In 2017, SGERC initiated the Watershed Education Program (WEP) with teachers from the La Honda-Pescadero and Cabrillo Unified School Districts. The curriculum is geared towards 4th and 5th graders, and focuses on the watershed, scientific observation, stream monitoring (water tests), and the life cycle of the salmonid. We also sponsor a local artist to guide the students in a salmonid-themed art project.
The WEP culminates with a field trip to two watershed sites with SGERC volunteers. Those sites include the Playbowl in La Honda, the lagoon in San Gregorio, the Pescadero Marsh, and Memorial County Park in Loma Mar. At each site, students make observations about the watershed, and we help them measure the temperature, depth, turbidity (water clarity), conductivity (similar to salinity), pH (acidity), and dissolved oxygen content of the water.
Another program we have sponsored in the past is Trout in the Classroom (TIC), offered through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The students at Pescadero Elementary loved watching the trout eggs hatch and develop into releasable fry. In the future, we hope to bring TIC back to local schools, expand our education program to Hatch Elementary in Half Moon Bay, and to develop a new high school level watershed education curriculum for Pescadero and Half Moon Bay High Schools.
The Stream Monitoring Program was initiated in August 1998 in Whitehouse Creek, and monitoring began in the San Gregorio Watershed in 2000. San Gregorio, La Honda, and the surrounding areas are some of the only communities in the Bay Area whose local watershed also serves as residents' household water source. As members of these communities, we're ever vigilant over our watershed's health for all the plants, animals, and residents whose survival depends on it.
Using field test kits, we measure five basic water parameters to assess the health of waterways in the San Gregorio Watershed: dissolved oxygen, water temperature, pH, conductivity, and turbidity. The data we've collected over the past 17 years at various sites is found on our Watershed Data page.
Between 2007 and 2010, we offered an educational water quality monitoring program to Pescadero High School students.
In 2010, we collaborated with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Stillwater Sciences, and the Natural Heritage Institute to create the San Gregorio Watershed Management Plan. The plan gives guidance for human use of the San Gregorio watershed while ensuring habitat for coho and steelhead is maintained, and can be downloaded from our website. SGERC was also an important partner in the EPA grant, “San Gregorio Creek Watershed: Filling Critical Flow Needs” in 2010, along with American Rivers and the USGS. This project provided important data and recommendations to improve stream flows and salmonid habitat.
Following recommendations in the Watershed Management Plan, off-stream storage ponds were constructed at Blue House Farms and Repetto Farms to allow the farmers to irrigate their crops during the dry season without negatively impacting sensitive and endangered species. Aligning with findings from the EPA grant, water is released from the ponds when needed during the dry season to improve water flow in the San Gregorio Creek, ensuring salmonid habitat is maintained year-round. Areas of large woody debris were also addded following our recommendations to create more spawning and protected rest areas for salmonids.
In 2016, we designed and funded an interpretive panel for California State Parks to install at San Gregorio State Beach. The panel educates the public on the important role the seasonal lagoon plays as a fish nursery, and how artificially breaching the lagoon is detrimental to steelhead and coho salmon survival.
We officially adopted San Gregorio State Beach in 2018 through the California Coastal Commission's Adopt-A-Beach program, where we sponsor three beach cleanup events per year.
Join us for our next beach cleanup on July 25th, 2026!
We are contracted through Caltrans' Adopt-A-Highway program for invasive plant and trash removal along eight miles of Hwy. 84 from San Gregorio State Beach almost to La Honda. Our encroachment permits include litter removal and vegetation control, including the removal of invasive pampas grass, jubata grass, and stinkwort. We also work with Cuesta La Honda, the County of San Mateo, and California State Parks in their invasive plant removal efforts.
As of April of 2026, the San Gregorio Watershed is a designated Clean California Community. To earn the designation, we showcased "outstanding commitment to reducing litter, improving public spaces, and fostering community pride." In recognition for being one of the first 100 communities to earn the designation, we've been given a road sign to display in our community! We also became a Keep California Beautiful Community Affiliate.
