Strawberry Creek
Encyclopedia
Strawberry Creek is the principal watercourse
running through the city of Berkeley, California
. Two forks rise in the Berkeley Hills
of the California Coast Ranges, and form a confluence
at the campus of the University of California, Berkeley
. The creek then flows westward across the city to discharge into San Francisco Bay
.
The north fork has also been called "Blackberry Creek", a name which has also been applied to another small creek in Berkeley, a portion of which has been daylighted
through Thousand Oaks School Park. The canyon in which the north fork of Strawberry Creek runs is called "Blackberry Canyon".
Strawberry Creek serves as a significant marker for the movement of the Hayward Fault
. The creek is offset at the mouth of Strawberry Canyon, precisely at the locus of Memorial Stadium. The filled-in middle forks are thought to represent remnants of the former course of the south (main) fork of the creek, which has moved northward by fault action.
. The reservoir was replaced in the early 20th century by the system of the East Bay Municipal Utility District
whose source reservoir
is located in the Sierra Nevada. Construction of the stadium removed a waterfall and culverted the creek in that area.
In the latter half of the 19th century, a road bridge and a railroad trestle both spanned Strawberry Creek in the downtown
section at what is now the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way.
The creek has been culvert
ed over the years in several places, notably in public-works projects during the Great Depression of the 1930s, but has remained open through most of the UC campus, except in the central glade where the two small middle forks were long ago filled in. The south fork of Strawberry Creek has some riparian coast redwood groves on the university campus and is also suitable habitat for the California slender salamander
and arboreal salamander.
the creek throughout its natural course through Berkeley continue, and have so far resulted in the establishment of "Strawberry Creek Park" in West Berkeley
on the site of what used to be a small freight yard of the Santa Fe Railway. The creek is also open through several private yards in the blocks east of the park, starting just below (west of) Sacramento Street.
In 2010, momentum grew behind a plan to divert water from Strawberry Creek to the surface alongside Center Street. This proposal, backed largely by Ecocity Builders' Richard Register, would not restore the creek's original riparian habitat or path; instead, it would incorporate representational elements of the stream into a pedestrian plaza.
Watercourse
A watercourse is any flowing body of water. These include rivers, streams, anabranches, and so forth.-See also:* physical geography* Environmental flow* Waterway* Hydrology* Wadi-External links:...
running through the city of Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. Two forks rise in the Berkeley Hills
Berkeley Hills
The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that surrounds San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" , but with the establishment of Berkeley and the University of California, the current usage was...
of the California Coast Ranges, and form a confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
at the campus of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. The creek then flows westward across the city to discharge into 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...
.
The north fork has also been called "Blackberry Creek", a name which has also been applied to another small creek in Berkeley, a portion of which has been daylighted
Daylighting (streams)
In urban design and urban planning, daylighting is the redirection of a stream into an above-ground channel. Typically, the goal is to restore a stream of water to a more natural state...
through Thousand Oaks School Park. The canyon in which the north fork of Strawberry Creek runs is called "Blackberry Canyon".
Strawberry Creek serves as a significant marker for the movement of the Hayward Fault
Hayward Fault Zone
The Hayward Fault Zone is a geologic fault zone capable of generating significantly destructive earthquakes. This strike-slip fault is about long, situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay...
. The creek is offset at the mouth of Strawberry Canyon, precisely at the locus of Memorial Stadium. The filled-in middle forks are thought to represent remnants of the former course of the south (main) fork of the creek, which has moved northward by fault action.
History
Strawberry Creek was the first surface water source for the University and parts of the city of Berkeley. A reservoir was constructed in the late 19th century in Strawberry Canyon, above the site of California Memorial StadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
California Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. Commonly known as Memorial Stadium, it is the home field for the University of California Golden Bears of the Pacific-12 Conference...
. The reservoir was replaced in the early 20th century by the system of the East Bay Municipal Utility District
East Bay Municipal Utility District
East Bay Municipal Utility District , colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", provides water and sewage treatment for customers in portions of Alameda County and Contra Costa County in California, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, including the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules,...
whose source reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
is located in the Sierra Nevada. Construction of the stadium removed a waterfall and culverted the creek in that area.
In the latter half of the 19th century, a road bridge and a railroad trestle both spanned Strawberry Creek in the downtown
Downtown Berkeley, California
Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and east to Oxford Street...
section at what is now the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way.
The creek has been culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
ed over the years in several places, notably in public-works projects during the Great Depression of the 1930s, but has remained open through most of the UC campus, except in the central glade where the two small middle forks were long ago filled in. The south fork of Strawberry Creek has some riparian coast redwood groves on the university campus and is also suitable habitat for the California slender salamander
California slender salamander
The California slender salamander is a lungless salamander that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in a limited part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California, in patches of the northern Central Valley of California, and in...
and arboreal salamander.
Daylighting proposals
Efforts to re-open or daylightDaylighting (streams)
In urban design and urban planning, daylighting is the redirection of a stream into an above-ground channel. Typically, the goal is to restore a stream of water to a more natural state...
the creek throughout its natural course through Berkeley continue, and have so far resulted in the establishment of "Strawberry Creek Park" in West Berkeley
West Berkeley, Berkeley, California
West Berkeley is generally the area of Berkeley, California which lies west of San Pablo Avenue, abutting San Francisco Bay. It includes the area which was once the unincorporated town of Ocean View, as well as the filled-in areas along the shoreline west of I-80 including, mainly, the Berkeley...
on the site of what used to be a small freight yard of the Santa Fe Railway. The creek is also open through several private yards in the blocks east of the park, starting just below (west of) Sacramento Street.
In 2010, momentum grew behind a plan to divert water from Strawberry Creek to the surface alongside Center Street. This proposal, backed largely by Ecocity Builders' Richard Register, would not restore the creek's original riparian habitat or path; instead, it would incorporate representational elements of the stream into a pedestrian plaza.
Mouth
At the mouth of Strawberry Creek where it enters San Francisco Bay, the local indigenous people built up a shellmound. There was also a small wood of native willows here which was used in the late 19th century as a park. Jacobs' Landing, established early during the California Gold Rush, was the nucleus around which the Ocean View settlement that predated Berkeley was founded. The creek now enters San Francisco Bay from a pipe south of University Avenue and west of the I-880/580 freeway, behind Sea Breeze Market and Deli. This area is now part of Eastshore State Park, managed by East Bay Regional Park District. The tide flats at the creek mouth are important shorebird habitat, popular with bird watchers. Friends of Five Creeks, a volunteer group, has worked since 2000 to control invasives and re-establish some native vegetation here.See also
- Cerrito CreekCerrito CreekCerrito Creek is one of the principal watercourses running out of the Berkeley Hills into San Francisco Bay in northern California. It is significant for its use as a boundary demarcation historically, as well as presently. In the early 19th century, it separated the vast Rancho San Antonio to...
- Codornices CreekCodornices CreekCodornices Creek , long, is one of the principal creeks which runs out of the Berkeley Hills in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. In its upper stretch, it passes entirely within the city limits of Berkeley, and marks the city limit with the adjacent city of Albany in...
- List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Schoolhouse CreekSchoolhouse CreekSchoolhouse Creek is the name of a creek which flows through the city of Berkeley, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.-History:The creek acquired its name from a school which was sited adjacent to it, the Ocean View School...
- Temescal Creek
External links
- Strawberry Creek - Friends of Five Creeks information about Strawberry Creek mouth restoration and access
- Map and photos of Strawberry Creek
- UC Berkeley Strawberry Creek - UC Berkeley Office of Environmental Health and Safety
- Strawberry Creek Watershed - Oakland Museum of California Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks