Mill Creek (Tulare County)

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Mill Creek
Mill Creek, Visalia, California.jpg
Mill Creek near Mayors Park in Green Acres
Location
Mill Creek along the northern edge of Redwood High School's Sierra Vista Campus. Mill Creek Visalia.jpg
Mill Creek along the northern edge of Redwood High School's Sierra Vista Campus.

Mill Creek is a creek in Tulare County, California. It is a distributary of the Kaweah River. It is one of the four main creeks that flow through the city of Visalia. [1]

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Tulare County, California County in California, United States

Tulare County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 442,179. Its county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. Drained for agricultural development, the site is now in Kings County, which was created in 1893 from the western portion of the formerly larger Tulare County.

Distributary stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel

A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary. Distributaries are found where a stream nears a lake or an ocean. They can also occur inland, on alluvial fans, or where a tributary stream bifurcates as it nears its confluence with a larger stream. In some cases, a minor distributary can divert so much water from the main channel that it can become the main route.

Contents

History

Mill Creek was named after Dr. Mathew's grist mill. [2]

In 1910, Mill Creek, was lined with cement and covered. Roads and buildings were constructed over it and about one-third of a mile of Mill Creek flows below the surface today. The lining and covering of Mill Creek was predicted by some to be the answer to the flooding problem, but flooding continued. [3]

The city of Visalia was built on the banks of Mill Creek. Today, part of the creek that flows through Downtown is underground, enclosed by a concrete conduit. [4] [5] There are plans to resurface the creek. [6] [7]

Visalia, California City in California, United States

Visalia is a city situated in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California, about 230 mi (370 km) southeast of San Francisco, 190 mi (310 km) north of Los Angeles, 36 mi (58 km) west of Sequoia National Park, and 43 mi (69 km) south of Fresno. The population was 130,104 as of a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau estimate.

Downtown Visalia is the central business district of Visalia, California, United States, which is located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The area features an array of public art and unique shopping opportunities. The Downtown area is the hub for the city's public transport transit center.

See also

Cameron Creek river in the United States of America

Cameron Creek is one of the four main creeks that flow through the city of Visalia and the surrounding communities.

Packwood Creek river in the United States of America

Packwood Creek is one of the four main creeks that flow through the city of Visalia and the surrounding communities. It is a distributary of the Kaweah River.

St. Johns River (California) river in Visalia, California, United States of America

The St. John's River is a distributary of the Kaweah River in the San Joaquin Valley of California in the United States. The river begins at a diversion dam at McKay's Point, about a mile west of Lemon Cove. The distributary flows west along the north side of the city of Visalia, where it joins Elbow Creek, continuing west to Cross Creek.

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Central Valley (California) Flat valley that dominates central California

The Central Valley is a flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is 40 to 60 miles wide and stretches approximately 450 miles (720 km) from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. It covers approximately 18,000 square miles (47,000 km2), about 11% of California's total land area. The valley is bounded by the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Coast Ranges to the west.

Tulare, California City in California, United States of America

Tulare is a city in Tulare County, California. The population was 59,278 at the 2010 census.

Tulare Lake

Tulare Lake, Laguna de Tache in Spanish, is a freshwater dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. After Lake Cahuilla disappeared in the 17th century, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River and the second-largest freshwater lake entirely in the United States, based upon surface area. A remnant of Pleistocene-era Lake Corcoran, Tulare Lake dried up after its tributary rivers were diverted for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses.

Kings River (California) river in California, USA

The Kings River is a 132.9-mile (213.9 km) river draining the Sierra Nevada mountain range in central California in the United States. Its headwaters originate along the Sierra Crest in and around Kings Canyon National Park and form the eponymous Kings Canyon, one of the deepest river gorges in North America. The river is impounded in Pine Flat Lake before flowing into the San Joaquin Valley southeast of Fresno. With its upper and middle course in Fresno County, the Kings River diverges into multiple branches in Kings County, with some water flowing south to the old Tulare Lake bed and the rest flowing north to the San Joaquin River. However, most of the water is consumed for irrigation well upstream of either point.

Chenango River river in the United States of America

The Chenango River is a 90-mile-long (140 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in central New York in the United States. It drains a dissected plateau area in upstate New York at the northern end of the Susquehanna watershed.

