USGS1978
Water-quality data are summarized for the upper Santa Clara River basin, California from studies beginning August 1974 through June 1976 and during past monitoring programs. Data were collected for nitrogen, phosphorus, total organic carbon, trace elements, detergents, and pesticide compounds. Because of the limited number of samples, the data are only an estimate of conditions that existed in the basin. Sampling was designed so that samples from each site would represent seasonal variations in discharge. Most constituents were fairly low in concentration near the headwaters at Ravenna and higher below the urban and agricultural area near Saugus. Mean specific conductance in the river ranged from 745 micromhos per centimeter at 25 deg C below the headwaters near Lang to 2,640 micromhos at the Los Angeles-Ventura County line. Results also indicate that discharge was not the single factor controlling the concentration variance for most constituents. Regression analyses indicated a high correlation between specific conductance and most major inorganic chemical constituents, and between specific conductance and discharge. (Woodard-USGS)