Course changes
The Clear Lake basin lies between the watersheds of the Sacramento River and the Russian River. When it was formed about 600,000 years ago it flowed east into the Sacramento Valley. About 200,000 years ago the Clear Lake Volcanic Field blocked its outlet. The lake rose until it found a new outlet, draining west through the Blue Lakes into Cold Creek and the Russian River. At some time in the last 10,000 years a landslide at the west end of the Blue Lakes blocked this outlet, the lake rose again, and created its present outlet via Cache Creek to the Sacramento River.
The Northern Pomos have a legend that water from Clear Lake once drained west through the Blue Lakes, then through Cold Creek into Coyote Valley and the Russian River. Then there was a great earthquake and a huge landslide blocked the flow out of Clear Lake. The land was forced up, and Clear Lake began to drain to the east through Cache Creek. This is plausible, since there have been tectonic events in the region and Clear Lake is 600 feet (180 m) higher than the Ukiah Valley. The gradual mountain pass between Cold Creek basin and Upper Blue Lake is called Da-no lokj'tam, or "mountain fell-in", by the Northern Pomo.
According to Professor R. S. Holway (1907) the waters of Blue Lakes and Scotts Creek once drained into Russian River by way of Cold Creek, but in recent prehistorical times a large landslide formed a ridge that diverted these waters to Clear Lake. This could account for the relatively mature profile of Cold Creek. The alternation of the Clear Lake drainage route explains why there are many fish species common to the Russian River and the Sacramento River.
At one time the lower part of what is now East Fork Russian River from the present mouth of Cold Creek down through Coyote Valley to Russian River proper was also called Cold Creek. In 1908 the Potter Valley Project transferred water from the Eel River to the powerhouse in Potter Valley, and its discharge flowed out through the East Fork Russian River, to which Cold Creek is a tributary. Before the Eel River water was diverted, the East Fork would nearly dry up in July, August and September. A flour mill in Coyote Valley on the East Fork had water to drive its wheel carried from Cold Creek, which runs year round, along 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of flume.
The Pomo are a Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small group, the Tceefoka, lived in the vicinity of present-day Stonyford in Colusa County, separated from the core Pomo area by lands inhabited by Yuki and Wintuan speakers.
Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, historic architecture, and culture. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the Spanish missionaries from Mission San Francisco Solano established the first vineyards in 1812.
The Eel River is a major river, about 196 miles (315 km) long, in northwestern California. The river and its tributaries form the third largest watershed entirely in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles (9,540 km2) in five counties. The river flows generally northward through the Coast Ranges west of the Sacramento Valley, emptying into the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Fortuna and just south of Humboldt Bay. The river provides groundwater recharge, recreation, and industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply.
Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located 18 miles (29 km) north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of 948 feet (289 m) at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 census.
Coyote Creek is a river that flows through the Santa Clara Valley in Northern California. Its source is on Mount Sizer, in the mountains east of Morgan Hill. It eventually flows into Anderson Lake in Morgan Hill and then northwards through Coyote Valley to San Jose, where it empties into San Francisco Bay.
Cache Creek is an 87-mile-long (140 km) stream in Lake, Colusa and Yolo counties, California.
The Big River is a 41.7-mile-long (67.1 km) river in Mendocino County, California, that flows from the northern California Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean at Mendocino, Mendocino County, California. From the mouth, brackish waters extend 8 miles (13 km) upstream, forming the longest undeveloped estuary in the state.
Lake Mendocino is a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, northeast of Ukiah. It covers 1,922 acres (7.78 km2) and was formed by the construction of Coyote Valley Dam in 1958. The lake and dam provide flood control, water conservation, hydroelectric power, and recreation. The dam also includes a fallout shelter built during the Cold War era to protect against the radiation from nuclear attacks from the Soviet Union.
The Russian River is a southward-flowing river that drains 1,485 sq mi (3,850 km2) of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual average discharge of approximately 1,600,000 acre feet (2.0 km3), it is the second-largest river flowing through the nine-county Greater San Francisco Bay Area, with a mainstem 115 mi (185 km) long.
The Redwood Valley Rancheria is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California. The tribe is primarily composed of Pomo Indians. Redwood Valley Rancheria is a sovereign Indian tribe with the powers of self-governance.
East Fork Russian River is a 15 mi (24 km) long tributary of the Russian River in Mendocino County, California artificially connected to the Eel River via an interbasin diversion at the Potter Valley Project hydroelectric facility. It forms in the north of Potter Valley, flows south through this valley, then southwest through a mountain pass to Lake Mendocino, an artificial reservoir that empties into Russian River. At one time Clear Lake to the east drained through Cold Creek then along the lower part of East Fork Russian River through Coyote Valley to the Russian River proper. A few hundred years ago a massive landslide blocked this channel, and Clear Lake found a new outlet to the Sacramento River.
Sonoma Water, formerly known as the Sonoma County Water Agency, maintains a water transmission system that provides naturally filtered Russian River water to more than 600,000 residents in portions of Sonoma County, California and Marin County, California. The Water Agency is a water wholesaler that sells potable water to nine cities and special districts that in turn sell drinking water to their residents. These cities and special districts are: the City of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Sonoma, the Town of Windsor, Valley of the Moon Water District, Marin Municipal Water District, and North Marin Water District.
Ackerman Creek is a stream located in the U.S. state of California. It is located in Mendocino County.
Kelsey Creek is a watercourse in Lake County, California, United States, that feeds Clear Lake from the south. The watershed was forest-covered. In the lower parts it has been converted to farmland and for urban use. Higher up the forests have been cleared, regrown and cleared again. The northern part of the creek flows through a geothermal field that feeds power plants and hot springs. The wooded Cobb area in the higher part of the watershed holds resorts and resort communities, some dating to the 1850s.
Cow Mountain is a ridge in the Mayacamas Mountains in Lake County, California, and Mendocino County, California. It is home to two large recreation areas. One is closed to off-road vehicles and the other is not. Erosion from the mountain, caused in part by human land use, contributes sediment and nutrients to Clear Lake.
Cow Mountain Ridge is a ridge in Lake County, California, and Mendocino County, California. It joins Cow Mountain from the south.
Scotts Creek is a stream in Lake County, California, the largest tributary of Clear Lake. It rises to the south of Cow Mountain in the Mayacamas Mountains, then flows southeast towards Clear Lake, running through the fertile Scotts Valley and the seasonal Tule Lake before joining Middle Creek and flowing into the lake via Rodman Slough.
The Blue Lakes are a string of two or three lakes in Lake County, California, set in a deep canyon. At one time they seem to have been in the Russian River watershed, but a recent geological upheaval cut them off from that basin and they now drain via Scotts Creek into Clear Lake in the Sacramento River basin. In the 19th and early 20th centuries there were several resorts around the lakes. Their waters have been highly altered by human activity and most of their native fish are lost, but they have a healthy population of largemouth bass.
Middle Creek is a creek that drains through Rodman Slough into Clear Lake in Lake County, California. It supplies 21% of the streamflow to Clear Lake. The watershed vegetation has been drastically modified by European settlers through sheep and cattle grazing, logging and farming in the valley floors. The creek once flowed through extensive wetlands at its mouth, but these were mainly drained to create farmland, apart from Rodman Slough on the west side. There are now projects to restore the drained land to its original condition.
Rivers and creeks in Lake County, California are listed below by river basin and alphabetically. Unless otherwise stated, the information is taken from the Geographic Names Information System maintained by the United States Geological Survey. Coordinates, elevations and lengths from this source are approximate.
