EN 
ES Achievements
March 2026
Earlier this year, two Santa Clara University seniors spent two academic quarters walking the banks of the Lower Salinas River, counting plants. One every five meters, along 20-meter transects, at three stretches of river. They built their own field guide, checked their identifications against iNaturalist, and mapped every point by GPS.
Justin Chan and Uriel Ramirez took on the project — Assessing Invasive Species Dominance Along the Salinas River — as their senior capstone in Santa Clara University’s Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, in partnership with Monterey Waterkeeper. We asked for it because we needed something we didn’t have: a baseline. Real numbers on what grows along this river, and where restoration would do the most good.
Their findings are a mix of hard news and real hope.
Most of what’s growing along the river is native — but diversity is thin. California blackberry crowds out nearly everything, even in the stretches that score as “native.” Giant reed and poison hemlock are the most prominent invaders. And agriculture presses right to the water’s edge, squeezing riparian habitat into a narrow strip instead of a functioning corridor.
But when they scored the river’s health using the Riparian Rapid Assessment Method, they found vegetation cover continuous across all three sites, and a channel that has never been hardened, walled, or straightened. Unlike so many California rivers, the Salinas here was never engineered into a ditch. The bones of a healthy river are still there.
Their conclusion: the most degraded of the three stretches is also the one with the most to gain — and its intact channel and connected vegetation make it a strong candidate not just for habitat restoration, but for community use.
That stretch is the access area off Monte Road. It’s where we’ve been clearing illegal dumping and testing water, and where we’re working toward a restored riparian corridor and a public park — a place where Salinas families can finally reach their own river.
Now we have the science behind it.
Our thanks to Justin Chan and Uriel Ramirez, to their advisor Professor Iris Stewart-Frey of the Water & Climate Justice Lab, to Jake Dialesandro for GIS support, and to Santa Clara University.
Welcome MaFe Gonzalez to the Monterey Waterkeeper Board!
January 2026
Monterey Waterkeeper is thrilled to announce that MaFe Gonzalez has joined our Board of Directors.
MaFe is a botanist and landscape designer whose career has taken her from the cloud forests of Colombia to the Central Coast. She began her professional life inventorying flora and advocating for the declaration of protected areas in Colombia, with research spanning the Humboldt Institute, SINCHI, and Chingaza National Natural Park, plus internships at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, and Ulu Temburong National Park in Brunei.
After graduate studies at UC Berkeley, she now designs with BASE Landscape Architecture in San Francisco, where she develops phytoremediation strategies to clean contaminated sites and works alongside communities to create culturally grounded planting plans and healing gardens. She lectures at UC Berkeley and Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, organizes the annual Salinas River Day Celebration for Latino Conservation Week, and is an active member of the Salinas River Collaborative.
In 2025, MaFe received the ASLA Emerging Professional Medal in recognition of her work at the intersection of ecological restoration, social justice, and design excellence.
MaFe believes every design is a statement of values — a philosophy that fits right in here. We are honored to welcome her to the table. ¡Bienvenida, MaFe!
June 17, 2025
Pebble Beach Company, California Coastkeeper Alliance and Monterey Waterkeeper announce a historic alliance to protect water quality in Carmel Bay. This partnership represents a significant step forward for Pebble Beach, Carmel Bay, and ocean waters statewide. Carmel Bay is home to one of California’s 34 Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) – coastal areas designated by the State of California where especially biodiverse and fragile marine communities must be protected. California Coastkeeper Alliance and Monterey Waterkeeper have a long history of protecting California’s ASBS. As just one example: California Coastkeeper Alliance and Monterey Waterkeeper have a pending nomination to designate the Point Sur Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as an ASBS. If designated, this would be the first new ASBS designated since the mid-1970s. Please click here to read more.
May 17, 2025
For the second year in a row, Monterey Waterkeeper joined Pitch-In Santa Cruz and helped clean over 8 large plastic bags of trash, including a roll of agricultural irrigation drip tape and toxic motor oil, that were dumped both in and along of the Pajaro River at Murphy Road in Watsonville. The Pajaro River flows through Watsonville and the valley below, it serves as a biological lifeline for many species including many endangered species and protected species such as the California red-legged frog, Western Pond turtle, Santa Cruz long‑toed salamander, Steelhead trout (South-Central California Coast), Northern tidewater goby, Snowy plover, theCalifornia condor, Swainson’s hawk, and American peregrine falcon. Yet, community members and agricultural companies continue to dump in and along this important habitat. Please join us at our next water cleaning event on July 25th at the Salinas River off Monte Road and August 10th at Harkins Slough.
May 7, 2025
Monterey Waterkeeper and California Coastkeeper Alliance settle a case with Defendant, Kristich Monterey Pipe Company (Monterey Pipe), who was discharging polluted stormwater directly and indirectly into Carneros Creek, