Berryessa Creek

Berryessa Creek
stream
Berryessa Creek Park, San Jose
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Santa Clara County

Berryessa Creek is a seasonal creek in northeastern San Jose and Milpitas. Its main source is located in the Los Buellis Hills slightly west of Felter Road. Berryessa Creek has many tributaries, including Piedmont Creek, Calera Creek, and Penitencia Creek. In the summer, Berryessa Creek is mostly dry except in Milpitas, where much of its water comes from urban runoff and tributaries. In winter, however, the creek can flood very high and pose a hazard for surrounding residences. The creek was named after a member of the prominent Basque–Spanish Berreyesa family: Nicolas Berreyesa, a Californio settler granted the Rancho Milpitas in 1834.

Berryessa Creek begins in the Los Buellis Hills near Felter Road. Several different forks of the creek gradually merge until Berryessa Creek becomes a single stream at Piedmont Road. The various forks are located mostly in undeveloped hills owned by a local water department and are used for cattle grazing. After crossing under Piedmont Road, Berryessa Creek forms the northern boundary of Berryessa Creek Park in the Berryessa neighborhood. At Morrill Avenue, Berryessa Creek becomes a straightened ditch. It then winds its way north into Milpitas. In Milpitas, Piedmont Creek, Arroyo de los Coches, and Calera Creek, respectively, dump into Berryessa Creek. The large creek then ends at Lower Penitencia Creek, which continues on to merge with Coyote Creek near the Newby Island Landfill at Dixon Landing Road, and then into the San Francisco Bay.

Berryessa Creek has several tributaries that are primarily from Milpitas. Some of the tributaries are described below.

Piedmont Creek has three or four forks beginning at private ranch properties in the eastern foothills in Milpitas. The south fork is from government property leased to cattle ranching companies and is used to graze cattle. The north fork also originates in the eastern hills but instead begins at the Silvas' private ranch. At Piedmont Road, the two forks of Piedmont Creek becomes an underground stream that winds under residences and dumps into the Berryessa Creek in an industrial zone. The entire length of the creek is only about three miles long.