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The San Mateo Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean immediately south of San Clemente in northern San Diego County. Historically San Mateo Creek, in the 1940's and earlier had Steelhead runs of hundreds, and in some years thousands of fish. Since then, due to climatic change, drought, urbanization, and agricultural activity within the watershed, there has been a reduction in annual return to the point that Southern Steelhead, south of Malibu Creek, were determined to be extirpated or extinct. In 1999 a student at Saddleback College, going on a lead from his mom, that his dad used to catch Steelhead in San Mateo Creek, went fishing and caught a trout in the lower stream, near the Highway 5 freeway bridge. The watershed comprises 85,042 acres and approximately 139 miles of relatively undeveloped terrain. Eighty percent of the San Mateo Creek watershed’s drainage area lies within western Riverside and northwestern San Diego Counties, the remaining lies within the boundary of southeastern Orange County. The stream flows from the top ridges of the Santa Ana Mountains down over ten miles onto and through Camp Pendleton and on to the Pacific Ocean. Land ownership within the watershed includes private landowners and several federal and state entities. Several other volunteer-power projects have occurred on San Mateo Creek. The South Coast Chapter has organized non-native plant removal projects such as the Trestles project that removed stands of Arundo donax (Giant Reed). Other projects have involved the removal of other non-native species that are detrimental to steelhead including bullfrogs that prey on steelhead fry. For more information contact George Sutherland at TU’s South Coast Chapter. See also |
This prompted an in-depth search by California Department of Fish and Game and our TU South Coast Chapter in Orange County. Over the next year 46 fish were documented in the stream. Almost immediately genetic tests were completed, confirming that the fish were indeed Southern Steelhead. In 2000, with the efforts of State Assemblyman Bill Morrow, Proposition 12 was passed by the voters of California and within it was an $800,000 allocation for the restoration of Southern Steelhead in San Mateo Creek. We are currently in the process of hiring a contractor to begin the restoration planning and process. This process will take several years.
The first phase of the restoration project will involve habitat assessment and non-native fish removal leading to a long-range management plan. Non-native fish including largemouth bass, bluegill, blue bullhead and others persist in the creek. These species can be detrimental to steelhead trout at various life stages. Several plant species are invasive and taking over once native plant habitat. Such species include the introduced giant reed, tamarisk, and pampas grass among others. Native plant habitat is essential to providing cool and clear water for fish.  |
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