Arroyo Seco Named California Pilot Watershed

The California Resources Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board have selected the Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study as a Pilot Project under AB 2117 (the Wayne Watershed Bill). Ten watershed projects will be studied over the new six months and a report prepared for submittal to the California Legislature by February 1, 2002 as part of the Joint Task Force for California Watershed Management.

 The selection was announced in a July 27, 2001 letter from Mary Nichols, Secretary of the Resources Agency, and Arthur Baggett, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. The study will provide the California Legislature with a report on the state of California's watersheds. The Arroyo Seco was selected to demonstrate one of the various ways in which watershed management is accomplished in California. The study will document lessons learned from the 10 watershed projects that have been selected and make recommendations regarding state support for watershed efforts.

The Arroyo Seco is one of three Southern California watersheds chosen for the study.  The other two are the Santa Ana River in Orange County and the Los Penasquitos Lagood Enhancement Plan and Program in San Diego County.  The other projects selected are Tomales Bay/Lagunitas Creek, Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative, Humboldt Bay Watershed Action Plan and Enhancement Program, Elkhorn Slough Watershed Permit Coordination Program, Yuba Watershed Collaborative Projects, Los Penasquitos Lagoon Enhancement Plan and Program, Clear Lake Basin Watershed Management Project, and Codornices Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan.