Stevens Creek Reservoir is an

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located in the foothills of the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

near

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

. A county park surrounds the reservoir and provides limited fishing ("

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returned ...

"), picnicking, hiking, and horseback riding activities. Although swimming is not allowed, non-power boating (such as a kayak) is allowed for certain parts of the year. No powered boats or jet skis are allowed. All vessels must be inspected for invasive

Quagga mussel The quagga mussel (''Dreissena rostriformis'', also known as ''Dreissena bugensis'' or ''Dreissena rostriformis bugensis'') is a species (or subspecies) of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. It has an aver ...

s prior to launch. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency ( CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluatin ...

has issued a safe eatin
advisory
for any fish caught in Stevens Creek Reservoir due to elevated levels of mercury.

History

The reservoir was formed by the Stevens Creek Dam, built in 1935 across Stevens Creek. It is one of the smaller reservoirs owned by the

Santa Clara Valley Water District The Santa Clara Valley Water District (also known as Valley Water) provides stream stewardship, wholesale water supply and flood protection for Santa Clara County, California, in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. The district encompasses all of ...

. Originally named Arroyo de San José Cupertino, Stevens Creek flows into the reservoir and out of the dam to

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. Stevens Creek and the reservoir are named after Captain Elijah Stephens who led the first

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

across 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 ...

in 1844 and settled in Cupertino.

Stevens Creek Dam

Stevens Creek Dam is an earthen dam high and long. Its crest is above sea level. In 1985, the dam's height was raised to its present height with the addition of of material.

Stevens Creek County Park

Stevens Creek County Park is one of 28

Santa Clara County Parks Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department, sometimes referred to as Santa Clara County Parks Department or Santa Clara County Parks, is a government department in Santa Clara County, California. The department manages 29 parks with a total ...

. The park surrounds the reservoir, with the

Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve The Picchetti Winery, also known as the Picchetti Ranch, is a winery located at 13100 Montebello Rd., Cupertino, California in the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve. The Picchetti brothers, Secondo and Vincenzo, for whom the ranch was named, wer ...

adjacent to its east on the Montebello Ridge (also known as Black Mountain). An entrance to the park lies three miles from Interstate 280. Six miles of trails connect with the

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Formed in 1972 by voter initiative, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) is a non-enterprise special district in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has acquired and preserved a regional green belt of open space land and provides o ...

Fremont Older Open Space Preserve Fremont Older Open Space Preserve is a regional park located in Santa Clara County, California and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The preserve contains 14.7 miles (23.7 km) of hiking trails, nearly all open to equ ...

Fishing

Bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

Koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

Common Carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

Largemouth Bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

Crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...

, White Catfish, native landlocked

Steelhead 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 ...

, and other species of fish live in the reservoir. A few illegally stocked

White Sturgeon White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, Californ ...

have even been caught as recently as 2021, including one weighing over 50lbs in 2010. It can be fished only with a permit unless under the age of 16. While regulations permit the taking of fish, DFW recommends

because of problems with the concentration of

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

and

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

in the water. The reservoir was historically stocked with farmed Rainbow Trout for recreational purposes, but this practice was discontinued after elevated levels of Methylmercury were assessed. Fishing for trout at the reservoir is frowned upon since holdovers are likely endangered native Steelhead.

References

{{authority control Embankment dams Dams in California Cupertino, California Reservoirs in Santa Clara County, California United States local public utility dams Dams completed in 1935 Reservoirs in California Reservoirs in Northern California 1935 establishments in California

History

Stevens Creek Dam

Stevens Creek County Park

Fishing

See also

References