Anderson Dam Construction & Coyote Creek Water, 4/1/22 by Ronald Horii
I've been watching Coyote Creek slowly drying up this drought year, from Hellyer Park to Bailey Avenue. I was wondering what it was like at the source, so on 4/1/22, I stopped by Anderson Lake County to see how much water was coming into the creek. Anderson Dam is undergoing reconstruction, so much of the park is closed. The Live Oak Area is still open. While you can't see the outlet of the dam, you can see where the water in the creek is coming from. It can either be from releases from Anderson Dam itself or imported water from the San Felipe project, which brings Delta water in from San Luis Reservoir. Anderson Reservoir has been drained to its lowest level possible. Any water that flows into Anderson will be released. It will be from runoff or releases from Coyote Reservoir. After months of dry weather, there's not much water from those sources. I parked in the Live Oak parking lot and walked up the creek to see the water. I also looked to see how much I could see of the dam construction.
Here are more of my pictures of Anderson Lake: http://www.rhorii.com/#AndersonLake.
Here's Anderson Lake County Park information and maps: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/anderson-lake-county-park. Here's information about the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project: https://www.valleywater.org/project-updates/c1-anderson-dam-seismic-retrofit. This is about the San Felipe Project: https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=392.