The San Lorenzo River drains a large watershed in Santa Cruz County, California. The headwaters originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains (in Castle Rock State Park) at an elevation of 2,500 feet (760 m), and the river flows 29.3 miles (47.2 km) through the San Lorenzo Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Monterey Bay. The San Lorenzo River was once one of the most popular steelhead and coho salmon rivers on the Central Coast of California. In an effort to save this fishery, it has been designated a "catch and release" stream since 1984 by the California Department of Fish and Game. In 1960, it was estimated that there were more than 30,000 fish living in this river, but a decade later the population had been reduced to 1000. The Branciforte Creek watershed is a major sub-basin of the San Lorenzo catchment-basin.
Read more about San Lorenzo River: Geology, History, Flooding and Water Pollution, Scenic and Historic Elements
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