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Flooding at Hellyer County Park, 1/25, 1/28/24 by Ronald Horii
Coyote Creek flows past Hellyer County Park in South San Jose. Water from the creek is pumped into the park's Cottonwood Lake. Both the creek and the lake have had their ups and downs. This is what it was like a year ago as the creek levels rose, and the lake began to fill up: "High Water in Hellyer County Park, 1/10/23": https://tinyurl.com/34empezk. Above-normal rains resulted in high water levels in the creek, which caused flooding along the trail until late June: "Coyote Creek Trail Flooding, Then and Now, 6/25-27/23": https://tinyurl.com/mr2pnhu4. This winter's rains were below-average early in the season, but are starting to approach normal levels. Recent rains have caused high flows in Coyote Creek, starting around 1/22/24, as water releases from Anderson Reservoir have increased. This has resulted in trail flooding again. Cottonwood Lake has been rising. On 1/25/24, I visited the park and saw that the lake was about a foot below its maximum level, which is set by its outlet. On 1/28/24, I heard from a friend and the County Parks that the lake was overflowing, flooding the trail around the lake and adjacent picnic. I went to see for myself and saw that it was flooded. I asked some maintenance about it. They said that the flooding was caused by the outlet pipe being blocked. It's been cleared, so the water should go down, but it will take awhile. Flooding of the lake is an extremely rare event. I've never seen it happen before. It's a momentous occasion, so I thought I should document it. (I missed the flooding in 2017, since the park was closed.) Below are pictures of high water in Coyote Creek in the park and the lake levels on 1/25 vs. 1/28/24.
Here are more of my pictures of Hellyer County Park: http://www.rhorii.com/#Hellyer. Pictures of the Coyote Creek Trail: http://www.rhorii.com/#CoyoteCreekParkway. Santa Clara County Parks: https://parks.sccgov.org/home. Hellyer County Park: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/hellyer-county-park. Coyote Creek Parkway: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/coyote-creek-parkway.
Coyote Creek flows past Hellyer County Park in South San Jose. Water from the creek is pumped into the park's Cottonwood Lake. Both the creek and the lake have had their ups and downs. This is what it was like a year ago as the creek levels rose, and the lake began to fill up: "High Water in Hellyer County Park, 1/10/23": https://tinyurl.com/34empezk. Above-normal rains resulted in high water levels in the creek, which caused flooding along the trail until late June: "Coyote Creek Trail Flooding, Then and Now, 6/25-27/23": https://tinyurl.com/mr2pnhu4. This winter's rains were below-average early in the season, but are starting to approach normal levels. Recent rains have caused high flows in Coyote Creek, starting around 1/22/24, as water releases from Anderson Reservoir have increased. This has resulted in trail flooding again. Cottonwood Lake has been rising. On 1/25/24, I visited the park and saw that the lake was about a foot below its maximum level, which is set by its outlet. On 1/28/24, I heard from a friend and the County Parks that the lake was overflowing, flooding the trail around the lake and adjacent picnic. I went to see for myself and saw that it was flooded. I asked some maintenance about it. They said that the flooding was caused by the outlet pipe being blocked. It's been cleared, so the water should go down, but it will take awhile. Flooding of the lake is an extremely rare event. I've never seen it happen before. It's a momentous occasion, so I thought I should document it. (I missed the flooding in 2017, since the park was closed.) Below are pictures of high water in Coyote Creek in the park and the lake levels on 1/25 vs. 1/28/24.
Here are more of my pictures of Hellyer County Park: http://www.rhorii.com/#Hellyer. Pictures of the Coyote Creek Trail: http://www.rhorii.com/#CoyoteCreekParkway. Santa Clara County Parks: https://parks.sccgov.org/home. Hellyer County Park: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/hellyer-county-park. Coyote Creek Parkway: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/coyote-creek-parkway.
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