San Antonio Creek land use and habitat

The upper San Antonio Creek watershed is dominated by annual grassland and mixed evergreen forest, with patches of oak and bay woodland.

The lower watershed includes extensive coastal salt marsh and brackish marsh which provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife.

Special status species

• California black rail
• Ridgway's rail
• Salt marsh common yellowthroat
• San Pablo song sparrow
• Townsend’s big-eared bat
• California red-legged frog
• Northwestern pond turtle
• Salt marsh harvest mouse

Fish

There are limited records of salmonids in the San Antonio Creek watershed. Up until the mid-1900s, steelhead trout were fairly common. Although steelhead were seen in 2000, Leidy notes steelhead trout are extinct from the watershed.

California roach and threespine stickleback are still found.

An evaluation of San Francisco Bay Area watersheds for their potential for steelhead trout restoration efforts noted that potential habitat may exist in the creek from the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road crossing down to Highway 101.

San Antonio Creek watershed lands are primarily in private agricultural ownership. Most of the tributaries flowing from the west and south (on the Marin County side) have steep gradients and incised channels. The surrounding land is used primarily for livestock grazing.

The north (Sonoma County) side of the watershed has moderate slopes. It is used for livestock grazing, vineyards, and dairy production.

Changes to the watershed

One of the changes is the draining of a shallow lake at the headwaters of the creek was drained for agricultural uses in the late 1800s. This may have increased the magnitude and frequency of peak flows while lowering the water table in the Chileno Valley. This is likely to have accelerated erosion and bank incision.

Also, the mainstem creek was historically a perennial stream, at least in its lower reaches and perhaps for much of its length. The tidal channel of San Antonio Creek was diverted from its natural slough through the much smaller and shorter Schultz Slough around 1930. This change in course has also flattened the gradient of the stream and contributed to aggradation in the lower reaches.

Estuary Institute survey

Changes to the watershed are described in the San Francisco Estuary Institute survey of stream bank and bed conditions and sediment supply along San Antonio Creek in 2000.

The Estuary Institute survey states that relative to pre-European settlement conditions:

• Sediment production in the watershed has greatly increased
• The base flow of the creek has been greatly reduced
• Peak flows have increased

Conservation and restoration

Marin Agricultural Land Trust is actively protecting land in the watershed. They have purchased agricultural conservation easements on a number of ranches.

Public lands include:

• Olompali State Historic Park, on the eastern slopes of Mount Burdell
• A portion of the 1,950 acre California Department of Fish and Game Petaluma Marsh Wildlife Area

A 600-acre landfill and recycling center is located adjacent to a portion of creek channel and marshlands in the southeastern portion of the watershed. This center handles the bulk of Marin County’s refuse.

In 1999, the Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District (SSCRCD) completed the Petaluma River Watershed Enhancement Plan. The plan includes information on:

• Land use
• Erosion
• Riparian enhancement opportunities
• Fisheries enhancement for each subwatershed draining into the Petaluma River, including San Antonio Creek.

In 2008, the SSCRCD completed the San Antonio Creek Watershed Plan in collaboration with local landowners and residents.

Contact the Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District:

• Call (707) 794-1242, extension 5
• Visit their website