Marine Restoration
We restore the species and habitats that sustain healthy coastal ecosystems.
Restoration starts by understanding what is driving ecosystem decline. When marine and estuarine habitats are lost or degraded, the native species that depend on them suffer. Likewise, the loss of important species can trigger habitat degradation and cascading effects throughout the food web.
We help rebuild resilient coastal ecosystems and increase biodiversity by addressing root causes and combining species recovery, habitat restoration, and long-term monitoring where it’s needed most.
Species Highlight
Recovering Black Abalone
Federally Endangered Since 2009
Black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) once thrived by the millions along California’s rocky coastline and have sustained Native peoples for thousands of years. Today, this iconic species is endangered after decades of overharvesting and devastating losses from a disease called withering syndrome, leaving many areas of the coastline barren of abalone.
We are partnering with yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (ytt) Northern Chumash Tribe to restore black abalone to the Central Coast. By relocating healthy individuals from areas where they are thriving, to coastlines in San Luis Obispo County where the species has declined, we aim to reestablish local populations and restore the species’ vital role in our rocky intertidal ecosystems.
Our Marine Services
Marine Service
Estuary Restoration
Estuaries are where creeks and rivers meet the sea, creating a dynamic mix of fresh and salt water that supports an incredible diversity of life. We conduct monitoring and assessments to understand freshwater inputs, water quality, and hydrologic processes in these dynamic systems, and how changes upstream affect estuarine habitat. Our work includes streamflow and water quality monitoring, habitat assessments, and collaborative planning and implementation of projects that improve estuary function, habitat, and resilience.
Our estuary restoration work focuses on reconnecting fragmented aquatic habitats and increasing habitat quantity, complexity and diversity. This can include creating or enhancing alcoves and channels, adding large wood and other habitat features that provide refuge and increase structural complexity, and restoring marsh plains, riparian areas, and other transitional habitats.
Services:
- Estuary restoration plan development
- Estuary restoration execution from planning to implementation
- Water quality monitoring and continuous deployments
- Fish and wildlife surveys
- GIS mapping
Marine Service
Marine Invertebrate Recovery
Marine invertebrates lack backbones and include clams, mussels, oysters, anemones, abalone, sea stars, and many of the other animals commonly found in the intertidal zone. These species are essential to healthy coastal ecosystems, yet many have declined due to habitat loss, disease, climate change, and other human impacts. We advance their recovery through science-based planning and restoration, implementing proven strategies that rebuild healthy populations.
Our work includes recovery planning for priority species such as black and white abalone, the sunflower star and ochre sea star, owl limpets, and Olympia oysters, alongside restoration planning for the habitats they depend on, including kelp forests, rockweed beds, and rocky intertidal habitats. By restoring both species and habitats, we help rebuild resilient, functioning coastal ecosystems.
Services:
- Marine invertebrate recovery planning
- Intertidal habitat and species surveying and monitoring
- Black abalone translocations and post-translocation monitoring
Marine Service
Coastal Monitoring
We conduct coastal and estuarine monitoring to understand ecosystem conditions, track changes over time, and guide restoration. In estuaries, we develop and implement water quality monitoring plans that identify limiting factors and opportunities for restoration.
Through LiMPETS (Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students), we engage students and education groups in long-term monitoring of rocky intertidal and sandy beach habitats at 10 sites throughout SLO County and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. Baseline data on approximately 30 invertebrate and algal species helps track changes in biodiversity, species abundance, habitat conditions, and marine protected area effectiveness.
Creek Lands Conservation serves as an implementing partner of the LiMPETS network and collaborates with regional monitoring groups, including MARINe (Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network), to ensure coordinated and comprehensive monitoring of coastal habitats.
Services:
- Estuarine water quality monitoring
- Monitoring plan development and implementation
- Rocky intertidal and sandy beach monitoring
- Community marine science program coordination
- Post-implementation monitoring
- Regional monitoring collaboration and data management
Project Highlights
Cayucos Abalone Farm – Vision for Acquisition
White and black abalone are both Federally listed endangered species, and both the National Marine Fisheries Services and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife perceive great potential value in adding the Abalone Farm to the consortium of facilities that are teaming to save these important invertebrates.
Project Highlights
Arroyo Grande Creek Stream Gage Modification Project
In 2024, Creek Lands Conservation modified a stream gage on Arroyo Grande Creek that had blocked steelhead migration for almost a century. After more than a decade of working behind the scenes, we’re thrilled to have lowered the jump height of this historic barrier, making it surmountable by steelhead trout so they can once again migrate upstream and access 8 additional miles of breeding and rearing habitat.
