San Timoteo Creek (also called San Timoteo Wash, colloquially known as San Tim) 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 ...

in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, United States. A

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

, it flows through San Timoteo Canyon. San Timoteo Creek has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of about . The creek receives most of its water from headwater tributaries flowing from the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

near Cherry Valley, as well as Yucaipa Creek, which flows from Live Oak Canyon. In the past the creek was intermittent. Today it flows year-round due to agricultural runoff and secondary treatment discharge from a water treatment plant in Yucaipa. The name "San Timoteo" was given to the creek and canyon around 1830. It is Spanish for

Saint Timothy Timothy or Timothy of Ephesus (Greek language, Greek: , ''Timótheos'', meaning "honouring God" or "honoured by God") was an early Christian Evangelism, evangelist and the first Christianity, Christian bishop of Ephesus, whom the Acts of Timothy ...

Course

San Timoteo Creek is formed by the confluence of Little San Antonio Creek and Noble Creek west of Beaumont. Coopers Creek joins from the southeast just before the San Timoteo enters the San Timoteo Canyon. The San Timoteo flows northwest through San Timoteo Canyon, north of The Badlands in the southern hills of Redlands. Yucaipa Creek, flowing from Live Oak Canyon, joins San Timoteo Creek in San Timoteo Canyon. After the creek leaves the canyon it flows through Bryn Mawr and Loma Linda to its mouth on the Santa Ana River, near the

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...

and I-215 interchange.

History

Historically, San Timoteo Canyon was used as a travel corridor by Native Americans and Spanish ranchers. San Timoteo Canyon Road was used by stage coaches from the 1880s through the 1920s. By the 1910s the road was being used by cars. A large Native American village used to exist near the mouth of San Timoteo Canyon. Its inhabitants were ultimately incorporated into the

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel () is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by the Spanish Empire on the Nativity of Mary September 8, 1771, as the fourth of what would become twenty-one Spanish mi ...

. In the 19th century the village of Saahatpa was established in San Timoteo Canyon by Chief Juan Antonio and his band of

Cahuilla The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. ...

Indians. The village was abandoned after a devastating smallpox epidemic in 1862–63. In May 1877 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company completed tracks through San Timoteo Canyon, over

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

and east to

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

. During the great Los Angeles flood of 1938, the creek flooded, causing damage and destruction. In 1969, the creek overflowed its banks again, causing damage in Redlands and inundating two-thirds of Loma Linda. Many of the bridges over the creek washed away, and Loma Linda Academy was completely flooded. These floods led to controversial calls for

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

on the creek. The federal government made appropriations for channelization of the entire creek in 1988, but local opposition to the measure was strong. Eventually, a compromise measure was reached, in which the creek was only partially channelized in 2008 by the

US Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

. In 2010, the creek again flooded parts of Loma Linda. In 2013, the Corps of Engineers completed a flood control mitigation project which included maintenance and revegetation. The creek is a popular local venue for hiking and mountain biking.

Flood control and environmental projects

Urbanization is occurring rapidly in the San Timoteo watershed, resulting in an increased potential for floods. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

has built flood control structures along most of the lower reaches of the creek. A concrete-lined channel runs from the confluence of the Santa Ana River upstream. Due to public opposition regarding extending the concrete channel in more upstream portions of San Timoteo Creek, flood control upstream of the concrete section uses a soft-bottom channel through most of the project. The

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

, in cooperation with San Bernardino County, Redlands, and Loma Linda, are working to restore sections of San Timoteo Creek's riparian ecosystem to a close approximation of its natural state, while recognizing it is not possible to restore certain reaches to a pristine condition. San Timoteo Creek is one of the few remaining functional wildlife corridors linking the Santa Ana River and Prado Basins on the west with the San Bernardino, San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto Mountains to the east. San Timoteo is one of the last major drainage systems in the inland area of Southern California with some significant remnants of riparian vegetation and habitat.

References

External links

San Timoteo Nature Sanctuary Project
The Redlands Conservancy {{Authority control Rivers of Riverside County, California Rivers of San Bernardino County, California Tributaries of the Santa Ana River Loma Linda, California Redlands, California San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino National Forest Rivers of Southern California

Course

History

Flood control and environmental projects

See also

References

Further reading

External links