SCVWD History 1-22 - Santa Clara Valley Water District

History of Water in Santa Clara County
Teacher’s Activity Guide
GRADES 4 -12
Santa Clara Valley
Water District
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History of Water in Santa Clara County
Teacher’s Activity Guide
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Timeline of the History
of Water in Santa Clara County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Directions and Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Student’s Water History Flash Cards
(English and Spanish versions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Instructor’s Water History Answer Cards
(English and Spanish versions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Name Origin and History:
Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Creeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Towns & Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Other Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Water Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Bibliography & Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Flood Control Zones and Watersheds
Water Conveyance, Treatment and Distribution System
South Bay Water Recycling Pipelines
Santa Clara Valley Water Projects
Santa Clara Valley Watersheds
Groundwater Elevations & Land Subsidence
BY KATHY MACHADO
Santa Clara Valley Water District Education Program Coordinator
with assistance from Santa Clara Valley Water District personnel
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Introduction
How do you teach Santa Clara Valley water history in an engaging, exciting way? How do you motivate students to want
to know about it? The activity presented in this packet is focused on water history for the Santa Clara Valley. It includes other
historical data to give the instructor historical points of reference. Also included is the history and origin of many place names
in the Santa Clara Valley.
The activity works best with students from fourth grade through high school. It also has been used successfully at
the college level. Small groups work together. Instructors coach and encourage students as they work through the activity.
There is no failure, only a lot of learning!
Overview of the Activity
To prepare for the presentation of the activity, the instructor will want to review the timeline on pages 5 -16. The twelve
cards highlight water history events. Other events may be of interest and included in the discussion that follows the student
activity.
To begin the activity, copy and distribute the twelve (12) cards located on pages 19 - 22 to small groups of students.
Encourage the students to put the cards in order according to when things happened. The first card will be what happened
first. The second card will be the event that occurred next and so forth. After students have attempted to place the cards in
proper historical sequence, use the large cards on pages 23 - 46 to review the correct order. Add other historical information
as appropriate to your program.
TheValley of Heart’s Delight
The Santa Clara Valley is
to those who hold it dear
A beautiful, rich paradise
Each season of the year.
One loves it best in April
When the fruit trees are in bloom.
And a mass of snowy blossoms
Brings a subtle sweet perfume.
When orchard after orchard
Is spread before the eyes
With the whitest of white blossoms
’Neath the bluest of blue skies.
No brush can paint the picture
No pen describe the sight
That one can find in April
In the Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Clara Louise Lawrence
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Timeline of the History of Water in Santa Clara County
10 Million B.C.
1776
Movement along the San Andreas Fault begins to create
California's current coastal configuration.
Col. Juan Bautista de Anza secures the great Bay of San
Francisco for Spain.
500,000 B.C.
1777
A dropped valley (or graben) forms between the Hayward
and San Andreas faults, approximately 500,000 years ago.
The Santa Clara Valley is formed as well as the depression that
eventually will become the San Francisco Bay. The Santa Clara
Valley is an intermediate valley in the Coast Range between the
Santa Cruz Mountains and the Gavilan Range on the west and
the Diablo Range on the east. The valley extends in a southeasterly direction from the San Francisco Bay to an area near
Hollister.
On the banks of the Guadalupe River, what is known today as
San Jose becomes California’s first pueblo, or civil settlement.
20,000 B.C.
The last ice age ends. The resulting rise in water creates one of
the world’s largest estuaries, the
San Francisco Bay.
3200 B.C.
Mission Santa Clara is founded by Father Junipero Serra in
Santa Clara.
1797
Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Jose on the banks
of the Guadalupe River.
“WATER BEARS THE EARTH
AND SUPPORTS THE UNIVERSE.
IT IS THE ELEMENT WHICH
GENERATES ALL OTHERS.”
1799
The beautiful Alameda, considered one
of the most charming drives
in the world, is laid out by Father
Maguin de Catala, one of the fathers at
the mission. He organizes planting of
trees along the road and employs 200
Indians to water and protect the
saplings until they are large enough
Thales of Miletus, c. 600 B.C.
to withstand the assaults of the cattle
that roam all over the country. He also
builds the road, giving the people of the pueblo pleasant traveling to the mission to attend religious services.
There is more water in the
bowl-shaped Santa Clara Valley
than its inhabitants can use.
During the winter and
spring, hundreds of
ponds dot the earth
and the many rivers
are bordered by thickly
grown willow, alder,
laurel, cottonwood
and blackberry. The
indigenous peoples
known as the Ohlone,
which means “people
of the west,” discard shells in their camps, burn the grasses to
enhance the riparian settings, conduct low-impact mining and
selectively gather plants and hunt animals. The Ohlone also are
credited with extensive distribution of buckeye (a food source)
in stream corridors. However, they never tax the water supply
to the point of having to dig for it. (See “A River Ran Through
It ...The Cultural Ecology of the Santa Clara Valley Riparian
Zone” by Erin M. Reilly for more details.) The Ohlone
population numbers approximately ten thousand by the
time Europeans arrive in the Bay Area.
1769
The first permanent Spanish settlements are established in the
Santa Clara Valley. Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola leads
the first reconnoitering expedition of conquistadors, followed
by several others including Col. Juan Bautista de Anza.
1803
The first chapel is erected in the pueblo, at the corner of
Market and San Fernando streets, where the Catholic church
now stands. It remains until 1835.
1810-1821
The Mexican War of Independence results in a transfer of
power from Spain to Mexico over the region now known as
California.
1814
The first foreign settler in the Santa Clara Valley who is not
Spanish or Mexican, arrives in Monterey Bay on a ship
belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. John Gilroy is ill with
scurvy and is left on shore to be cured. He recovers and finds
his way to the Santa Clara Valley. There he marries into the
Ortega family and settles on the Rancho San Ysidro, a short
distance east from the city which now bears his name.
1822
A severe earthquake occurs which causes considerable injury
to life and property. The walls at the mission in Santa Clara are
cracked, but the church is not destroyed.
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pays $10 for the services of pathfinder Lansford Hastings,
who leads the party to believe it is only a 40-mile trip when
in actuality it is a grueling 82 miles. They reach the summit
of the Sierra Nevada in a snowstorm on Oct. 10, 1846.
1822-1846
During the Mexican
era, the growing
population and the
increase in livestock
do not disturb the
valley’s groundwater.
Mexican ranchos are
established for cattle
and dry farming. Mission land grants are given to private
owners beginning in 1833. Ranchos spring up all over the
valley, each with its own water source due to the abundance
of water.
1848
American forces conquer Mexican California. The territory
becomes official property of the United States with the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Thousands of gold prospectors and settlers pour into
California from the East after gold is discovered at Sutter’s
Fort in Sacramento. Gold rush mining activities bring the
first pollutants into the San Francisco Bay. Hydraulic mining
kills millions of bay organisms. People pay as high as $4 for
a dozen eggs during the Gold Rush. The eggs, probably from
seagulls, come from San Francisco but most likely originated
on the Farallon Islands. (See “Stories of Santa Clara Valley”
by Dwight Bentel and Dolores Freitas.)
1825
California becomes a territory of the Mexican republic.
1832
Winter brings more than 32 inches of rain. The Guadalupe
River overflows its banks and floods San Jose’s dirt streets
creating a muddy mess.
1846
Trouble between the United States and Mexico begins. In May,
California Gov. Pio Pico expresses his feelings in his address
to the Departmental Assembly, “We find ourselves threatened
by hordes of Yankee immigrants who have already begun to
flock into our country, and whose progress we cannot arrest.
Already have the wagons of that perfidious people scaled the
almost inaccessible summits of the Sierra Nevada, crossed
the entire continent, and penetrated the fruitful Valley of
Sacramento. What that astonishing people will next undertake
I cannot say; but in whatever enterprise they embark they will
be sure to be successful. Already these adventurous voyagers,
spreading themselves over a country that seems to suit their
tastes, are cultivating farms, establishing vineyards, erecting
sawmills, sawing up lumber and doing a thousand other things
that seem natural to them.”
Isaac Branham and Julian Hanks build the first operating
sawmill in Santa Clara County on Los Gatos Creek. Branham
and Hanks soon sell their mill to Zacariah “Buffalo” Jones
and the neighborhood becomes known as Jones Mill.
1849
In November, the
Constitution of the
State of California
is adopted, and San
Jose is named the
state capitol. The first
legislature convenes
in San Jose on
Dec.15.
1850
American rebels, under the
leadership of Capt. John Charles
Fremont, raise the Bear Flag of
the California Republic over the
town of Sonoma on June 14.
The U.S. conquest of the territory
that is California brings with it
the burden of increased agriculture and population.
“WE KNOW THE WORTH OF WATER
WHEN THE WELL RUNS DRY.”
Ben Franklin
The city of San Jose’s population
increases to 3,000. California
becomes the 31st state on
Sept. 9. More people move
to California, increasing the
demand for water.
1851
Santa Clara Valley is fine farmland. San Jose’s temporary
status as state capitol and its location on the main highway of
north-south traffic in California make the valley an attractive
site for settlers.
Santa Clara County is organized and its government is vested
in what is known as the Court of Sessions, presided over by the
County Judge and two associates, chosen from the Justices of
the Peace of the County.
The Donner Party is stranded in the Sierra just weeks after the
Harlan-Young Party make it through the mountains to settle in
the Santa Clara Valley. Each wagon in the Harlan-Young Party
1852
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The first cases of cholera appear in the valley, and are fatal to
many Indians and Mexicans.
1854
The first well is sunk in San Jose in late January. Water is
struck at just 80 feet. The ensuing eruption of water rises
10 feet above ground.
public nuisance by the city of San Jose because its stream runs
down busy Fourth Street, interfering with traffic. Dabney is
ordered to pay a fine of $50 for every day he allows the water
to run. Finally, the sinking of other wells in the neighborhood
reduces the flow so it can be controlled.
1856
French agriculturist Pierre Pellier discovers the soil in the
Santa Clara Valley is perfect for raising French prunes. By 1875
the local dried prunes are popular across the country. Prune
orchards require irrigation, and the thriving business leads to
drilling deeper wells and increased water usage.
The South Pacific Coast Railroad is constructed through Pajaro
Gap in Monterey County. A station is established in Alma. (The
railroad, later owned by Southern Pacific, operates until March
4, 1940.) Farmers are now able to transport their crops south.
Commercial fruit growing increases in importance.
1860
1881
Abraham Lincoln is elected president. Southern states secede
from the Union to form the Confederacy. President Lincoln
declares war on the Confederacy and the Civil War begins.
California declares itself a Union free state.
Running water is directed through pipes to Santa Clara Valley
residents for the first time.
1862
The Guadalupe River floods.
1864
Agriculture receives a big boost with the completion of the
San Jose-San Francisco Railroad which allows Santa Clara
County’s growers to ship fruit and vegetables to the San
Francisco produce market.
A bill is introduced in the U.S. Congress by Sen. John
Conness that would require the State of California to
preserve and protect Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa
Grove of Giant Sequoias in a natural, undisturbed condition.
It passes Congress and is signed by President Lincoln, and
then accepted by the state.
1892
About 100 new wells are drilled yearly in the valley. By 1920,
the annual rate reaches 1,700. In 1912, only 29 percent of the
valley is under irrigation; by 1920, the percentage increases to
67 percent, including 90 percent of all orchards. From 1904
to 1906, land receiving water from diverted streams in winter
and spring totals 14,000 acres; by 1920 the acreage declines to
only 3,000. Far more water is being pumped out of the ground
than nature can replace, especially because up to 69 percent of
the annual rainfall washes through the valley and into the bay
each year.
Conservationist John Muir forms the Sierra Club.
1895
Flooding occurs in the valley.
1896
1865
President Lincoln is assassinated; Vice President Andrew
Johnson becomes president.
