Strawberry Creek (San Bernardino County, California)

Strawberry Creek
stream
Country United States
State California
Region San Bernardino County
Tributaries
 - right Coldwater Canyon
Cities Rimforest, California, San Bernardino, California
Source Southwest slope of Strawberry Peak[1]
 - location San Bernardino Mountains
 - elevation 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
 - coordinates 34°13′38″N 117°13′30″W / 34.22722°N 117.22500°W / 34.22722; -117.22500 [2]
Mouth Confluence with East Twin Creek
 - elevation 1,873 ft (571 m) [2]
 - coordinates 34°11′11″N 117°15′20″W / 34.18639°N 117.25556°W / 34.18639; -117.25556Coordinates: 34°11′11″N 117°15′20″W / 34.18639°N 117.25556°W / 34.18639; -117.25556 [2]

Strawberry Creek is a 4-mile-long (6.4 km)[3][4] stream on the south flank of the San Bernardino Mountains. It is part of the Warm Creek watershed in San Bernardino, California whose waters flow to the Santa Ana River. Wells owned by Nestlé Waters North America tap into cold springs on Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest and bottle it for sale as Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water.

History and Controversy

Nestle's Strawberry Creek wells lie northeast of an arrowhead-shaped rock formation for which its commercial bottled water is named. Nestle's permit to withdraw water across the national forest expired in 1988 although it continues to draw tens of millions of gallons each year from the springs.[5] The U. S. Forest Service has agreed to conduct an environmental impact review before re-issuing Nestle's water use permit.[6]

Watershed and course

Strawberry Peak arises at 5,000 feet (1,500 m) just south of Rimforest in the San Bernardino Mountains, and southeast of Strawberry Peak. It flows south for 2.5 miles (4.0 km) then 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest until it joins East Twin Creek.[4] East Twin Creek is joined by West Twin Creek, the latter draining Waterman Canyon. East Twin Creek is tributary to Warm Creek which is, in turn, tributary to the Santa Ana River, and eventually to the Pacific Ocean.[7]

Habitat and Ecology

The Santa Ana speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus ssp.) used Strawberry Creek until the wildfire and floods of 2003 apparently wiped out the fish.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Strawberry Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 3 "Strawberry Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 25, 2016
  4. 1 2 Gazetteer of Surface Waters of California. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1913. pp. 209–.
  5. 1 2 Ian James (March 8, 2015). "Bottling water without scrutiny". The Desert Sun. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. ↑ Ian James (April 11, 2015). "Feds to look into bottled-water permit during drought". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ Beatrice Dawson Wood (1912). Gazetteer of Surface Waters of California ...: Prepared Under the Direction of John C. Hoyt, by B.D. Wood, in Cooperation with the State Water Commission and the Conservation Commission of the State of California. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 226–.
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