Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Saratoga Creek looks good, and ecologically speaking, it's in fine shape as well.

EPA gives Saratoga Creek better than average marks

By Sarah Lombardo

A report in the works from the Environmental Protection Agency concludes that Saratoga Creek is in good shape--ecologically speaking, that is.

Preliminary results from a survey of 30 different Bay Area watersheds, sampled at 300 sites between 1994 and 1997, give most creeks in the Bay Area the thumbs-up.

"What we were trying to do is identify those streams that still contained native fishes and aquatic organisms that are in good condition," Rob Leidy, EPA wetlands science program manager, said.

The survey, conducted for the S.F. Estuary Project, looked at vegetation along the banks of streams, water flow, native fish species and habitats. "Saratoga Creek scored high," Leidy said. "That's especially true for the upstream region."

But Saratoga can't sit back and rest on its California bay laurels.

"That doesn't mean that there aren't things that can't be improved," Leidy said. Specifically, Leidy said there are many areas along the creek where dams and drop structures have been constructed for flood or erosion control that impede the natural migration of some fish and interrupt the flow pattern of the creek. Leidy said near San Tomas Aquinas, there are even barriers that block steelhead trout, recently added to the endangered species list, from moving to where they can spawn. But the problems are not so great that they can't be fixed relatively easily, Leidy said.

"Saratoga Creek could be a great area to do that," he said. "It could play a really important role in the restoration of a lot of species' habitats."

Saratoga city officials said the report was good to see, considering all the bad news usually associated with the creek. Leidy did point out, however, that the survey along Saratoga Creek was visual only; no water-quality tests, the results of which are at the heart of a lawsuit against the city, were conducted.

The lawsuit against the city by San Francisco BayKeeper and Friends of the Santa Clara County Creeks is currently before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco after having been dismissed earlier this year. In that action, San Jose federal magistrate Edward Infante disagreed with the environmental groups' claim that the city should be held responsible for high fecal coliform levels found, specifically, those in discharge from storm drains under Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Big Basin Way. The groups, he ruled, need to prove that the city owns the drains.

Claudia Polsky, who is with Earthjustice (formerly the Sierra Club) legal defense fund and represents BayKeeper and Friends, said both sides are now in the middle of briefings. The city this week is scheduled to file its brief before the court. Polsky said oral arguments should go before the court sometime in early 1998.

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