Cuyama River

Cuyama River
Cuyama River upstream of Twitchell Reservoir
Map of the Santa Maria River watershed, including the Cuyama River
Cuyama River is located in California
Cuyama River
Location of the Cuyama River in California
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Physical characteristics
SourceConfluence of Alamo Creek and Dry Canyon Creek
 • locationNear Ventucopa, Ventura County
 • coordinates34°41′25″N 119°17′33″W / 34.69028°N 119.29250°W / 34.69028; -119.29250[1]
 • elevation3,807 ft (1,160 m)
MouthSanta Maria River
 • location
near Garey, San Luis Obispo and
Santa Barbara Counties
 • coordinates
34°54′11″N 120°18′45″W / 34.90306°N 120.31250°W / 34.90306; -120.31250[1]
 • elevation
354 ft (108 m)
Length118 mi (190 km)
Basin size1,132 sq mi (2,930 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationAbove Twitchell Reservoir[2]
 • average23.1 cu ft/s (0.65 m3/s)[3]
 • minimum0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
 • maximum26,200 cu ft/s (740 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftSanta Barbara Creek, Cottonwood Creek (Cuyama River), Mustang Creek, Pine Creek (Cuyama River)
 • rightQuatal Creek, Huasna River

The Cuyama River (Chumash: Kuyam, meaning "Clam")[4] is a 118-mile-long (190 km)[5] river in southern San Luis Obispo County, northern Santa Barbara County, and northern Ventura County, in the U.S. state of California. It joins the Sisquoc River forming the Santa Maria River. The river's name comes from an Indian village named for the Chumash word kuyam, meaning "clam" or "freshwater mollusk".[6]

  1. ^ a b "Cuyama River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1981-01-19. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  2. ^ "USGS Gage #11136800 on the Cuyama River near Santa Maria, CA" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1960–2013. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  3. ^ "USGS Gage #11136800 on the Cuyama River near Santa Maria, CA" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1960–2013. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  4. ^ Bright, William; Erwin G. Gudde (1998). 1500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. University of California Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-520-21271-1.
  5. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 15, 2011
  6. ^ Bright, William; Erwin G. Gudde (1998). 1500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. University of California Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-520-21271-1.