Repeated levee breaches and flooding of the Pajaro River have significantly disrupted the health of local communities and landscapes—disproportionally impacting the most underserved and under-resourced. These disruptions will continue, and the resulting impacts will only increase in severity.

With the acquisition and conservation of 247 acres at Beach Ranch —where the Pajaro River meets the Pacific Ocean—the Land Trust aims to create a resilient physical landscape that protects prime farmland and buffers the surrounding at-risk community from some of the worst impacts of climate disruption.

We are working with an extensive and diverse network of regional partners, including politicians at the state and local level, state funders, private funders, government agencies, local working land businesses, the agricultural community, and local non-profits related to environmental needs/justice, equitable access, housing, and beyond.

Beach Ranch features 2.1 miles of shoreline along the Pajaro River and Watsonville Slough estuary. Currently, 22 of the 247 acres on the property are estuarine wetlands in excellent condition, 10 acres contain agricultural infrastructure, and the remaining 215 acres are in organic fruit and vegetable production. The first area to be restored to estuarine habitat will be 47 acres of agricultural land identified by local growers as poor for production purposes.

Over time, restoration will move the wetland habitat margin inland as winter storms strengthen in intensity and the sea level rises. This will reduce coastal flood risk by expanding the active floodplain and spreading the energy of floodwaters across a greater area. Overall, it will increase estuarine habitat in Santa Cruz County by 16%.

Conservation of this land will ensure habitat is expanded rather than further marginalized. The area contains multiple vulnerable avian and aquatic species that are dependent on this specific estuarine habitat, including the federally endangered tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi) and federally threatened South-Central California Coast steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus). Twenty-five species of fish have been observed in the estuary. Notable bird species utilizing these habitats include double crested cormorant, osprey, bald eagle, northern harrier, and merlin.

Watsonville Slough and the Pajaro River are listed as impaired by the EPA with regard to nitrate. The planned installation of woodchip bioreactors will remove nitrate from agricultural drainage. These systems, proven effective at a nearby Land Trust property, are projected to remove over 10 metric tons of nitrate from agricultural drainage water, preventing it’s discharge into the estuary. This will improve the water quality of tributaries to Monterey Bay.

A long-range goal is to provide public access to the property along an existing levee trail, which would connect the community of Watsonville to the Pajaro River Estuary.

We are grateful to the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board, Coastal Conservancy, and California Department of Conservation for partnering with us to fund this project.

Because the property was listed on the open market in the Fall of 2022, to complete the acquisition, the Land Trust worked with The Conservation Fund (TCF) who were able and willing to finance a rapid purchase to avert sale to a non-conservation buyer. TCF successfully acquired the property in March 2024 and served as the interim landowner providing time for the Land Trust to complete fundraising efforts through The State Coastal Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Board, Department of Conservation, and the local community.