Pinole Creek is a stream in western Contra Costa County, in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The creek has one of the last primarily undeveloped watersheds in the Bay Area.

Course

The

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of Pinole Creek are in the

Briones Hills The Briones Hills form a low mountain range in western Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. Geography The hills are in the Southern Inner Coast Ranges group of the California Coas ...

on Costa Peak, within the western area of

Briones Regional Park Briones Regional Park is a regional park in the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) system, located in the Briones Hills of central Contra Costa County of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Geography The park is located in rolling h ...

. It flows westerly through the towns of

Pinole Pinole, also called pinol or pinolillo, is roasted ground maize, which is then mixed with a combination of cocoa, agave, cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make d ...

and El Sobrante, to its river mouth at the Chelsea Wetlands in

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water c ...

. Its mouth is east of

Point Pinole Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...

History

The name

is from the Spanish term for "parched corn", which the Mexicans ground for eating. In 1823, a

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

for that included Pinole Creek was granted to Don Ignacio Martinez, a Commandant of the

San Francisco Presidio The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

. The land grant was initially known as ''El Rancho de La Nuestra Sonora de Merced'', and later renamed Rancho El Pinole. Martinez built the first adobe in Pinole Valley and brought his family to settle the property with livestock and orchards.

Watershed

The upper watershed contains large areas of open space and managed grazing lands, with ranching and agricultural activities, and residential equestrian properties. The lower watershed contains the historic Old Town District of

, and suburban neighborhoods in Pinole, El Sobrante, and

. The watershed follows the regional geologic northwest–southeast orientation, similar to the orientation of the

Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la ...

, and is located just northeast of the Sobrante Ridge. The watershed is approximately in area, extending from headwaters on Costa and Duarte Peaks in the

, northwest to the

just east of Wilson Point. The average annual rainfall for the Pinole Creek watershed is 610 mm (24 in), with 90% falling between November and April. There are twelve minor, locally named tributaries and the gradient is 1%. In 1965, the Army Corps of Engineers armored the creek channel between Interstate 80 and San Pablo Bay for flood control. However, this removed

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

vegetation and tree cover needed for food, shelter, and shade for fish and other wildlife.

Ecology

Fauna

Biologists from the

East Bay Municipal Utility District East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", is a public utility district which provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. ...

(EBMUD) have observed

Steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

(''Oncorhyncus mykiss'') in the Pinole Creek watershed of multiple ages. Genetic studies by EBMUD in 1999 suggest that the trout are native Central California stock and not introduced. Perennial flows are jeopardized by water usage in the upper watershed but the creek may have the best trout restoration potential in the East Bay because large portions of the watershed are in open space. However, the I-80 crossing may be a significant obstacle to upstream trout migration. Pinole Creek supports a mostly native fish assemblage including rainbow/steelhead trout,

California roach The California roach (''Hesperoleucus symmetricus'') is a cyprinid fish native to western North America and abundant in the intermittent streams throughout central California. Once considered the sole member of its genus, it has recently been sp ...

(''Lavinia symmetricus''), Sacramento sucker (''

Catostomus ''Catostomus'' is a genus of fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, commonly known as suckers. Most members of the genus are native to North America, but '' C. catostomus'' is also found in Russia. Fish from different species of the genus ar ...

occidentalis''),

Threespine stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

(''Gasterosteus aculeatus''), Prickly sculpin (''

Cottus asper ''Cottus asper'' is a species of fish in the sculpin family known by the common name prickly sculpin. It is native to the river drainages of the Pacific Slope of North America from Seward, Alaska south to the Ventura River of Southern California ...

''). Mosquitofish (''Gambusia affinis'') and Common carp (''Cyprinus carpio'') are nonnative fishes found predominantly in the lower section of Pinole Creek, below Interstate 80.

Flora

Native plants are species of the California chaparral and woodlands and

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered chann ...

habitats. Invasive plant species such as

Giant reed ''Arundo donax'' is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. ''Arundo'' an ...

(''Arundo donax''),

Scotch broom ''Cytisus scoparius'' ( syn. ''Sarothamnus scoparius''), the common broom or Scotch broom, is a deciduous leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom; this name is also used for other ...

(''Cytisus scoparius''), Yellow star thistle (''Centaurea solstitialis''),

Himalayan blackberry ''Rubus armeniacus'', the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of ''Rubus'' in the blackberry group ''Rubus'' subgenus ''Rubus'' series ''Discolores'' (P.J. Müll.) Focke. It is native to Armenia and Northern Iran, and wide ...

(''Rubus discolor'') and many others are established along

sections of Pinole Creek.

References

External links

Friends of Pinole Creek

{{East Bay Rivers of Contra Costa County, California Tributaries of San Pablo Bay El Sobrante, Contra Costa County, California Hercules, California Pinole, California Rivers of Northern California