The San Lorenzo River is cleaner than you might think. Still, there are a number of challenges to a healthy San Lorenzo River, including pollution from bacteria, sediment and nutrients. A unique partnership, consisting of water quality experts and stormwater...

"There's a pencil in the storm drain! We need to get it out!" exclaimed 4th grade students at Main Street Elementary after they found several objects in a school storm drain they knew would eventually make its way to a local creek. Over the course of four lessons,...

Over the past 17 years, Coastal Watershed Council has been partnering with the City of Capitola on the Urban Watch monitoring program. From June to September each year, volunteers study water quality in Soquel Creek, local tributaries, and stormwater...

By Sierra Ryan,Water Resource Planner, County of Santa Cruz Environmental Health Did you know that 40 to 50% of dry season flow of the San Lorenzo River comes from the Santa Margarita Basin? Groundwater, like that from the Santa Margarita Basin, and surface water are...

Build a Rain Garden because "the runoff will go the aquifer" shares sixth graders Alendra, Teana and Audrie.  Combining their knowledge of permeable surfaces, the infiltration and storage capacity of four earth media (sand, soil, pebbles and black sand),...

UPDATE: The Santa Cruz City Council voted Tuesday, November 14 to approve updates to the Downtown Recovery Plan. Thank you to all of those who shared your voice. You can read more about the meeting from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here. The Coastal Watershed Council (CWC)...

By Greg Pensinger, Project Manager, Downtown Streets Team Santa Cruz Team A recent article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel highlighted the passing of the baton – or should we say trash picker – from the Leveelies, who have been diligent cleaners and defenders of the Levee...

By Mollie Behn, CWC Education Coordinator Thank you Santa Cruz County teachers! Over the past two years, as CWC Education Coordinator, I have had the incredible privilege to work with K-8th grade teachers across Santa Cruz County. Last year, I partnered with 68...

By Lindsey Hutchison, CWC Environmental Educator My days growing up in Santa Cruz were filled with running around Soquel Creek where I would catch crawdads and count fish that swam by. At an early age I was encouraged to participate in beach and river cleanups and...

By Ben Wasserman, PhD Candidate - Palkovacs Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz Before the heavy winter rains return, the San Lorenzo forms a large lagoon at the river mouth near Main...

Jesus, Danny, Angel would like to tell you "not litter because it could go in the storm drain.” After three weeks of learning about storm drains and permeability, almost 120 fourth graders at Amesti Elementary School were ready to come up with solutions to...

Written By: Alan Martin, Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department Editted by: Laurie Egan, Coastal Watershed Council "My name is Alan Martin and I am a temporary employee of the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department, working in the east maintenance zone. My job...

“Although we understand the basic seasonal cycle of breaching in the winter and lagoon formation during the summer, a lot differs from year to year: rain and surf conditions have a major impact on what shape the bar takes, how high the water backs up behind it and how it eventually breaches. We don’t yet fully understand what impacts different types of water years will have on tidewater goby populations.”

"The lower reaches of Corralitos Creek were drying up by August 3, 2017. Already long stretches were dry with small pockets of clear water; some pools were already dead due to heat and lack of oxygen, but most were still alive with small Steelhead, stickleback,...

Mary Snook is a student at Reed College, whose family lives in Santa Cruz, and who spent her summer as an Environmental Education Intern at the Coastal Watershed Council. Through the summer, Mary had the opportunity to learn while teaching others. Read Mary's story:...

By Samara Rosen It’s impossible to ignore that there is something special going on at Noble Gulch.  A block from Highway 1 and shrouded by eucalyptus and ivy, this trickling stream has clouds of bright orange! For weeks, the Urban Watch volunteers had trekked down to...

This summer, the Coastal Watershed Council team grew with the addition of five new interns. Samara joined the CWC team in June 2017. Hailing from Oakland, Samara currently studies Water at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. As a Monitoring and Science Intern, Samara...

The City of Santa Cruz on February 7th of this year experienced the highest water flows in the San Lorenzo River since 1982. As part of its future storm preparation efforts the City has collected a wide variety of river related

Streamside plants play an integral role in a healthy river ecosystem. Native trees distribute leaves for nutrients and they provide shade to cool water temperatures and shelter fish from predators. Their root systems slow and sink urban and natural runoff and...

“Although we understand the basic seasonal cycle of breaching in the winter and lagoon formation during the summer, a lot differs from year to year: rain and surf conditions have a major impact on what shape the bar takes, how high the water backs up behind it and how it eventually breaches. We don’t yet fully understand what impacts different types of water years will have on tidewater goby populations.”

During Snapshot Day 2017, a team of volunteers spotted spawning lampreys in the San Lorenzo River. The rare sighting of this native San Lorenzo River fish piqued our interest so we caught up with Liam Zarri to learn more. Liam is a master's student in Eric Palkovacs'...

Since 2014, the Coastal Watershed Council's Riverwalk Usage Study tracks who is using the Santa Cruz Riverwalk and what type of activities park users are engaging in. Rachel McKay, who has been volunteering for the Riverwalk Usage Study for a year, shared her...

Do you walk your dog near the river? Do you ever notice pet droppings left behind with no Poop Fairy to clean them up? Coastal Watershed Council and the City of Santa Cruz Public Works Department invite you to help your river and your community by participating in the...

