San Pablo Creek
| San Pablo Creek | |
|---|---|
San Pablo Creek just behind the El Sobrante Library | |
| Native name | Spanish: Arroyo de San Pablo |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Contra Costa County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Mulholland Hill |
| • location | Orinda, California |
| • coordinates | 37°52′1″N 122°8′58″W / 37.86694°N 122.14944°W |
| • elevation | 750 ft (230 m) |
| Mouth | San Pablo Bay |
• location | west of San Pablo, California |
• coordinates | 37°58′35″N 122°23′0″W / 37.97639°N 122.38333°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Basin size | 41 sq mi (110 km2) |
San Pablo Creek is an 18.7-mile-long (30.1 km) creek in Contra Costa County, California, United States, which drains the canyon or valley between the San Pablo Ridge and the Sobrante Ridge, parts of the Pacific Coast Ranges east of San Francisco Bay.
The creek runs from the southeast to the northwest, originating near Orinda and flowing into San Pablo Bay. It drains one of the largest watersheds in the East Bay, comprising some 41 square miles (110 km2). The creek has 34 named tributaries. The creek was dammed in 1919, forming the San Pablo Reservoir. Briones Reservoir, constructed in 1964, dams the Bear Creek tributary. San Pablo Reservoir essentially splits the creek in two, with about half of the creek and its related feeder creeks on either side of the artificial lake; for much of its course, it runs parallel to Wildcat Creek, which drains from Wildcat Canyon, the next valley to the west. The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) gets less than 10% of its water from the creek.