Alhambra Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County , in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California .
55-517: The creek drains into the Carquinez Strait at Martinez , via the historical Arroyo del Hambre . Alhambra Creek and its valley take their name from Cañada del Hambre, Spanish for "valley of hunger", apparently because of some unknown incident involving starving Spanish soldiers. The name appears on diseños repeatedly and appears on an 1842 land grant, Rancho Cañada del Hambre y Las Bolsas . Although technically Alhambra Creek only refers to
110-405: A flow device pipe through the beaver dam so that the pond's water level could not become excessive. Now protected, the beaver have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, led to the return of numerous birds, steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) and river otter ( Lontra canadensis ) in 2008, and mink ( Neogale vison ) in 2009. Examples of
165-612: A cataclysmic flood. The strait forms part of the county border between Solano (to the north) and Contra Costa (to the south), and it is approximately 15 mi (25 km) north of Oakland . The cities of Benicia and Vallejo lie on the north side of the strait, while Martinez , Port Costa , and Crockett sit on the southern coast. The Napa River joins the strait, via the short Mare Island Strait , near its entrance into San Pablo Bay. Its watershed covers 62,500 square miles (162,000 km ), approximately 40 percent of California's total surface. The California Maritime Academy
220-691: A portion of the city of Martinez. The combined branches flow through Briones Valley , valleys containing open space, wildlife habitat, residential and commercial areas, through downtown Martinez and then discharge into the Carquinez Straits through a tidal wetland at the Martinez Regional Shoreline . Alhambra Creek originates in the Briones Hills , within Briones Regional Park . The water flows from
275-506: A small resort. In 1902, Mr. Lasell built a 2-inch galvanized pipe from the spring to a bottling plant in downtown Martinez across from the train station, approximately 6 miles (10 km). The Alhambra Water Company was born. As the business grew, glass-lined railcars were used to carry water to bottling plants in Oakland and San Francisco. Today, Alhambra Water comes from elsewhere. Residential development has spread from downtown Martinez up
330-473: A tunnel in the side of the hill. This tunnel was made years ago to try to tap into what the speculators thought was a vast underground river that came from the Sierras. The thought was that the lagoons on Briones Crest represented a vast underground store of water. This “aqueous mother lode” turned out to be illusory, so the tunnel was abandoned. The linear distance from the source to the mouth of Alhambra Creek
385-416: A variety of native and introduced grasses, herbaceous forbs, and small shrubs. Among the more common native understory plants are purple needle grass, soft chess grass, California yarrow, and poison oak. Native grasses that evolved over millions of years once dominated the grasslands of California. But changes in the fire frequency and intensity, the introduction of competitive grasses from the lands surrounding
440-764: Is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California , United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay . The strait is eight miles (13 km) long and connects Suisun Bay , which receives the waters of the combined rivers, with San Pablo Bay , a northern extension of the San Francisco Bay. The strait formed in prehistoric times, near
495-622: Is about 6 miles (10 km). For the first 2 miles (3 km), Alhambra creek descends from about 1,100 feet (300 m) elevation to 200 feet (60 m). At this point, it is joined by Arroyo del Hambre Creek, which comes from a source at an elevation of about 900 feet (300 m), 3 miles (5 km) to the west. Arroyo del Hambre Creek is joined by several tributaries, among them Vaca Creek, on its way to join Alhambra Creek. Franklin Creek joins Alhambra Creek about 2 miles (3 km) below
550-550: Is at the western end of the strait on the northern waterfront. The C&H Sugar refinery is located on the southern shore in the small town of Crockett . The strait is crossed by two highway bridges: the Carquinez Bridge on Interstate 80 and the Benicia–Martinez Bridge on Interstate 680 . Each highway bridge consists of two spans. Interstate 780 connects the two highways on the northern slope of
605-624: Is part of the Baldwin Deepwater Shipping Channel . The narrow gap in the Coast Range that forms the strait has led to the formation of the San Joaquin–Sacramento River Delta , an inverted river delta , upstream of it, a rare geological feature. The strait is too small to allow the passage of huge amounts of floodwaters created during years with heavy rainfall or snowmelt events. Because
