Alameda Creek Watershed
Alameda Creek is the largest watershed within the southern San Francisco Bay draining 700 square miles (1,813 square kilometers), or about 20% of the total drainage area for the south Bay. Two-thirds of the watershed is in Alameda County including the reach through the Sunol Valley, the rest is in Santa Clara County. The tributaries of Alameda creek include Arroyo de la Laguna, Arroyo del Valle, San Antonio Creek and Calaveras Creek, whose main tributary is Arroyo Hondo. The watershed includes three man-made reservoirs: Lake Del Valle, San Antonio Reservoir and Calaveras Reservoir.
The Alameda Creek Watershed can be divided into six major reaches:
- Alameda Creek Flood Control Channel – the channelized, trapezoidal section extending from the Bay upstream to the Niles Canyon area
- Niles Canyon – the area above the flood control section to the confluence of the Alameda Creek mainstem and Arroyo de la Laguna
- Upper Alameda Creek (above the confluence with Arroyo de la Laguna) – the reach extending up the mainstem of Alameda Creek into the canyons of the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness Area and beyond
- Arroyo de la Laguna – the reach paralleling Interstate 680 upstream of the confluence with the mainstem Alameda Creek, including the Alamo Canal
- Arroyo del Valle – the reach extending from the confluence with Arroyo de la Laguna upstream through Shadow Cliffs Regional Park to Del Valle Regional Park
- Arroyo Mocho – the reach extending upstream from the confluence with Arroyo de la Laguna through the Livermore-Amador Valley and into unincorporated ranch and agricultural lands
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