The Rose Creek Watershed Alliance (Alliance) is an alliance of organizations formed to help plan the future of the 23,427-acre Rose Creek Watershed in San Diego County, California. Current watershed residents and visitors benefit from the efforts of many who have worked over past decades to preserve portions of the watershed and make them available for the public; city-owned Marian Bear Memorial Park and Rose Canyon Natural Open Space Park are two wonderful results of past preservation efforts.

In 2005, the Alliance was established to help create a plan to help improve the watershed. After almost five years of consideration and public input, the San Diego City Council accepted the plan, titled the Rose Creek Watershed Opportunities Assessment, on October 21, 2008. The Alliance has been working together since to help implement its recommendations. There is more to be done to protect the watershed for future generations; please join us! info@rosecreekwatershed.org

• $200,000 Grant is awarded to Connect a Missing Trail Linkage through Rose Creek Watershed
  The Coastal Conservancy has awarded Alliance member the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition a $200,000 grant to refine the trail improvements suggested in the Assessment to connect the upper and lower watershed from near the end of the existing Rose Canyon bicycle trail at Santa Fe Ave to the start of the existing bicycle path at Mission Bay Drive. The grant also proposed a study of new pedestrian and bicycle crossings over the railroad tracks under Highways 5 and 52 so cyclists and pedestrians can cross the rail tracks safely. The goal is to provide improved safe access from the upper watershed to Mission Bay so that pedestrians and cyclists can travel the watershed to the beach and Mission Bay without having to cross a road.
See the Conservancy staff report at here.

Contact the Bicycle Coalition if you would like to participate in the stakeholder process for this key trail or email any comments or suggestions to the Rose Creek Watershed Coordinator

• Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge Opens Over Lower Rose Creek
  The 260-foot Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge was dedicated on April 20, 2012, honoring the late San Diego City Councilmember and California State Assemblymember who tirelessly promoted the enhancement of Mission Bay. The bridge connects Pacific Beach Drive to the Mission Bay Drive bicycle network over Rose Creek, providing a safe and convenient route for bicyclists and pedestrians to access Mission Bay Park. The $2.9 million construction project began in May 2011 and was completed in 11 months, on time and within budget. The opening of this bridge is a milestone for local beach-lovers, who can finally cycle, jog or walk around all of Mission Bay Park. The bridge will provide its users with a new upstream view of Rose Creek, which we hope will increase awareness that the creek is a sensitive habitat that needs our protection. Alliance members were supportive of this project, which included a study which concluded that the bridge would not significantly conflict with the creation of wetlands at the mouth of the creek.  See the study here. See the Alliance letter to the Coastal Commission here. 
  

Bicycling in Marian Bear Memorial Park
Photo: Walter Shaw, Marian Bear Natural Park Recreation Council

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Watershed Coordinator

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• New Report Identifies Restoration Opportunities in the Rose Creek Watershed

  A hydrologic and hydraulic study that identifies restoration opportunities in this watershed has recently been completed by San Diego EarthWorks, thanks to funding from the California Coastal Conservancy. Through extensive field work, data collection, mapping and modeling, The Rose Creek Watershed Wetland, Riparian and Water Quality Restoration Opportunities Analysis recommends a variety of specific projects to improve one of our region's most beautiful recreational and environmental assets. Three iterative restoration scenarios were modeled to identify 19 sites that would be suitable for restoration based on landform, adjacency to the creeks, and non-native or lower quality existing habitats. The goal was to identify and analyze specific opportunities to restore wetland and riparian functions, including floodplain reconnection, habitat enhancement and hydrology and water quality improvement. Contact the Rose Creek Watershed Coordinator, for more information.