At the height of the drought in 2000, a water diversion project on California Creek was built to divert future rainfall from the creek to Lake Stamford, in an effort to supplement the lake's primary inflow of Paint Creek. The project consisted of a channel dam, pump station, and pipeline, and cost an estimated $6.3 million. California Creek runs from west of Hamlin to north of Corinth and Avoca, and then turns northeast and runs parallel to Lake Stamford at a distance around . California Creek does not flow directly into Lake Stamford, but meets with Paint Creek one mile downstream (east) of Stamford Dam. The drainage area for California Creek is , which supplements Lake Stamford's watershed of . Water is only diverted at sporadic intervals when there is sufficient flow in California Creek.