The number of artesian wells, which produce a flow of
water because of the pressure caused by underground
storage, in the Santa Clara Valley reaches nearly 500.
Until the mid-1860s farmers concentrate on raising cattle
and wheat. Wheat is “dry” farmed, not irrigated. Orchards
and vineyards increase in number. An increasing variety of
table vegetables are cultivated as
the century comes to a close.
Alviso’s South Bay Yacht Club is officially formed and becomes
a part of the Pacific InterClub Yacht Association. McKee Road
is named for founder Joseph Olcott Mckee, the first official
commodore of the yacht club. Another founder, Robert T.
Trevey, owned a general store in Alviso, that “carried items
that just couldn’t be found in San Jose.” The group builds its
clubhouse in 1903 drawing on members’ skills and donations
of materials. It has to be relocated due to 15 feet of subsidence
throughout the Santa Clara Valley and disastrous floods in 1983
that fill the clubhouse with 6 feet of water. The new site, about
100 yards north, is on higher ground, at about the same
elevation at which the club was originally built.
1897-1899
1870s
Artesian wells and wells pumped
by windmills are a common sight
in the Santa Clara Valley.
The most memorable artesian
well is G.A. Dabney’s. Dabney’s
spout shoots 9 feet high. Its
stream is 4 feet wide and 6 inches
deep. It flows uncontrollably for
six weeks. Finally it is declared a
The Santa Clara Valley receives less than 7 inches of rain,
half its average rainfall. Farmers become concerned about
irrigation, which is indispensable to the valley’s fresh fruit
industry.
1901
Theodore Roosevelt, who will leave a legacy as both a
conservationist and father of the national parks system,
is elected president.
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1901
1917
San Francisco Mayor James O. Phelan makes the first filing
with the U.S. Department of the Interior for the use of the
Hetch Hetchy Valley as a reservoir for the municipal water
supply of his city. His request is turned down.
Significant flooding occurs on the Guadalupe River.
1920
Women win the right to vote after Congress passes the 19th
Amendment to the Constitution.
1902
The annual rate of new wells being drilled in the Santa
Clara Valley is 1,700 compared to 100 new wells in 1892.
More than 67 percent of the valley is under irrigation,
compared to 29 percent in 1912.
The federal Reclamation Act establishes the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation.
1903-1904 and 1907-1908
After these two dry seasons, the cities of Campbell and
Cupertino alone have up to 14,000 acres under irrigation.
The trend of well digging and irrigation continues.
1921
1908
Secretary of the Interior James Garfield approves the city of
San Francisco’s application for the Hetch Hetchy reservoir
and water distribution project.
1910-1911
In the winter, the Santa Clara Valley experiences its worst
flooding on record. Four inches of rain fall in downtown
San Jose in a 24-hour period.
1910-1913
A series of hearings are held to examine San Francisco’s need
for Hetch Hetchy as a water reservoir when other possible
sources exist, such as Calaveras Dam.
1913
Congressman John E. Raker and Sen. Key Pittman of Nevada
steer a bill through Congress. The Raker Act authorizes the use
of Hetch Hetchy and Eleanor Creek as municipal water sources
for the city of San Francisco. President Woodrow Wilson signs
this bill on Dec. 19.
Campbell farmers unsuccessfully seek federal funds for
irrigation and conservation. Two of the greatest hindrances
to the conservation movement up to this time are the general
belief that the water supply soon would replenish itself and a
consequent reluctance to spend money to save water.
San Francisco engineers
Tibbetts’
Fred H. Tibbetts and
Report
Stephen E. Kieffer conduct
an eight-month study to
measure wells and look
for suitable reservoir sites
in the Santa Clara Valley.
They also research average
rainfall and water tables, climate and geology, and a proposed
conservation system. Tibbetts and Kieffer’s study, “Report to
the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation Committee on the
Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation Project,” recommends
construction of 17 large reservoirs as well as low-check dams,
pumping stations in the lowlands to divert the runoff, and a
system of concrete conduits to distribute the conserved water.
Their study shows that the diminishing groundwater in the
valley could be replenished by artificial recharge—spreading
water over gravelly areas to seep into the aquifers. Total cost
of their proposal is $10,947,495.
1921 and 1925
In elections during both years, voters defeat proposals to
create a water district.
The Water Conservation Committee is disbanded after the
defeat of these proposals.
1914-1918
Leroy Anderson, a Saratoga orchardist and former professor
of agriculture, assumes the role of primary water conservation
advocate in the valley, leading the drive to prove the practicality
of percolation.
World War I breaks out; the United States does not enter
the war until 1918.
1923
The O’Shaughnessy Dam is completed and the Tuolumne
River floods the Hetch Hetchy Valley despite years of protest
by John Muir and other preservationists. Some 390,000 cubic
yards of concrete are poured, and more than six million board
feet of lumber are cut within the park to complete the dam.
The dam was built from 1914 to 1923, and then raised during
another period of construction ending in 1938. Today the crest
is 312 feet above the original streambed, and at high water the
reservoir extends up the valley more than eight miles. Cost of
construction was $12 million. The water is used to produce
hydropower, and then travels 172 miles by aqueduct to San
Francisco.
1915
More than 8 billion gallons of water per year are pumped
from beneath the Santa Clara Valley. The groundwater level
drops rapidly.
1916
The National Park Service is established in the Department
of the Interior with the edict “to preserve the natural and
historic objects” in the parks. (In recent years this law has
been instrumental in protecting the Grand Canyon from
damming and flooding park-system lands in Grand Canyon
National Monument.)
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1924 and 128 feet in 1928 in Mountain View and Milpitas.
Another issue is saltwater seepage from the San Francisco Bay.
The Water Conservation (Jones) Act passes the state legislature.
The creation of water conservation districts with limited power
and jurisdiction is now possible.
1926
Local farmers and the San Jose Chamber of Commerce band
together to meet the challenge of water resource needs for
the twentieth century. On Dec. 1, the Santa Clara Valley Water
Conservation Association is incorporated and elects a board
of directors. Leroy Anderson is elected board president.
As stated in the Articles of Incorporation, the goals of the
Association are as follows:
1. To conserve the surface and subsurface waters of Santa
Clara Valley, State of California, by spreading the floodwaters of said valley over such lands adjacent to the
stream channels of said valley as may be available for
that purpose, and to that end;
2. To secure control of such land as may be necessary or
desirable for such spreading, by purchase, lease, gift,
donation, license or other methods, as may be
found most desirable and feasible;
3. To construct, maintain and operate there on
such works and structures as may be found
most advantageous and desirable for water
conservation purposes;
4. To prevent waste of artesian and subsurface
waters of said Santa Clara Valley by the
enforcement of the law of the State of California
prohibiting the waste of such water and by
securing evidence of such violation and by the
prosecution of the violators of said law;
5. To use such other methods of conserving the
floodwaters of Santa Clara Valley as the Board of Directors
of the Association shall determine, none of the purposes
of the Corporation being in any wise for pecuniary profit or
financial gain of the Corporation or of any of its members;
6. To buy, hire, lease and accept gifts and donations of such
necessary machinery, tools and equipment as shall be
required in order to efficiently accomplish the purposes
of water conservation.
A proposal to create a local water conservation district is
approved. Seven directors, all farmers, are elected. Leroy
Anderson is named the first president. The goal of the Santa
Clara Valley Water Conservation District, which incorporates
in December, is to develop and manage a reliable water supply.
The district includes about 350 square miles of the valley which
overlays the groundwater basin between Coyote and Palo Alto.
Its accomplishments include construction of six reservoirs by
1936 and two more by 1952.
“THE GREATEST DOMESTIC PROBLEM
FACING OUR COUNTRY IS SAVING OUR SOIL
AND WATER. OUR SOIL BELONGS ALSO
TO UNBORN GENERATIONS.”
The initial task of the Association is to continue the use of water
percolation and construct six dams between 1926 and 1927.
The first dams are not constructed, however, until 1935.
Sam Rayburn, 1882-1961
Fruit and nut farming are now the chief industries of Santa
Clara County, which becomes known around the world as the
Valley of the Heart’s Delight.
1930s
Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District (SCVWCD)
pioneers the working design of an effective program of water
conservation that relies on trapping and storing rainwater.
1931
SCVWCD furnishes the state highway department with a map
indicating a future dam and reservoir near Lexington on Los
Gatos Creek.
1927
A major drought hits the region. It lasts through 1934. This
drought is later used as a measure for the storage and transfer
capacity of all major water projects in the valley.
Herbert Hoover is elected 31st president of the United States.
The nation begins an economic plunge that will become known
as the Great Depression.
1928
The first State Water Plan is published, outlining utilization of
water resources on a statewide basis.
The California Constitution is amended to require that all water
use be “reasonable and beneficial.”
1932
1929
Election issues include a critical need for a reliable water
supply, rising costs of pumping, and a negative report by F.M.
Budlong of Campbell and Budlong, local manufacturers of deep
well turbine pumps. They report the level of the underground
aquifer has dropped from 60-70 feet in 1919 to 100 feet in
On Nov. 7, SCVWCD applies for a federal Public Works
Administration (PWA) grant of $683,000. This amount
covers 30 per cent of the total cost of six dams, reservoirs
and necessary canals. Confirmation of the grant is received
on June 30, 1934, following approval of the plan and voter
approval to sell bonds.
– 9–
1933
1938
When SCVWCD directors learn that a new highway is to be
built through the possible Lexington reservoir site, they
request the state highway department to build the road at a
higher elevation, and offer to pay the cost of that part of the
freeway that would be submerged by the dam and reservoir.
Their request is denied and the state proceeds to build the
highway as planned.
The South Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District
is founded Aug. 1. This district begins building percolation
facilities on area creeks. The district’s goal is to prevent land
subsidence (sinking ground); cracked well casings, which
result from subsidence; the drying up of wells; and the
reduction of creeks’ floodwater capacity. Its responsibilities
include managing the groundwater. Its accomplishments
include construction of Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs.
The federal Central Valley Project Act passes. Its goal is to
protect the Central Valley from crippling water shortages
and menacing floods. (The project objectives have since
been expanded to include provision of agricultural irrigation
and urban water; production of commercial power; flood
protection; navigation: benefits for fish and wildlife; recreation;
and water quality.)
The O’Shaughnessy Dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley is raised
an additional 86 feet producing a final reservoir area of 1,972
acres with a volume of more than 117 billion gallons.
1939
World War II breaks out. It ends in 1945.
1934
1940-1946
Voters approve an initial bond issue of $2 million to construct
the district’s first six dams and reservoirs: Almaden, Calero,
Coyote, Guadalupe, Stevens Creek and Vasona.
Another major drought hits the Santa Clara Valley. Average
rainfall drops to 13.61 inches per year and water levels fall
in all reservoirs and waterways.
The county’s first imported water becomes available when the
San Francisco Water Department completes the Hetch Hetchy
Aqueduct, and several turnouts are installed in the Santa Clara
Valley.
1940-1950
1934-1935
The water district works
with Reed, Atkinson and
Moore, a realty board, to
acquire lands for the five
original reservoirs. All are
completed by 1935, except
Coyote which is situated
on the Hayward Fault. After
plans are redesigned, Coyote
Reservoir is completed in 1936.
The population in the county jumps from 30,000 in 1940
to 90,000 in 1948, to 291,000 in 1950. Groundwater levels
drop due to increased agriculture, industry and residential
construction. Land subsidence increases due to overpumping. As a result, the concept of the San Felipe Project,
which taps into water from the Central Valley, is born.
1941
The United States enters World War II on Dec. 7, after
Japanese war planes attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
1945
World War II ends bringing an influx of military personnel
and civilians into the valley. Industrial development and urban
expansion rapidly increase and local water resources are
inadequate.
