Islais Creek

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Islais Creek
Creek
none Islais Creek with an abandoned five-stories high copra crane, Interstate 280 and Sutro Tower in the background
Islais Creek with an abandoned five-stories high copra crane[1], Interstate 280 and Sutro Tower in the background
Name origin: Los Islais, Spanish and slay or islay, Salinan (Native American) for Prunus ilicifolia wild cherries
Country Flag of the United States United States
State California
Counties City & County of San Francisco
Major city San Francisco
Length 1 mi (1.6 km) [2]
Source Cesar Chavez Street
 - location Near Potrero Hill, City & County of San Francisco, California
 - coordinates 37°44′51″N 122°23′16″W / 37.7475, -122.38778 [2]
Mouth San Francisco Bay
 - location Near Bayview-Hunters Point, City & County of San Francisco, California
 - coordinates 37°44′54″N 122°22′32″W / 37.74833, -122.37556 [2]
 - elevation -10 ft (-3 m) [2]

Islais Creek or Islais Creek Channel[2] (previously known as Du Vrees Creek, Islais Channel[3] and Islais Swamp[4])[5] is a small creek in San Francisco, California. The current name of the creek is said to be derived from a Salinan Native American word "slay"[6] or "islay," the name for the Prunus ilicifolia wild cherries.[7][4] Once the largest body of water in the city, the entire waterbody today was reclaimed and the creek itself was converted to an underground culvert and a storm drain. Remnants of the original creek still exist today, and can be found flowing at both Glen Canyon Park[8] and near Third Street.

Contents

[edit] Course

The original Islais Creek stretched from the San Francisco Bay 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west into the Glen Canyon Park and O’Shaughnessy Hollow.[9] The creek, once the largest body of water within San Francisco covering an area of 5,000 acres (7.812 sq mi/20.234 km²)[4], had two branches. One branch originated near the southern slope of Twin Peaks, formerly known as San Miguel Hills, slightly north of today's Portola Drive. It then coursed through Glen Canyon and through what is now Bosworth Street until it reached the bottom of the Mission Street viaduct at I-280. The other branch began at the Cayuga Avenue and Regent Street intersection. The creek flowed from the intersection down to the Mission Street viaduct where the two branches joined. Together as a much wider body of water, it passed through Geneva Avenue and Alemany Boulevard, before emptied into the Islais Creek estuary, near today's Industrial Street, in the San Francisco Bay.[3][4] The mouth of the creek was nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) wide, providing 85% of the drinking water in San Francisco.[9] Due to urban development, however, the watershed of Islais Creek has been reduced by roughly 80 percent from its historical extent.[8] A large number of neighborhoods we have seen today in San Francisco, such as Bernal Heights, Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, parts of the Mission and Potrero Hill, was once covered by the extent of the creek. Today, a small creek remains inside Glen Canyon Park and near Third Street where the creek emptied in the San Francisco Bay.

[edit] History

A T-Third Street train crossing the Islais Creek
A T-Third Street train crossing the Islais Creek

The history of Islais Creek can be traced back to the 1700s, where large numbers of Ohlone Indians resided along the creek. The creek first appeared on Mexican maps in 1834, named for the Los Islais[10] or the Islay cherries. Later in 1850, water from the creek was used to irrigate crops. The Gold Rush marked the decline of the creek as large numbers of gold rushers swarmed into the city.[1] In 1871, more than 100 slaughterhouses were dotted near the creek. The nearby area was nicknamed by historians as San Francisco's "New Butchertown." Because of the large numbers of slaughterhouses, the condition of the creek deteriorated, literally becoming a dumping place of garbage, sewage, animal waste, and unsold meat products. According to historian Karl Kortum,[10] the creek was dubbed "Shit Creek" by San Franciscans.[11] During World War II, the creek served as parking areas for large ocean-going tugs. Further up along the shore of the creek located the largest copra coconut processing plant in the entire United States West Coast.[4] In fact, the abandoned five-story high copra crane, that was used to transport large amount of copras from ships to the plant as late as 1974, is still standing on the creek bank today and is preserved as a historic landmark.[1][12] Later in the 1950s, Islais Creek was home to the largest sardine canning industry in the world. Deteriorated condition of the creek gradually improved after the construction of a water treatment plant in 1970.[1] Today, the creek is covered and transformed into a culvert with the remaining creek at Glen Canyon and near the bay.

