User:RightCowLeftCoast/Sandbox/Tecolote canyon

Tecolote Canyon is a canyon within the Clairemont and Linda Vista neighborhoods of San Diego. The canyon is named for the owls that call it home. The canyon has has largely a north-south orientation, and is 0.8 mile east from the Pacific Ocean, 0.5 mile south of San Clemente Canyon, and 0.75 mi north of the San Diego River.

Flora and fauna
The ecology of the canyon is categorized as coastal sage scrub. Sambucus mexicana grow within the canyon, and had been utilized by the Kumeyaay for medicinal purposes. Multiple plant and animal species can be seen within the canyon, including some sensitive species. Least Bell's vireo, and California gnatcatcher, both endangered species, live within the canyon.

Hydrology
Tecolote Creek is part of the Mission Bay watershed; which itself is part of the Penasquitos Hydrological Unit. The area which Tecolote Creek collects water from covers 9.21 sqmi and is highly urbanized. Tecolote Creek only has significant flow immediately after rainfall, with most of the dry period a small amount (0.05 cuft/second) had been observed.

Sources for this section:
 * https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/wri8070
 * https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112098708537&seq=3
 * https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/dpw/FLOOD_CONTROL/crs/FIS2012-06073CV002C.pdf

History
The Kumeyaay use to live in Tecolote Canyon. In 1872, a ranch within the canyon was operated by Judge Hyde. In the 1910s, a hog farm existed within part of the canyon, where incinerated and sterilized garbage was fed to the hogs. In the mid-1920s, Tecolote Canyon was one of ten locations evaluated as a potential campus location for the San Diego State Teachers College. In 1930, there were multiple farms at the mouth of the canyon, including a chicken farm, a tomato farm, and a farm that grew lima beans and raised pigs. World War II, did not significantly impact the canyon, with farming and ranching continuing within the canyon; however the mesas surrounding the canyon began to be developed with the communities of Clairemont Mesa, and Linda Vista, being built on the mesa to expand the growing city. Before 1953, the canyon was used to graze cattle.

In 1949, land on the mesa immediately south of the southern canyon rim of the southern portion of the canyon was chosen for the site of the University of San Diego campus. In 1952, the United States Navy built a fuel line between Naval Base Point Loma to Naval Air Station Miramar, part of which was placed underneath a portion of the canyon. In the 1950s, sewage pipes were installed underneath the canyon, to service the needs of the Clairemont and Linda Vista neighborhoods. In the late 1950s there was a plan to create a landfill within the canyon, however it was abandoned due to protest from area residents. Dumping continued within the canyon until at least the 1960s. In 1964, a golf course was opened within the canyon, it was designed by Sam Snead and Robert Trent Jones. Beginning in the mid 1960s, an effort began to preserve the canyon from further development, part of which was to stop plans to build a highway within the canyon. In the early 1970s, there were plans to building houses within the canyon, these plans were stopped in favor of keeping open space.

In 1978, a nature park was dedicated within the canyon. There are over 6 mile of trails within the park. A exhibit of a Kumeyaay village was created in the park, depicting how they lived within the canyon before the Spanish era. The park is about 900 acre large; 24 acre of the park are owned by San Diego Gas and Electric. In 1994 a nature center was built within the park.

In 2001, creation of a wetland at the mouth of the canyon was proposed as an offsite environmental mitigation for the San Diego Trolley Blue Line extension. Due to the continued presence of the sewer lines within the canyon, mitigation efforts were enacted restoring several acres within the canyon into a more natural habitat.