Pacheco Creek (San Benito County)

This article is about Pacheco Creek in San Benito County. For Pacheco Creek in Contra Costa County, see Pacheco Creek (Contra Costa County).
Pacheco Creek
stream
Country United States
State California
Region San Benito and Santa Clara Counties,
Tributaries
 - left South Fork Pacheco Creek, Tequisquita Slough
 - right North Fork Pacheco Creek, Cedar Creek (Pacheco Creek)
Source Confluence of North Fork Pacheco Creek and South Fork Pacheco Creek
 - location Just south of Pacheco Reservoir, Santa Clara County
 - elevation 431 ft (131 m)
 - coordinates 37°02′42″N 121°17′23″W / 37.04500°N 121.28972°W / 37.04500; -121.28972 [1]
Mouth San Felipe Lake and the source of the Pajaro River
 - location 5 mi (8 km) east of Gilroy
 - elevation 144 ft (44 m)
 - coordinates 36°58′38″N 121°27′37″W / 36.97722°N 121.46028°W / 36.97722; -121.46028Coordinates: 36°58′38″N 121°27′37″W / 36.97722°N 121.46028°W / 36.97722; -121.46028 [1]

Pacheco Creek is a 28 miles (45 km)[2] west by southwest flowing stream which heads in the Diablo Range in southeastern Santa Clara County and flows to San Felipe Lake,[3] the beginning of the Pajaro River mainstem, in San Benito County, California.

History

The creek is named for Francisco Pacheco and Juan P. Pacheco who were granted the Rancho Ausaymas y San Felipe land grants in 1833 and 1836, and 1843 respectively. Francisco Pacheco came to California in 1819.[4]

Watershed

The mainstem Pacheco Creek is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Pacheco Creek[5] and South Fork Pacheco Creek[6] about 7 miles (11 km) west of Pacheco Pass.[2] The creek generally follows Highway 152, passing from Santa Clara County to San Benito County, and continuing until it empties into San Felipe Lake, the source of the Pajaro River. The North Fork Pacheco Creek is a 19 miles (31 km) stream beginning in Henry W. Coe State Park at 2,360 feet (720 m) and receives the 6 miles (9.7 km) East Fork Pacheco Creek,[2][7] at Chimney Rock[8] before reaching Pacheco Reservoir, the latter just north of Highway 152 and the confluence of North and South Forks Pacheco Creek. The Mississippi Creek[9] tributary of North Fork Pacheco Creek is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) has an impoundment above 2,100 feet (640 m) elevation, and sources on Bear Mountain[10] on the northern side of Henry W. Coe State Park.

Just before joining Pacheco Creek above San Felipe (Soap) Lake, it is joined by Tequisquita Slough. The latter has 3 main tributaries, Santa Ana Creek,[11] Arroyo de Los Viboras, and Arroyo Dos Pichachos.[12] Santa Ana Creek is apparently named for the Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe land grant.

Stream flow in Pacheco Creek is influenced by releases from the North Fork Pacheco Reservoir, which is operated by the Pacheco Pass Water District.[13]

Ecology

Significant remnants of the historic riparian California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) habitat still exists on Pacheco Creek and are a good example of the Central Coast Sycamore Alluvial Woodland habitat type.[14]

Pacheco Creek historically hosted steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as evidenced by a physical specimen collected in 1945 by D.H. Simpson in the California Academy of Sciences, "19.5 miles east of Gilroy on Hwy. 152".[15] Pacheco Reservoir (North Fork Dam) is an impassable barrier to in-migrating steelhead trout, preventing access to the nearly 34.5 miles (55.5 km) of stream consisting of North Fork Pacheco Creek, Mississippi Creek and East Fork Pacheco Creek.[2] In addition, resident rainbow (the landlocked form of steelhead trout) successfully rear in fast-water habitats grow rapidly and reach smolt size by the end of their first summer. In many years in late spring, prior to reservoir releases for agriculture, low stream flows and high water temperatures severely impact steelhead fry and small juveniles.[16] Other native fish in North Fork Pacheco Creek include Monterey sucker (Catostomus occidentalis mniotiltus) and Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis).[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pacheco Creek
  2. 1 2 3 4 U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed February 6, 2016
  3. ↑ "San Felipe Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  4. ↑ E. G. Gudde, Bright, W. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographic Names. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 275. ISBN 9780520266193.
  5. ↑ "North Fork Pacheco Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  6. ↑ "South Fork Pacheco Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  7. ↑ "East Fork Pacheco Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  8. ↑ "Chimney Rock". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  9. ↑ "Mississippi Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  10. ↑ "Bear Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  11. ↑ "Santa Ana Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  12. ↑ Pacheco Watershed Working Group (2005). Pacheco Creek Agricultural Watershed Plan Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  13. ↑ Casagrande, Julie Renee (2010). Aquatic Ecology of San Felipe Lake, San Benito County, California. Master's Theses. Paper 3803. (Thesis). San Jose State University. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  14. ↑ Grossinger, RM, EE Beller, MN Salomon, AA Whipple, RA Askevold, CJ Striplen, E Brewster, and RA Leidy (2008). South Santa Clara Valley Historical Ecology Study, including Soap Lake, the Upper Pajaro River, and Llagas, Uvas-Carnadero, and Pacheco Creek - A Report of SFEI’s Historical Ecology Program, SFEI Publication #558 (PDF) (Report). Oakland, California: San Francisco Estuary Institute. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  15. ↑ "CAS 19094 "Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdnerii"". California Academy of Sciences. 1945-11-12. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  16. ↑ Jerry Smith (2007). Effects of Operation of Pacheco Reservoir on Steelhead (Report). San Jose State University. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  17. ↑ "Fish Species by Location - 'Upper North Fork Pacheco Creek-180600020201'". University, Division of Agriculture and Natural Science. California Fish Website. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
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