What is a Watershed?

A watershed is an area of land that all drains to the same point and includes watermasses such as lakes, rivers, and streams. All land is part of a watershed and they are defined by their borders, which usually consist of high scaling hills, mountains, or other obstructions to limit the flow of water across their borders. The Escondido Creek Watershed is 75 miles in length and crosses many cities and jurisdictions.
The cities and counties involved are:
- City of Escondido
- City of San Marcos
- City of Solana Beach
- County of San Diego
- The Sovereign Nation of The San Pasqual Band of Kumeyaay Indians

The schools participating in this project are:
-High Tech High North County
-High Tech Middle North County
-High Tech Elementary North County
-Conway Elementary
​-Quantum Academy

What Affects Watersheds?

Many different things affect watersheds, some natural and some man made. Pollutants such as pesticides and smog largely contribute to changes in watersheds. Though California doesn't often get rain, when it does rain the pollutants we put in our lawns run through storm drain and eventually make there way into watersheds. Increases of non-native wild life creates new predators and prey, that throw the the whole ecosystem into chaos. While Urban development creates a resource struggle by reducing the size of the ecosystem.

What Are We Doing to Contribute?

By working with the Escondido Creek Conservancy, our efforts to make a cleaner, safer, and a better balance between the urban cities and the nature of the world are stronger. We will sample and test water every few weeks and look for change between the weather conditions, as well as throughout the year. Our current efforts are to reintroduce a native species of salmonid, the Southern Steelhead Trout, into the waters and continue to work on this same project for years in advance.