Central California Place in California, United States

Central California is a subregion of Northern California, generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges, and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.

Visalia Country Club

The Visalia Country Club is a golf only club in Visalia, California.

Californias 21st congressional district U.S. House district in San Joaquin Valley, CA

California's 21st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California which is centered in the San Joaquin Valley, and includes areas of Fresno County, Kern County, Kings County, and Tulare County. Cities in it include Coalinga, Delano, Hanford, and outer parts of Bakersfield.

Kaweah River river in the United States of America

The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park, where the watershed is noted for its alpine scenery and its dense concentrations of giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. It then flows in a southwest direction to Lake Kaweah – the only major reservoir on the river – and into the San Joaquin Valley, where it diverges into multiple channels across an alluvial plain around Visalia. With its Middle Fork headwaters starting at almost 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, the river has a vertical drop of nearly two and a half miles (4.0 km) on its short run to the San Joaquin Valley, making it one of the steepest river drainages in the United States. Although the main stem of the Kaweah is only 33.6 miles (54.1 km) long, its total length including headwaters and lower branches is nearly 100 miles (160 km).

Visalia, California, commonly known in the 1850s as Four Creeks, is the oldest continuously inhabited inland European settlement between Stockton and Los Angeles. The city played an important role in the American colonization of the San Joaquin Valley as the county seat of Old Tulare County, an expansive region comprising most if not all of modern-day Fresno, Kings, and Kern counties.

Green Acres is a neighborhood in Northwest Visalia that is bordered by Downtown Visalia on the east, the Sequoia Freeway on the south, Demaree on the west, and Goshen Avenue on the north. Main Street is the area's principal thoroughfare which divides Green Acres into north and south sections. However, Green Acres can be recognized by the large amount of Valley Oak trees that crowd the banks of Mill Creek Mill_Creek_(Tulare_County). The Visalia Country Club anchors the neighborhood. Homes in the eastern section, often referred to as "Old Green Acres," near North Fairway Street, are typically pre-War II while post-war and mid-century homes approach and cross westerly at North Ranch Street.

Ben Maddox Way is one of the principal north-south arterial roads in Visalia, California, United States. It was named for Benjamin Miller Maddox, editor-publisher of the Visalia Daily Times.

The White River is a small river in the southern San Joaquin Valley of the U.S. state of California. The river is 50.7 miles (81.6 km) long and flows entirely within Tulare County. It rises at roughly 6,800 feet (2,100 m) above sea level in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada on the northwest slope of Bull Run Peak. It flows west, receiving several seasonal tributaries including Arrastre Creek, Coarse Gold Creek and Coho Creek, passing the small settlement of White River. As it nears the border of Tulare County and Kern County its surface flow disappears. The dry riverbed continues northwest into the agricultural San Joaquin Valley and is diverted into canals for flood control and irrigation purposes. The river terminates about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Delano, short of the historic Tulare Lake.

Kings–Tulare Regional Station

Kings–Tulare Regional Station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station serving Kings County and Tulare County, California. It would be located near the intersection of Hanford Expressway and Central Valley Highway, just east of the city limits of Hanford and less than 20 miles (32 km) west of the larger city of Visalia. The construction of the station has been controversial, with Tulare County supporting the station while Kings County, where the station would be located, has strongly opposed the entire California High-Speed Rail project.

References

  1. USC Digital Library - Map of Visalia and Tulare County
  2. Annie R. Mitchell, Land of the Tules: The Early Years of Tulare County, Interesting Facts About Our County (Fresno, California: 1972): 78.
  3. Terry L. Ommen, Then & Now: Visalia, Stately Statues and Delightful Diversions, (Charleston, South Carolina: 2008):23.
  4. Historic Mill Creek: A Look Below the Surface Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. City Looks to Restore Creeks, Build Trails Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Downtown Visalia - Just Add Water Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Flood of Support for Resurfacing Mill Creek Public, Private Sector Leaders: Plan Could Put Visalia 'On the Map’

Coordinates: 36°19′27″N119°18′26″W / 36.324167°N 119.307222°W / 36.324167; -119.307222

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.