San Pedro Creek Watershed Coalition

Between June 2000 and March 2002, the San Pedro Creek Watershed Coalition, in cooperation with the City of Pacifica, completed the "San Pedro Creek Watershed Assessment and Enhancement Plan", for the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). This plan prioritized steelhead habitat restoration goals according to information gathered in a three-year study.

The goal of the "San Pedro Creek Watershed Assessment and Enhancement Plan" was to improve fish and wildlife habitat by providing the DFG and San Pedro Creek watershed landowners with recommendations addressing keystone problems affecting the watershed and by identifying project opportunities to improve the watersheds ecological integrity.

Four volumes comprise the "San Pedro Creek Watershed Assessment and Enhancement Plan", describing the Creek's (1) Geomorphology, (2) Vegetation, (3) Water Quality, and (4) Steelhead Habitat. The plan identifies the removal of impediments to fish migration at bridge culverts as the highest priority. As the next highest priority, the plan identifies the need to address bank erosion problems, which degrade steelhead habitat by producing fine sediments and cause severe problems for creek-side residents by creating unsafe conditions and loss of property. The information provided will also help the SPCWC establish a permanent water quality testing program to ensure high water quality in the creek, emphasizing the importance of the creek and its role in the City of Pacifica.

Steelhead Habitat Assessment For The San Pedro Creek Watershed - Hagar Environmental Science

San Pedro Creek Geomorphic Analysis - Laurel Collins, Paul Amato, Donna Morton

San Pedro Creek Watershed Research at SFSU

In May 2002, the San Pedro Creek Watershed Coalition hosted a two-day workshop to train volunteers in a California Stream Bio-assessment Procedure (CSBP) that helps determine water quality conditions by measuring populations of aquatic insects (benthic macroinvertebrates). Why study benthic macroinvertebrates? Benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) are common inhabitants of creeks and streams. These organisms provide an excellent tool for biological assessment because different groups of macroinvertebrates have different tolerances to pollution, which means they can serve as useful indicators of water quality. Macroinvertebrates may live from several weeks to many years and directly depend on adequate habitat and water quality for survival. As a result, macroinvertebrates can indicate pollution impacts from various, cumulative or multiple sources. Volunteers who completed the training performed two successive years of BMI sampling in San Pedro Creek. To view first year sampling results click on the link below. Additional sampling results should be available by summer 2004.

Do you want to learn more about rapid bio-assessments? Visit the Sustainable Land Stewardship Institute (SLSI) website: www.slsii.org.