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#1732772390864660-812: Is probably where McKay was so successful, rather than the Bay itself. In 1840, explorer Captain Thomas Farnham wrote that beaver were very numerous near the mouths of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and on the hundreds of small "rushcovered" islands. Farnham, who had travelled extensively in North America, said: "There is probably no spot of equal extent in the whole continent of America which contains so many of these muchsought animals." Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait ( / k ɑːr ˈ k iː n ə s / ; Spanish : Estrecho de Carquinez )
715-848: The California Fur Rush of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Delta probably held the largest concentration of beaver in North America. It was California's early fur trade, more than any other single factor, that opened up the West, and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular, to world trade. The Spanish, French, English, Russians and Americans engaged in the California fur trade before 1825, harvesting prodigious quantities of beaver, river otter, marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, harbor and fur seals and sea otter. When
770-567: The National Park Service in 1916. The home contains Muir's "scribble den," as he called his study, and his original desk, where he wrote about many of the ideas that are the bedrock of the modern conservation movement . The Muir house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1960. It became a National Historic Site in 1964, is California Historical Landmark #312 and
825-645: The "John Muir Parkway". The mansion was built in 1883 by prominent physician and horticulturalist Dr. John Strentzel , Muir's father-in-law, with whom Muir went into partnership, managing his fruit ranch of 2,600 acres (11 km). The Alhambra Springs in the upper watershed was the original source for the Alhambra Bottled Water Company. Circa 1897, Loren M. Lasell bought 300 acres (1.2 km) in Vaca Canyon on upper Alhambra Valley Road. There were hot sulfur springs, clear springs and
880-593: The 14-room Italianate Victorian mansion where the naturalist and writer John Muir lived, as well as a nearby 325-acre (132 ha) tract of native oak woodlands and grasslands historically owned by the Muir family. The main site is on the edge of town, in the shadow of State Route 4 , also known as the "John Muir Parkway." The mansion was built in 1883 by Dr. John Strentzel , Muir's father-in-law, with whom Muir went into partnership, managing his 2,600-acre (1,100 ha) fruit ranch. Muir and his wife, Louisa, moved into
935-691: The Alhambra Creek Watershed Council was established to produce the Alhambra Creek Watershed Management Plan (2001). The group's mission is to protect and enhance the health of the Alhambra Creek Watershed by educating the public about the watershed, acting as a community resource, and providing a forum for new ideas and projects. By representing diverse stakeholder interests and promoting healthy natural systems, AWC seeks
990-423: The Alhambra Creek watershed, coastal oak woodlands on north and east facing slopes and California annual grassland on drier high ridges and west and south facing slopes. The most common trees found in the oak woodlands are coast live oak, blue oak, valley oak, California bay laurel, toyon, and buckeye. In these woodlands, a wide variety of other plants grow beneath the trees, forming an understory. These plants include
1045-479: The Delta area is the first to fill and last to drain in a flood event, silt and soil have more time to drop out of suspension, creating the inverted river delta feature. Seawater is more dense than fresh water because of its higher concentration of salts. Under stable conditions, this means that an invisible boundary forms where two such streams meet, as where the fresh water from Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meet
1100-563: The Mediterranean Sea, and changes in the way the grasslands were grazed by animals led to a complete conversion in the species make-up of our grasslands. Now annual grasses introduced from Europe dominate California's grasslands, while the native grasses cover only a minor fraction of the grassland area. The grasslands of the Alhambra Creek watershed support a wide array of wildflowers as well. Many of these wildflowers grow best when grazed moderately by wildlife and livestock. Deer use
1155-802: The close of one of the past ice ages, when the Central Valley was a vast inland lake . Melting ice from the Sierra Nevada raised the water level while seismic activity created a new outlet to the Pacific Ocean, draining the lake into the ocean and exposing the valley floors. The strait is named after the Karkin people ( los Carquines in Spanish), a linguistic division of the Ohlone indigenous peoples who once resided on both sides of
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#17327723908641210-584: The coastal and oceanic fur industry began to decline, the focus shifted to California's inland fur resources. Between 1826 and 1845 the Hudson's Bay Company sent parties out annually from Fort Astoria and Fort Vancouver into the Sacramento and the San Joaquin valleys as far south as French Camp on the San Joaquin River. These trapping expeditions must have been extremely profitable to justify
