Sedimentation of Williams Reservoir, Santa Clara County, California

Fifty-two acre-feet of sediment was ·deposited in Williams Reservoir between 1913 and 1971. From calculations of the sediment yields in other nearby drainage basins in Santa Clara County, it was determined that 24 to 38 acre-feet of sediment would have been transported to Williams Reservoir between 1961 and 1971 under natural conditions. The difference (14 to 28 acre-ft) is probably a consequence of increased sediment yield due to a fire that destroyed much of the vegetation in the drainage basin in 1961.