San Tomas Aquino Creek
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San Tomas Aquinas Creek, known locally as San Tomas Aquino Creek, is a stream that heads on El Sereno mountain in El Sereno Open Space Preserve in Saratoga in
Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It flows north through the cities of Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell, and Santa Clara, where it joins
Saratoga Creek Saratoga Creek is a north-northeast flowing creek in Santa Clara County, California, that flows to the Guadalupe Slough and south San Francisco Bay. History Saratoga Creek was originally called Arroyo Quito and then Campbell Creek after imm ...
, which in turn, flows to the Guadalupe Slough and south
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
.


History

In the 1850s the creek appeared on several land grant maps as San Tomas Aquinas Creek and Arroyo de San Tomás Aquinas, named after
Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. A Doctor of the Church, he wa ...
. Historically, San Tomas Aquino Creek formed the eastern boundary of the 1841 Rancho Quito and the western boundary of the 1840
Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos El Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California made in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jose Maria Hernandez and Sebastian Fabian Peralta. Located in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, ...
land grants.


Watershed and course

The San Tomas Aquino Creek watershed drains about 45 square miles. It begins in the foothills of the
Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
within the city of Saratoga and flows north through Campbell. The middle portion of the creek runs under or alongside San Tomas Expressway. From Bucknall Road in Campbell, it runs along the west side of the expressway until Williams Road in West San Jose. From there, it runs under the median of the expressway until shortly north of Cabrillo Avenue in Santa Clara. Some portions are partially exposed, but much is completely underground. Just south of Monroe Avenue in Santa Clara, it joins
Saratoga Creek Saratoga Creek is a north-northeast flowing creek in Santa Clara County, California, that flows to the Guadalupe Slough and south San Francisco Bay. History Saratoga Creek was originally called Arroyo Quito and then Campbell Creek after imm ...
. The Guadalupe Slough carries the flows of San Thomas Aquino, Calabazas, and Saratoga Creeks out into south San Francisco Bay, passing just to the east of the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Ponds. The San Tomas Aquino/Saratoga Creek Trail for bicycles and pedestrians follows the creek from Monroe Street in Santa Clara to the San Francisco Bay.


Tributaries

The major tributaries of San Tomas Aquino Creek include (heading downstream) Mistletoe, Wildcat (and its Vasona sub-tributary), and Smith. Smith Creek is a headwaters tributary of San Tomas Aquino Creek, but is largely dry except during the winter months. It begins in the foothills of the
Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
within the city of Monte Sereno, then flows northerly through portions of Los Gatos and Campbell until its confluence with San Tomas Aquino Creek. San Tomas Aquino Creek flows into Saratoga Creek south of Highway 101, near Monroe Street in Santa Clara. Historically, San Tomas Aquino Creek was a tributary of Saratoga Creek and its water were carried directly to the Guadalupe River, but when the latter was redirected from Guadalupe Slough to Alviso Slough to facilitate navigation, Saratoga Creek, carrying waters from its San Tomas Aquino Creek tributary, was extended directly to Guadalupe Slough at Sunnyvale Baylands Park in
Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...
. Vasona Creek is a short creek that runs through West Valley College and joins Wildcat Creek just before the latter reaches San Tomas Aquino Creek. With $570,000 in grants from the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the one mile section of Vasona Creek running through the college campus has undergone restoration since 2011, repairing deep channel incision and restoring riparian vegetation.


Habitat and wildlife

In 1898
John Otterbein Snyder John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University. History As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...
collected steelhead trout (then ''Salmo irideus Gibbons'') specimens in ''Campbell Creek'' (now
Saratoga Creek Saratoga Creek is a north-northeast flowing creek in Santa Clara County, California, that flows to the Guadalupe Slough and south San Francisco Bay. History Saratoga Creek was originally called Arroyo Quito and then Campbell Creek after imm ...
, a tributary of San Tomas Aquino Creek). A 1985
California Department of Fish and Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...
(CDFG) survey of Saratoga Creek noted "a major steelhead and king salmon spawning area" on San Tomas Aquino Creek located approximately 200 yards downstream of the Saratoga and San Tomas Aquino creeks confluence. Stream resident coastal rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus'') persist in the
Saratoga Creek Saratoga Creek is a north-northeast flowing creek in Santa Clara County, California, that flows to the Guadalupe Slough and south San Francisco Bay. History Saratoga Creek was originally called Arroyo Quito and then Campbell Creek after imm ...
watershed but
anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
steelhead cannot run up from the Bay because of a barrier at the confluence of San Tomas Aquino Creek and Saratoga Creek that prevents their passage upstream. Recent genetic analysis has shown that the San Tomas Aquino watershed trout are of native origin and not hatchery stock. Leidy (2007) identified the native fishes in San Tomas Aquino Creek as Hitch (''Lavinia exilicauda''),
California roach The California roach (previously ''Lavinia/Hesperoleucus symmetricus'') is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, chubs, Phoxinus, Eurasian minnows ...
(''Lavinia symmetricus''), Sacramento sucker (''Catostomus occidentalis occidentalis''),
Three-spined 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''),
rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
(''Oncohrynchus mykiss irideus'') and possibly
Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...
(''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha''). Although the latter had been considered now absent from the watershed, in mid-October, 1996, Roger Castillo, the founder of the Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Group, recovered a giant Chinook salmon from San Tomas Aquino Creek beneath Highway 237 (see photo). Non-native fishes include
Common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...
(''Cyprinus carpio''),
Goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...
(''Carassius auratus auratus''),
Golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...
(''Notemigonus crysoleucas''), and Western mosquitofish (''Gambusia affinis'').


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 ...


References


External links


Guadalupe Slough Watershed maps page at Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks

Santa Clara County Creeks Coalition

Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative (SCBWMI)

Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Group
{{Santa Cruz Mountains Rivers of Santa Clara County, California Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of San Francisco Bay