| Mill Creek | |
| stream | |
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Beaver Dam on Mill Creek in Lundy Canyon Photo Courtesy Ted Guzzi
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Mono and Tuolumne County |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | South Fork Mill Creek [1], Deer Creek |
| City | Mono City |
| Source | Cascade Lake |
| - location | Sierra Nevada |
| - elevation | 10,400 ft (3,170 m) |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Mouth | Mono Lake |
| - location | Mono City, California |
| - elevation | 6,378 ft (1,944 m) |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Length | 14.5 mi (23 km) |
| Basin | 24.7 sq mi (64 km2) |
| Discharge | for Below Lundy Lake |
| - average | 25.6 cu ft/s (1 m3/s) [3] |
Mill Creek is a 14.5-mile-long (23.3 km)[4] perennial stream that flows east from the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range into Mono Lake, in Mono County, California. It courses through Lundy Canyon[5] and Lundy Lake, before passing through Mono City, California on its way to Mono Lake.
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Approximately 81 percent of the annual runoff of Mill Creek in the Mono Basin has been attributed to snowmelt, occurring from April through September, and the remaining 19 percent of the annual streamflow occurs as base flow from October through March.[6]
William O. Lundy obtained a timber patent here in 1880. The settlement near the May lundy Mine was first known as Mill Creek.[7] diverted to generate hydroelectric power in the early years of the 20th century. In 1911, the Lundy Project was completed and the dam raised the natural outlet of Lundy Lake 37 feet to an elevation of 7,803 feet so that hydroelectric power could be generated by the Southern Sierra Power Company.[6]
It is controversial whether North American beaver (Castor canadensis) were native to Mill Creek and the Mono Basin. Beaver were introduced, or re-introduced, along Mill Creek in the Mono Basin by the California Department of Fish and Game in the 1950s. The population thrives above Lundy Reservoir for nearly the entire length of upper Lundy Canyon and in recent years has been spreading to nearby creeks, including Wilson Creek, DeChambeau Creek, and Lee Vining Creek.[6] That beaver were once native to the eastern slope of the Sierra is supported by the fact that the Washo have a word for beaver, c'imhélhel[8][9] and the northern Paiute of Walker Lake, Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh.[10] When Stephen Powers visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver.[10] The presence of beaver dams has also been shown to either increase the number of fish, their size, or both, in a study of brook, rainbow and brown trout in Sagehen Creek, which flows into the Little Truckee River at an altitude of 5,800 feet (1,800 m) and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada.[11]
The Lundy Canyon trail leads past several cascading waterfalls to Lake Helen, then becomes more moderate in the "20 Lakes Basin". Trails circle toward Saddlebag lake and to he foot of North Peak and Mount Conness on the Yosemite National Park boundary.[12]