Los Penasquitos Lagoon and Watershed Hydrology and Sedimentation Study

This project prepared a hydrology and sedimentation study for the Los Peñasquitos Watershed and Lagoon system to characterize the sources and amounts of increased sediment loads and freshwater flows.

The Los Peñasquitos Watershed is located within west–central San Diego County and includes portions of the City of San Diego, the City of Poway, the City of Del Mar, and unincorporated areas of San Diego County (Figure 1-1). The watershed extends from the foothills east of the City of Poway to the coastal plain where the watershed drains into Los Peñasquitos Lagoon (LPL) before flowing into the Pacific Ocean through a narrow mouth at Torrey Pines State Beach. The entire watershed is approximately 60,419 acres of which 59,212 is composed of the drainage areas of Los Peñasquitos Creek, Carmel Creek (north of Los Peñasquitos Creek), Carroll Canyon Creek (south of Los Peñasquitos Creek), and the LPL, a 320-acre coastal lagoon that is part of the Torrey Pines State Reserve.