Stevens Creek
Encyclopedia
Stevens Creek is a creek in Santa Clara County, California
. The creek originates in the Santa Cruz Mountains
on the western flank of Black Mountain
in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
, then flows southeasterly through the Stevens Creek County Park before turning northeast into Stevens Creek Reservoir
. It then continues north for 12.5 miles through Cupertino
, Los Altos
, Sunnyvale
and Mountain View
before emptying into the San Francisco Bay
at the Whisman Slough.
for Saint Joseph of Cupertino Creek) by Spanish
explorer Juan Bautista de Anza
, who camped along the creek on his expedition from Monterey to San Francisco. De Anza completed the first overland route to San Francisco Bay
when he and Father Pedro Font sighted the bay from a prominent knoll near the entry of Rancho San Antonio County Park
. In de Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the "Arroyo San José de Cupertino", which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco." The Diocese of San Jose
recently dedicated de Anza's Knoll as permanent public open space.
The Saint Joseph of Cupertino place name is preserved today in the city of Cupertino to the east and in the Saint Joseph of Cupertino Parish
Catholic church in the city. The Arroyo San José de Cupertino became Cupertino Creek sometime before 1866, but was later re-named for Elijah Stephens (how his name was misspelled is unknown), a South Carolina
-born blacksmith and trapper who settled on Cupertino Creek in 1848. Stephens renamed his 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) property at the base of Black Mountain "Blackberry Farm". Stephens is notable for being the captain of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
, the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada (two years before the ill-fated Donner Party
).
There is one major impoundment
, Stevens Creek Reservoir
at 531 feet (161.8 m) of elevation. The reservoir was constructed in 1935 to provide storage capacity of winter runoff that could be used to recharge the Santa Clara valley aquifer
. The reservoir is managed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District
(SCVWD) and has a current capacity of 3465 acre.ft of water. As currently managed by the SCVWD, flows are released during summer months which result in maintaining a wet channel for approximately 5.7 miles (9.2 km) downstream of the Reservoir (to Fremont Avenue) in order to preserve steelhead trout.
Tributaries above the Stevens Creek Reservoir include Swiss and Montebello Creeks. One tributary, Heney Creek, joins the mainstem 3.7 miles (6 km) below the Reservoir. Additionally, a diversion channel from Permanente Creek
(constructed in 1959) sends winter storm flows into Stevens Creek approximately 6.3 miles (10.1 km) below the reservoir.
in Shoreline Park to Sleeper Avenue in Mountain View. Cupertino has now added a 0.7 miles (1.1 km) section of trail that runs north along the creek from McClellan Road, then past the 4-H farm and community gardens in McClellan Ranch Park
nature preserve and ending (for now) at Blackberry Farm Park. The trail is entirely separated from vehicular traffic, as the single road crossing at Moffett Boulevard has been replaced by a bridge. The four cities of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos, and Mountain View are cooperating on potential trail alignments with the goal of a completed trail from the Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains.
(SCVWD) found fish ladders at the Central Expressway and Highway 101 often had insufficient flow and/or were clogged with debris and sediment. In addition, the drop structure at L’Avenida Avenue was impassable in all five years of the study. In August, 2003 the Stevens & Permanente Creeks Watershed Council was officially formed to support stewardship of the watersheds. The SCVWD’s Fish and Aquatic Habitat Collaborative Effort (FAHCE), has recommended removal of the Denil-type fish ladders at Fremont Avenue, Evelyn Avenue, and Moffett Boulevard which tend to clog with debris and are now classified as partial barriers by the California Department of Fish and Game
(CDFG). Adjacent to the fish ladder at Moffett Boulevard is a concrete drop structure built in the 1980s which is another obstacle to salmonid passage. The existing concrete-lined channel extending further downstream to Highway 101 (a distance of 450 feet) is flat and low flows cross it as a thin sheet of water over the concrete
bottom. At least 6-inch depth of flow is required for adequate fish passage.
The Western Burrowing Owl
(Athene cunicularia) nests at Shoreline Park near the mouth of Stevens Creek. In 2008, Mountain View evicted a pair of burrowing owls so that it could sell a parcel of land to Google
to build a hotel at Shoreline Boulevard and Charleston Road. Eviction of the owls is controversial because the birds regularly reuse burrows for years, and there is no requirement that suitable new habitat be found for the owls. Despite being listed in 1979 as a Species of Special Concern
(a pre-listing category under the Endangered Species Act
) by the California Department of Fish and Game
, California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 90's, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year. In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nominated the Western Burrowing Owl as a Federal Category 2 candidate for listing as endangered or threatened, but loss of habitat continues due to development of the flat, grassy lands used by the owl. According to The Institute for Bird Populations
at Point Reyes, there has been a 50 percent decline in burrowing owl populations in the Bay Area in the last 10 to 15 years. Their status protects them from disturbance during nesting season or killing at any time, but does not guarantee them a permanent home, as outside of breeding season, owls can be evicted from their homes. A 1992-93 survey reported no breeding burrowing owls in Napa
, Marin
, and San Francisco counties, and only a few in San Mateo and Sonoma. The Santa Clara County
population is declining and restricted to a few breeding locations, leaving only Alameda
, Contra Costa, and Solano counties as the remnant breeding range.