A brief description of dam construction includes:
• Grubbing and clearing
• Stripping or removal of soil to a depth of
10-30 feet to a suitable rock foundation
• Constructing outfall pipe, used for release of water
• Excavating cutoff trench; providing seal
or bond to prevent seepage of water
• Construction of inlet pipe and housing
• Grouting program; drilling, routing,
and filling the cutoff trench
• Raising the dam
1947
Voters pass a $2.5 million bond to build Lexington
Reservoir. Construction is completed in 1952. Delays include
the rerouting of Highway 17, relocation of the Lexington and
Alma communities, and legal disputes with San Jose Water
Works over purchase of the property. An additional bond of
$850,000 is necessary due to the delays.
California Gov. Goodwin Knight supports the project.
1949
1937
Voters pass a $3 million bond to complete Anderson Reservoir,
located on Coyote Creek. It is finished in 1950. Its capacity of
89,000 acre-feet is more than all the other district reservoirs
combined. No federal or state money is used.
The Rivers and Harbors Act passes, authorizing the
construction of the initial features of the Central Valley
Project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
– 10 –
1949
1954
California Gov. Earl Warren supports the project to build
Anderson Dam. Citizens living in the Morgan Hill area form
the Central Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District.
Its responsibilities include obtaining water rights on Coyote
Creek and managing groundwater. This district is annexed to
SCVWCD on Aug. 19, 1954, with the former district’s voters’
approval.
The Central Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District is
annexed to the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District.
The current State Water Resources Control Board is
established. This state board controls water quality through
regional boards and settles water rights disputes.
1950 and 1952
The SCVWCD builds Anderson and Lexington dams. These two
storage facilities nearly triple local reservoir capacity.
1950s
Tri-County Water Authority is created by the state legislature
to study and make recommendations for importing water into
Santa Clara, San Benito, Alameda, Santa Cruz, and Monterey
counties. The authority was dissolved in 1966 after identifying
the need to build the San Felipe Project.
1951
State Sen. John F. Thompson, a native of Santa Clara County,
long-time farmer, and former assemblyman, authors legislation
that creates the Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District. Its goals are to protect the county from
flooding and supplement local water supply with water
imported from outside the valley. Its boundaries encompass
the entire 1,310 square miles of Santa Clara County.
The state authorizes the Feather River Project Act, later to
become the State Water Project.
The first deliveries from Shasta Dam, a component of the
Central Valley Water Project, arrive in the San Joaquin Valley.
1952
The first cloud seeding begins in an effort to increase the
average rainfall in the valley. Iodide crystals are shot from the
ground into the clouds.
The Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District is formed by the county Board of Supervisors through
an act of the state legislature. The district’s responsibilities
include flood control and management of the county’s drainage.
It divides the county into 20 flood zones, each a drainage area
embracing residential developments in the still unincorporated
areas.
The concept of the Guadalupe River Flood Control Project
is born.
Lexington Dam is completed.
1955
The 20 flood zones are abandoned in favor of five zones.
Each zone is a separate fiscal entity:
The Northwest Zone embraces Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los
Altos Hills and Mountain View. It covers the watersheds of
San Francisquito, Matadero and Adobe creeks and their
tributaries.
The North Central Zone includes Santa Clara, Sunnyvale,
Saratoga, Cupertino and portions of Los Gatos and San Jose.
Natural creeks in this zone are Saratoga, Calabazas and San
Tomas Aquino, but two artificial channels are constructed by
the district to provide a drainage outfall for a large area in
Sunnyvale between Calabazas Creek and Stevens Creek. They
are called Sunnyvale West and Sunnyvale East Channels and
empty into Guadalupe Slough and Moffett Channel, respectively.
The Central Zone handles drainage from San Jose and Los
Gatos, with Los Gatos and Alamitos creeks plus Guadalupe
River drainage basin defining the zone boundaries.
The Coyote Creek watershed determines the boundaries of
the East Zone which include Anderson and Coyote reservoirs.
The South Zone covers the Llagas and Uvas-Carnadero Creek
watersheds of the Pajaro River.
In south county, the South Santa Clara Valley Water
Conservation District builds the Chesbro Dam on Llagas Creek.
This dam, completed in November, creates a reservoir with a
capacity of 7,500 acre-feet.
The “Christmas Week” floods leave thousands homeless. The
Guadalupe River floods 8,300 acres and causes more than
$1.3 million in damages (1985 dollars). Since World War II,
14 floods have occurred on the Guadalupe. The flood of 1955
is the worst in recorded history. More recently, the Guadalupe
flooded in 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1995. The average annual
runoff into the river is estimated to be 35,500 acre-feet. In San
Jose’s wettest year on record, 1938, runoff into the Guadalupe
totaled 123,000 acre-feet. The drainage basin that feeds the
Guadalupe covers about 160 square miles of the western Santa
Clara Valley. On the western perimeter, the basin rises to about
3,800 feet above sea level. About 40 percent of the basin lies
below the 400-foot elevation mark and is highly urbanized.
Currently there are almost 6,000 structures in the river’s
500-year floodplain; more than 4,000 of these are within
the 100-year floodplain (about 3,000 homes and 1,000
commercial and industrial buildings). The replacement value
of all the structures and their contents within the 500-year
floodplain is estimated at about $7 billion in today’s dollars.
– 11 –
1950-1960
The valley’s population swells to 642,000.
1956
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant is
constructed. The plant’s original capacity is 36 million gallons
per day (mgd) providing only basic or primary treatment of
wastewater. Today, it handles 167 mgd, and provides a high
level of tertiary-treated
wastewater that meets
Title 22 standards of
the California Code
of Regulations for
reclamation. Water
discharged from the
plant approaches
drinking water
standards.
1957
The South Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District builds
Uvas Dam to bolster its recharge efforts.
The State Department of Water Resources develops an $8
billion California Water Plan, one of the world’s largest water
redistribution systems.
aqueduct terminus,
the network of
pipelines to
annually distribute
about 80,000
acre-feet of
raw water to
percolation ponds
and surface irrigation systems is complete. Massive amounts of
imported water are put in the groundwater basin. The district
today has additional percolation ponds and three treatment
plants on line, and is drawing its maximum entitlement of
100,000 acre-feet per year.
The SCVWCD imports water in the Bay Area because there
is not enough to serve a growing population. The Bay Area
is a semi-arid region; with a limited annual rainfall of 10 to
20 inches per year, often less. In comparison, the average
precipitation (including snow, etc.) in the midwest is 100 to
200 inches per year. Most of the water in California, about
80 percent, is used for agriculture. California has the largest
water transport system in the world. Most of the state, except
the northernmost areas, import water.
1967
The San Felipe Project, an idea originally conceived in the
1940s by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, is authorized by
Congress.
1961
SCVWCD, designated by the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors to be the local agency for water importation,
contracts with the state for water from the planned South
Bay Aqueduct. The first delivery is scheduled for 1965.
1962
Rachel Carson publishes “Silent Spring,” a landmark call
to protect the environment from dangerous pesticides.
Voters approve a $42.5 million bond issue to cover the cost
of 61 miles of in-county water distribution pipelines ranging
from 36 inches to 96 inches in diameter and also two water
treatment plants.
1964
Groundwater pumping taxes begin. Santa Clara County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District begins construction
of the Central Pipeline and initiates a groundwater charge
(pump tax). Meanwhile, SCVWCD begins applying groundwater
charges. The need for uniform groundwater charges quickly
becomes evident.
Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District changes its name to Santa Clara County Flood Control
and Water District (eliminating the word “conservation”).
1965
The state of California begins delivering water to Santa Clara
County via the 72-inch South Bay Aqueduct, which brings
water about 40 miles from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta to a point about six miles inside the northern county
boundary. By the time the imported water reaches the
– 12 –
The valley’s first
treatment plant,
Rinconada Water
Treatment Plant,
goes into service in
Los Gatos, with a
capacity to produce
80 million gallons of
drinking water daily. Its purification process is upflow clarifierflocculators and dual-media filters. The source of water for
the plant is the South Bay Aqueduct via the Central Pipeline and
the Rinconada Force Main, or San Felipe Project water via the
Almaden Valley Pipeline. (See “ Tour” on the SCVWD Web site:
www.valleywater.org)
1968
Santa Clara County supervisors recognize the need for
specialized knowledge to oversee the construction and
operation of water and flood control facilities, along with
administering pump fees. They approve the merging of the
Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District and the Santa
Clara County Flood Control and Water District. The new
agency retains the SCVWCD’s elected board and adds two
supervisorial appointees. The two staffs are combined, and
a countywide agricultural advisory committee and a water
commission, including representatives from water retail
agencies, are established. The merger enables integrated
water resource management, addressing both water supply
and flood control through one agency, and eliminates
duplication of effort.
1968
1976-1977
The state completes construction of Oroville Dam.
These are historic drought years. Deliveries from the State
Water Project during this time are not only reduced, but
contain a salt content so high that percolation into the
groundwater is impossible.
1969
Land subsidence is halted through ongoing imported water
deliveries. The groundwater basin is replenished.
1972
The federal
government
passes the Clean
Water Act which
sets two main
goals: To address
the largest and
most obvious
sources of
pollution and to restore and maintain water quality. Congress
defines “clean waters” as water in which it is safe to swim and
which supports fish that can be safely eaten.
The California Legislature passes the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act to preserve the north coast’s remaining free-flowing rivers
from development.
The Federal Endangered Species Act is enacted. This act will
have lasting impact on environmental issues for years to come.
The district’s water conservation education program is
established. Public conservation efforts achieve 22 percent
less water usage in 1977 than in 1976.
1977
The Palo Alto Water Reclamation Facility is dedicated, and
the Gilroy Water Reclamation Facility goes into operation.
A contract is signed for San Felipe water with the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation. Voters pass a $56 million bond to expand
water distribution systems. The project is completed in 1987.
1978
The San Jose/Santa Clara Water
Pollution Control Plant adds
advanced processes including
additional filtration and disinfection
so treated effluent from the plant can
be recycled on a limited basis. Since
1978, 5 million gallons per day have
been recycled for industrial cooling and
to irrigate treatment plant landscaping.
1974
Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water District
changes its name to the Santa Clara Valley Water District
(SCVWD).
In July, Penitencia Water Treatment Plant, located in the
East San Jose foothills just north of Penitencia Creek,
comes on line. This treatment plant can deliver peak
flows of 40 million gallons per day of potable water. Its
purification process includes flow-through flocculationsedimentation and multi-media filters. Its water source
is the South Bay Aqueduct.
Congress passes the Safe Drinking Water Act. California voters
approve the Clean Water Grant Program to build waste water
treatment facilities.
1976
Santa Clara County’s system of dams and reservoirs is
recognized as an historic landmark by the San Francisco
section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The project
is cited as the first and only instance of a major water supply
being developed in a single groundwater basin. It involves the
control of numerous independent tributaries to conserve most
of the sources of water flowing into the basin.
“WHERE THE MESQUITE GROWS,
YOU CAN MAKE FENCE POSTS BLOOM
IF YOU BRING WATER.”
Old Desert Saying
The State Water Resource Control Board issues water rights
decision #1485, establishing water quality standards for the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
1979
SCVWD celebrates its 50th year of service to Santa Clara
County.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of the
San Felipe Project.
1980
The South County Water Conservation District renames itself
the Gavilan Water Conservation District.
Linda Peralta, the first woman to serve on the water district
board of directors, begins her term of office. She serves the
district until 1982.
– 13 –
1982
Two years of major flooding begin on Jan. 3 when the fifth in
a series of severe storms traps more than 100 people on top
of their cars and homes and causes mudslides capable of
collapsing houses in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Voters approve flood control benefit assessments for 10 years
subject to a limit of 2 percent annual rate increase.
