Permanente Creek

Permanente Creek
Arroyo Permanente[1]
California mule deer buck straddling perennial reach of Permanente Creek between Foothill Expressway and Interstate 280 (2016)
Map
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSanta Clara County
CitiesLos Altos, Mountain View
Physical characteristics
SourceBlack Mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains
 • locationLos Altos
 • coordinates37°19′20″N 122°08′41″W / 37.32222°N 122.14472°W / 37.32222; -122.14472[2]
 • elevation2,421 ft (738 m)
MouthMountain View Slough in southwest San Francisco Bay
 • location
Mountain View
 • coordinates
37°26′00″N 122°05′09″W / 37.43333°N 122.08583°W / 37.43333; -122.08583[2]
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)[2]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftWest Fork Permanente Creek and Hale Creek

Permanente Creek is a 13.3-mile-long (21.4 km)[3] stream originating on Black Mountain in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named by early Spanish explorers as Arroyo Permanente or Río Permanente because of its perennial flow,[1] the creek descends the east flank of Black Mountain then courses north through Los Altos and Mountain View, discharging into southwest San Francisco Bay historically at the Mountain View Slough but now virtually entirely diverted via the Permanente Creek Diversion Channel to Stevens Creek and Whisman Slough in San Francisco Bay.[4]

  1. ^ a b Erwin G. Gudde; William Bright (1949). California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-520-24217-3.
  2. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Permanente Creek
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed February 3, 2013
  4. ^ "Permanente Creek Watershed in San Francisco Bay Area Creeks". The Oakland Museum of California Creek and Watershed Information Source. Retrieved Nov 9, 2009.