Brea Creek

Brea Creek is one of four principal tributaries of Coyote Creek, which is a lower tributary of the San Gabriel River. It drains parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. The creek flows 11.7 miles (18.8 km)[2] from the cities of Brea and Anaheim to Whittier, where its mouth is on the left bank of Coyote Creek, at a point 481 feet (147 m) lower in elevation.[1][3]

For the city in California, see Brea, California.
Brea Creek
Location of the mouth of Brea Creek in California
EtymologyPresumably named after Brea, California, or the city was named for the creek.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountiesOrange County, San Bernardino, Los Angeles County
CitiesBrea, Fullerton, Whittier
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationLa Habra, Orange County, California
 • coordinates33°53′22″N 117°55′37″W[1]
 • elevation690 ft (210 m)[1]
MouthCoyote Creek
 • location
Whittier, California
 • coordinates
33°52′40″N 118°00′32″W[1]
 • elevation
65 ft (20 m)
Length11.7 mi (18.8 km)
Basin size23.6 sq mi (61 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationmouth
 • average1.4 cu ft/s (0.040 m3/s)
 • minimum0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
 • maximum3,700 cu ft/s (100 m3/s)

Ancient times

In ancient times, the Brea Creek was no doubt utilized by the Native American Indian people, known in their indigenous tongue as the ‘Tongva’, which means people of the earth and later referred to by the Spanish as the ‘Gabrieliño’, that inhabited the La Habra valley for the past 10,000 years. Brea was then within the ethnographic boundaries of the Tongva; their village was called Nacaunga in the Tongva language and was strategically located at the mouth of the Brea Canyon adjacent to the Brea Creek.

Colonial times

In colonial times, on Saturday, July 29, 1769, the Spanish explorer Don Gaspar de Portolá i Rovira along with Father Junipero Serra and others such as José Antonio Yorba (from whom the City of Yorba Linda in Orange County was eventually named) camped at la Brea Canyon north of Fullerton within the La Habra Valley region near a stream [Brea Creek] and near a canyon [Brea Canyon] called in the Spanish tongue ‘La Cañada de la Brea’, having crossed the Santa Ana River along ‘El Camino Real’, which ran through Anaheim, Fullerton, Brea and La Habra on their famed march from San Diego to Monterrey. Moreover, most of the waterways in the Orange County area received their name from Spanish Conquistadores in the 18th century.

Course

The creek begins in the northeasternmost part of the Coyote Creek drainage basin, in a mountain canyon named Brea Canyon, at the Los Angeles County–San Bernardino County line. It flows southwest, receiving over ten small right-bank tributaries, before crossing the Orange County–Riverside County line and receiving Tonner Canyon (also Toner) on the left bank. The creek bends northwest then sharply southwest, receives a few more tributaries on either bank, and flows into the northernmost arm of Brea Reservoir. Exiting the Brea Reservoir dam, the creek bends west-northwest in a straight and channelized course, receives several small right-bank tributaries, flows past a retention basin on the left bank, and joins Coyote Creek shortly upstream of Fullerton Creek, the next major tributary.

Streamflow

From 1932 to 1969, the USGS operated two streamflow gauges on Brea Creek, one at the mouth and one at Brea Reservoir. The highest flow recorded at the mouth (Fullerton) was 3,700 cubic feet per second (100 m3/s) on 14 March 1941. Four other flows during that period exceeded 1,000 second-feet, all before 1941.[4]

River modifications

There are four drop structures on Brea Creek, all of which are built of reinforced concrete, in the lower course of the creek, which is referred to as the "Brea Canyon Channel".[5]

See also

References
  1. "Brea Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-04-05 at WebCite, accessed March 16, 2011
  3. "Summary of Existing Conditions Data: Coyote Creek Watershed Management Plan" (PDF). CH2M HILL. www.ocwatersheds.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  4. "USGS 11089000: Brea Creek at Fullerton, CA". United States Geological Survey (USGS). Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  5. "Channel Grade Control Structure Inventory". Orange County Flood Control Division. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
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