Discover Pilarcitos Creek watershed

Please join the Sierra Club and the Pilarcitos Creek Advisory Committee to learn about this vital ecosystem in our own back yard—Saturday, October 6, 2007, 10:30 AM, at the Ocean Shore Train Depot, 110 Higgins Canyon Road, Half Moon Bay.

Even as the watershed brings drinking water to the majority of residents on the Coastside, it also provides essential habitat for a diverse population of native plant and animal species.  Old timers remember when steelhead trout used to swim up Pilarcitos Creek to their spawning grounds. Steelhead still attempt to make the run but sadly die at the mouth of the dried-up creek.

Pilarcitos Creek originates on the eastern slope of Montara Mountain and flows southeast for about 12 miles until, during the rainy season, it empties at Venice Beach in Half Moon Bay.  The creek and its five major tributaries drain approximately eighteen thousand acres of land.  The area boasts the highest concentration of rare, threatened and endangered species in the nine-county Bay area and is designated as a State and Game Refuge.

Coastside settlers and the Pilarcitos Creek Watershed share a long history, dating back to the 1860’s when a small earth dam was built across Pilarcitos Canyon.  Now, after more than a century of increased diversions and neglect, the watershed is in peril, and greatly in need of protection and restoration.

The "Discover Pilarcitos Creek Watershed" event is free, and will feature morning presentations on topics that include the watershed’s ecology and geology, the agriculture and aquatic species it supports, water quality issues and information about current and future restoration projects.  After a light lunch, attendees will have an opportunity to go on an easy 1-2 mile hike to visit a local creek restoration site, most likely Mills Creek.

Since we need to know how much food to provide, please RSVP Bill Young by phone (650-390-8494) or by email ([email protected]).