![]() Study AreaThe San Francisquito Creek watershed encompasses 45 mi2 and
includes a wide diversity of natural habitats and land use types. San
Francisquito Creek is the last riparian free-flowing urban creek on the
southern Peninsula of San Francisco Bay. The USGS monitors a The creek begins as overflow from the Searsville Lake dam built in 1892
in
San Francisquito Creek is the boundary between Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties and flows through parts of five municipalities -- Menlo Park, Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. It empties into San Francisco Bay at the city of East Palo Alto. The towns and cities in the watershed vary greatly in wealth from tremendous affluence to significant poverty. The San Francisquito Creek watershed covers five USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles: Woodside, Palo Alto, Mountain View, La Honda, and Mindego Hill. The yellow boundary line on the study area map is an approximate watershed boundary. The geology is complex and active. The San Andreas Fault zone crosses the upper part of the watershed and separates the Pacific and North American plates. Bedrock types include sandstone, shale, and serpentine. The climate is Mediterranean, with cool, rainy winters and dry, warm summers. The vegetation includes redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, oak woodland, chaparral, native and non-native grasslands, and wetland areas. The creek and its watershed shelter many animal species, including pond turtles, red-legged frogs, tiger salamanders, different kinds of birds and bats, and several species of fish. The creek provides some of the best habitat for steehead trout in the South Bay. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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