Construction begins on Lower Llagas Creek Flood Control
Project.
1983
Construction begins on the Coyote Creek Flood Control Project.
1984
In November, voters authorize issuance of water utility revenue
bonds as needed.
The Clean Water Act is amended to include nonpoint source
pollution assessment reports and management programs.
1989
The Santa Teresa Water Treatment Plant, located in south
San Jose, begins operation. Its peak treatment capacity is
100 million gallons per day. The purification process includes
flow-through flocculation-sedimentation and multi-media
filters. The Almaden Valley pipeline brings water from the
San Luis Reservoir to the plant.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB),
headquartered in San Francisco, determine that freshwater
discharges from the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution
Control Plant are converting nearby salt marshes to freshwater
marshes, thus threatening the habitat of two endangered
species—the salt marsh harvest mouse and a bird called the
California clapper rail.
1986
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant facilities are
upgraded and a truck filling station is added.
The Environmental Protection Agency requires every city
with a population exceeding 100,000 to apply for a special
permit regulating stormwater flows
into natural bodies of water. The permit
requires the development of a stormwater management plan to identify
specific measures and activities to
eliminate or control pollutants in
rain water or runoff.
“LITTLE DROPS OF WATER, LITTLE GRAINS OF SAND
MAKE THE MIGHTY OCEAN, AND THE PLEASANT LAND.
THUS THE LITTLE MINUTES, HUMBLE THOUGH THEY BE,
MAKE THE MIGHTY AGES OF ETERNITY.”
Julia Carney
Passage of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act
(Proposition 65) prohibits the discharge of toxic chemicals
into state waters.
1987
The Santa Clara Valley Water District annexes the Gavilan Water
Conservation District with approval of Gavilan voters. The
SCVWD takes over ownership and operation of the Chesbro
and Uvas reservoirs. The benefits of the annexation include
putting all county dams, reservoirs and percolation facilities
under one agency’s control; enabling releases from reservoirs
to be coordinated for maximum benefit; elimination of
administrative overhead duplication; and lower pump taxes
to Gavilan-area well owners.
First deliveries of San Felipe water are made to the Santa
Clara Valley.
A five-year drought begins. The state Department of Water
Resources estimates the cost of the drought to be $1 billion
in lost agricultural revenues, fishery and timber losses, and
energy price increases.
1990
The State Water Resources Control Board
lists the South Bay as impaired because
water quality standards for heavy metals
are frequently exceeded. The Nonpoint
Source Pollution Control Program is
established. The program is a consortium of 13 cities, the
Santa Clara Valley Water District and Santa Clara County. The
groups work together to implement programs to control storm
water pollution. The participants include Campbell, Cupertino,
Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno,
Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and
Sunnyvale.
1991
San Jose adopts an action plan to address the marsh
conversion problem. The plan calls for:
• Purchasing and restoring South Bay salt marsh
properties to mitigate past saltwater-to-freshwater
conversion;
• Developing programs to advance potable
water conservation so as to reduce the wastewater
influent flows;
• Developing a water recycling program to reduce
effluent discharge to the San Francisco Bay.
A state drought water bank is established.
– 14 –
1991
1995
The Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) in Palo
Alto develops an advanced treatment system that provides
up to 1.5 million gallons per day (mgd) of reclaimed water
suitable for park land, school yard and landscape irrigation
including residential lawns, under guidelines of state and
county health departments. Three additional stepsare added
to the wastewater treatment process: coagulation, a second
filtration process and extended disinfection. These processes
provide all the treatment needed to meet California’s highest
irrigation standards for reclaimed water. Approximately 2
percent of the RWQCP’s annual average flow is currently
“recycled” and used for irrigation. The reclaimed water
contains more salt than the area’s potable water.
The South Bay
Water Recycling
Project begins
in the cities
of San Jose,
Santa Clara and
Milpitas. Phase I
is scheduled to
include construction of 100 miles of pipeline in a 30-mile
area in the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara and Milpitas. It
will provide 20 million gallons per day of non-potable
(non-drinkable) water. Expansion of the system in Phase II
will increase the non-potable capacity to 50 million gallons a
day by December 2000, and it will cost $330 million. As an
alternative, the city is currently investigating the feasibility of
other types of water reuse at comparable costs.
1992
Construction begins on the Guadalupe River Flood
Control Project through downtown San Jose, which also
incorporates the Guadalupe River Park.
A massive program to stencil the “No Dumping, Flows to Bay”
message on the 75,000 storm drains in Santa Clara County
begins. Most drains are labeled by 1996.
Cloud seeding from the ground is replaced by seeding with
airplanes. Planes with iodide crystals on their wings fly into
clouds. This causes water droplets to become denser, and so
squeezes more water out of the clouds. Cloud seeding remains
a drought-fighting strategy for the district.
Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States.
Late spring storms do more than $650 million in damage to
agriculture throughout the state.
In December, the Lower Llagas Creek Flood Control Project
and Coyote Creek Flood Control Project are completed.
1996
Since 1989, the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control
Plant has supplied more than 10 million gallons a day of
recycled water to construction sites.
There are 20 systems of percolation ponds throughout the
county. All are listed in the district’s brochure, Water Supply
& Distribution Facilities.
1993
The Milpitas pipeline is completed.
Lexington Dam is renamed James J. Lenihan Dam at
Lexington Reservoir.
1994
The EPA announces that two-thirds of the nation’s rivers are
safe for fishing and swimming. (See The Lindsay Museum’s
“Changing The Course of California’s Water: The Impact of
Polluted Runoff on Our Aquatic Resources and Responsible
Actions We Can Take” for a discussion of nonpoint source
pollution.)
1994
The report on National Water Quality by the EPA identifies
urban runoff/storm sewers as the number one source of
pollution in the United States followed by municipal waste
water treatment plants, agriculture, industrial point sources
and petroleum activities. In 1992, urban runoff ranked second.
Stan Williams is appointed general manager of the Santa Clara
Valley Water District.
The $37 million Phase I of the Gilroy Treatment Plant is
completed.
1997
January storms cause the largest flooding throughout the state,
many say, since dams and levees were constructed. Forty-two
counties are declared disaster areas. Gov. Pete Wilson calls a
special session of the Legislature to expedite handling floodrelief legislation. Flows into many of the state’s reservoirs—
which are at 90 percent of their capacity—are 15 to 20
percent higher than any on record.
Floods cost farmers more than $297 million in damage.
Phase I of the South Bay Water Recycling Project is targeted
for completion at a cost of $140 million.
1998
Santa Clara Valley Water District celebrates the 30th
anniversary of the merger of the Santa Clara Valley Water
Conservation District and the Santa Clara County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District.
– 15 –
1998
In February, Santa Clara County is declared a disaster area due
to flooding. More than 1.1 million sandbags are distributed
throughout the county. All 10 district reservoirs are spilling.
More than 40 homes are flooded in Milpitas. Heavy rains cause
evacuation along San Francisquito and Calabazas creeks.
Damage, emergency response and emergency warning
measures in the wake of the Feb. 2 and 3 storm and flood
cost the city of Palo Alto $2.1 million. East Palo Alto suffers
$338,000 in damage to public property and emergency
expenses, and Menlo Park expects its bill to top $300,000.
May’s 13th day of rain breaks all previous monthly
rainfall records.
– 16 –
Directions and Answer Key
D I R E C T I O N S
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
F O R
I N S T R U C T O R
Reproduce smaller sets of 12 cards for each group of 4-6 students.
Direct students to work in cooperative groups to put small sets of 12 cards in time-line sequence.
Coach students as they work on the task.
When most groups have completed the task, call the entire group to order.
Using 8 1/2” x 11” cards, present correct sequence and include pertinent, additional historical data.
A N S W E R
K E Y / L A
S O L U T I O N
3200 BC
Ohlone/Native Americans live in the Santa Clara Valley in peace.
Los indios Ohlone viven en el Valle de Santa Clara en paz.
1833 AD
Spanish and Mexican land grants establish ranchos for cattle and dry farming.
Se establecen los ranchos mexicanos y españoles para la agricultura seca y la ganaderı́a.
1850
California becomes the 31st state.
California es ratificado por los Estados Unidos y se hace el estado treinta y uno.
1870s
Wells are used throughout the Santa Clara Valley to provide water for crop irrigation.
Hay una multitud de pozos de agua en el Valle de Santa Clara.
1921
Fred Tibbetts’ report recommends reservoirs, dams, pumping stations and a system to distribute water.
Fred Tibbetts recomienda la construcción de embalses, presas y un sistema de distribución del agua.
1935
Construction of the first five reservoirs begins.
Se comenza la construcción de las primeras presas.
1956
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant begins providing primary treatment of wastewater.
La planta de tratamiento de aguas usadas de San Jose y Santa Clara empieza a tratar las aguas usadas.
1965
The state-funded South Bay Aqueduct begins delivery of water to the Santa Clara Valley.
El estado construye el Aqueducto de la Zona Sur de la Bahı́a (South Bay Aqueduct)
para transportar agua del norte de California al Valle de Santa Clara.
1967
The first drinking water treatment plant, Rinconada, goes into service.
Se abre la primera planta de tratamiento de agua potable. Se llama Rinconada.
1972
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act becomes state law. The Clean Water Act is enacted as federal law.
“Wild and Scenic Rivers Act” se hace ley del estado y “The Clean Water Act” se hace ley federal.
1978
The San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant adds advanced processes to recycle water.
La planta de tratamiento de aguas usadas mejora el proceso de tratamiento para reciclar el agua.
1995
The South Bay Water Recycling Project begins to address the marsh conversion problem in the South Bay.
El Proyecto de Reciclar el Agua de la Zona Sur de la Bahı́a (South Bay Water Recycling Project)
empieza a estudiar el problema de la destrucción del pantanal.
– 17 –
– 18 –
Ohlone/Native Americans
live in peace.
Spanish and Mexican land
grants establish ranchos for
cattle and dry farming.
California
becomes the
31st state.
Wells with
windmill
pumps are
common.
Tibbetts’ Report recommends
conservation plan including
dams and reservoirs.
Ti bbe tts’
Report
First dams built and
reservoirs created in Santa
Clara County.
Se establecen los ranchos
mexicanos y españoles para la
agricultura seca y la ganaderı́a.
Pozos de
agua con
molinos de
viento son
comunes.
Los primeros embalses
y presas se construyen en el
Condado de Santa Clara.
Los indios Ohlone
viven en paz.
California se
hace el estado
treinta y uno.
El informe Tibbetts recomienda
un programa de conservación
con embalses y presas.
Tibb etts’
Rep ort
San Jose/Santa Clara Water
Pollution Control Plant begins
primary treatment of
wastewater.
South Bay Aqueduct
begins delivery of water
to Santa Clara County.
Valley’s first drinking water
treatment plant comes on line.
The Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act becomes state law. The
Clean Water Act is enacted
as federal law.
South Bay Water
Recycling Project begins
restoring marsh habitat.
The San Jose/Santa
Clara Water Pollution
Control Plant adds
advanced processes
to recycle water.
El Aquedacto de la Bahı´a Sur
empieza a transportar agua
al Condado de Santa Clara.
La planta de tratamiento de
aguas usadas de San Jose y
Santa Clara empieza a tratar
las aguas usadas.
El “Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act” se hace ley del estado
y el “Clean Water Act”
se hace ley federal.
Se abre la primera planta
de agua potable en el Valle.
El Proyecto de Reciclar el
Agua de la Bahı´a Sur empieza
a restablecer el pantanal.
La planta de
tratamiento de
agua usada mejora
el proceso de
tratamiento.
3200 B.C.
Ohlone/Native Americans live in peace.
3200 B.C.
Los indios Ohlone viven en paz.
1833
Spanish and Mexican land grants establish
ranchos for cattle and dry farming.
