Grayson Creek
| Grayson Creek | |
| stream | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Contra Costa County, California |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | Murderer's Creek |
| Cities | Pacheco, California, Pleasant Hill, California |
| Source | Briones Regional Park |
| - elevation | 850 ft (259 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°56′21″N 122°07′26″W / 37.93917°N 122.12389°W [1] |
| Mouth | Pacheco Slough |
| - location | Pacheco, California |
| - elevation | 20 ft (6 m) |
| - coordinates | 38°00′16″N 122°03′41″W / 38.00444°N 122.06139°WCoordinates: 38°00′16″N 122°03′41″W / 38.00444°N 122.06139°W [1] |
Grayson Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County in northern California that flows northeasterly 7.4 miles (11.9 km)[2] from its origin in Briones Regional Park to Pacheco Slough four miles east of Martinez.[3][4] Pacheco Slough, in turn, connects to Suisun Bay. The Grayson Creek subwatershed is part of the Walnut Creek watershed and includes the cities of Pleasant Hill and Pacheco, California.
Murderer's (aka Murderous) Creek is also located in Pleasant Hill. Murderous Creek was named when the surveyors found a victim hanging from a tree near the stream in 1849. Today the creek has practically disappeared but can be found below the hillside near Pleasant Hill Road and Withers Avenue.[5]
Flood control and restoration
On New Year’s Eve 2005, Grayson/Murderer’s Creeks overflowed, flooding approximately 80 homes and causing $2M-$3 M in damages (a 35-40 year rainfall event). In December 1997 the creeks also escaped their banks and flooded with a similar amount of damage during an 18 year storm event. Murderer’s Creek escaped its banks again on January 4, 2008. A United States Army Corps of Engineers Phase I Feasibility Study is ongoing to evaluate Grayson and Murderer's Creeks for a federal flood control project that will improve flood protection in the highly populated floodplain, while leaving the creek in its natural state, to:
- Reducing/eliminating the potential for future flooding;
- Providing habitat for migratory birds, fish and other wildlife; and
- Allowing for linkages with recreational and park land.[6]
The current effort has evolved from a history of battles between environmentalists and government planners, beginning with a 1984 Contra Costa County Planning Department proposal to convert the East Fork of Grayson Creek, Murderer's Creek and Matson Creek to concrete lined channels.[7] This led to the formation of a citizen's group called Friends of Creeks in Urban Settings or FOCUS (now an affiliate of the Urban Creeks Council), founded by Beverly Ortiz, a faculty lecturer of California State University, East Bay.
See also
References
- 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grayson Creek
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 15, 2011
- ↑ David L. Durham (1998). California's geographic names: a gazetteer of historic and modern names of the state. Quill Driver Books. p. 638. ISBN 978-1-884995-14-9. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
- ↑ David L. Durham (2000). Durham's place names of the San Francisco Bay area: includes Marin, San. Quill Driver Books. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-884995-35-4. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ↑ William Mero. ""Hang'em High" - Sudden Death In Old Contra Costa". Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ↑ "Grayson Creek and Murderer’s Creek Project". Contra Costa County Flood Control. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ↑ Bev Ortiz (September 1988). "Redesign of a Flood Control Project by Citizen Initiative" (PDF). Presented at the California Riparian Systems Conference (Davis, California). Retrieved 2010-07-26.