37°26′45"N 122°03′49"W
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
. The creek originates in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
on the western flank of Black Mountain
Black Mountain (near Los Altos, California)
Black Mountain is a summit on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains of west Santa Clara County, California, south of Los Altos and west of Cupertino. It is located on the border between Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve and Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, with the summit located in...
in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a open space preserve, located near Palo Alto in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, California. The preserve encompasses the upper Stevens Creek watershed in the valley between Monte Bello Ridge and Skyline Ridge...
, then flows southeasterly through the Stevens Creek County Park before turning northeast into Stevens Creek Reservoir
Stevens Creek Reservoir
Stevens Creek Reservoir is a reservoir located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains near Cupertino, California.Stevens Creek Dam, which impounds the lake, was approved for construction by voters in 1934 and completed in 1935. The dam's height was raised 10 feet in 1985, to its present...
. It then continues north for 12.5 miles through Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
, Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
and Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
before emptying into the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
at the Whisman Slough.
History
The creek was originally named Arroyo San José de Cupertino (SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for Saint Joseph of Cupertino Creek) by Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
explorer Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
, who camped along the creek on his expedition from Monterey to San Francisco. De Anza completed the first overland route to San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
when he and Father Pedro Font sighted the bay from a prominent knoll near the entry of Rancho San Antonio County Park
Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve
Rancho San Antonio County Park is a public recreational area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Clara County, in northern California. It's approximately in area and contains of hiking trails. It is managed by the Santa Clara County Parks department...
. In de Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the "Arroyo San José de Cupertino", which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco." The Diocese of San Jose
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San José; in California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. It comprises Santa Clara County, and is led by a bishop. Its patron saints are Saint Joseph and Saint Clare of...
recently dedicated de Anza's Knoll as permanent public open space.
The Saint Joseph of Cupertino place name is preserved today in the city of Cupertino to the east and in the Saint Joseph of Cupertino Parish
Saint Joseph of Cupertino Parish
Saint Joseph of Cupertino Parish is a territorial parish serving Latin Rite Catholics in Cupertino, California, United States. The parish is named for Joseph of Cupertino, and had its origin in a small wooden chapel at the Villa Maria retreat located in Stevens Creek Canyon...
Catholic church in the city. The Arroyo San José de Cupertino became Cupertino Creek sometime before 1866, but was later re-named for Elijah Stephens (how his name was misspelled is unknown), a South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
-born blacksmith and trapper who settled on Cupertino Creek in 1848. Stephens renamed his 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) property at the base of Black Mountain "Blackberry Farm". Stephens is notable for being the captain of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the...
, the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada (two years before the ill-fated Donner Party
Donner Party
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
).
Watershed
Stevens Creek consists of approximately 20 miles (32.2 km) of channel, and enters the San Francisco Estuary near Long Point, north of Moffett Field Naval Air Station, at Whisman Slough between Mountain View's Shoreline Park and Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area. It drains a watershed of about 29 square miles.There is one major impoundment
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
, Stevens Creek Reservoir
Stevens Creek Reservoir
Stevens Creek Reservoir is a reservoir located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains near Cupertino, California.Stevens Creek Dam, which impounds the lake, was approved for construction by voters in 1934 and completed in 1935. The dam's height was raised 10 feet in 1985, to its present...
at 531 feet (161.8 m) of elevation. The reservoir was constructed in 1935 to provide storage capacity of winter runoff that could be used to recharge the Santa Clara valley aquifer
Santa Clara valley aquifer
The Santa Clara valley aquifer is a groundwater aquifer located in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. The geology of the Santa Clara valley aquifer consists of a complex stratigraphy of permeable and impermeable units...
. The reservoir is managed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District
Santa Clara Valley Water District
The Santa Clara Valley Water District provides stream stewardship, wholesale water supply and flood protection for Santa Clara County, California, in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. The district encompasses all of the county’s and serves the area’s 15 cities, 1.7 million residents and more...
(SCVWD) and has a current capacity of 3465 acre.ft of water. As currently managed by the SCVWD, flows are released during summer months which result in maintaining a wet channel for approximately 5.7 miles (9.2 km) downstream of the Reservoir (to Fremont Avenue) in order to preserve steelhead trout.
Tributaries above the Stevens Creek Reservoir include Swiss and Montebello Creeks. One tributary, Heney Creek, joins the mainstem 3.7 miles (6 km) below the Reservoir. Additionally, a diversion channel from Permanente Creek
Permanente Creek
Permanente Creek is a stream originating on Black Mountain in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the namesake for the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization...
