Bell Creek
Bell Creek below the City of St. Helena's Bell Canyon Reservoir. In 2018 the city agreed to bypass more water into the creek and to measure what it diverts, after Water Audit California sued in 2016.
Location: 38.55468, -122.48261
No public stream gage reports from this creek. The diversions reported under its water rights are below.
Water diverted under state water rights
For Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025, the owners of the 3 water rights listed below reported diverting 704 acre-feet from Bell Creek and its reservoirs.
| Reporting year | A011816 | A020625 | A030726 | Total counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014Jan 1, 2014 to Dec 31, 2014 | 2,355 | 0 | no report | 2,355 |
| 2015Jan 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2015 | 357 | 0 | no report | 357 |
| 2016Jan 1, 2016 to Dec 31, 2016 | 1,693 | 0 | no report | 1,693 |
| 2017Jan 1, 2017 to Dec 31, 2017 | 159 | 0 | no report | 159 |
| 2018Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2018 | 1,302 | 0 | no report | 1,302 |
| 2019Jan 1, 2019 to Dec 31, 2019 | 1,416 | 1,222 | no report | 2,638 |
| 2020Jan 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020 | 745 | 35 | no report | 780 |
| 2021Jan 1, 2021 to Sep 30, 2021 | 582 | [582]same as A011816 | no report | 582 |
| 2022Oct 1, 2021 to Sep 30, 2022 | 423 | [423]same as A011816 | no report | 423 |
| 2023Oct 1, 2022 to Sep 30, 2023 | 431 | [431]same as A011816 | no report | 431 |
| 2024Oct 1, 2023 to Sep 30, 2024 | 499 | [499]same as A011816 | no report | 499 |
| 2025Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025 | 704 | [704]same as A011816 | no report | 704 |
The water rights
- A011816, ST HELENA WATER ENTERPRISES; source as filed: BELL CREEK. 23 annual reports on file, for 2003–2025. Point of diversion on the map
- A020625, ST HELENA WATER ENTERPRISES; source as filed: BELL CANYON. 22 annual reports on file, for 2003–2025. Point of diversion on the map
- A030726, ST HELENA WATER ENTERPRISES; source as filed: BELL CREEK. No annual report on file. Point of diversion on the map
Amounts are what each owner reported to the State Water Board, not measurements by Water Audit California. Monthly amounts begin in 2014; reports through 2020 cover calendar years, 2021 covers January to September, and later reports cover water years (October to September). A report filed twice with the same amounts is counted once, and a report far above its right's usual amount is set aside as a likely unit error. Source: State Water Resources Control Board, CalWATRS annual reports.
Where the gage is
The stream's location: 38.554683°, -122.482607° — View on OpenStreetMap
Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Report a map issue
About this data
Water level at gage: depth of water above the sensor, relative to the level recorded when the logger was installed. It is not a surveyed river stage and can't be compared between gages.
7-day average daily high temperature (7DADM): the mean of the daily maximum water temperature over seven consecutive local days, calculated only when all seven days are complete. The steelhead bands below are applied to that value, never to a single reading.
All times shown are gage-local time (America/Los_Angeles), the same zone the site is configured for; data files carry UTC timestamps.
| Band | 7-day average daily high | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Good | at or below 60.8 °F | Good for young steelhead |
| Stressful | above 60.8 °F and below 71.6 °F | Stressful: slower growth, more disease |
| Dangerous | at or above 71.6 °F | Dangerous: can kill steelhead |
| Federal reference | 68.0 °F | Federal recovery-plan limit for suitable summer rearing. |
| Heat spike | 75.2 °F | A single reading or daily high at or above this value. |
Biological thresholds from published research (EPA 2003 and others), not legal limits. Sources: EPA Region 10 (2003) Tables 1, 3, and 4; NMFS 2016 recovery plan, Vol. IV; WDOE 2002 via Carter 2005; Nielsen et al. 1994; Sullivan et al. 2000.
Thresholds are pending scientific review.
Seasonal limits for spawning and smoltification are configured but not applied.
Measurements come from LI-COR Cloud loggers and configured CDEC stations, published by Water Audit California.