A tenaja is a water basin or retention

Retention basin

A retention basin is used to manage stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay. Sometimes called a wet pond or wet detention basin, it is an artificial lake with vegetation around the perimeter, and includes a...

 area. The term usually implies a natural or geologic cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

 in rock which retains water. They are often created by erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

al processes within intermittent streams.

Before European settlers came to America, tenajas were a valuable source of water for early Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 traveling in the desert areas of the Southwest

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

. Today, tenajas are an integral part of sustaining life in the arid

Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...

 Southwest. For example, tenajas at the Santa Rosa Plateau

Santa Rosa Plateau

The Santa Rosa Plateau is an upland plateau and southeastern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains in Riverside County, southern California. It is bounded by the rapidly urbanizing Inland Empire cities of Murrieta to the northeast, and Temecula to the southeast.The Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological...

 in 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...

 allow western pond turtle

Western pond turtle

The western pond turtle , or Pacific pond turtle is a small to medium-sized turtle growing to approximately 20 cm in carapace length. It is limited to the west coast of the United States of America and Mexico, ranging from western Washington state to northern Baja California...

s, California newt

California Newt

The California newt is a newt. It is also referred to as the orange bellied newt. They can grow to be in length.- Physical description :T. torosa adult length can range from to...

s and red-legged frog

Red-legged Frog

The Red-legged Frog, a threatened native species in Oregon, is a common name for a particular kind of frog of the west coast of North America. The Red-legged Frog requires stream side, woodland environments for survival...

s to survive through dry summer months.