(constructed in 1959) sends winter storm flows into Stevens Creek approximately 6.3 miles (10.1 km) below the reservoir.
Stevens Creek Trail
The Stevens Creek Trail is a 4.8 miles (8 km) long bicycle and pedestrian path that runs south continuously from its connection to the San Francisco Bay TrailSan Francisco Bay Trail
The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that will eventually allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2011, approximately 310 miles of trail have been completed...
in Shoreline Park to Sleeper Avenue in Mountain View. Cupertino has now added a 0.7 miles (1.1 km) section of trail that runs north along the creek from McClellan Road, then past the 4-H farm and community gardens in McClellan Ranch Park
McClellan Ranch Park
McClellan Ranch Park is a public park located in the Monta Vista neighborhood of Cupertino that still retains its rural ranch look. It used to be a horse ranch owed by the McClellan family in the 1930s, and still preserves the original ranch house, a working milk barn and livestock barn, and two...
nature preserve and ending (for now) at Blackberry Farm Park. The trail is entirely separated from vehicular traffic, as the single road crossing at Moffett Boulevard has been replaced by a bridge. The four cities of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos, and Mountain View are cooperating on potential trail alignments with the goal of a completed trail from the Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Habitat and conservation
Stevens Creek is one of the prime steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) habitats within the county. However, there are significant barriers for this anadromous fish. In a 1994 study, the Santa Clara Valley Water DistrictSanta Clara Valley Water District
The Santa Clara Valley Water District provides stream stewardship, wholesale water supply and flood protection for Santa Clara County, California, in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. The district encompasses all of the county’s and serves the area’s 15 cities, 1.7 million residents and more...
(SCVWD) found fish ladders at the Central Expressway and Highway 101 often had insufficient flow and/or were clogged with debris and sediment. In addition, the drop structure at L’Avenida Avenue was impassable in all five years of the study. In August, 2003 the Stevens & Permanente Creeks Watershed Council was officially formed to support stewardship of the watersheds. The SCVWD’s Fish and Aquatic Habitat Collaborative Effort (FAHCE), has recommended removal of the Denil-type fish ladders at Fremont Avenue, Evelyn Avenue, and Moffett Boulevard which tend to clog with debris and are now classified as partial barriers by the California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
(CDFG). Adjacent to the fish ladder at Moffett Boulevard is a concrete drop structure built in the 1980s which is another obstacle to salmonid passage. The existing concrete-lined channel extending further downstream to Highway 101 (a distance of 450 feet) is flat and low flows cross it as a thin sheet of water over the concrete
bottom. At least 6-inch depth of flow is required for adequate fish passage.
The Western Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
The Burrowing Owl is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated...
(Athene cunicularia) nests at Shoreline Park near the mouth of Stevens Creek. In 2008, Mountain View evicted a pair of burrowing owls so that it could sell a parcel of land to Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
to build a hotel at Shoreline Boulevard and Charleston Road. Eviction of the owls is controversial because the birds regularly reuse burrows for years, and there is no requirement that suitable new habitat be found for the owls. Despite being listed in 1979 as a Species of Special Concern
California species of special concern
"Species of special concern" is a protective legal designation assigned by the California Department of Fish & Game to wildlife species that are at risk...
(a pre-listing category under the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
) by the California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
, California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 90's, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year. In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nominated the Western Burrowing Owl as a Federal Category 2 candidate for listing as endangered or threatened, but loss of habitat continues due to development of the flat, grassy lands used by the owl. According to The Institute for Bird Populations
The Institute for Bird Populations
The Institute for Bird Populations, based in Marin County, California, is a non-profit organization dedicated to studying and monitoring bird populations, and providing land managers and policy makers with information needed to better manage those populations....
at Point Reyes, there has been a 50 percent decline in burrowing owl populations in the Bay Area in the last 10 to 15 years. Their status protects them from disturbance during nesting season or killing at any time, but does not guarantee them a permanent home, as outside of breeding season, owls can be evicted from their homes. A 1992-93 survey reported no breeding burrowing owls in Napa
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
, Marin
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
, and San Francisco counties, and only a few in San Mateo and Sonoma. The Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
population is declining and restricted to a few breeding locations, leaving only Alameda
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
, Contra Costa, and Solano counties as the remnant breeding range.
External links
- Stevens Creek and Permanente Creek Watershed Council
- Friends of Stevens Creek Trail
- Nearby Hiking Trails in Santa Clara County - San Jose Wiki
- Santa Clara County Creeks Coalition
- Stevens Creek Historic and Watershed maps page at Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks
- Species of the Month - Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan
- Protecting the Western Burrowing Owl, City of Mountain View, CA
37°26′45"N 122°03′49"W