Pine Valley

"Pine Valley is a quiet meadow, enclosing the river flanked by tall ponderosas. In its spring bloom the valley's center is field upon field of lupine, poppy, larkspur and mugwort.  There are two waterfalls less than a mile from Pine Valley, both known as Pine Falls."

From: River in Ruin by Ray March
Picture from: VWA

Our Lord's Candle: Hesperoyucca whipplei

Hesperoyucca whipplei is native to southwestern California and adjacent Baja, with a disjunct population near the Grand Canyon. When blooming the flower stalk is up to 10 feet tall, which is tall enough to stick up above the chaparral and a plant in bloom in quite noticeable. 

From: Dave'sGarden

Under Spanish law, the Esselen were technically free men

"On May 9, 1775, Junípero Serra baptized what appears to be the first Esselen, Pach-hepas, who was the 40-year-old chief of the Excelen. The baptism took place in at Xasáuan, 10 leagues (about 26 miles ) southeast of the mission, in an area now named Cachagua, a close approximation of the Esselen name.

Under Spanish law, the Esselen were technically free men, but they could be compelled by force to labor without pay. More correctly, upon baptism they were considered to be part of a monastic order, subject to the rules of that order."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esselen_people

Rescued and relocated 35,000 endangered trout in 2013

Due to drier than normal conditions, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District initiated its annual Steelhead Rescue Program in the Carmel River in April, several months early.

 As of July 1, 2013 the program has rescued and relocated 35,000 of the endangered trout and will continue its efforts through the season as the Carmel River has dried back from the ocean almost 6 miles.

From: http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20130712/NEWS01/307120031/35-000-steelhead-trout-rescued-from-rapidly-drying-Carmel-River?gcheck=1

Picture from: moldy chum

an additional 1,488 acre-feet per year

California American Water has been granted additional Carmel River water rights of up to 1,488 acre-feet per year by the State Water Resources Control Board earlier this month.

The real potential benefit  is allowing the company to alleviate demand on the north Marina desalinization plant at the core of the proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project.

From: http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_24373057/cal-am-granted-addition-carmel-river-water-rights
Picture from Marcia's

Carmel River State Beach

Each year, Carmel River State Beach builds up sand and severs the river from Monterey Bay. With nowhere to drain, the water from the river pools at the lagoon. It eventually breaks through the sand and flows into the ocean.

Public Works drains the lagoon by bulldozing part of the stretch of sand that blocks the river and the bay. That drain, however, and the fast-running water that sometimes ensues, can prematurely sweep juvenile steelhead out to sea.  

From: http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_22958452/monterey-county-looks-at-ways-reduce-flooding-at 
Art from: “The Lagoon at Carmel River Beach” by Murray Wagnon

Drought of '76

"Cal-Am countered that river vegetation died off not because of overdrafting but because of the 1976-77 drought."
-River in Ruin by Ray March, 2012

"In November 1976,when this photo was taken, Carmel Valley was in the grip of an intense drought." 
 Picture from Schulte Restoration Project

John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

1945
The Carmel is a lovely little river. It isn't very long but in its course it has everything a river should have.
--John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

1603

1603
"A river of very good water but little depth, whose banks are well peopled with black poplars, very tall and smooth, and other trees of Castile and which descends from high white mountains."

-Sebastian Vizcaino, Carmel River's discoverer

Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood; also known as California poplar) is a deciduous broadleaf tree species native to western North America.  It has a Mitochondrial genome of 803,000 base pairs, and 52 genes.
From Wikipedia
Picture from Las Pilitas