Laguna Figueroa: profile

Laguna Figueroa: profile

GENERAL				SOURCE
Site		Laguna Figueroa
Map		SAHOPE, Landsat TM Images (scale 1:50,000),
Location		Laguna Figueroa (30° 32´ - 30° 41´ N and 116° 00´ - 116° 03´ W), also known as Laguna Mormona, is located 163 km south of Ensenada, between Colonia Guerrero and San Quintín.		1
Contacts		Pro Esteros (61) 78 01 62 or 78 60 50. Urban Development and Ecology of the City of Ensenada, B.C. (61) 77-24-66 Gobierno de Baja California (Subsecretaria de Gobierno)
Approximate Wetland Habitat Area		Laguna Figueroa is about 40 km², includes a narrow band of marsh and a large salt flat		2
Approximate Historic Area		Approximately 40 km².
Ownership	Owner		Approx. Area km² (acres)	Source
LAGUNA FIGUEROA	Ejido Zarahemla			20
	Ejido Leandro Valle			20
	Ejido Padre Kino\|			20
	Ejido Graciano Sanchez			20

LAND USE				SOURCE
Land use designation		No information
Onsite use		Recreational, open space and one trailer park. Pismo clam extraction on the open beach. Agriculture in the adjacent area. Research and teaching activities.
Historic use		No information
Adjacent use		Agriculture immediately to the east and north of the wetland. Habitational, the village of Ejido Zarahemla is located about one kilometer notheast of the wetland. Transpeninsular highway 1 and several small towns lie to the east, the town of San Quintín lie about 10 km to the southeast. Salt works and extraction of pebble rock to the south
Historic adjacent use		Mormon colony settled in --- dedicated mainly a --- activities.

HYDROLOGY		SOURCE
Tidal Influence	Although the tides are the primary influence on the lagoon´s water level, the variations are largely damped out by percolation through the barrier dune. Runoff rain water also contributes to this lagoon during the November-March rainy season. In some years, after heavy winter storms it is covered with freshwater.	3, 4, 5
Wetland Watershed Area	The San Quintin watershed, which drain into the wetland, is 950 km².

TRIBUTARIES AND FLOW	TRIBUTARY	FLOW	SOURCE
	Runoff rain water contributes to this lagoon during November- March rainy season. Arroyo Nueva York is located in the center portion of the valley of San Quintin, emanates from Sierra Juarez (at 400 m snm) and runs along Nueva York Canyon (25 km long). This arroyo crosses the localities of Buen Pastor, Las Palomas and the town of San Quintín. It is currently channalized and empties at the southern end of Laguna Figueroa.	During the winter of 1979-1980, heavy rains flooded the evaporita basin, converting this hypersaline wetland to a fresh water or brackish lagoon. It dried by 1981. The same event was repeated during the heavy rains of 1992-1993.	2, 5, 7, 11
Dams	None
Other Sources	The primary water resource is the coastal aquifer system. It is exploited through draw-wells (norias) and wells (pozos) which static levels vary from 2 to 30 m and from 10 to 60 m, respectively.		16

WATER QUALITY		SOURCE
General	A DDT study done during February, April, June and August of 1983 used pismo clam as bioindicator and found higher levels of DDT at Playa San Ramón, but three orders of magnitud below the tolerance limit for human.	8
Dissolved Oxigen (DO)	No information
Water Salinity	Laguna Figueroa is a hypersaline lagoon with a large salt flat. High rates of evaporation result from strong winds in the area. Water salinity is usually 50 ⁰/₀₀ but ranges from 48-110 ⁰/₀₀. The high salinity at this lagoon creates an apparently hostile environment. But the influence of rainfall radically changes the conditions of the system and leads it from hypersaline to freshwater conditions after winter storms.	1
Sedimentation	No information
Soil	Soils with phases of salinity and soda. Composed by silex and gypsum particles.	9

HABITAT	AREA	VEGETATION	SOURCE
Lagoon/mudflat The body of the lagoon is elongate and comprises an evaporita basin or salt flat, a salt marsh and a barrier dune.		A 1982 study found 95 different heterotropich bacteria, 8 cyanobacteria and 12 eukaryotes . A total of 67 taxa of benthic diatoms, including species and varieties, were reported in a 1984 study . The most important species were: Amphora salina, Mastogloia pusilla and Achnanthes heideni	1, 10
Saltflat (Evaporita basin) This habitat is extensive with scattered small islands. The evaporita basin alternates periods of flooding with periods of evaporations, depending on the amount of rainfall, during the winter.			5, 11
Salt marsh The salt marsh consist in a narrow band along the lagoon which is most extensive along the northern part (known as Laguna Grande). The marsh consists of two types of habitats: an inundated area of relatively tall intermediate marsh and and a non-inundated area of relatively low uppermarsh		Intermediate marsh is composed by pickleweed (Salicornia bigelovii) and saltwort (Batis maritima), the uppermarsh is composed by shoregrass (Monanthochloe littoralis), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), and pickleweed (Salicornia subterminalis)	1, 2, 11
Dunes The lagoon is separated from the ocean by a barrier dune ridge (100-150 m wide and 8-12 m high)	20 km long	A 1972-1973 sample of dune vegetation found 8 species, Abronia maritima had the greatest percentage cover and frequency in the foredune.	2, 12
Riparian		No information
Uplands		No information
Agricultural fields		Mainly tomato and strawberry. Also, corn, zuchinni and other produce.	11
ANIMAL USE
Birds	A total of 56 species of birds have been documented for the site, of which 16 are sensitive species and one is a non-native species. The endangered California least tern + # breeds on one nesting colony at the northern part of the salt flat. In 1991, 30 pairs nested in this colony. A 1991 survey documented 236 breeding snowy plovers + # using the site. In 1992 a ground survey documented 31,925 migratory shorebirds for San Quintín wetland. Of these, 10.9% were in Laguna Figueroa. Western sandpiper in Laguna Figueroa was the most abundant species. Laguna Figueroa is the only nesting site for the Caspian tern (10 pairs) in the state of Baja California. The only two nesting colonies of Forster’s Tern in the Mexican Pacific are found in the site (15 pairs in Laguna Figueroa and 15 in La Pinta Pond during 1990). Laguna Figueroa was the only location with the declining mountain plover (148 individuals), this lagoon is one of the most important wintering location in Baja california for this declining specie.		2, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15
Fish	No information
Benthic Invertebrates	No information
Insect	No information
Other Wildlife	No information
Special Status Species	Northern pintail, American wigeon, Canada goose,, Red tailed hawk, American kestrel, California Brown Pelican, California least tern #, Snowy plover #, Belding´s savannah sparrow #, Burrowing owl #, Greater white-fronted goose, Northern harrier, Merlin, Mountain plover,

OUTLOOK		SOURCE
Enhacement Status	None Laguna Figueroa has a great scientific value worldwide, especially for research on the origin of life. The microbiota in the sediments of the lagoon are considered as living fosils. It has been proposed to declare this site as natural monument.	19
Watershed Management	No information
Pressure	Human enchroachment througth agriculture and disturbance, including trampling of vegetation by off-road vehicles, presence of cat and feral dogs that disturbe breeding wetland avifauna. Pollution by agriculture waste.