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The Pescadero and Butano Creek watersheds in coastal San Mateo County capture water flowing off the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. These watersheds provide habitat for a diverse array of aquatic life, including steelhead trout and, in the past, chinook salmon. The steep coastal streams are in a geologically active region bordered on the east by the San Andreas Fault. Pescadero Marsh, a 320-acre brackish and freshwater wetland at the confluence of Pescadero and Butano creeks, is one of the most significant coastal wetlands on the central California coast.
The watersheds are designated impaired by excessive sedimentation due to erosion and sediment from natural geologic and climatic processes, intensified by human land use practices including roads and timber clearcutting. Excess sediment has degraded aquatic habitat and led to declining populations of rare and endangered species, including coho salmon, steelhead trout, tidewater goby, California red-legged frog, and San Francisco garter snake.
In addition to sediment, scientists have identified other factors that may be limiting populations of sensitive species, such as recruitment and retention of woody debris, water withdrawal during critical low-flow periods, lagoon circulation and management, and water quality. For this reason the Pescadero and Butano Creeks Watershed Sediment TMDL will incorporate a Habitat Enhancement Plan that will address the full range of water quality issues.
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The photo at left, from the National Archives, shows clearcutting and consequent erosion into Pescadero Creek, June 24, 1930. At right, Carringer Creek, a tributary of Pescadero Creek.
For more information, contact:
Jill Marshall, P.G.
Engineering Geologist
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
1515 Clay St., Suite 1400
Phone: (510) 622-2388
Fax: (510) 622-2460
E-mail: jamarshall@waterboards.ca.gov
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