About
 More detailed information about the Rose Creek Watershed is found in "Our Plan" |
The main natural features that make up this 23,427-acre or 36 square mile-watershed in San Diego County, California include Rose and San Clemente canyons and their tributary canyons including Stevenson and Lakehurst canyons in western Clairemont Mesa. The Rose Creek Watershed drains to the 4,235.6-acre Mission Bay Park in eastern Pacific Beach where Rose Creek meets the ocean. While approximately 100,000 people live in the watershed, these natural urban canyons are also accessible to hundreds of thousands of people that work and/or recreate in the watershed.
The Kendall Frost marsh is located near the mouth of Rose Creek where the creek enters Mission Bay. It is an ecological treasure managed by the University of California. Photo: San Diego Earthworks
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The watershed includes small portions of the suburban San Diego communities of Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, La Jolla (east side of Mt. Soledad), and Pacific Beach, a large portion of Clairemont Mesa and almost the entirety of University City.
At 9,582 acres, the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station is the largest property owner (an additional 2,239 acres of military land are leased to the city of San Diego for the Miramar landfill); individual private property owners hold the next largest land area at 5,937 acres.
The core of the Golden Triangle, the largest commercial area and largest employer (with over 100,000 employees and over 4,000 employers) in the San Diego region, is within the watershed as is a portion of the 23,000-student University of California, San Diego.
While one of the smaller watersheds in geographic area, the Rose Creek Watershed includes a large number of elected representatives. The watershed includes ten community planning areas, each with an elected board; five San Diego City Councilmembers ( districts 1,2,5,6, and 7) ;three San Diego County Supervisors ( districts 1, 3 and 4); three State Assemblymembers ( districts 75, 76 and 77) two State Senators (districts 36 and 39) and three representatives in Congress ( districts 50, 52 and 53).
Technically a “sub” watershed, the Rose Creek Watershed is part of the larger Penasquitos Hydrologic Unit. The Penasquitos Hydrologic Unit is one of twelve hydrologic units in San Diego County.
Over 100,000 people work in the Golden Triangle, located in the Rose Creek Watershed
Photo: University City Community Association
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The Rose Creek Watershed has been found to contain water with “beneficial uses” as defined by the federal Clean Water Act and a state law, the Porter-Cologne Act, which established a comprehensive program for the protection of the beneficial surface and ground waters of California. In San Diego County, that protection effort is lead by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in its Water Quality Control Plan, also known as the Basin Plan. The San Diego Basin Plan has designated the Rose Creek Watershed with seven beneficial uses. These uses include: industrial service supply such as for fire protection; contact and non-contact water recreation such as swimming, wading or sight-seeing; supporting habitat for native species requiring both warm and cold freshwater; supporting habitat for terrestrial (land) species; and supporting habitat for rare, threatened or endangered wildlife species.
Our thanks to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce, Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce and UCSD for their help with the information in this section.
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