Stevens Creek Dam & Reservoir At Stevens Creek County Park

Stevens Creek Dam captures rainwater runoff from Swiss, Montebello and Stevens creeks. The creel, dam and reservoir bears the name of an early settler, Captain Elisha Stephens, whose name was later misspelled.

 The water stored in Stevens Creek Reservoir is released into Stevens Creek for groundwater recharge. The water seeps or “percolates” from the creek bed and through the earth’s layers until it reaches underground aquifers. This percolation process helps clean the water before it reaches the underground storage basin.

 Much of the water used in homes in this area is pumped from underground aquifers replenished by this reservoir. The water district also releases the water into Stevens Creek to sustain the downstream wildlife.

 Stevens Creek Reservoir is a man made lake located on Foothill Expressway in Cupertino. It was founded in 1935. There are a lot of activities that are open and available to the public. Stevens Creek used to be stocked with trout a few seasons of the year. This provided a lot more activity while fishing in the lake. In 2009, scientists claimed that the trout were eating sacred frogs because trout swim upstream to breed once a year and that is when the natural population of frogs were being eaten by trout. Since then Stevens Creek is no longer stocked with trout.