Oxnard Plain
Encyclopedia
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
in southwest Ventura County, California
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
bounded by the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
, the Santa Susana Mountains
Santa Susana Mountains
The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west separating the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley on its south, from Santa Clara River Valley to the north, and Santa Clarita...
, and Oak Ridge (beyond which lies the Conejo Valley
Conejo Valley
The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States...
) to the east, the Topatopa Mountains
Topatopa Mountains
The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Santa Paula. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. The range lies in an east-west direction northeast of the community of Ojai, and west of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. The ranges reaches an...
to the north, the Santa Clara River Valley
Santa Clara River Valley
The Santa Clara River Valley is a valley that runs from east to west through Ventura County and northwest Los Angeles County, California...
to the northeast and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
to the south and west. The Oxnard Plain is also home to the western half of the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metro Area
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is the metropolitan designation given to the Ventura County Area by the White House Office of Management and Budget...
which includes the cities of Oxnard
Oxnard, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
, Ventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
, Camarillo
Camarillo, California
Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 65,201 at the 2010 census, up from 57,084 at the 2000 census. The Ventura Freeway Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 65,201 at the 2010 census, up from 57,084 at...
, Port Hueneme
Port Hueneme, California
Port Hueneme is a small beach city in Ventura County, California surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Pacific Ocean. The name derives from the Spanish spelling of the Chumash wene me, meaning "Resting Place". The area was discovered by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in the mid 16th century...
and Santa Paula
Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...
, as well as the unincorporated towns of Channel Islands
Channel Islands Beach, California
Channel Islands Beach is a census-designated place in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 3,103 at the 2010 census, down from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Channel Islands Beach is located at ....
, El Rio
El Rio, California
El Rio is a small unincorporated census-designated town in Ventura County, California, USA, on the northeast side of the 101 Freeway and Oxnard, and south of the Santa Clara River...
, Montalvo, Saticoy
Saticoy, California
Saticoy is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Ventura County, California. It lies in the Santa Clara River Valley, south of the intersection of Wells Road and the Santa Paula Freeway, on the east side of Ventura, and north of the Santa Clara River at the head of the delta...
and Somis
Somis, California
Somis is an unincorporated area of Ventura County, California, just north of the Camarillo city limits. Its generally recognized boundaries are the areas around the intersection of Somis Road and Los Angeles Avenue , the latter being the dividing line between uptown and downtown. Its official...
.
The alluvial plain
Alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms...
is home to some of the most fertile soil in the world, and as such, agriculture is one of the region's most vital and important industries. The Oxnard Plain is known for its strawberries
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, leading to the moniker "Strawberry Capital of the World" and the annual California Strawberry Festival, the nation's largest. (Likewise, Santa Paula is called "The Citrus Capital of the World".) Oxnard Plain is also a major producer of celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
, lima beans, lettuce
Lettuce
Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...
, tomatoes, broccoli
Broccoli
Broccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
, onions and citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
fruits, namely lemons. The Plain also produces a major proportion of the transplanted Asian vegetable crop for the US including produce such as Bok Choi.
In addition to agriculture, the Oxnard Plain contains a considerable petroleum reserve. Two large active oil fields underlie the Plain – the Oxnard Oil Field
Oxnard Oil Field
The Oxnard Oil Field is a large and currently productive oil field in and adjacent to the city of Oxnard, in Ventura County, California in the United States. Its conventional oil reserves are close to exhaustion, with only an estimated one percent of the original oil recoverable with current...
, east of Oxnard, and the West Montalvo Oil Field
West Montalvo Oil Field
The West Montalvo Oil Field is a large and productive oil field on the coast of Ventura County, California, in the United States, in and adjacent to the city of Oxnard. Discovered in 1947, it has produced approximately of oil, and retains about 2.2 million recoverable with current technology, in...
, along the coast south of the outlet of the Santa Clara River. There are also several other smaller oil fields, some of which are abandoned. Oil facilities are interspersed with agricultural land uses both east and west of Oxnard.
The Santa Clara River
Santa Clara River (California)
The Santa Clara River is approximately long, located in southern California in the United States. It drains an area of the coastal mountains north of Los Angeles. The Santa Clara is one of the largest river systems along the coast of Southern California and one of only a few remaining river...
flows through the Oxnard Plain and drains to the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Clara River is one the largest river systems along the coast of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and only one of two remaining river systems in the region that remain in their natural states and not channelized by concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.