Watershed Protection Program

Collage of different image pertaining to Clean Water

What's New? 

Annual Coastal Cleanup Day - Saturday, September 18 from 9am to 12pm

Annual Coastal Cleanup Day is back this year and Green Oceanside is encouraging volunteers to help protect our coast by cleaning up our neighborhoods and local waterways!

Green Oceanside is hosting cleanup sites at various locations along the San Luis Rey River and Buena Vista Creek:

  • San Luis Rey at Foussat Bridge
  • San Luis Rey at Airport Road at Tuley Canyon
  • Buena Vista Creek at Lake and Thunder
  • Buena Vista Creek at Marron Road
  • Buena Vista Creek at College Blvd

Register to volunteer at one of the locations above. Each site has details on the registration site for the check-in location.

Volunteers of all ages are invited to join and registration waivers will need to be signed by all participants either in advance or on the day of the event.

Sign a Waiver

Bring your own gear if you have it! Help us reduce the use of disposables by bringing work gloves, buckets, and trash grabbers. If you do not have supplies, gloves and trash bags will be available at all locations.

Unable to join the cleanup effort on Coastal Cleanup Day? Volunteers can also participate throughout the month of September by cleaning up their own neighborhoods, parks, and local areas. Grab your bucket and gloves and head to your favorite spot to conduct a self-guided cleanup!

For more cleanup opportunities throughout the year, visit the Green Oceanside Events page.

Watershed Protection Program Overview 

The goal of the Oceanside Watershed Protection Program is to improve water quality in our local creeks, rivers, and the ocean, and comply with state and regional environmental regulations. This multi-faceted program is designed to achieve this goal by educating the community about pollution prevention practices. Targeted audiences for this program include industrial and commercial businesses, developers, municipal staff, residents, students, and teachers.

The Watershed Protection Program oversees the following tasks:

  • Water Quality Monitoring
  • Inspections of construction sites and industrial and commercial businesses
  • Education outreach to businesses, developers, residents, children, teachers, and municipal staff
     

Stormwater Pollution

As a coastal community, Oceanside relies on clean water for its residents, healthy beaches, public safety, and a desirable environment for wildlife. When it rains, many of the pollutants that lurk on sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and yards wash down the storm drains, and into the nearest body of water. Unfortunately, storm drains do not filter water or debris and are not connected to the sewer system. So, any pollutant that flows into the storm drain system eventually ends up in our rivers, creeks and ocean.

Watershed Protection Program and Code Enforcement Staff actively investigate reports of landscape irrigation runoff, illegal dumping and other storm drain pollution concerns. Residents and business are encouraged to report any incidents of stormwater pollution at once to help protect water quality and public health in Oceanside.

To report an Illicit Discharge, Illegal Dumping, irrigation runoff or any other stormwater related concern, call Customer Care, our urban runoff hotline, at (760) 435-4500 customercare@oceansideca.org. After hours, holidays and on weekends, these calls are answered through the Oceanside Police Department.
 
Alternatively, the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health responds to complaints at (888) 846-0800. This hotline is answered Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and provides a voice mail message for 24-hour public access in both English and Spanish.

Oceanside residents, businesses, and developers can work together to change a few habits that will benefit our health, our families, and our community. Remember, you are the solution to storm water pollution.

Loma Alta Slough Wetlands Enhancement Project

The City of Oceanside is developing a wetland enhancement design for the Loma Alta Slough located between Coast Highway and Pacific Street. The purpose of the project is to expand coastal wetland habitat and improve public access through trails and educational signage. 

Draft CEQA Documentation Available for Public Comment

The City has released the project’s draft Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration for public review to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Public comments will be accepted from Monday March 15, 2021 to Wednesday April 14 at 5PM. Please visit the City’s Environmental Documents page to access documentation and for instructions on how to submit comments.

Materials Available from September 2020 Webinar

City staff hosted a public webinar for the project on September 17, 2020. The virtual meeting included information from the project Feasibility Study and presentation on the preferred wetland restoration site design. Updates were provided on the project schedule, including information on how to submit public comments on the project’s forthcoming CEQA document.  Please use the links below to access the project Feasibility Study, a recording of the virtual meeting and the presentation slides. 

The City welcomes ongoing feedback on this integrative habitat enhancement project. If you have input for this project, please submit an interactive Comment Card found at the link below. For additional information, please contact the Project Manager, Justin Gamble at (760)-435-5093 or jgamble@oceansideca.org.

Loma Alta Wetlands Comment Card

Project Overview Poster

Related Projects Poster

FINAL Loma Alta Slough Feasibility Study 2020

September 17, 2020 Public Meeting - Presentation Slides

September 17, 2020 Public Meeting - Recorded Video

Garrison Creek Native Habitat Restoration Project 

The City of Oceanside is undertaking a habitat restoration project on a portion of Garrison Creek in the Loma Alta watershed. The project includes 28 acres of invasive vegetation removal and native planting to improve native biodiversity and habitat for the federal-and-state-endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and least bell’s vireo. 

The City is working with Nature Collective, a regional environmental nonprofit organization, to implement the project. Nature Collective’s role includes restoration design, invasive removal and long-term monitoring of the project site. The Friends of El Corazon (FELC) is a local citizens group that will mobilize volunteers to assist the Nature Collective with invasive vegetation removal and restoration planting.

Report any water running in the street when it is not raining or someone dumping something in the storm drain or curb and gutter by calling the
Urban Runoff Hotline at (760) 435-4500.

For all other stormwater related concerns, please contact us at WatershedProtection@oceansideca.org.