UC San Diego Other Scholarly Work Title San Diego - La Jolla Ecological Reserve, San Diego County Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qw5f4ck Author California State Water Resources Control Board, Surveillance and Monitoring Section Publication Date 1979-02-01 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California ,~~~y~~~~~~l 3 1R;'7 00(1!11 ')!SKI alifornia Marine Waters Areas of Special Biologics/ Significance Reconnaissance Survey Report CALIFORNIA STA TE WA ZER RESOURCES COIYTRQ1 BOARD DIVISION OF PLANNING AND RESEARCH SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING SECTION Februery 1979 ,TER QUALITY MONITORING REPORT NO. 79-1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD W. Don Maughan, Chairman Wllliam J. Miller, Member L. L. Mitchell, Member Carla M. Berd, Member Larry Walker, Executlve Director C. L. Whitney, Deputy Executive Director Cover Photograph: Aerial View of San Diego - La Jolla Ecological Reserve Area of Special Biological Significance. CALIFORNIA MARINE WATERS AREAS OF SPECIAL BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY REPORT SAN DIEGO - LA JOLLA ECOLOGICAL RESERVE C;/ SAN DIEGO COUNTY Ca'.;,\rrh gh* ' STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD DIVISION OF PLANNING AND RESEARCH SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING SECTION February, 1979 WATER QUALITY MONITORING REPORT NO. 79-1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This State Water Resources Control Board report is based entirely on a reconnaissance survey report submitted to the Board by BERT N. KOBAYASHI of the University of California, San Diego, in May. 1978. Mr. Kobayashi in his report also acknowledged the contributions of: David Adelson Joan-Marie Oltman E. Fred Fisher Valerie Paul Steven Glass Janis Weeks Nancy Jung Mr. Kobayashi's report was prepared in fulfillment of a contract with the Cal iforriia Department of Fish and Game, which had committed itself to the Board to produce a series of ASBS Survey Reports under Interagency Agreement. STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD AREAS OF SPECIAL BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE Designated Mach 21, 1974, April 18, 1974, and June 19, 1975 Pygmy Forest Ecological Staircase Del Mar Landing Ecologicel Reserve Gerstle Cove Bodega Marine Life Refuge Kelp Beds at Saunders Reef Kelp Beds at Trinidad Head Kings Range National Conservation Area Redwoods National Park James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Farallon lsland Duxbury Reef Reserve and Extension Polnt Reyes Headland Reserve and Extension Double Point Blrd Rock Ano Nuevo Point and lsland Polnt Lobos Ecological Reserve San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz islands Julia Pfeiffer Burns Underwater Park Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Fish Refuge and Hopkins Marine Life Refuge Ocean Area Surrounding the Mouth of Salmon Creek San Nlcolas lsland and Begg Rock Santa Barbara Island, Santa Barbara County and Anecapa lsland San Clemente lsland Mugu Lagoon to Latigo Point Santa Catalina lsland - Subarea One, Isthmus Cove to Catalina Head Santa Catalina lsland - Subarea Two, North End of Little Harbor to Ben Weston Point Santa Catalina lsland - Subarea Three, Fernsworth Bank Ecological Reserve Santa Catalina lsland - Subarea Four, Binnacle Rock to Jewfish Point San Diego-La Jolla Ecologlcal Reserve Heisier Park Ecologlcal Reserve San Diego Marine Life Refuge Newport Beach Marine Life Refuge lrvine Coast Marine Life Refuge Carrnel Bay ABSTRACT The objective of this reconnaissance survey was to assess the physical, biological and water quality characteristics of the San Diego- La Jol la Ecological Reserve Area of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) in order to evaluate the status of protection of its marine resources. The assessment included the following character descriptions: location and size; nearshore waters and submarine topography; geophysical characteristics; climate; biota of both subtidal and intertidal habitats; landside flora; and unique biotic components. The San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS is unique in its inclusion of a variety of habitats: a broad, sandy shelf; a submarine canyon; a small kelp bed; a small submerged cobble patch; reefs composed of flat sandstone/shale ledges interspersed with patches of sand; and a boulder-strewn mudstone reef complex. It thus includes organisms of a sandy substrate, clay-bank canyon inhabitants, many of the rich biota surrounding a kelp bed, and various other rocky-reef fauna and flora. Further, the submerged cobble patch is a proven archaeological site from which more than 2000 artifacts believed to have belonged to the La Jollan culture, ca. 5000-7000 years before the present, have been recovered. Sailing, water-skiing on glassy calm days, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, surfing, body surfing, and jet-skiing are some of the water-use recre- ational activities that occur within the Reserve; sportfishing and commercial fishing, as well as whale-watching, occur