Field Tour Coordinator: Chris Berry, City of Santa Cruz

 

The San Lorenzo River historically had one of the most productive anadromous salmonid fisheries south of San Francisco. However, this river is very much a "working river" and has served many other beneficial uses for generations as well.  Reconciling past land use, increased climatic variability, growing population and related pressures with recovery needs of Central California coast coho and steelhead is a major challenge for local natural resource managers. 

 

However, recent and upcoming restoration efforts by local government and NGO stakeholders are beginning to make significant improvements in the San Lorenzo River watershed that will support recovery, as well as enable more sustainable management of local water resources that is critical for the overall resilience of the river. The tour will visit numerous locations around the watershed beginning at the urbanized mouth where the river meets Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and ending up in the redwood forests of the headwaters. Topics discussed will include, but may not be limited to, emergency stream bank stabilization, homelessness response, stream wood management, fish passage improvements, instream flow improvements, water rights, levee management, stream wood augmentation and CZU fire recovery. 

 

While this tour may be similar to the 2022 and 2009 SRF conferences San Lorenzo River - related tours, recent significant changes in local water resource management, progress on high priority restoration projects, regulatory changes, recent extreme weather events and catastrophic wildfire will provide a rich tapestry of new subject matter to be presented during the 2025 tour.