Big Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

, within the

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is kno ...

central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the San J ...

. The creek flows in

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 11, 2011 The settlement of Big Creek is named for it, as was the 2020 Creek Fire, which started in the Big Creek drainage and became one of California's largest

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

ever recorded.

Big Creek Hydroelectric Project

The

Big Creek Hydroelectric Project The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project is an extensive hydroelectric power scheme on the upper San Joaquin River system, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. The project is owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). The use and reu ...

, one of the most extensive

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

systems in the world, is partly located on Big Creek. It is owned by

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of app ...

. There are nine

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

s in the project: Portal, Eastwood, Mammoth Pool; and Big Creek 1, 2, 2A, 3, 4, and 8. Reservoirs in the project include

Huntington Lake Huntington Lake is a reservoir in Fresno County, California on Big Creek, located in the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 7000 ft. The lake receives water from Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, as well as the ...

Shaver Lake Shaver Lake is an artificial lake on Stevenson Creek, in the Sierra National Forest of Fresno County, California. At elevation , several smaller streams also flow into the lake, and it receives water from the tunnels of Southern California Edis ...

Redinger Lake Redinger Dam (National ID # CA00440; also known as Big Creek Dam Number 7) is a dam in Fresno County, California. The concrete gravity dam was completed in 1951 as one component of Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, a s ...

Florence Lake Florence Lake (born Florence Silverlake, November 27, 1904 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts. Early life Lake was born in Charleston, South Carolina. In t ...

Lake Thomas A Edison Lake Thomas A Edison (also known as Thomas A. Edison Lake and Edison Lake) is a reservoir in the Sierra National Forest and in Fresno County, California. It is in the Sierra Nevada, and near the Pacific Crest Trail. The reservoir's waters are impo ...

, and

Mammoth Pool Reservoir Mammoth Pool Reservoir is a reservoir on the San Joaquin River in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, within the Sierra National Forest in California. It creates the border between Fresno County, California, Fresno County and Madera County, ...

. The terminus of the system is the outlet of Big Creek 4, which discharges into the San Joaquin River several miles downstream from

Redinger Dam Redinger Dam (National ID # CA00440; also known as Big Creek Dam Number 7) is a dam in Fresno County, California. The concrete gravity dam was completed in 1951 as one component of Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, a s ...

. The San Joaquin passes through many more powerhouses downstream, including A.G. Wishon and the powerhouse at

Friant Dam Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the San Joaquin River in central California in the United States, on the boundary of Fresno and Madera Counties. It was built between 1937 and 1942 as part of a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) water pr ...

References

{{reflist Rivers of Fresno County, California Tributaries of the San Joaquin River Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Sierra National Forest Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California