A watershed is defined as a region of land that is bounded by high topographic points in which water will natrually flow and drain into a basin, lake, or ocean. The above coordinates will bring you to a plaque that talks about the Cottonwood Creek Watershed much more in detail. A watershed is an important aspect in hydrology, a subset of geology. Before I go too much into detail, I must first dicuss some terminology of watersheds.
The headwaters are the orginal of a river or creek. It is where a river begins and is typically found at the highest point within the watershed. The terminus is where the river or creek ends and is typically found at the lowest point within the watershed. This is usally at an ocean or lake. The surrounding area between these two points (bounded by topographic highs) is considered the watershed for that specific creek or river.
Watersheds can be year-round or seasonal. With growing urbanization (especally in Southern California) most watesheds that were seasonal are now becomming year-round. Watershed often contain thier own unique ecosystem and geological propertes. For example, here in the Cottonwood Creek Watershed tall grasses help trap sediment as they flow out to the ocean, providing nutriens for the plants and animals that live within the watershed. Additially, the grade (or slope) of the watershed can dictate how fast the water flows out of it. This can create murky waters if flow is inhibited or clear waters if flow is constant and consistant. If the water is murky, it means that the flow velocity of the water is low. If the water is clear, it means that the flow velocity of water is high. Low flow velocites allows particulates and sediment to settle out, allowing the water to become transparent. While fast flow velocites creates turbulent waters which pick up and suspend sediments in the water.
During times of large storm events, larger sediments such as boulders can be easily moved downstream and deposted near the terminus as flow velocity decreases near the shore. Storm deposits, as they are called, can be seen usually along the upper banks of a creek or river and typically appear to have freashly cut surfacaces. They appear rough as aposed to river rocks that are more round and smooth.
Where you are standing now is near the terminus of Cottonwood Creek (roughly a few blocks inland from the Pacific Ocean). The actual terminus is at Moonlight State Park. The Cottonwood Creek watershed is 2,000 acres (3 square miles) in size and is entierly within the city of Encinitas. The city has
TO LOG A FIND ON THIS CACHE YOU MUST ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS BELOW. YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH MY EMAIL OR THE GEOCACHING MESSAGE CENTER TO SEND YOUR ANSWERS. ANY INCORRECT ANSWERS MAY RESULT IN A CLARIFICATION RESPONSE FROM ME.
1. "Cottonwood Creek Watershed" on the first line of your email AND list all geocaching names of your party so I can match your answers to them. If you all want to learn something, I would prefer each cacher send me individual emails in the spirt of earthcaching.
2. Take a picture of your finger pointing to where you are on the watershed map. Be sure to not show any other part of the sign in your photos. This photo MUST be uploaded to your "found it" log. Do NOT send me any photos through the Geocaching message center.
3. Look down below at Cottonwood Creek. Is the water murky or clear? What does this tell you about its flow velocity?
4. Look down below at Cottonwood Creek. Do you see any evidence of storm deposits? How can you tell?
5. Where are the headwaters for the northern tributary of Cottonwood Creek?
6. Is Cottonwood Creek seasonal or year-round?
7. What feeds Cottonwood Creek today?
Works Cited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonwood_Creek_(Encinitas)