San Tomas Aquino Creek
| San Tomas Aquinas Creek | |
| Arroyo de San Tomás Aquinas, San Tomas Aquino Creek | |
| stream | |
 San Tomas Aquino Creek in Santa Clara
|
|
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Santa Clara County |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Wildcat Creek (California), Saratoga Creek |
| - right | Mistletoe Creek, Smith Creek (Santa Clara County, California) |
| Cities | Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara, San Jose |
| Source | El Sereno Summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains |
| - location | Saratoga, California |
| - elevation | 2,400 ft (732 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°13′04″N 122°01′32″W / 37.21778°N 122.02556°W |
| Mouth | Guadalupe Slough in South San Francisco Bay |
| - location | Sunnyvale, California |
| - elevation | 13 ft (4 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°23′20″N 121°58′07″W / 37.38889°N 121.96861°WCoordinates: 37°23′20″N 121°58′07″W / 37.38889°N 121.96861°W |
San Tomas Aquinas Creek, known locally as San Tomas Aquino Creek, is a 16.5-mile-long (26.6 km) stream that heads on El Sereno mountain in El Sereno Open Space Preserve in Saratoga, California in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It flows north through the cities of Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara and San Jose before its confluence with the Guadalupe Slough in south San Francisco Bay.
In the 1850s the creek appeared on several land grant maps as San Tomas Aquinas Creek and Arroyo de San Tomás Aquinas. Historically, San Tomas Aquino Creek formed the eastern boundary of the 1841 Rancho Quito and the western boundary of the 1840 Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos land grants.
The San Tomas Aquinas Creek watershed drains 44.8 square miles. The major tributaries of San Tomas Aquino Creek include (heading downstream) Mistletoe, Wildcat (and its Vasona sub-tributary), Smith and Saratoga Creeks. Smith Creek is a headwaters tributary of San Tomas Aquinas Creek, but is largely dry except during the winter months. It begins in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains within the city of Monte Sereno, then flows northerly through portions of Los Gatos and Campbell until its confluence with San Tomas Aquino Creek.Saratoga Creek is the largest tributary and joins San Tomas Aquino Creek south of Highway 101, near Monroe Street. Due to its relatively large size, the Saratoga Creek subwatershed is often viewed as a distinct watershed even though it does not directly discharge to the Lower South San Francisco Bay. In fact, San Tomas Aquino Creek historically used to be a tributary of Saratoga Creek and thence to the Guadalupe River, but when the latter was redirected from Guadalupe Slough to Alviso Slough to facilitate navigation, San Tomas Aquino Creek was extended directly to Guadalupe Slough at Sunnyvale Baylands Park in Sunnyvale and Saratoga Creek became tributary to San Tomas Aquino Creek.
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Wikipedia