DESCRIPTION OF SLOUGHS

California has lost over 90 percent of its wetlands to development, and the Watsonville Sloughs – one of the largest remaining freshwater marshlands in the state’s coastal zone – provide a crucial resting place for many species of migrating birds. Among the thousands of birds and other abundant wildlife frequenting the sloughs are a variety of rare, threatened and endangered species, including 27 of the 73 declining birds listed in California as "species of special concern".

The Watsonville sloughs cover about 800 acres adjacent to the city of Watsonville. Six interlinked, freshwater sloughs comprise the Watsonville Slough system that lies at the southern end of Santa Cruz County, in central coast California; they are fed by the waters of the Pajaro Valley watershed.

Take a closer look at:

Cultural History • Birds • Plants • Geology

Visit the Sloughs: Hanson • Harkins • Struve • West Struve • Watsonville