Goleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the census-designated place (CDP) had a total population of 55,204. A significant portion of the census territory of 2000 did not include the newer portions of the city. The population of Goleta was 32,690 at the 2020 census. It is known for being close to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), campus.
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage basin is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2) in size.
The Kern River, previously Río de San Felipe, later La Porciúncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction.
The Santa Ynez River is one of the largest rivers on the Central Coast of California. It is 92 miles (148 km) long, flowing from east to west through the Santa Ynez Valley, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Surf, near Vandenberg Space Force Base and the city of Lompoc.
The Goleta Slough is an area of estuary, tidal creeks, tidal marsh, and wetlands near Goleta, California, United States. It primarily consists of the filled and unfilled remnants of the historic inner Goleta Bay about 8 miles (13 km) west of Santa Barbara. The slough empties into the Pacific Ocean through an intermittently closed mouth at Goleta Beach County Park just east of the UCSB campus and Isla Vista. The slough drains the Goleta Valley and watershed, and receives the water of all of the major creeks in the Goleta area including the southern face of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Goleta Beach is a region of coastline located near Goleta, California, just east of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. A portion of the shore of Goleta Bay is managed by the County of Santa Barbara, as the Goleta Beach County Park (GBCP). The beach itself is partly man-made as sand was spread onto an existing sandspit in 1945. The beach is a seasonal habitat for migrating shorebirds, including the snowy plover, an endangered species, and is occasionally closed due to nourishment efforts.
San Luis Obispo Creek is a stream, about 18 miles (29 km) long, in San Luis Obispo County, California. It drains a large coastal watershed that includes the city of San Luis Obispo, emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Avila Beach.
The Pajaro River is a U.S. river in the Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito and Santa Clara Counties, the entire border between San Benito and Santa Cruz County, and the entire border between Santa Cruz and Monterey County. Flowing roughly east to west, the river empties into Monterey Bay, west of Watsonville, California.
The Fresno River is a river in Central California and a major tributary of the San Joaquin River. It runs approximately 83 miles (134 km) from the Sierra Nevada Range to the San Joaquin River if measured from the source of Rainier Creek, near Raymond Mountain in Yosemite National Park. Although called the 'Fresno' River, it is one of the largest and longest river systems in Madera County.
California's 19th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, currently represented by Democrat Jimmy Panetta.
San Pablo Creek is an 18.7-mile-long (30.1 km) creek in Contra Costa County, California, United States, which drains the canyon or valley between the San Pablo Ridge and the Sobrante Ridge, parts of the Pacific Coast Ranges east of San Francisco Bay.
Oso Creek is an approximately 13.5-mile (21.7 km) tributary of Arroyo Trabuco in southern Orange County in the U.S. state of California. Draining about 20 square miles (52 km2) in a region north of the San Joaquin Hills and south of the Santa Ana Mountains, the creek is Trabuco Creek's largest tributary, and is part of the San Juan Creek drainage basin. Beginning in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains near the city of Mission Viejo, the creek is dammed twice to form Upper Oso Reservoir and Lake Mission Viejo. The creek is channelized and polluted along much of its length.
Coyote Creek is a principal tributary of the San Gabriel River in northwest Orange County and southeast Los Angeles County, California. It drains a land area of roughly 41.3 square miles (107 km2) covering eight major cities, including Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, Hawaiian Gardens, La Habra, Lakewood, La Palma, and Long Beach. Some major tributaries of the creek in the highly urbanized watershed include Brea Creek, Fullerton Creek, and Carbon Creek. The mostly-flat creek basin is separated by a series of low mountains, and is bounded by several small mountain ranges, including the Chino Hills, Puente Hills, and West Coyote Hills.
San Mateo Creek is a stream in Southern California in the United States, whose watershed mostly straddles the border of Orange and San Diego Counties. It is about 22 miles (35 km) long, flowing in a generally southwesterly direction. Draining a broad valley bounded by the Santa Ana Mountains and Santa Margarita Mountains, San Mateo Creek is notable for being one of the last unchannelized streams in Southern California.
San Tomas Aquinas Creek, known locally as San Tomas Aquino Creek, is a 16.5-mile-long (26.6 km) stream that heads on El Sereno mountain in El Sereno Open Space Preserve in Saratoga, California in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It flows north through the cities of Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara and San Jose before its confluence with the Guadalupe Slough in south San Francisco Bay.
Carneros Creek is a southward flowing stream originating in the Santa Ynez Mountains, in Santa Barbara County, California. It flows to Lake Los Carneros Park, under U. S. Highway 101 where it runs in a man-made channel diverted to the west of Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, until it meets Goleta Slough, from whence its waters flow to the Santa Barbara Channel of the Pacific Ocean.
Easton Creek is a short eastward-flowing stream whose watershed originates in Burlingame's foothills in San Mateo County, California, United States. The creek runs south of the Mills Creek and north of the Sanchez Creek watercourses respectively.
The La Goleta Gas Field is a natural gas field in unincorporated Santa Barbara County, California, adjacent to the city of Goleta. Discovered in 1929, and first put into production in 1932, it has been in continuous use ever since, producing approximately 12 billion cubic feet of gas. With production declining, the field was converted into a gas storage reservoir in 1941. As of 2016 it remains one of the four gas storage facilities maintained by Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), a division of Sempra Energy, with the others being Aliso Canyon, Honor Rancho and Playa del Rey. It is the oldest storage facility of the four and the third largest, with a maximum capacity of 21.5 billion cubic feet. The storage facilities are necessary to balance load for the over ten million customers of SoCalGas: during summer months, when gas usage is at a minimum, gas is pumped into the reservoirs; and in the winter when usage is high, gas is withdrawn. The La Goleta field serves the northern portion of SoCalGas's geographic range.
