Alamitos Bay

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Alamitos Bay
Alamitos Bay photo D Ramey Logan.jpg
Alamitos Bay, 2015
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Alamitos Bay
LocationLong Beach, California
Coordinates 33°44′59″N118°07′05″W / 33.74972°N 118.11806°W / 33.74972; -118.11806
Part ofPacific Ocean
Primary inflows Los Cerritos Channel
Ocean/sea sourcesPacific Ocean

Alamitos Bay is an inlet on the Pacific Ocean coast of southern California, United States, between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach, at the outlet of the San Gabriel River. It is near Los Angeles.

Contents

The bay is named for the Spanish word for 'little poplars'. [1]

Geography

Alamitos Bay is protected by both the natural sand spit Peninsula and the Long Beach Breakwater. It is divided from the San Gabriel River and Seal Beach by a pair of jetties. The natural geography has been heavily altered by dredging and landfill subsequent to development.

The bay was severely impacted by the 1939 California tropical storm. [2]

Venues

Alamitos Bay contains Marine Stadium, created for Olympic rowing events.

Water quality

After efforts to clear contaminated sediment and improve circulation, Heal the Bay has re-assessed the water's quality. [3] In a 2020 report, the "Summer Dry Grade" at the 2nd Street Bridge was "B," and at Mother's Beach "A." [4] "Winter Dry Grades" were "C" and "B," respectively. "Wet Weather Grades" were both "F."

The water quality of the bay could be diminished in the future if the pumps of the nearby Alamitos Energy Center are decommissioned. The city is assessing a replacement for these pumps to maintain the bay's water circulation. [3] [5]

Islands

Naples, a collection of three islands, is entirely within Alamitos Bay.

See also

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Alamitos Creek or Los Alamitos Creek is a 7.7-mile-long (12.4 km) creek in San Jose, California, which becomes the Guadalupe River when it exits Lake Almaden and joins Guadalupe Creek. Los Alamitos Creek is located in Almaden Valley and originates from the Los Capitancillos Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near New Almaden. This creek flows through the Valley's Guadalupe Watershed, which is owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The creek flows in a generally northwesterly direction after rounding the Los Capitancillos Ridge and the town of New Almaden, in the southwest corner, before ambling along the Santa Teresa Hills on northeast side of the Almaden Valley. Its environment has some relatively undisturbed areas and considerable lengths of suburban residential character. Originally called Arroyo de los Alamitos, the creek's name is derived from "little poplar", "alamo" being the Spanish word for "poplar" or "cottonwood".

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Peninsula is a neighborhood in Long Beach, California. It separates Alamitos Bay from the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Belmont Shore and across the water from Naples.

The Pacific Electric Railway established streetcar services in Long Beach in 1902. Unlike other cities where Pacific Electric operated local streetcars, Long Beach's system did not predate the company's services. Long Beach's network of streetcars peaked around 1911 with over 30 miles (48 km) of tracks throughout the city. Local services were discontinued in 1940, but interurban service to Los Angeles persisted until 1961. The route of the former main interurban line was rebuilt in the late 1980s as the Metro Blue Line, which operates at-grade with car traffic for a portion of its length.

References

  1. Gudde, Erwin; William Bright (2004). California Place Names (Fourth ed.). University of California Press. p. 6. ISBN   0-520-24217-3.
  2. "Has a Hurricane Ever Made Landfall in California?". KCET. 15 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 Maschke, Alena. "Alamitos Bay's water quality at risk once again, unless the city spends millions to fix it • Long Beach Post News". lbpost.com.
  4. "2019-2020 Beach Report Card" (PDF).
  5. "Alamitos Bay Water Quality Enhancement". City of Long Beach.