Amador Valley is a valley in eastern Alameda County, California and is the location of the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton. [1] Part of Tri-Valley, the valley is bounded by the foothills of the Diablo Range on the north and south, Pleasanton Ridge to the west, and Livermore Valley to the east.
Watercourses draining into the Amador Valley include South San Ramon Creek, Tassajara Creek, Arroyo Mocho, Arroyo Valle, and Arroyo Las Positas, as well as runoff from Pleasanton Ridge. These waters drain south through Arroyo de la Laguna to Alameda Creek, ultimately ending up in San Francisco Bay. [2]
Amador Valley was once marshland characterized by tules and willow trees, with Tulare Lake at its center. Euro-American development in the 19th century reduced the marsh to Arroyo de la Laguna. The valley was named after José María Amador, a local ranchero who settled in the nearby Rancho San Ramon in 1834.
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Murray Township was a township located in what is now the Livermore Valley portion of Alameda County, California, including the present day cities of Livermore, Dublin, and Pleasanton, and the census-designated place of Sunol.
The San Ramon Valley is a valley and region in Contra Costa County and Alameda County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California.
The Sunol Water Temple is located at 505 Paloma Way in Sunol, California. Designed by Willis Polk, the 59 foot high classical pavilion is made up of twelve concrete Corinthian columns and a concrete ring girder that supports the conical wood and tile roof. Inside the temple, water originally from the Pleasanton well fields and Arroyo de la Laguna flowed into a white tiled cistern before plunging into a deeper water channel carrying water from the filter galleries to the Niles Aqueduct in Niles Canyon and across San Francisco Bay near the Dumbarton Bridge. The ceiling of the temple has panels with paintings by Yun Gee and other artists depicting a Native American maiden carrying water vessels, and women in classical poses. The temple is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Alameda Creek is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for 45 miles (72 km) from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel. Along its course, Alameda Creek provides wildlife habitat, water supply, a conduit for flood waters, opportunities for recreation, and a host of aesthetic and environmental values. The creek and three major reservoirs in the watershed are used as water supply by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Alameda County Water District and Zone 7 Water Agency. Within the watershed can be found some of the highest peaks and tallest waterfall in the East Bay, over a dozen regional parks, and notable natural landmarks such as the cascades at Little Yosemite and the wildflower-strewn grasslands and oak savannahs of the Sunol Regional Wilderness. After an absence of half a century, ocean-run steelhead trout are able to return to Alameda Creek to mingle with remnant rainbow trout populations. Completion of a series of dam removal and fish passage projects, along with improved stream flows for cold-water fish and planned habitat restoration, enable steelhead trout and Chinook salmon to access up to 20 miles (32 km) of spawning and rearing habitat in Alameda Creek and its tributaries. The first juvenile trout migrating downstream from the upper watershed through lower Alameda Creek toward San Francisco Bay was detected and documented in April 2023.
Arroyo Mocho is a 34.7-mile-long (55.8 km) stream which originates in the far northeastern corner of Santa Clara County and flows northwesterly into eastern Alameda County, California. After traversing the cities of Livermore and Pleasanton it joins South San Ramon Creek to become Arroyo de la Laguna, which in turn flows to Alameda Creek and thence to San Francisco Bay.
Arroyo de la Laguna is a 7.5-mile-long (12.1 km) southward-flowing stream in Alameda County, California, United States which originates at the confluences of South San Ramon Creek and Arroyo Mocho. The Arroyo de la Laguna is fed by tributaries in the Amador Valley and certain eastern slope drainages of the Diablo Range; these tributaries include Arroyo Valle and Sinbad Creek. Arroyo del la Laguna is the major tributary to Alameda Creek which in turn flows into the San Francisco Bay.
South San Ramon Creek is a 9.3-mile-long (15.0 km) southward-flowing stream in Alameda County and southern Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of northern California.
The Tassajara Formation is a geologic unit within the Livermore Valley of Northern California, United States. The formation surfaces only in the northern upland parts of the Livermore Valley and underlie the central part of the valley floor at a depth ranging from 250 feet (80 m) to 700 feet (200 m). The Tassajara Formation consists of sediments ranging from brown to gray mudstone, andesitic sandstone, conglomerate, and minor bentonitic and pumiceous tuff. In the northern San Ramon area, the Tassajara Formation underlies Quaternary valley fill material.
The Bishop Subbasin is an aquifer that resides between two subsurface structures of the Tassajara Formation in the northern extremity of the Amador Valley, California. This aquifer is a sub-unit of the Livermore-Amador Groundwater Basin. The Bishop Subbasin is associated with the locale of San Ramon, California in Contra Costa County. The Bishop Subbasin along with the Mocho Subbasin is one of the aquifers in the Livermore Valley that has been studied the most heavily for benefits of injection of reclaimed reverse osmosis waters.
The Bernal Subbasin is an aquifer located in the southwestern corner of Livermore Valley Groundwater Basin, Alameda County, California, United States. All of the groundwater in Livermore Valley moves toward the Bernal Subbasin, which is bounded on the east by Pleasanton Fault, on the north by the Park Fault, and on the west by the Calaveras Fault.(Earth Metrics, 1989) All the streams draining the Livermore Valley merge above the Bernal formation and exit this subbasin and Livermore Amador Valley via the Arroyo de la Laguna.
The Pleasanton Fault is a seismically active geological structure in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, USA. The existence of the fault is disputed as geotechnical reports have found no evidence for its existence.
The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José, is a valley in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley.
Dougherty was an unincorporated community in Alameda County, California. It was associated with two separate areas near Dublin, the first at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m).
Rancho San Ramon was a 20,968-acre (84.85 km2) Mexican land grant in the southern San Ramon Valley of present-day Contra Costa County, California. Rancho San Ramon (Pacheco-Castro) was adjacent in the northern San Ramon Valley.
Rancho Santa Rita was a 8,894-acre (35.99 km2) Mexican land grant in the Amador Valley and western Livermore Valley, which is in present day Alameda County, California.
José María Amador was a Californio ranchero, gold miner, and soldier. Amador County and Amador City, both in California's Gold Country, are named after Amador, having found gold there in 1848. He is also the namesake of Amador Valley, a component of the Tri-Valley in Alameda County.
Arroyo Valle or Arroyo Del Valle is a 36.4-mile-long (58.6 km) westward-flowing stream that begins in northeastern Santa Clara County, California, and flows northwesterly into Alameda County where it is dammed to form Lake Del Valle. After that Arroyo Valle is tributary to Arroyo de la Laguna which in turn flows into Alameda Creek and thence to San Francisco Bay. In the past, the Arroyo Valle had a significant steelhead migration; however, degradation of the stream in the latter half of the 20th century has decimated this anadromous fish population.
La Vereda del Monte was a backcountry route through remote regions of the Diablo Range, one of the California Coast Ranges. La Vereda del Monte was the upper part of La Vereda Caballo,, used by mesteñeros from the early 1840s to drive Alta California horses to Sonora for sale.
Tulare Lake was a large, shallow lake in eastern Amador Valley, surrounded by Willow Marsh. Tule rushes and willow trees once lined the marshes and sloughs of its shores. Drainage alterations starting in the 19th century have since reduced the marsh to the Arroyo de la Laguna, and the city of Pleasanton has since expanded across what was once marshland. Such rapid developments have led to tricky seasonal flow variations in Niles Canyon.