1833
Se establecen los ranchos mexicanos
y españoles para la agricultura seca y
la ganaderı´a.
California becomes
the 31st state.
1850
1850
California se hace el
estado treinta y uno.
Wells with
windmill pumps
are common.
1870s
1870s
Pozos de agua
con molinos
de viento son
comunes.
R epor t
T ib betts’
1921
Tibbetts’ Report recommends conservation
plan including dams and reservoirs.
1921
El informe Tibbetts recomienda un programa
de conservación con embalses y presas.
Tib
b
e
t
t
s
’
R
e
p
o
r
t
1935
First dams are built and reservoirs are
created in Santa Clara County.
1935
Los primeros embalses y presas se
construyen en el Condado de Santa Clara.
1956
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control
Plant begins primary treatment of wastewater.
1956
La planta de tratamiento de aguas usadas
de San Jose y Santa Clara empieza a tratar
las aguas usadas.
1965
South Bay Aqueduct begins delivery
of water to Santa Clara County.
1965
El Aquedacto de la Bahı´a Sur empieza a
transportar agua al Condado de Santa Clara.
1967
Valley’s first drinking water
treatment plant comes on line.
1967
Se abre la primera planta
de agua potable en el Valle.
1972
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
becomes state law. The Clean Water Act
is enacted as federal law.
1972
El “Wild and Scenic Rivers Act”se hace
ley del estado y el “Clean Water Act”
se hace ley federal.
1978
The San Jose/Santa Clara Water
Pollution Control Plant adds advanced
processes to recycle water.
1978
La planta de tratamiento de agua usada
mejora el proceso de tratamiento.
1995
South Bay Water Recycling Project
begins restoring marsh habitat.
1995
El Proyecto de Reciclar el Agua de la
Bahı´a Sur empieza a restablecer el pantanal.
Name Origin and History
R E S E R V O I R S
Almaden (1935):
Coyote (1936):
In 1845, Andres Castillero discovered a quicksilver
deposit in the area now known as the Almaden hills.
Castillero was granted mineral rights on Dec. 30. At first
the mine was known as the Santa Clara or Chaboya’s mine.
In 1848 the name “New Almaden” was adopted. Almaden
in Spanish means mine or mineral. The mine was named
for the famous mercury-producing mines in Spain. New
Almaden was the largest mercury-producing mine in the
Americas. The villages of Spanishtown and Englishtown
were established in the hills. Today Spanishtown overlooks
the Almaden Reservoir. Almaden Dam and Reservoir is one
of six original systems approved for construction by voters
in the May, 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam
systems began that same year. (Sanchez, p. 178)
Coyote is a western American adaptation of the Aztec name
for prairie wolf and is an extremely popular place name.
Many geographic features in California were named directly
or indirectly after the animal. The oldest name is probably
Coyote River, mentioned by the Spanish explorer Juan
Bautista de Anza, as Arroyo del Coyote on March 31, 1776.
Most likely, he named the river Arroyo del Coyote after
coyotes seen during his journey. Coyote, or “coyoteing,”
also refers to a type of mining in irregular shafts or
burrows, comparable to the holes of coyotes. The present
site of Coyote Reservoir is located on the former Rancho
San Ysidro, a cattle ranch that belonged to Ygnacio Ortega
in the early 1800s. Coyote Dam and Reservoir is one of six
original systems approved for construction by voters in the
May 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems
began that same year. (Gudde, p. 82)
Anderson (1950):
By 1948, when no progress had been made on the
relocation of the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz Highway despite the
passage of a bond issue four months earlier, water district
authorities began to search for an alternative reservoir
site. The site chosen would later become Leroy Anderson
Dam and Reservoir, named after the key founder and first
president of the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation
District. In 1950, a 500-acre dairy and cattle ranch along
Coyote Creek were purchased from the estate belonging
to John Cochran and his wife, Aphelia Farmington.
Construction of the lake and dam was funded by a $3
million bond act approved by voters in 1949. Anderson
Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in Santa Clara
County. (McArthur, pp.76-77)
Guadalupe (1935):
The name is derived from the patron saint of Catholic
Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and was an extremely
popular place name in early California. The river was
named by the de Anza expedition on March 30, 1776,
Rio de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, in honor of the
Mexican saint, who was also the principal patron saint
of the de Anza expedition of 1775. Guadalupe Dam and
Reservoir is one of six original systems approved for
construction by voters in the May 1934 bond election.
Construction of the dam systems began that same year.
(Gudde, p. 137 & Marinacci, pp. 85-86)
Lexington (1952):
Calero (1935):
Calera is the Spanish word for limekiln or limestone quarry.
This word (spelled as calera or calero) was repeatedly used
in Spanish times for place names. In 1935, the Santa Clara
Valley Water Conservation District obtained land for the
proposed Calero Reservoir from the Newman Brothers. They
had operated a ranch since they purchased the land in 1905
from the Bailey family, who owned 873 acres in what was
then known as Calero Valley and used it to raise stock, grow
orchards and farm. Calero Dam and Reservoir is one of six
original systems approved for construction by voters in the
May 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems
began that same year. (Bentel, p.117)
Chesbro (1955):
Elmer J. Chesbro was the president of the Santa Clara Valley
Water Conservation District at the time of the construction of
Chesbro Dam and Reservoir in 1955.
In 1848, the first sawmill in Santa Clara County was erected
in the Santa Cruz mountains just south of Los Gatos. As
roads were constructed, John Pennell Henning of Lexington,
Missouri, laid out a “city of Lexington” in 1858. Lexington
and its neighboring town, Alma, prospered commercially.
When the Lexington Dam was completed in 1953 thus
impounding the waters of Los Gatos Creek, the historic area
of Lexington and Alma was inundated with water. Lexington
Dam was initially referred to as “Windy Point Dam,” due to
the fact that the location of the proposed dam was near an
obscure spur known as Windy Point. It was said that some
might think “Windy Point” referred to the long and bitter
verbal battle that took place in Sacramento (i.e., legislation
to re-route the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz Highway and to build
a dam and reservoir). So on Aug. 1, 1947, the directors of
the water district decided to name the dam for Lexington,
the small nearby community that was sacrificed when the
reservoir was built. The Lexington project overcame every
– 47 –
possible obstacle that attempted to block its completion.
From the passing of the bond issue on Oct. 7, 1947, to its
final completion in the fall of 1952, five years had passed.
In 1996, Lexington Dam was renamed James J. Lenihan
Dam at Lexington Reservoir. (McArthur, pp. 69-76)
native wild grapes. Uvas Creek got its name from the land
grant, Canada de las Uvas (Grape ravine), dated June 14,
1842. Uvas Dam, along with Chesbro Dam, were a part of
the South Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District.
(Sanchez, p. 163)
Stevens Creek (1935):
Vasona (1935):
Stevens Creek was originally known as Arroyo de San
Jose Cupertino. On March 25, 1776, on the second de Anza
expedition, Father Font wrote in his diary the name that
had been bestowed on the stream. The stream now bears
the name of an early settler, Captain Elishia Stephens, a
South Carolinian, who led the first successful passage of
wagons over the Sierra Nevada in 1844. He settled on the
banks of the Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino in 1859, but
by 1864 headed south to the Kern River area, claiming there
were too many people in the region for his liking. Stevens
Creek Dam and Reservoir is one of six original systems
approved for construction by voters in the May 1934 bond
election. Construction of the dam systems began that same
year. (Hoover, p. 417)
The origin of the name “Vasona” has its roots in local
folklore. Frazier O. Reed Jr., great-grandson of the co-leader
of the Donner Party, said his maternal grandfather, Albert
August Vollmer, was the man who named the area before the
turn of the century. Vollmer moved to the Santa Clara Valley
in 1887 and settled on a prune ranch. His oldest daughter,
Agnes, commuted from Los Gatos to San Jose every day by
train. Every morning Vollmer took Agnes to Los Gatos in his
buggy and every evening he picked her up. Since the train
passed about a mile from his ranch, he asked the Southern
Pacific Railroad if a flag stop could be established. The
Southern Pacific agreed, telling Vollmer he could name
the stop because he had requested it. That stop became
the “Vasona,” named after a pony Vollmer had as a child.
Vasona Lake Dam and Reservoir is one of six original
systems approved for construction by voters in the May,
1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems
began that same year. (Loomis)
Uvas (1957):
The Spanish name for grapes is preserved in a number of
place names, all apparently referring to the abundance of
C R E E K S
Adobe Creek:
Calabazas Creek:
The Spanish-American term for sun-dried brick occurs
frequently in California place names, either because of
the composition of the soil or because of the presence of
houses built of adobe. The name and the method of making
sun-dried bricks were introduced into Spain by the Arabs
and became common in the American Southwest, where
soil and climate are well suited to the adobe structure.
(Gudde, p. 3)
The Spanish word for pumpkins, squash or gourds was
quite important in the cultural history of the Southwest
because the gourd was an essential fruit for the Indians.
They used it for food as well as for making drinking vessels
and other utensils. The word appears in several place names
in California and seems to have been especially popular
south of San Francisco Bay. (Sanchez, p. 79)
Alamitos Creek:
Alamitos is the diminutive for the Spanish word for poplars
or cottonwoods. Since ancient times the Indians of the Santa
Clara Valley visited the hill of red earth, which contained
cinnabar, a pigment used for adornment, above the poplarlined stream the Spaniards later called Arroyo de Los
Alamitos, the Little River of the Poplar Trees. As early as
1824, Antonio Suñol searched for silver and gold in the
deposit. In 1845, “liquid quicksilver” was found and the
New Almaden mine was developed. Through the years the
mine has been worked intermittently. The upper Alamitos
Creek is choked with “tailing,” from which quicksilver is
still taken. (Sanchez, p. 76 & Hoover, p. 411)
Berryessa Creek:
Berryessa Creek is named for an old family who came
directly from Spain and settled in the Santa Clara Valley on
May 6, 1834. Nicolas Berreyessa was grantee of the land
grant Milpitas, through which the creek flows. Jose Reyes
Berreyessa received the land grant San Vicente, Aug. 1,
1842. The family name is variously spelled. (Gudde, p. 29)
– 48 –
Campbell Creek:
The creek was named for William Campbell, an immigrant
of 1846, who established a sawmill here in 1848 and a
stage station in 1852. The stream was also known as Arroyo
Quito, Big Moody Creek, and Saratoga Creek. By decision
of the Geographic Board (May 1954), the stream now
officially bears the name Saratoga Creek. (Gudde, p. 53)
Coyote Creek:
The name is a western American adaptation of the Aztec
name for the prairie wolf, coyote, and is an extremely
popular place name. Many geographical features in
California were named directly or indirectly after the animal.
The pronunciation of the name varies, even in the same
locality, between ki-o-te and ki-ot. The oldest name is
probably Santa Clara County’s Coyote River, which de Anza
named Arroyo del Coyote, March 31, 1776. It appears as
Arollo de Collote on Joseph Moraga’s 1781 map of San Jose.
(Gudde, p. 82)
Guadalupe River:
The name is derived from the patron saint of Catholic
Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and was an extremely
popular place name in early California. The river was
named Rio de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe by the de Anza
expedition on March 30, 1776, in honor of the expedition’s
principal patron saint. The name is frequently mentioned in
documents. It appears on Font’s map of the Bay region
(1777), and again on Eld’s sketch of 1841, and on Duflot
de Mofras’s map of 1844. (Marinacci, pp. 85-86)
Llagas Creek:
On Nov. 25, 1774, Padre Palou named a place near this
creek Las Llagas de Nuestro Padre San Francisco (the
wounds of Our Father Saint Francis). De Anza refers to it
as Las Llagas in 1776, and Josef Moraga calls the creek
Arroyo de las Llagas de Nuestro Padre San Francisco.
