The Damming of Temescal Creek

Anthony Chabot brought hydraulic gold mining to early California. With the wealth he generated during the Gold Rush, he began buying land and trying to solve the problem of how to provide water to the new communities of European settlers. Chabot chose this as the place to dam Temescal Creek. When the project was completed in 1868, he established the Contra Costa Water Company and began selling water to Oakland residents at a high cost. Within a few years it became evident that the new lake provided only small amounts of low quality, heavily silted water, so could not meet the needs of the area. He moved his labor team east to dam San Leandro Creek, which formed the much larger reservoir, Lake Chabot.