Wherever you are, you are in a watershed.
A watershed is the area of land that drains to a common waterway. In Santa Clara County, our creeks and rivers catch rain and runoff from storm drains and carry the water north to San Francisco Bay or south to Monterey Bay. Along the way, some of the water is used to fill reservoirs for drinking water, replenish the underground aquifer and create better habitat for fish and wildlife.
Valley Water manages Santa Clara County resources holistically and sustainably through the Watershed Master Plans.
Coyote Watershed
Sixteen major creeks drain this 322 - square - mile area. The county's largest watershed, it extends from the urbanized valley floor upward to the vast natural areas of the Mt. Hamilton range.
Coyote Creek, its main waterway, is the longest creek in the county.
Coyote Watershed is also home to Penitencia Water Treatment Plant, the water district treatment plant serving an area from Milpitas in the north to Aborn Road in the south. The treatment plant is a source of drinking for 270,000 residential and commercial users.
- Fast facts about the Coyote Watershed
- How to report a problem in a creek: Go to our Access Valley Water online customer request and information system
Guadalupe Watershed
This 170 - square - mile area drains the Guadalupe River and its tributaries through downtown San Jose.
Lexington Reservoir, one of the area's best-known landmarks, is located along the western border of this watershed.
- Fast facts about the Guadalupe Watershed.
- How to report a problem in a creek: Go to our Access Valley Water online customer request and information system
Lower Peninsula Watershed
The Lower Peninsula Watershed is a 98-square-mile area whose many small-creek watersheds feed the tidal wetlands along the San Francisco Bay's southwest shoreline.
Its San Francisquito and Stevens creeks in this watershed are among the last remaining viable steelhead trout runs in the county.
- Fast facts about the Lower Peninsula Watershed
- How to report a problem in a creek: Go to our Access Valley Water online customer request and information system
Uvas-Llagas Watershed
The Uvas-Llagas Watershed is a 104-square-mile region which is distinguished by its agricultural lands and natural areas.
Part of the larger Pajaro River Watershed, the creeks in this watershed are the only waterways in Santa Clara County that flow southward.
- Fast facts about the Uvas/Llagas Watersheds
- How to report a problem in a creek: Go to our Access Valley Water online customer request and information system
West Valley Watershed
The West Valley Watersheds are an 85-square-mile area of multiple small-creek watersheds.
Characterized by the contrast between its channelized creeks on the valley floor and its more natural streams in the hillsides, this watershed is the county's smallest.
- Fast facts about the West Valley Watershed
- How to report a problem in a creek: Go to our Access Valley Water online customer request and information system
Check out the Watching Our Watersheds (WOW) interactive history map of Santa Clara Valley watersheds
"Watching Our Watersheds" is a project to map the creeks, urban drainage network, watersheds, baylands, and points of interest in Santa Clara Valley.