(Sanchez, p. 179)
Los Coches Creek:
Coches, the Mexican word for hogs, was repeatedly used
for geographical terms and was applied to a number of
land grants and claims. Arroyo de los Coches in Milpitas
(or Arroyo del monte de los coches), however, has no
connection with the two grants in Santa Clara County.
(Marinacci, p. 124)
several land grants. Beechey was apparently unaware of the
circumstance of the naming, as he states that the river was,
“appropriately named Rio de los Paxaros, from the number
of wild ducks which occasionally resort thither.”
(Gudde, p. 249)
Penitencia Creek:
This tributary of Coyote Creek was named Arroyo de la
Penitencia (Creek of Penitence) during mission times.
The name was recorded in the early 1840s. Along the creek
were gardens where pueblo residents grew corn, peppers,
and squashes. The creek was named Penitencia because
according to folklore, a house of penitence stood where the
creek curves. Mission priests visited the small adobe building to hear confession. It was demolished about 1900.
(Rambo, p. 108)
Permanente Creek:
Permanente is the Spanish word for permanent or constant.
The creek is shown as Arroyo Permanente on a design
of Rancho San Antonio (1839). Permanente Post Office,
established in 1938, and Henry Kaiser’s Permanente Cement
Company were named after the stream. “Permanente” is
often found on Spanish maps to designate a surface water
which does not dry up in summer. (Rambo, p. 108)
San Francisquito Creek:
Los Gatos Creek:
Gatos is the Spanish word for cats or wildcats. The town of
Los Gatos preserved the name of the land grant, Rinconada
de los Gatos (the corner of the wildcats), which was dated
May 21, 1840, and the creek took this name as well.
(Marinacci, p. 125)
Matadero Creek:
Matadero comes from the Spanish word for
“slaughterhouse.” Matadero Creek was originally part
of the Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito land grant
deeded in 1841 to Jose´ Peña. Clarke of San Francisco
purchased part of the land grant on June 8, 1859. Clarke
had a boat landing on Mayfield Slough and built a two-story
house on Matadero Creek.
Padre Francisco Palou camped on the bank of the creek
near the site of Palo Alto on Nov. 28, 1774, and selected the
spot as a suitable place for a mission to be dedicated to Saint
Francis of Assisi. The stream was mentioned as the Arroyo
de San Francisco by de Anza in March, 1776. However, when
the San Francisco mission was established farther north
(now Mission Dolores) the creek became known as Arroyo
de San Francisquito. (Gudde, pp. 303-304).
San Tomas Aquino Creek:
In the 1850s the stream is shown on the plans of several
land grants as Arroyo de San Tomas Aquinas. It seems
ironic that the great philosopher of scholasticism in the
13th century should be honored by the name of a small
and intermittently flowing creek. (Rambo, p. 110)
Pacheco Creek:
Saratoga Creek:
The pass in Merced (shown on the Fremont-Preuss map
of 1848) and the creek in Santa Clara were named for
Francisco and Juan Pacheco, rancho owners who came to
California in 1819. Land grants were given to Juan in 1843
and to Francisco in 1833 and 1836. (Gudde, p. 248)
(See the Saratoga entry under Towns and Cities.) Arroyo
Quito came to be known as Campbell’s Creek. Campbell’s
Creek was renamed Saratoga Creek in the early 1950s to
avoid confusion with Los Gatos Creek, which flows through
the city of Campbell.
Pajaro River:
Stevens Creek:
The river was named by the soldiers of the Portola
expedition on Oct. 8, 1769. “We saw in this place a
bird which the heathen had killed and stuffed with straw;
to some of our party it looked like a royal eagle. ... For
this reason the soldiers called the stream Rio del Pajaro,
and I added the name of La Senora Santa Ana.” (Bolton,
p. 210). The name of the river is repeatedly recorded in
mission and state papers, and appears later in the title of
Stevens Creek was originally known as Arroyo de San Jose
Cupertino. On March 25, 1776, on the second de Anza
expedition, Father Font wrote in his diary the name that
had been bestowed on the stream. The stream now bears
the name of an early settler in the area, Captain Elishia
Stephens, a South Carolinian who led the first successful
passage of wagons over the Sierra Nevada in 1844. He
settled on the banks of the Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino
– 49 –
in 1859, but by 1864 headed south to the Kern River area,
claiming there were too many people in the region for his
liking. Stephens was the original spelling of his name.
(Rambo, p. 111)
Upper Silver Creek:
The word “silver” is found in the names of more than
75 physical features in California. A number of these were
named for the occurrence of silver ore. Most of them,
however, especially many creeks and lakes, were given the
name because of their silvery appearance. (Gudde, p. 332)
Uvas, the Spanish word for grapes, is preserved in a
number of place names, all apparently referring to the
abundance of native wild grapes. Uvas was the name given
to the tract of land bordering Uvas Creek and adjoining the
rancho of Martin Murphy Sr. Today a road winds along the
edge of the stream where the colorful vines grow. These
grapes were descended from the vines that gave the rancho
its name, Canada de las Uvas (grape ravine) land grant,
dated June 14, 1842 and deeded to Lorenzo Pineda. The
word carnadero, probably meaning “butchering place,” is
recorded as a creek in Santa Clara County as early as
January 23, 1784. (Gudde, pp. 375-377)
Uvas–Carnadero Creek:
S A N T A
C L A R A
VA L L E Y
T O W N S
Alviso:
Alviso is named for Ignacio Alviso (1772-1848), who came
to San Francisco from Mexico with the de Anza expedition
in 1776. On Feb. 10, 1838, he received the grant, Rincon
de los Esteros (once called Embarcadero de Santa Clara
de Asis), which was the landing place for Santa Clara and
San Jose settlers and a very important port. Ignacio Alviso
settled at the Embarcadero in 1840. The development of
quicksilver mines at New Almaden in 1845, and for many
years after, played a large role in Alviso’s shipping industry.
Then came the discovery of gold at Coloma in 1848. The
town of Alviso is locted in Santa Clara County, eight miles
northwest of San Jose. It was laid out in 1849 by Chester S.
Lyman for three well-known businessmen, Peter H. Burnett,
J.D. Hoppe and Charles B. Marvin. From 1850 to 1861,
Alviso enjoyed its greatest period of development. Alviso
is also the heart of the artesian well section, as well as the
first place in the Santa Clara Valley to be planted with pear
orchards. The post office was first listed in 1862. In 1865
the railroads began to divert trade from the embarcaderos
on the bay. Alviso, like many similar pioneer ports, became
practically deserted. (Sanchez, p. 178)
&
C I T I E S
Creek.” The Geological Survey in 1899 decided on Stevens
Creek, but the old name was preserved in the name of the
post office, established in 1882. After this post office was
discontinued, residents signed a petition in 1895 to transfer
the name to the post office at West Side. (Rambo, p. 101)
Gilroy:
John Gilroy, a Scotch sailor and the first permanent nonSpanish settler in California, was left ashore in Monterey
in 1814 by the Hudson Bay vessel Isaac Todd because he
was sick with scurvy. His real name was Cameron, but he
changed it to his mother’s family name because he had left
home as a minor and was in danger of being sent back. He
settled in the Santa Clara Valley, where he married Maria
Clara Ortega, the grantee of part of the San Ysidro Land
Grant. The settlement that developed on the rancho became
known as San Isidro, and later as Gilroy. Bowen’s “PostOffice Guide of 1851” lists Gilroy. After the arrival of the
railroad in 1869, the name Gilroy appears on the map
for the station, and Old Gilroy for the older settlement.
The springs were discovered in 1865 by a Mexican sheepherder while he was hunting for some of his flock, and
were named after the town years later. (Rambo, p. 103)
Campbell:
Benjamin Campbell founded the town of Campbell in 1885.
He was the son of William Campbell, the 1846 immigrant
after whom the creek was named. William Campbell saw
potential for a lumber industry near what is now Saratoga.
He and his two sons built a water-powered sawmill on the
banks of “Arroyo Quito” (Saratoga Creek) in 1848. The
area around the mill was known as Campbell’s Redwoods,
and before long Arroyo Quito was known as Campbell’s
Creek. (Rambo, p. 100 & Hoover, p. 414)
Cupertino:
Arroyo de San Jose Cupertino, named in honor of an Italian
saint of the 17th century, was mentioned by de Anza and
Font when their expedition camped at the creek, March 25,
1776. When Elishia Stephens settled there in the late 1840s,
the arroyo became known as Stevens Creek. Hoffmann’s
1873 map of the bay region has “Stephen’s or Cupertino
– 50 –
Los Altos:
The post office was established in 1908 and took the
Spanish name for “the heights,” which the developer
had chosen for the site in 1907. (Rambo, p. 104)
Los Gatos:
The town of Los Gatos preserved the name of the land grant,
Rinconada de los Gatos (Corner of the Wildcats, May 21,
1840). The Santa Cruz mountains are called Cuesta de los
Gatos by Fremont (1848) and are so designated on the
German edition of Eddy’s map. Eddy’s original map (1856),
however, has the modern name Santa Cruz mountains. The
town was laid out in 1850 by J.A. Forbes. The post office is
listed in 1867, and the station was named when the railroad
from San Jose reached the town on June 1, 1878.
(Sanchez, pp. 77-78 & Hoover, p. 415)
Milpitas:
The word is a diminutive of milpas, meaning cornfields, and
apparently is used to designate vegetable gardens. Milpa is
of Aztec origin, from the noun “mill,” which means “land
sown with seed,” and preposition “pa,” which means “in.”
The name was preserved through the Milpitas grant, dated
Sept. 28 and Oct. 2, 1835. Maximo Martinez testified in the
U.S. District Court on Oct. 13, 1861, that the place was so
called because his father “sowed, cultivated and lived there,
and after raising the crop, left for the pueblo (San Jose).”
The town was founded in the 1850s. Milpitas Village is
shown on a plat of the Rincon de los Esteros grant in 1858,
and the post office was established May 31, 1856.
(Sanchez, p. 391)
Morgan Hill:
The settlement that developed on the Morgan Hill Ranch was
named about 1892, for Morgan Hill, who had acquired the
ranch when he married Diana Murphy, daughter of Daniel
Murphy, a wealthy landholder and stock raiser.
(Gudde, p. 224)
Mountain View:
The settlement that developed in the early 1850s around the
stagecoach station was named Mountain View because the
Santa Cruz mountains, Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton
could be seen from the place. In 1864 the name also was
given to the railroad station about one mile north and to the
new town which grew up there and eventually merged with
the old one. (Gudde, p. 227)
Palo Alto:
The word “palo” means stick, log, timber, or mast;
however, it was used in Spanish California for “tree.”
Tradition connects the origin of the name with the tall tree
still standing near the railroad station in the city of Palo Alto.
However, since this redwood had a twin, which fell in 1885
or 1886, it can hardly be the “palo alto” described by the
de Anza expedition, as is generally assumed by historians.
On Nov. 28, 1774, Palou records in his diary: “Near the
crossing there is a grove of very tall redwood trees, and a
hundred steps farther down another very large one of the
same redwood, which is visible more than a league before
reaching the arroyo, and appears from a distance like a
tower.” Palou, from a distance, might have mistaken “twin
redwoods” for one large tree, but de Anza and Font in their
diary entries of March 30, 1776, leave no doubt that the
palo alto was a single tree. Font’s map of the bay region
shows only a single tree. Whether this tree was the redwood
a mile downstream, carried away by high water in March
1911, or whether it was another tree that has left no trace,
probably will remain unanswered. In a geographical sense,
the name was used when the San Francisquito rancho
was sold in 1857 as “a certain tract of land known as the
Rancho of Palo Alto.” This name was doubtless used to
avoid confusion with the two adjoining ranchos which
included the name San Francisquito in their full names.
