| Lake Cunningham | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Lake Cunningham  Lake Cunningham | |
| Location | East San Jose,California |
| Coordinates | 37°20′12″N121°48′30″W / 37.336615°N 121.808317°W /37.336615; -121.808317 |
| Type | Retention basin |
| Primary inflows | Thompson Creek |
| Primary outflows | Lower Silver Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Water volume | 590 acre-feet (730,000 m3) |
Lake Cunningham is anartificial lake inLake Cunningham Park, inEast San Jose, California, near theEastridge Mall andEastridge Transit Center. Although not a geological feature recognized in theGeographic Names Information System (GNIS), it serves as retention basin forThompson Creek floodwaters. It is located onCapitol Expressway and stands next toReid–Hillview Airport. The Lake Cunningham Skate Park andRaging Waters theme park are also in Lake Cunningham Park.
The Lake Cunningham–Eastridge Mall area was one of Santa Clara Valley's three permanent wetland complexes called "lagunas". The area was called Laguna Socayre (or Secayre) during the initial Euro-American settlement (1769–1850), and was part of theRancho Yerba Buena or Rancho Socayre land grant of 1833. Laguna Socayre covered a much larger area than Lake Cunningham Park does now.[1] Its outflow isLower Silver Creek.
Due to intense urbanization in the surrounding hill areas, the storm water that historically exited the canyons and percolated through the gravel below ground was channeled into pipes below the streets to Thompson Creek and Lake Cunningham. This has led to an increase in runoff during the winter storms.[2]
The lake and park are named after James Farnham Cunningham who owned the land before the city acquired it forflood control.[3]
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