mostly agricultural and range land until the 1960s, when suburban residential development began in the watershed. Sulphur Creek Dam was built in 1966, forming Laguna Niguel Lake.