Various surveyors’ plats of these ranchos after 1858 clearly
show that the name “Palo Alto” was at that time associated
with “Twin Redwoods.” Leland Stanford established his
country estate in 1876 on the rancho. Gradually he acquired
a total of 8,000 acres which he called Palo Alto Farm. After
the founding of Stanford University, Timothy Hopkins laid
out the present town in 1888, naming it University Park.
At the same time a real estate company developed a new
subdivision adjoining Mayfield and named it Palo Alto.
Stanford brought an injunction against the company for
using “his” name. Through an amicable settlement, Palo
Alto became College Terrace, and University Park was
rechristened Palo Alto on Jan. 30, 1892. (Sanchez,
pp. 172-173)
San Jose:
Of all saints’ names, San Jose or Saint Joseph, husband
of the Virgin Mary, is probably the most popular for place
names in Spanish-speaking countries. In California, from
the beginnings of colonization, the name has been intimately
connected with geographical nomenclature. A village was
founded by Jose Joaquin Moraga on Nov. 29, 1777, under
instructions from Gov. Felipe de Neve, who named it Pueblo
de San Jose de Guadalupe, for Saint Joseph and for the
river on which the town was situated. It was the first Spanish
pueblo in what is now the State of California; thus the
modern city has the distinction of being the oldest civic
municipality of the state. In 1849 San Jose became the State
of California’s first capital when the legislature convened
there on Dec. 15. (Sanchez, p. 168)
San Martin:
Irish native Martin Murphy and his large family came to
California in 1844 and settled on the San Francisco de las
Llagas grant, which was later patented to James Murphy, one
of Murphy’s sons. A devout Roman Catholic, Martin Murphy
followed the Spanish custom and named his settlement in
honor of his patron saint. (Sanchez, p. 181)
Santa Clara:
The mission was founded by Padre Tomas de la Pena on
Jan. 12, 1777, and named Mission de Santa Clara de Asis,
according to instructions from Mexico. Saint Clare of Assisi
was the co-founder of the Franciscan Order of Poor Clares.
Her feast day is Aug. 12. On the Plano Topografico de la
Mission de San Jose (drawn about 1824), the lower part
of San Francisco Bay is called Estero de Santa Clara. The
highest peak of Montara Mountain is designated as Mont
Santa Clara on Dulfot De Mofras’s Plan 16. On Feb. 29,
1844, the name is used for a land grant, Potrero de Santa
Clara. The county, one of the original 27, was named on
Feb. 18, 1850. The name Santa Clara Valley seems to have
come into general use in the 1850s and is repeatedly found
in the Pacific Railroad Reports. (Sanchez, p. 167)
Saratoga:
The town of Saratoga was founded in 1851 and called
McCarthysville, for the miller, Martin McCarthy. When the
post office was established in 1867, the town received its
present name, chosen because the waters of nearby Pacific
Congress Spring resembled those of Congress Spring at
– 51 –
Saratoga, New York. The town was known by both names
until the 1870s. (Rambo, p. 110 & Hoover, p. 416)
Sunnyvale:
The Martin Murphy family history is a good example of an
epic of the western movement. Martin Murphy, native of
Ireland, and his family came to California in 1844 in the
first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada. At a point on
the Missouri River, the Murphy and Stephens (see Stevens
Creek) parties joined forces for mutual protection and aid.
They settled on the San Francisco de las Llagas grant. Mary
Murphy, who gave birth to the first child born to California
immigrants from the United States, is known as the Mother
of California. She was pregnant on the wagon journey over
the Sierra and gave birth to her daughter, Elizabeth, only
three days after the party came out of the mountains.
O T H E R
Martin Murphy settled in Santa Clara County and
established a farm in 1849. Murphy was the model of
industry, intelligence and piety for his children. Over the
years, the land was passed down to one of the Murphy
sons, Gen. Patrick Murphy.
In 1898, Patrick Murphy sold 200 acres to a real estate
agent named W.E. Crossman. By this time, the area had
several different names: Murphy Station, Borregas, Encina
and Encinal. Because an area near Oakland had a name
similar to Encinal, Crossman wanted to avoid confusion
and decided to rename the area. While looking across the
bright, clear valley Crossman said, “Let’s call it Sunnyvale!”
In December 1912, the city of Sunnyvale, population 1,200,
was incorporated. (Rambo, p. 112)
N A M E S
Capitancillos, Canada de los
As early as 1824 the Spanish settlers of the Santa Clara
Valley knew about the red hill (see Alamaden Reservoir)
and its strange pigments. There were several attempts to
find silver or gold in their deposits. In 1842, Gov. Alvarado
gave the land grant Rancho Canada de los Capitancillos
(valley of the little captains), site of the New Almaden mine
, to Justo Larios, who was 34 at the time. (Capitancillo is
the diminuitive of capitan, captain or chief.) Three years
later, interest rose when mineral deposits were found.
Larios was an artillery man and a soapmaker, and was
one of the unfortunate ranchers whose horses were
appropriated by Fremont’s men. A part of his land (3,360
acres) was deeded to Charles Fossat on Feb. 3, 1865. A
smaller part containing 1,110 acres was patented to the
Guadalupe Mining Co. on Sept. 20, 1871. (Gudde, p. 56)
the summit. The altitude of the highest peak in Santa Clara
County is 4,209 feet. James Lick Observatory, constructed in
1887, is on its peak. (Rambo, Pioneer Blue Book, p. 15)
Mount Umunhum:
The name is doubtless of Costanoan origin but the
meaning is not known. The peak is shown as Picacho
de Umenhum and Umerhum on C.S. Lyman’s maps of
the New Almaden Mine (1848). Hoffmann in his notes
spells the name Unuhum on Aug. 10, 1861, corrects it
to Umunhum on Aug. 20, and records the pronunciation
Aug. 26 as oomoonoom. Since u’mun, umanu and umuni
are recorded as meaning “hummingbird” in southern
Costanoan, Beeler suggests that the name may mean
“resting place of the hummingbird.” In Santa Clara
Indian mythology, the hummingbird, the coyote and the
eagle are the creators of the world. (Gudde, p. 374)
Hetch Hetchy:
The valley has been known by this name since the early
1860s. The Indian words (Central Miwok) apparently
mean either edible seeds or acorns. The reservoir was
constructed by the city of San Francisco from 1914 to 1923.
(Sanchez, p. 330)
Mount Hamilton:
The Reverend Laurentine Hamilton joined a mountain
surveying expedition in 1861. He was the first to reach
– 52 –
Madrone:
The common designation for one of our most beautiful
native trees (Arbutus menziesii) is derived from its Spanish
name, madrono, and is found in numerous place names.
Chiefly, the name is used in the mountains, foothills and
gravelly valleys of the coast ranges, which are the principal
habitats of the tree. Madrona is a common variant of the
name. (Sanchez, p. 179)
Glossary of Terms
Adsorption
Aquitard
Conjunctive use
A physical process of a gas, liquid or
dissolved substance being taken up by
(or glued to) the surface of a solid.
A geological formation that will not
transmit water quickly enough to fill a
well, practically, but may store some
quantities of water.
The planned use and storage of surface
and ground water supplies to improve
water supply reliability.
Connate water
Acre-foot
Basic user charge
A charge levied on every acre-foot of water
pumped from the groundwater basin or
delivered by the SCVWD to recover costs
incurred for the benefit of current users.
Water that was trapped in a geologic
formation at the time the formation was
deposited. If the formation was deposited
in the ocean or a saline lake, the connate
water is also saline.
Bay
Conservation
A body of water partially enclosed by land,
but with a large outlet to the sea or ocean.
The act of protecting from loss or depletion.
Beltpress
Contamination
Alluvial deposits
A device for reducing the liquid content of
treatment plant sludge.
Rock, gravel, sand, silt and clay that have
been carried and deposited by running
water.
Biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD)
An impairment of the quality of water by
microorganisms, chemicals, sewage or
industrial waste which renders water unfit
for its intended use. In California, this
means the water poses an actual hazard to
public health.
A term used to describe volumes of
drinking or recycled water. One acre-foot
equals 325,851 gallons of water, which is
enough to serve the needs of two households of five, for one year. An acre-foot of
water would cover an acre one foot deep.
Agriculture
The science, art and business of
cultivating the soil, producing crops
and raising livestock (farming).
Artesian well
A well that produces a flow of water due
to the pressure of underground water
storage.
Appropriative rights
The right to take and beneficially use a
specific quantity of water as granted by
the state in accordance with California
water laws.
The quantity of oxygen consumed in
biological processes that decompose
organic matter in water.
Box culvert
A closed conduit of rectangular cross
section used to pass floodwaters under
a highway or railroad.
Buried concrete box culvert
A very long box culvert.
Aquifer
Chloramine
An underground basin where water is
stored after percolating down through
many layers of rock and gravel. These
basins are dark, and bacteria cannot live
in them. The water in aquifers is clean
and safe for drinking without adding any
chemicals. Some of our drinking water is
pumped out of aquifers. If aquifers were
allowed to dry out, the ground would
collapse just as if a chair were pulled
out from under a student. (An aquifer
is a body of rock that is sufficiently
permeable to conduct ground water and
to yield economically significant quantities
of water to wells and springs.)
A combined chlorine and ammonia
compound used as a disinfectant for
potable water.
In Santa Clara Valley, there are three
aquifers: the Santa Clara basin and the
Llagas and Coyote sub-basins.
Chlorine
A disinfectant used in the water treatment
process.
Climate
Meteorological conditions, including
temperature, precipitation, condensation
and wind.
Concrete-lined channel
A flood control or water conveyance channel with the sides and bottom made of
concrete.
Confined aquifer
An aquifer overlain by material sufficiently
impervious to retain groundwater in the
aquifer under pressure.
– 53 –
Cubic feet per second
A unit of measurement for flowing water;
the number of cubic feet of water that
passes by a given point in a second.
Dam
A structure built to hold back water.
Specific kinds of dams include:
Sack dam: Sack dams were used in early
experiments. The sack dams were merely
burlap sacks filled with whatever earth
material was available, laid snugly side by
side, layer on layer, at irregular intervals
over the gravel streambeds. These dams
served their purpose in their first year
of use, but deteriorated over time. The
high cost of replacing them led to their
discontinuation in the late 1920s.
Sausage dams: Sausage dams were
constructed of rock and strips of heavy
gauge “box type” construction wire.
Strips of wire matter were laid across
the stream, then rock was placed on and
between the layers of the wire matting.
This method of construction provided
a stable dam and served the purpose of
spreading water over larger areas for
percolation. However, it was expensive
and was eventually discontinued.
Rock dams: Experiments with rock dams
proved successful and less expensive than
sausage and sack dams. A mound of rocks
spread across the stream about one or
two feet high is sufficient to slow the
flow of water and allow spreading and
percolation of water.
Check dams: Check dams were small
structures of loose rock, logs, brush, and
occasionally concrete built in a series of
mountain canyons to regulate and prolong
the flow of rainwater descending through
the watershed. Dams also can be built out
of concrete. When builders constructed
the huge dam at Shasta Lake, they poured
concrete for 24 hours straight, seven days
a week, for 51/2 years!
Developed water
Water that is controlled and managed
(dammed, pumped, diverted, stored, etc.)
for a variety of uses.
Disinfection
Environmental impact
report (EIR)
A report required by the California
Environmental Quality Act to describe
the environmental impact of a proposed
project.
Environmental impact
statement (EIS)
A report required by the federal
Environmental Protection Act to describe
the environmental impact of a proposed
federal project.
Estuary
The shallow water areas of bays or the
mouths of rivers and creeks. This is the
place where ocean tides meet and mix
with fresh water.
Evaporation
The process by which surface or
subsurface water is converted to
atmospheric vapor.
A cleansing of harmful chemicals.
