page_title: Putah Creek
section_title: Watershed and course
hierarchical_section_title: Putah Creek / Watershed and course
caption_attribution_description: Putah Creek at the UC Davis Arboretum, California. "This was taken at the UC Davis Arboretum. Jeri is kneeling on a pier looking at the ducks in Putah Creek. I took it with my point-and-shoot camera many, many years ago and it has always been one of my favorites."
context_page_description: Putah Creek is a major stream in Northern California, a tributary of the Yolo Bypass, and ultimately, the Sacramento River. The 85-mile-long creek has its headwaters in the Mayacamas Mountains, a part of the Coast Range, and flows east through two dams. First, Monticello Dam forms Lake Berryessa, below which Putah Creek forms the border of Yolo and Solano Counties, and then flows to the Putah Diversion Dam and Lake Solano. After several drought years in the late 1980s, the majority of Putah Creek went dry, prompting a landmark lawsuit that resulted in the signing of the Putah Creek Accord in 2000. The Accord established releases from the dams to maintain stream flows in Putah Creek, with natural flow regimes which spike in winter/spring and ebb in summer/fall. The restoration of natural flow regimes has resulted in a doubling of riparian bird species and a return of spawning native steelhead trout and Chinook salmon, as well as protecting the livelihood of farmers on the lower watershed.
context_section_description: The creek originates from springs on the east side of Cobb Mountain south of the town of Cobb in southwestern Lake County and flows approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) to Lake Berryessa. It descends eastward to the town of Whispering Pines, where it turns southeast, parallelling State Route 175. It passes the town of Anderson Springs, where it joins Bear Canyon Creek.  North of Middletown, it curves counterclockwise around Harbin Mountain, merging in close succession with Dry Creek, Helena Creek, Crazy Creek, Harbin Creek, and Big Canyon Creek. From Harbin Mountain, it flows east again, joining Bucksnort Creek, then enters Napa County at a confluence with Hunting Creek about 11 mi (18 km) east of Middletown. In Napa County, the creek flows southeast, merging with Butts Creek just before it empties into Lake Berryessa, and the Monticello Dam.
  Downstream of Monticello Dam, on the southeastern corner of the lake, Putah Creek leaves Napa County and becomes the boundary between Yolo County and Solano County flowing about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the Putah Diversion Dam (PDD), where most of water flows are diverted south through the Putah South Canal to users in Solano County. In this section the creek offers excellent fishing opportunities year round. California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations require "catch and release" in this section of the stream, as well as the use of artificial lures with barbless hooks. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in Putah Creek based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species. Stormwater runoff from a nearby Superfund site formally known as the Laboratory for Energy-Related Health Research (LEHR), has shown elevated levels of Mercury reaching 500 ng/L entering Putah Creek. While the site has been decommissioned since the late 1980's and federally listed as a National Priority Superfund site by the EPA in 1994, the amount of contamination to the soil, groundwater aquifer, and nearby Putah Creek, continue to be a hazard to the area. This concentration of mercury in Putah creek creates health risks for anything that may eat the fish, as the bioaccumulation of mercury found in the fish passes along the food web to birds and potentially humans. The stream continues east along State Route 128, receiving Pleasants Creek before arriving at Lake Solano where the Putah Diversion Dam diverts flows to the Putah South Canal, carrying water to the residents of Vallejo. 
  Below Lake Solano, Putah Creek flows 37 kilometres (23 mi) before reaching the Yolo Bypass and by that artificial route, to the Sacramento River. In this section, Putah Creek first receives McCune Creek, then its last tributary, Dry Creek. After the Dry Creek confluence it passes through the town of Winters to reach Interstate 505. From there Putah Creek channel continues eastward, parallelling Putah Creek Road to Stevenson Bridge Road. Putah Creek used to flow near downtown Davis in what is now the UC Davis Arboretum channel, but early settlers redirected the creek south of Davis in 1871, and in the late 1940s the Army Corps of Engineers added levees to what is now the South Fork Putah Creek. A few miles east of Davis, the county line turns south, but the South Fork Putah Creek continues eastward, passing south of Davis to feed into the Yolo Bypass about a quarter mile (400 m) west of the Sacramento Deep Water Channel.
caption: Putah Creek, UC Davis Arboretum
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