Many community organizations have been working hard to improve the condition of the creek and nearby areas. Friends of Islais Creek, established back in 1984, and David Erickson, a local community figure, were committed to build a waterfront park in Islais Creek. The initial plan for a park was finally launched in 1988 with a $50,000 grant from the State Department of Water Resources as well as community groups in the Bayview. With an additional of $100,000 federal and local grants as well as supports from non-profit organizations and governmental agencies, namely the Sierra Club, Muni, Department of Public Works, Public Utilities Commission, Port of San Francisco, and Caltrans[1], the Muwekma Ohlone Park or the Muwekma Ohlone Sanctuary, named after the native inhabitants, was finished in 1998.[13][14] The park, located adjacent to Pier 80 on the shores of the creek, is an important habitat for a wide array of wildlife, including Pacific Chorus Frogs.[9]

On November 19, 2001, construction crews, while preparing to drill an electrical conduit (consisted of six large 115kV electrical cables) across the creek for the Muni Metro T Third Street light rail line, cracked the concrete sewer underground, that carries more than 80 million gallons of sewer a day. The incident flooded the creek and its adjacent Muwekma Ohlone Park with sewage. The park had to be excavated to make way for the repairing of the sewer pipe.[15][13] It was estimated that it would take more than $101,660 to repair and $65,000 for wildlife habitat restoration.[13]

[edit] Health hazard

Since Islais creek is a culvert that carries storm water, domestic sewerage, and industrial wastewater all together, it is possible for the sewerage to overflow. Such overflow can cause a public health hazard[16] as Islais Creek displays higher level of heavy metals[16], PCBs[16], bacteria[16], as well as organochlorines than other parts of San Francisco Bay.[17]

[edit] Transportation

The Third Street Bridge is currently the only major crossing of the creek, carrying T Third Street light rail line and Third Street.[18] The Port of San Francisco had also planned to extend Illnois Street across Islais Creek back in 2002 to relieve traffic for Third Street, however as of today, the bridge project has not been initiated.[19]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e Alexander, Jeanne. Islais Creek History. National Park Council. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (June 14, 2000). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Islais Creek". Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  3. ^ a b Sharpsteen, C. William. Vanished Waters of Southeastern San Francisco. California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. XXI, No. 2, June 1941. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  4. ^ a b c d e Winaker, Pearl; Winn, C. Bernard.. History of Islais Creek. islaiscreek.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  5. ^ According to the Geographic Names Information System by USGS, other lesser known variant names for Islais Creek include Arroyo Islais, El Arroyo De Los Yslais, Islar Creek, and Du Urees Creek.
  6. ^ Sullivan, Ron. "Roots of native names", San Francisco Chronicle, 2002-12-07. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  7. ^ Gudde, E. G. (1946). The Solution of the Islay Problem. California Folklore Quarterly 5 (3): 298-299 (Gudde concludes that the word "islay" originated in a Salinan word slay; Islay was the Spanish version of their word).
  8. ^ a b San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. (2006). "Glen Canyon Park and O’Shaughnessy Hollow," section 6.3 of Significant Natural Resources Areas Management Plan. This section contains several detailed maps on "Soils, Land Features, and Trails," "Vegetation," and "Sensitive Species and Bird Habitat." Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c Hasselbring, Amber & Erickson, David. (April 20, 2007)."Conversation about Islais Creek and the Now Destroyed Muwekema Ohlone Park", Neighborhood Public Radio, art-eco.org.
  10. ^ a b Nolte, Carl. (November 30, 1996). "New Current for Historic S.F. Waterway", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on November 2, 2007.
  11. ^ Cutler, Kevin. (April 2006). "Islais Creek: From Stream to Sewer", The Noe Valley Voice, noevalleyvoice.com.
  12. ^ Alexander, Jeanne. Islais Creek, Blue Greenway.
  13. ^ a b c Garofoli, Joe. (July 28, 2003). "Urban oasis garden in legal limbo in S.F.", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on November 2, 2007.
  14. ^ McHugh, Paul. (June 28, 2001). "Ultimate dream: a bay water trail", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on November 2, 2007.
  15. ^ George, B. Maurice. (July 29, 2004). "Muni destroys park, dumps sewage, wastes millions crossing Islais Creek", Indybay, www.indybay.org.
  16. ^ a b c d Frost, Randall. (March 26, 2005).Storm Runoffs May Pose Health, Environmental Risks, Neighborhood Newswire.
  17. ^ Kennish, Michael (November 19, 1991). Ecology of Estuaries: Anthropogenic Effects. CRC Press, pg 512. ISBN 0849380413. 
  18. ^ Cabanatuan, Michael. (January 6, 2007)."3rd Street light rail nearly at finish line", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  19. ^ Illinois Street Intermodal Bridge Project

[edit] See also

[edit] External links