Headwater
The source or sources and upper part
of a stream, especially of a large stream
or river.
Hydrologic cycle
(also called the water cycle)
The movement of water as it evaporates
from rivers, lakes or oceans, returns to
the earth as precipitation, flows into
rivers and evaporates again.
Imported water
Water that is moved from one drainage
basin to another. For example, water
moved from the Sacramento Valley to the
San Joaquin Valley through canals and
pipelines into the Santa Clara Valley. This
area uses more water than it naturally has,
so water must be imported to fulfill the
needs of the large population.
Irrigation
Diverting or moving water from its
natural course in order to use it.
Fault
Dissolved oxygen (D.O.)
The oxygen dissolved in water. It is
necessary for aquatic life.
A break in the continuity of rock formation caused by shifting in the earth’s crust.
Filtration
Drought
MGD
Abbreviation for million gallons per day.
This term is used to describe the volumes
of wastewater treated and discharged from
a treatment plant.
A long period with little or no rain.
The process of filtering, or removing
constituents from a substance.
Dry farming
Floodplain
An area of low-lying wetland.
Farming without irrigation, using only the
water which falls naturally in the form of
rain to water crops.
The relatively flat area adjoining a river
or lake that may be covered with water
during a flood.
Nitrification
Earth channel
Geology
Nonpoint pollution
A flood control or water conveyance
channel with sides and bottom composed
of earth.
Scientific study of the origin, history
and structure of the earth.
A source of pollution that is general, not
localized. An industrial plant might emit
localized pollution, but the various types
of trash which flow down storm drains
from the streets of the Santa Clara Valley
to San Francisco Bay cannot be tracked.
This is nonpoint pollution.
Marsh
Groundwater
Effluent
Treated wastewater. If effluent has been
treated to a high enough standard, it may
be considered “reclaimed” or recycled.
Electrical conductivity
A measure of the ability of the water to
conduct electrical current. It is used as
a measure of the dissolved solids in the
water.
Endangered species
A species which is threatened with
extinction.
Environment
Water that has seeped beneath the
earth’s surface down through soil
materials to become groundwater. This
is accomplished naturally by rainfall and
also artificially by humans. See percolation
ponds.
Grubbing
Derived from the word “grub,” which
means to root out or uproot; trees are cut
and removed, then stumps and roots are
grubbed out. Grubbing includes removing
large, long-rooted vines, which also must
be uprooted and cleared away. Trees are
moved to safe areas and firewood is made
available free to the public or burned.
One’s surroundings.
– 54 –
To treat or combine with nitrogen.
Percolation pond
A pond that allows water to percolate
(or seep) through layers of rock and
gravel. The water is cleaned as it slowly
travels downward and eventually reaches
an underground aquifer. The purpose of
man-made percolation ponds is both to
clean the water and to keep the ground
from sinking.
Potable water
Water that meets drinking water
standards.
Pond
Saltwater seepage
Water quality
A still body of water smaller than a lake.
When saltwater makes its way into an
aquifer, contaminating the freshwater
with salt.
The chemical, physical, and biological
properties of water that affect its suitability
for use.
Sludge
Wastewater
Used water that comes from homes and
businesses.
A large storage area for water.
The settled solids containing enough water
to form a semi-liquid mass that comes
from treatment processes in sewage,
reclamation and freshwater plants.
Retrofit
Spring
The process for constructing and
separating new potable and recycled
pipelines that allow recycled water to be
used for non-drinking purposes. A retrofit
system separates recycled water from
drinking water pipelines.
A place where groundwater flows naturally
from a rock or soil onto the land surface
or into a body of surface water.
Riparian habitat
Surface water
The vegetation and wildlife found along
the shores of streams, rivers and lakes.
The water that rests on top of the earth
in streams, lakes, rivers, oceans and
reservoirs.
Recycled water
Water that has gone through a sewage
treatment plant and is then re-used for
irrigation or other purposes.
Reservoir
Stream
A body of running water.
Riparian rights
The legal right which assures an owner of
land adjacent to a creek or natural body
of water the reasonable use of that water.
Watershed
The area of land over which rain falls and
then drains off on its journey to the ocean,
or into reservoirs for storage.
Watershed management
A widely used phrase associated
with studies, programs and policies,
undertaken to protect and/or define the
acceptable uses of drainage basins and
their receiving waters.
Water supply
The water available for an area or
community.
Tertiary
A high level of wastewater treatment that
repurifies the water to meet state health
requirements.
Water table
A large, natural stream of water that
empties into a large body of water such
as a lake or the ocean.
Valley
Weir
An area of low land surrounded by hills
or mountains.
Runoff
Water reclamation
During back-to-back rains, some water is
not immediately soaked up by the ground.
This water is called runoff.
The treatment and management of wastewater to produce water of suitable quality
for additional use.
A dam made of wood, concrete,
rocks, steel or similar material places
on the bottom of a stream channel in a
watercourse to control the flow of water;
a dam in a waterway or conduit used to
control the water level or the flow;
a structure over which liquids flow and
which is used to measure the rate of flow.
Salinity
Water supply
The concentration of salt dissolved in
water.
The water available for an area or
community.
The top of the water within an unconfined
aquifer.
River
– 55 –
Water Resources
O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
Adopt-a-Stream
P.O. Box 435
Pittsford, NY 14534-0435
• Organizes volunteer programs
to clean up and monitor water
quality
National Water Information
Clearinghouse
U.S. Geological survey
423 National Center
Reston, VA 22092-0001
• Supplies federal water data
Adopt-A-Watershed
Box 1850
Hayfork, CA 96041-1850
• Provides an integrated, sequential
K-12 science curriculum focused on
the local environment and emphasizing service in partnership with the
community.
Nebraska Groundwater Foundation
P.O. Box 22558
Lincoln, NE 68542-2558
• Clearinghouse for general
groundwater information. Produces
children’s groundwater festival.
American Rivers
801 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.
Suite 400G
Washington, DC 20003-2167
• Seeks to preserve and restore
America’s river systems
American Water
Resources Association
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 220
Bethesda, MD 20814-2192
• Provides posters ($5) and
booklets ($1) on water use
American Water
Works Association
6666 West Quincy Ave.
Denver, CO 80235-3098
• Operates blue thumb campaign
to preserve water resources
America’s Clean Water Foundation
750 First Street N.E. , Suite 911
Washington, DC 20002-4241
• Develops and distributes
educational materials
Water Education Foundation
717 K Street, Suite 517
Sacramento, CA 95814-3408
• Focuses on water use in western
states. Provides information to
teachers and others.
Water Environment Federation
601 Wythe Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1994
• Presents materials on water
quality issues
Further information on freshwater issues
can be obtained from the
following selected sources:
American Ground Water Trust
1-800-423-7748
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
(202) 260-2090
U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil
and Water Conservation Service
1-800-THE SOIL (843-7645)
Freshwater Foundation
725 County Road 6
Wayzata, MN 55391-9611
• Provides educational programs
and freshwater research
– 56 –
Bibliography & Appendix
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Bentel, Dwight and Dolores Freitas
“Stories of Santa Clara Valley”
California: The Rosicrucian Press, 1942
Bolton, hubert Eugene
“Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer
of the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774”
Berkeley, 1927
Cook, Mary Ann
“Mining Local Lore”
Los Gatos: Los Gatos Weekly Times,
Nov. 6 1996, pp. 16-17
Felzer, Ron
“High Sierra Hiking Guide: Hetch Hetchy ”
Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 1991
Gookin, Dave
“Travels Along 120: The Big Oak Road”
Rocklin: Placer Press, 1983
Grant, Joanne
“100-Year-Old Alviso Yacht Club Has
Pride But Very Little Water”
San Jose: San Jose Mercury News,
Sept. 24, 1996, pp. 1 & 5
Gudde, Erwin G.
“California Place Names”
Berkeley: University of California Press,
1949
Hoover, Mildred Brooke et al
“Historic Spots in California”
Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1990
San Francisco, 1914
Taylor, Ray W.
“Hetch Hetchy”
San Francisco, 1926
Hundley, Jr., Norris
“The Great Thirst: Californians and
Water, 1770s - 1990s”
California: University of California Press,
1992
Thompson & West
“A New Historical Atlas
of Santa Clara County ”
San Jose: Smith & McKay
Printing Company, 1973
Marinacci, Barbara and Rudy
“California’s Spanish Place Names”
Palo Alto: Tioga Publishing, 1988
Water, Our Buried Treasure:
The Story of Water
“Conservation in the Santa Clara Valley”
San Jose: 1960
McArthur, Seonaid, Editor
“The History of Water in the
Santa Clara Valley ”
California History Center, 1981
Windes, Lisa.
“Pioneering Eccentric Gave
Stevens Creek Its Name.”
Mountail View Voice, Nov. 1, 1996
Rambo, Ralph
“Pen and Inklings”
San Jose: Rosicrucian Press, 1984
Rambo, Ralph
“Pioneer Blue Book of the
Old Santa Clara Valley”
Santa Clara, 1973
Sanchez, Nellie Van de Grift
“Spanish and Indian Place
Names of California”
A P P E N D I X
A. Areas subject to 1 percent flood in Santa Clara County
F. South Bay Water Recycling
B. Flood Control Zones of Santa Clara Valley
G. State and Federal Water Projects in
relation to the Santa Clara Valley
C. Major Watersheds of Santa Clara Valley
Adobe, Calabazas, Coyote, Llagas, Guadalupe
Permanente, San Tomas, Sunnyvale East,
Sunnyvale West, Uvas
H. Water Conveyance, Treatment and
Distribution Systems of Santa Clara Valley
D. Natural Resource Fact Sheet — Agricultural Water
I. Santa Clara Valley Water District
Educational Programs and Materials
E. Relationship Between Groundwater Elevations
and Land Subsidence in Santa Clara County
– 57 –
– 58 –
MOUNTAIN
VIEW
Stevens Creek
Calabazas Creek
Sa
LOS
os
Vasona
Reservoir
G
SANTA
CLARA
Cr
s
SAN
JOSE
P
er
pp
MILPITAS
o
Ala m i t
en
ia
nc
ite
(Guadalupe Watershed)
Cr
N O
ot
e
East Zone
ee
U
Z O N E
Cr
ee
k
GILROY
Ll
Coyote
Reservoir
Anderson
Reservoir
(Uvas/Llagas Watershed)
ek
South Zone
SAN
MARTIN
Chesbro
Reservoir
MORGAN
HILL
Uvas
Reservoir
k
F L O O D
r
(Flows to San Joaquin River Watershed)
(Coyote Watershed)
Calero
Reservoir
k
ee
Almaden
Reservoir
Guadalupe
Reservoir
Central Zone
Lexington
Reservoir
GATOS
(West Valley
Watershed)
North
Central
Zone
CUPERTINO
SUNNYVALE
Saratoga
Creek
Stevens Creek
Reservoir
(Lower Peninsula
Watershed)
Northwest
Zone
LOS ALTOS
San
Francisquito
Creek
ek
T o m as C r e
n
PALO ALTO
at
B a y
Riv
e
F r a n c i s c o
Los
U
Pa
ch e
Pacheco
Reservoir
co C
ree
k
Flood Control Zones of Santa Clara Valley
a jaro
S a n
e ek
r
i ve
k
vas C re
P
R
pe
alu
ad
u
G
ee
Cr
reek
Cre e k
Cr
k
Cre e
oC
ote
Coy
C
oy
as
ag
Pa
ch
ec
yote
Co
N O T E S
Santa Clara Valley
Water District
O
ST
CON
SU
ER
20%
M
P
5750 Almaden Expressway
San Jose, CA 95118-3686
(408) 265-2600
•
•
•
•
•
FIBER
Printed on recycled paper
using soy-based inks.
11/02, 500
•