:''Bishop Creek is also a dated variant of

Baxter Creek Baxter Creek or Stege Creek
, CreativeDifferences.com, retrieved August 15, 2007 (also archaica ...

in Richmond/El Cerrito, California'' Bishop Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 17, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

. It is the largest tributary of the

Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...

. It has five

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 ...

plants 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 ...

, Bishop Creek #2–6. Bishop Creek #1 was never completed. Parts of the creek run through pipelines, or

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...

s, to increase output at the

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. Bishop Creek has three forks, North, Middle and South. All have their headwaters in the eastern

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 ...

, near the border with

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 ...

. The forks all flow into

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s while still at high elevations. The North Fork flows into North Lake, the Middle Fork flows into

Lake Sabrina Lake Sabrina is a lake created by damming the middle fork of Bishop Creek. It is located south-west of Bishop, California on California State Route 168, in the Inyo National Forest. It has a cafe as well as a dock. The dam was built in 1907– ...

. The North and Middle forks combine above and flow through the community of Aspendell and below it the combined creeks are dammed at

Intake Two Intake Two is a small lake created by a dam on Bishop Creek. It is approximately 16 miles west of Bishop, California. It is well known for its fishing as it is annually stocked with Rainbow Trout, and has a healthy population of wild Brown Trout. ...

, a reservoir. The South Fork flows into South Lake and continues through the community of South Fork (aka Habegger's) and then joins the Middle Fork below the Intake Two reservoir. Bishop Creek then begins its steep descent to the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

. The creek runs roughly North then Northeast and then continues East, flowing past the city of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

before its confluence with the

. The creek was named after Owens Valley settler

Samuel Addison Bishop Samuel Addison Bishop (1825 – 1893) was a settler of the Owens Valley and is the namesake of Bishop Creek in Inyo County, California. He fought as a first sergeant in the Mariposa Battalion and later was a banker and a founder of the San Jose s ...

References

External links

* *
United States Geological SurveyMono Basin Clearinghouse
Rivers of Inyo County, California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Tributaries of the Owens River Inyo National Forest Bishop, California Owens Valley Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California {{California-river-stub

See also

References

External links