Throughout the year, CWC is excited to host interns across all of our programs. Interns learn a lot and contribute a lot to CWC’s work to reconnect healthy watersheds to vibrant communities in Santa Cruz County. This spring, the CWC staff had the opportunity to work...

The Coastal Watershed Council's recent event "Fly Fishing and Our Waters" in partnership with Patagonia, The Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen and the Steinbeck Country Chapter of Trout Unlimited, brought together fly fishermen, new to the sport and old-timers to reflect upon...

The Santa Cruz Riverwalk is the longest park in the City of Santa Cruz, running along either side of the last mile of the lower San Lorenzo River before it flows into the Monterey Bay. The Riverwalk provides a great path for jogging, walking your dog or enjoying San...

Thank you to the citizen scientists who convened at the San Lorenzo Park for the 18th Annual Snapshot Day event on Saturday, May 6! Volunteers of all ages were there to play an integral part in the annual monitoring of streams in Santa Cruz County that flow into the...

Daren Commons ​was raised in Santa Cruz, kayaks avidly, and​ ​teaches history in Watsonville. When the San Lorenzo River rises each winter, he grabs his kayak and heads into the mountains to whitewater kayak the San Lorenzo River. Read, in Daren's own words, what it's...

The Santa Cruz Riverwalk Usage Study, ongoing since August 2014, establishes data on who visits the Santa Cruz Riverwalk, the two-mile long city park that lines the banks of the lower San Lorenzo River, and how visitors use the park. A team of dedicated volunteers...

Do you know what is in your stormwater? During a rain event, an accumulation of rain drops hitting the sidewalks, roads and driveways collect and move particles downstream. This stormwater takes everything from dog waste, fertilizers, paint and soap and by the time it...

With the holidays behind us, like many of you CWC is racing into an exciting and fulfilling 2017. Before I share what’s coming this year, it seems appropriate to pause for a moment and reflect on what we’ve been able to accomplish in the year we’ve just wrapped up....

From creating curriculum about steelhead trout to engaging students in watershed scavenger hunts, Shereen has shows that love and appreciation for the environment is a key part to protecting it. Her commitment and passion to inspiring young environmental stewards is...

Written by: Barry Burt Opening Day I always look forward to December because it marks the beginning of yet another Steelhead season on the San Lorenzo River. The opener in particular, on December 1st, has been a long standing tradition with me and many of my friends...

You've heard of social media giving challenges - the Ice Bucket Challenge, Giving Tuesday and more. Here's another opportunity to join in the social media conversation about giving back. And this time, it's directly in your community. Santa Cruz Gives is a holiday...

From launching “Shark Days” at her school to volunteering at the Marine Mammal Center, Taylor (pictured above, right) has always loved the ocean and taken action for healthy ecosystems. From day one, Taylor made it clear - what's affecting our oceans starts here, on...

CWC staff and volunteers are eagerly checking the weather forecast to see if the First Flush - the first significant rainfall of the season - is on its way. We're keeping an eye on a storm that looks like it may arrive early on Friday morning October 21st. Volunteers...

Water quality monitoring interns at the Coastal Watershed Council gain valuable field skills in watersheds across Santa Cruz County. In the summer of 2016, CWC welcomed Hannah to our water quality monitoring team. Hannah is a UCSC student who's a fast learner and dove...

Everett joined the CWC team in the summer of 2016 and dove into water quality monitoring in the Urban Watch program. Learn how Everett's experience with CWC provided learning opportunities beyond the classroom: "Being a resident in California, the Santa Cruz...

The San Lorenzo River connects trees to the seas, embracing towering redwoods, beautiful Monterey Bay, the vibrant Santa Cruz downtown, diverse neighborhoods and so much more. But it has also faced the rising crime endemic to so many public spaces as a porous criminal...

Throughout the year, CWC is excited to host interns across all of our programs. Interns learn a lot and contribute a lot to CWC's work to reconnect healthy watersheds to vibrant communities in Santa Cruz County. This summer, Spencer Schwartz, an intern from Pitzer...

Thank you to everyone who made Meander such a dazzling success! On Sunday, June 26th we hosted 200 guests along the banks of the San Lorenzo River for a moving and meandering culinary experience like no other. Everyone had the opportunity to visit the "tree of...

The South Fork of the American River is quite different from our Central Coast. CWC team members had an opportunity to raft down a stretch of that powerful, beautiful river on a recent weekend, offering us a unique chance to compare and contrast this major watershed...

What could make kids more water-wise than a summer camp located on and around their very own drinking water source? CWC’s Watershed Ranger program gives Nueva Vista students the opportunity to explore and learn about the various reaches of the San Lorenzo River in...

Urban Watch in Capitola is a dry weather monitoring program geared at measuring the presence of common urban pollutants. Used to keep our households clean, products like chlorine and detergents can be very harmful to an aquatic environment, particularly fish and bugs....

There are lots of people who work hard every day to keep the San Lorenzo River healthy, clean and safe. Some of those people work for the County measuring mosquito activity and reducing public health risk. Mosquito breeding activity along the shallows of the San...

Do you want to gain water quality monitoring skills and get to know the Soquel Creek watershed? Then Urban Watch is the water quality monitoring program for you! Over the course of this four month program, volunteers perform in-field analysis on flows from storm...