San Luis Obispo County's streams have been valuable resources for people, wildlife, and fish for thousands of years. For people, the streams are a source of drinking water, irrigation water for local farms, and places to cool off on a hot day. A variety of wildlife, especially fish, depends on the streams for homes, water, migration corridors, and protection from predators.
Keeping a balance between the multiple demands for stream resources is difficult, and we have seen where demands on local creeks have lead to degradation of all the beneficial services they provide. Steelhead are one of the resources we watch as an indicator of how people have impacted the streams. When steelhead populations decline, we know that more needs to be done to balance the competing needs. Steelhead are now listed as a threatened species. At the Land Conservancy, we know how important the streams are for all their uses. This is why we have chosen to develop a program to help balance the needs of people and wildlife alike by physically improving the functions of our streams for all users.