1265-408: The coastal marsh community. They build their nests on the ground since no trees can survive in the salty soils. That is why dogs are not allowed in the Martinez Regional Shoreline at the mouth of Alhambra Creek. The area was formerly roamed by the California grizzly bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis , subspecies: californicus ) and the black bear ( Ursus americanus ). The sighting of black bears in
1320-631: The confluence of Alhambra and Arroyo del Hambre Creeks. Franklin Creek drains a subwatershed of roughly the same size as the combined Upper Alhambra and del Hambre basins. It originates about 3 miles (5 km) northwest of its confluence with Alhambra and flows southeast through Franklin Canyon then bends to the north to flow through the John Muir National Historic Site and joins Alhambra Creek between Walnut Avenue and Alhambra Way. There are no reservoirs and no heavy industry in
1375-592: The decision-making process that officially named Army Point as the future dam site. Still more wrangling in the legislature was required before the "Salt Water Barrier" was officially adopted in May 1929, and made part of the state water conservation project. On January 24, 1930, with the Great Depression taking hold, President Herbert Hoover cancelled the Carquinez Strait project, saying that it
1430-463: The deer that live there. One frequently used feeding spot is located near Carquinez Scenic Drive, just west of the watershed boundary. The ground squirrel is a keystone species in the annual grasslands, serving as an important food source for the coyote, red-tailed hawk, kestrel, and golden eagle. Along Alhambra Creek's riparian corridor, trees like willows, cottonwoods, sycamores, big-leaf maples and valley oaks dominate riparian areas. Growing underneath
1485-435: The dense woodlands for forage, cover and shade. Coyotes and mountain lions prey on the deer. A huge number of bird species utilize the trees and shrubs for food, cover, and nesting habitat. Skunks and raccoons also live in the coast live oak woodlands, feeding on small mammals (like mice), insects, and vegetation. The coast live oak woodland of the Alhambra Creek watershed also supports at least one mountain lion, which feeds upon
1540-487: The early to mid-19th century. The city of Martinez at the mouth of the watershed was part of Rancho Pinole owned by the Martinez family. A large tidal wetland at the mouth of the creek still exists today although it is significantly reduced in size. The city was founded in 1849 on 120 acres (0.49 km) along the creek's floodplain and it has experienced numerous mild to severe seasonal flooding events ever since. Further up
1595-414: The east bay hills uplifted. As the hills rose, erosion cut away at the rocks, carving valleys in the soft shales and leaving the harder sandstones as hills. The Briones Formation and several other geologic units have common seashell fossils, telling us they began as layers of sand in a shallow sea. The Martinez formation is named for the town. The Hambre formation is named for Arroyo del Hambre Creek. Probably
1650-458: The first president of the Sierra Club , in the wake of his battle to prevent Yosemite National Park 's Hetch Hetchy Valley from being dammed , playing a prominent role in the creation of several national parks, writing hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and several books expounding on the virtues of conservation and the natural world, and laying the foundations for the creation of
1705-476: The health and vitality of the entire watershed community. The county, Friends of Alhambra Creek, National Park Service, Muir Heritage Land Trust, residents, Martinez Planning Commission, and Alhambra Valley Improvement Association are all active participants. In 2006, a male and female California golden beaver arrived in Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez. The beavers built a dam 30 feet (9 m) wide and at one time 6 feet (2 m) high, and chewed through half
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1760-690: The house in 1890, and he lived there until his death in 1914. In 1897, for the sum of $ 10, Muir and Louisa ceded a right of way to the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad . The document describes the land upon which the Alhambra Trestle is located. The railway was completed in 1900 and used by the Muirs to ship their fruit. While living here, Muir realized many of his greatest accomplishments, co-founding and serving as
1815-622: The impact of the beaver as a keystone species in 2010, include a green heron ( Butorides virescens ) catching a Sacramento splittail ( Pogonichthys macrolepidotus ), the first recorded sighting of the splittail fish in Alhambra Creek and the December arrival of a pair of hooded mergansers ( Lophodytes cucullatus ) (see photos). The beaver parents have produced babies every year since their 2006 arrival. However, in June, 2010, after birthing and successfully weaning triplets this year (and quadruplets
