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 |
| • elevation | 190 ft (58 m) |
| 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 |
• elevation | 58 ft (18 m) |
| Length | 4.8 mi (7.7 km) |
| Basin size | 6 sq mi (16 km2) |
| 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. The creek drains about 6 square miles (16 km2) in the suburban cities of Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills. 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.