What we do: Habitat Restoration

Escondido Creek Watershed

A watershed can be described as a drainage basin where water flows downhill into creeks and rivers and eventually out to a body of water, like an ocean.  The San Elijo Lagoon is at the downstream end of the watershed that drains the Escondido Creek (“Escondido Creek Watershed”).

View larger map

The Escondido Creek Watershed extends approximately 28 miles from its headwaters in Bear Valley, east of Lake Wohlford, through the City of Escondido, through unincorporated areas including Harmony Grove/Elfin Forest and Rancho Santa Fe, through Olivenhain and the city of Encinitas, the city of Solana Beach, and finally the San Elijo Lagoon and out to the Pacific Ocean.  The watershed covers approximately 54,112 acres in area and is long and narrow, with a prominent widening to the north at Reidy Creek.

Understanding our watershed is key to protecting important resources such as water quality.  As water travels along the surface of the ground and down into the creeks, it picks up pollutants from our yards (fertilizers), streets (oil, grease), and walkways (trash, animal waste) and carries these pollutants downstream, where they eventually end up in our lagoons and on our beaches.  When you consider the extent of our watershed, you can see how the choices we make up in Escondido will impact the water quality and quantity all the way downstream at San Elijo Lagoon. 

That’s why, in 2002, the Escondido Creek Watershed Alliance (“ECWA”) was formed to facilitate cohesive watershed planning and management.  An updated ECWA Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2008 to include four local water districts for improved watershed planning.  Signers to the MOU are the cities of Escondido, Encinitas, and Solana Beach, the County of San Diego, Olivenhain Municipal Water District, San Dieguito Water District, San Elijo Joint Powers Authority, Santa Fe Irrigation District, The Escondido Creek Conservancy, and the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.

Members of ECWA work together to:

• Restore, enhance, and preserve natural resources;

• Prevent pollution and enhance water quality;

• Support responsible and sustainable development of water resources; and

• Promote coordinated education, outreach and passive recreation.

View larger map 

Members of ECWA meet regularly to discuss watershed issues and to accomplish the goals established in the Escondido Creek Watershed Restoration Action Strategy.  One of the goals outlined in the Restoration Action Strategy is to protect the Escondido Creek by establishing a blue-line preserve of lands buffering the creek and its floodplain.  The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy works closely with its partners in ECWA to accomplish this goal.  To-date, approximately 25 miles of stream along Escondido Creek and its tributaries are protected by conservation easements or through fee-title ownership by public agencies, water districts, and conservation groups.