Mill Creek (San Bernardino County)

Mill Creek
Origin	San Bernardino Mountains
Mouth	Santa Ana River

Mill Creek is a 17.8-mile-long (28.6 km)^[1] stream, originating in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California. It is a major tributary of the Santa Ana River. Their confluence occurs just downstream of the upper Santa Ana Canyon mouth. Part of the upper creek flows through San Bernardino National Forest.

Mill Creek is in much better condition than the lower portions of the Santa Ana watershed, as its drainage area is less urbanized. However, the creek has three hydroelectric plants owned by Southern California Edison. The first commercial power plant in the United States using three-phase alternating current was the Mill Creek No. 1 Hydroelectric Plant, near Redlands, California, in 1893 designed by Almirian Decker.

The streambed is completely dewatered in some places. Also, a levee system was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers after a severe flood, which degraded the riparian habitat. In addition, the poor conditions downstream interfere with fish migration to the creek.

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 16, 2011

• University of Southern California: Mill Creek history