in waters immedi- ately adjacent to the Ecological Reserve. There appear to be no actual pollution threats other than ston water runoff with its heavy silt concentration. The biotic effects of the periodic infrequent influx of fresh-water and silt along an open- water coastline are not adequately known and could be the subject of intense interest. The major impact from runoff should be expected in the vicinity of the head of La Jolla branch of the submarine canyon inasmuch as a large storni drain empties out just adjacent to the boat 1aunch. A conclusion of the survey is that consideration should be given to development of a program of periodic but regular monitoring of the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve Area of Special Biological Signif- icance. The status of protection of this designated area can be deter- mined only through such continuing surveys. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEUGEMENT ........................ ii ABSTRACT ........................... iit LIST OF TABLES ........................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................ viii FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ................... 1 INTRODUCTION ......................... 4 METHODS AND MATERIALS ................... 6 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL DESCRIPTION ............... 8 Location and Size .................... 8 Nearshore Waters ..................... 12 Geophysical Characteristics ............... 22 Climate ......................... 29 BIOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION .................... 33 Subtidal Biota ...................... 33 Intertidal Biota ..................... 39 Landside Vegetation ................... 44 Unique Components .................... 45 LANDIWATER USE DESCRIPTIONS .................. 50 Marine Resource Harvesting ................ 50 Municipal and Industrial Activities ........... 50 Agribusiness and Silviculture .............. 50 Governmental Designated Open Space ............ 51 Recreational Uses .................... 52 Scientific Study Uses .................. 55 Transportat ion Corridors ................. 57 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) & ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL POLLUTION THREATS ............. 58 Point Sources ...................... 58 Nonpoint Sources ..................... 58 SPECIAL WATER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS OF ASBS BASED ON UNIQUE COMPONENTS .......................... 59 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY .................... 60 APPENDIX 1. 64 Weather data compiled frm daily observations taken at the end of the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1974 through March, 1978. APPENDIX 2. 73 Organisms occurring on subtidal sandy substrates within the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS. APPENDIX 3. 77 Organisms occurring on subtidal rocky substrates within the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS. APPENDIX 4. 83 Organisms occurring in the rocky intertidal substrate of the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS. LIST OF TABLES -Table 1 Mean monthly surface water temperatures, in OC, 14 calculated from temperatures taken daily at the end of the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Mean monthly bottom (5 meters) water tempera- tures, in OC, calculated from temperatures taken daily at the end of the pier at Scripps Institu- t ion of Oceanography Mean monthly surface salinities, in calcula- ted from salinities taken daily at the end of the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Mean monthly bottom (5 meters) water salinities, in "/..,calculated from salinities taken daily at the end of the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Comparison of surface water temperatures taken at sites within the San Diego-La Jolla Ecolo- gical Reserve ASBS and at the end of the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Location of storm drains in the immediate vicin- ity of the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS Organisms occurring in the sandy beach inter- tidal substrate of the San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve ASBS Attendance estimates gleaned from San Diego City Lifeguard Service records for La Jolla beaches LIST OF FIGORES 1 The San Diego-La Jolla Ecological Reserve Area of 10 Special Biological Significance. The oval stippled area is the cobble patch where archae- ological artifacts have been found; clear oval is the Macmc stis bed E e ia beds are designated *ix r;?e*"; the boulder sEi&-ear circles; the La Jolla Caves area by "C". The solid circles along the bmdary of the Reserve represent the orange-red bys that mark the boundaries. The clear areas denote a sandv substrate; the 50-80 ft. margin of the can* is clay; the Phvllospadi~areas sandstone/shale ledges, and the boulder reef complex is n-ade up of nudstone boulders. 2 Repmduction of part of an appended mp from Ketmedy (1975). This identifies the faults and fault zone in the La Jolla area. 3 Photographs