1870-408: The largest commercial pear orchards of its time. The John Muir National Historic Site , located in Martinez, California, preserves the 14-room mansion where the naturalist and writer John Muir lived, as well as a nearby 325 acres (1.3 km) tract of oak woodland and grassland historically owned by the Muir family. The main site is on the edge of town, in the shadow of State Route 4, also known as
1925-506: The late 18th century this way of life began to fade as the first waves of Spanish settlers moved into the Bay Area. This was the beginning of 200 years of rapid change, as the entire Bay Area transformed from a sparsely populated native landscape to a highly manipulated, densely populated urbanized setting. Arroyo del Hambre (Alhambra Creek) and its tributaries lie within the boundaries of two large Mexican Land Grants that were established in
1980-456: The long overland trip each year. It appears that the golden beaver ( castor canadensis , subspecies: subauratus) was one of the most valued of the animals taken, and apparently was found in great abundance. Thomas McKay reported that in one year the Hudson's Bay Company took 4,000 beaver skins on the shores of San Francisco Bay. At the time, these pelts sold for US$ 2.50 a pound or about US$ 4.00 each. The Delta area incidentally,
2035-660: The most dramatic man-made geologic change is the extension of the stream floodplain into the bay, creating virtually all of the land now north of Main Street. This was built up of huge volumes of sediment coming down the Sacramento River as a result of hydraulic mining in the Sierra Nevada during the California Gold Rush , and probably increasing run-off from Alhambra Creek itself. Maps from 1850 show
2090-469: The ocean through a valley near present-day Monterey. However, ongoing seismic activity raised the coastal mountains sufficiently to plug this outlet. Concurrently, ice melting off the Sierras raised the water level in Lake Corcoran until the lake began to carve a new outlet to the ocean. At some point, the coastal barrier collapsed between today's cities of Crockett and Benicia, releasing lake water in
2145-670: The ocean was wasteful. While many solutions were proposed, few appeared practical. A political consensus formed that damming the Carquinez Strait should solve the seawater intrusion problem. In September 1923, the California Legislature appropriated $ 10,000 (equivalent to $ 179,000 today) for a saltwater dam survey. The Federal government added a $ 20,000 contribution ($ 358,000 today) through the US Reclamation Service. Under Reclamation Service rules, another $ 10,000 needed to be raised from local supporters of
2200-661: The previous three years), "Mom Beaver" died of natural causes. In November, 2009 the Martinez City Council approved the placement of an 81 tile wildlife mural on the Escobar Street bridge. The mural was created by schoolchildren and donated by Worth a Dam to memorialize the beavers and other fauna in Alhambra Creek. The Martinez beavers probably originated from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta . Historically, before
2255-438: The project. The necessary money was raised by March 1924, and the first of three site surveys was announced. The first survey was at Army Point, near Benicia, which was the preferred site based on preliminary studies. The second choice was Dillon Point , near Southampton Bay, while the third survey was at Point San Pablo , near Richmond. The three surveys were completed by the end of 1924. However, it took four years to complete
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2310-575: The sea water contained in the San Francisco Bay. By the early 20th century, farmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta , who depended on irrigating their fields with fresh water from the two rivers noticed an increase in salinity farther inland than before. It became obvious that fresh water was being pumped out of the Delta faster than it could be replenished by rain and snow during the wet season. Farmers, businessmen and politicians complained that allowing fresh water to flow to
2365-401: The shoreline meandering between Main and Escobar Streets. Along Alhambra Creek at Escobar Street in 1998, runoff eroded the stream bank revealing fresh, unweathered sand and silt about 10 feet (3 m) thick, probably reflecting gold rush era sedimentation. The entire area to the north is similarly new land deposited at the mouth of the stream. Two plant communities each comprise about half of
2420-543: The strait. Andrei Sarna-Wojcicki, a geologist emeritus of the US Geological Survey (USGS), estimates that the Carquinez Strait was likely formed about 640,000 to 700,000 years ago, while much of modern California was emerging from an ice age . The present Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley were covered by a huge lake (now extinct), which has been called Lake Corcoran . Initially, this lake drained into
2475-544: The strait. State Route 4 connects these highways south of and inland from the strait. A rail bridge just east of the Benicia–Martinez Bridge is used by the Capitol Corridor , California Zephyr , and Coast Starlight trains. A rail ferry , with the ferries Contra Costa and Solano provided service across the strait from 1878 near the location of the current rail bridge until the rail bridge
