Sausal Creek, long,
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed March 15, 2011 is one of the principal creeks in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
.
The creek derives its name from the Spanish word for
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
grove (''sausal''). Native
arroyo willows were once common along its banks. Efforts are underway to restore the willows and the creek itself. A volunteer group, Friends of Sausal Creek, helps remove
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
and plant native species. Some of the invasive species in the Sausal Creek watershed include Monterey pine trees, ivy, French broom, and wild mustard.
Course
The North fork of the creek, also known as Shepherd Creek, begins in the hills above Oakland, flowing down Shepherd Canyon, named for an early landowner at the top of the canyon, William J. Shepherd. The South fork, also known as
Palo Seco Creek, also begins in the hills, and flows down Palo Seco Canyon to a confluence with the north fork in the linear valley where the
Montclair district is situated. The creek then cuts through the
shutter ridge which defines the linear valley (formed by the
Hayward Fault), and runs down to the flatlands through Dimond Canyon, where it passes under historic
Leimert Bridge. It then runs southwest through the
San Antonio district to empty into the
Oakland Estuary
The Oakland Estuary is the strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, separating the cities of Oakland, California, Oakland and Alameda, California, Alameda and the Alameda (island), Alameda Island from the East Bay mainland. On its weste ...
. The creek is mostly open in the hills section, and runs in culverts as it approaches the bay.
History
The first inhabitants of the Sausal Creek watershed were the Huchiun or Yrgin
tribelets of the
Ohlone people
The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited ...
. They harvested acorns, buckeyes and other foodstuffs at a time when enormous live oaks, alders, willows, and big-leaf maples grew on the creek's banks in what is now
downtown Oakland
Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States. It is located roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 (California), Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the north ...
, California. Also, large
Coast redwood
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...
s (''Sequoia sempervirens'') grew on the ridge where Skyline Boulevard now runs.
Sausal Creek was named Arroyo del Bosque by
Father Juan Crespí during the
Pedro Fages Expedition in 1772. Later the Sausal watershed became part of the
Rancho San Antonio land grant to Sergeant Luis Maria Peralta in 1820. By 1841 Peralta's descendants were selling the giant redwoods and by 1850 there were at least ten sawmills operating in the watershed. The Blossom Rock Tree had a trunk diameter of 33.5 feet and was over 300 feet tall. It was so named because sailors used it as a navigational aid to avoid an underwater hazardous rock,
Blossom Rock, in San Francisco Bay.
[
The creek was also known as Fruitvale Creek, when the settlement of Fruitvale was established in 1856 when Quaker nurseryman Henderson Luelling, planted hundreds of cherry trees along Sausal Creek, and named the area "Fruit Vale".][
As Oakland grew larger, the Sausal Creek watershed was significantly altered. When people built their houses next to Sausal Creek, they often planted gardens, which brought in plants from around the globe. Over time, since many of these plants were foreign, they were not adapted to the environment, and they could not be controlled.
In 1935, the Works Progress Administration began work deep in the canyon. Initially they were funded to clear landslides and build fire trails. In 1937, the WPA constructed a sanitary sewer that runs adjacent to Sausal Creek under the creek-side trail that runs from Dimond Park to slightly beyond the Leimert Bridge. In 1939 and 1940, further work was done to channelize the creek in concrete and stabilize its banks. The creek still ran, but at a quickening pace. What had once been a slow, babbling brook was now a torrential storm. Culverts soon covered the creek. In the 1980s, behind the Cohen-Bray House, on 29th Avenue near International Boulevard, preservationists fought over a culvert project that preservationists thought would deal a blow to a neighborhood rife with drugs and crime.
]
Restoration projects
Attitudes about Sausal Creek have changed and now benefits from citizen and government support. In 1996, the Friends of Sausal Creek was formed with support from the City of Oakland, the Aquatic Outreach Institute (now called The Watershed Project), and the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The group is interested in the entire Sausal Creek Watershed, and has organized clean-up hikes within the canyon, water quality monitoring of the creek, and has planted a native plant garden and a riparian restoration site at the lower end of the hiking trail in Dimond Park.
In 2015, the Sausal Creek Restoration Project removed 250 feet of culvert, widened the existing creek to create a more stable, natural and diverse riparian corridor, and added native plants and trees.
See also
* List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area
These watercourses (rivers, creeks, sloughs, etc.) in the San Francisco Bay Area are grouped according to the bodies of water they flow into. Tributaries are listed under the watercourses they feed, sorted by the elevation of the confluence so th ...
* San Leandro Creek
* Temescal Creek
References
External links
Friends of Sausal Creek
{{San Francisco Bay watershed
Rivers of Alameda County, California
Berkeley Hills
Geography of Oakland, California
Tributaries of San Francisco Bay
Works Progress Administration in California
Rivers of Northern California