Carriger Creek is a

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 strea ...

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

. Southwest of the city of

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

, its name changes to Fowler Creek. This article covers both parts of the creek. Carriger Creek springs from the eastern slope of

Sonoma Mountain Sonoma Mountain ( Coast Miwok: ''Oona-pa'is'') is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At an elevation of , Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sono ...

, southwest of Glen Ellen. It flows southwest through a canyon that opens west of El Verano. In the

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards a ...

, it joins with Felder Creek just north of West Watmaugh Road and becomes Fowler Creek. Fowler Creek parallels State Route 12 south, joined by Rodgers Creek along the way. It flows into

Sonoma Creek Sonoma Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 10, 2011 stream in northern California. It is one of two principal drainages of southern Sonoma County, Californi ...

just north of State Route 121. Its waters reach the

Napa Sonoma Marsh The Napa Sonoma Marsh is a wetland at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay, which is a northern arm of the San Francisco Bay in California, United States. This marsh has an area of , of which are abandoned salt evaporation ponds. The United States ...

and

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the 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 wate ...

by way of Sonoma Creek.

Ecology

Carriger Creek is studied by the Sonoma Ecology Center and the Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District.

Steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...

migration and

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

occur in Carriger Creek. Ongoing stream bank stabilization and riparian revegetation is being conducted in the creek to prevent erosion and enhance fish and wildlife

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. The major correction required was compensation for a poorly conceived concrete ford historically constructed for access to the Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve; this concrete structure led to severe downstream downcutting and resultant denial of fish passage.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Stream Restoration Project for Carriger Creek
/ref> According to the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

, Carriger Creek was a "renowned steelhead fishery" prior to the ecological damage of human modification of the streambed. Besides eliminating the downcutting by creating a

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...

, restoration work will also result in use of

rip-rap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

for certain streambank stabilization.

References

{{reflist

External links

TopoQuest map
Rivers of Sonoma County, California Sonoma Mountains Tributaries of Sonoma Creek Rivers of Northern California

Ecology

See also

References

External links