2530-423: The trees are a variety of shrubs including elderberry, California blackberry, and California rose. The American beaver has recently recolonized Alhambra Creek and is a keystone species as its ponds support steelhead trout and other fish, birds, otter and mink. Historically, Alhambra Creek likely supported a population of salmon and steelhead, as was typical of free flowing Bay Area streams. The Martinez Packing Company
2585-640: The upper section of 2 miles (3 km), and the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1943 confirmed Arroyo del Hambre as the name for the lower creek, Mrs. John Strentzel, John Muir's' mother-in-law, did not like the name and renamed the lower creek also as Alhambra Creek. Currently the entire creek is commonly called the Alhambra Creek, and Arroyo del Hambre Creek and Franklin Creek are considered its two tributaries. The Alhambra Creek Watershed covers approximately 16.5 square miles (43 km) in north central Contra Costa County, and encompasses
2640-512: The upper watershed area near Bear Creek Road was a common occurrence up to the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s however, it was generally assumed that the bears had all disappeared from the region. In 1965 however, a bear was hit by a car and killed on San Pablo Dam Road . The memory of this last bear in Contra Costa is now preserved as a bearskin rug on the floor of a ranch house in the area. In 1997, watershed conservation began in earnest when
2695-653: The watershed, the Briones family owned the Briones Valley Rancho (1852 land grant) a portion of which in modern times became the Briones Regional Park of 5,200 acres (21 km). Cattle ranching was the predominant land use in the watershed during the early years of settlement followed by establishment of orchards and vineyards in the richer soils of Alhambra Valley. By 1920, an average of 150 carloads of pears, 30 cars of grapes and 20 cars of apricots and plums were sent out annually, making Alhambra Valley one of
2750-458: The watershed. An oil refinery is located just over the ridge to the east, and two railroads and a freeway cross the watershed. Beginning some 8,000 years ago, Native Americans (Miwok and Costanoan), hunted, fished and gathered food in the interior rolling hills and wetlands associated with Alhambra Creek. The use of intentionally set wildland fires became a common practice to maximize the land's productivity for hunting and seed gathering. However, by
2805-605: The watershed: in the 1920s, it reached up the valley to Highway 4, in the 1960s it spread south of Highway 4 and up into Alhambra Valley, and in the 1980s and 1990s it moved into the hills in the upper watershed. The geology of the Alhambra Creek watershed has shaped and continues to shape the landscape. The bedrock of the area was originally deposited as layers of sand and mud in the deep ocean. Over time, from nearly 100 million years ago to 10 million years ago, layers of sediment accumulated, were buried, compressed and turned to rock. Later, these rocks were folded and faulted and
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#17327723908642860-436: The willows and other creekside landscaping the city planted as part of its US$ 9.7 million 1999 flood-improvement project. The City Council wanted to remove the beavers because of fears of flooding, ironically, as the worst flood since the flood control project was in 2005, two years before the beavers came. Local residents organized to protect them, forming an organization called Worth a Dam . Resolution included installing
2915-624: Was built in 1930. Tall pylons carrying power lines cross the strait as well. The Carquinez Strait Powerline Crossing was the world's first powerline crossing of a large river. The channel is navigable and is used for commercial and military shipping. Deep water ship traffic bound for both the Port of Sacramento and the Port of Stockton traverse the strait through the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel and Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel . Carquinez Strait
2970-549: Was established in 1882 and canned and shipped about 350 cases of salmon per day. The local commercial fishery thrived on huge runs of salmon up the Sacramento/San Joaquin River system. Coastal marsh is another type of plant community found at the mouth of Alhambra Creek. Above the mudflats salt grass and pickleweed dominate the marsh. The salt marsh harvest mouse, a state and federally listed species, lives in these areas. A number of shore birds also nest in
3025-652: Was too costly. All efforts to revive the project failed. Years later, the Central Valley Project attempted to mitigate the effects of seawater intrusion by constructing other dams much farther inland and canals to send fresh water to the San Joaquin Valley. John Muir National Historic Site The John Muir National Historic Site is located in the San Francisco Bay Area , in Martinez , Contra Costa County, California . It preserves
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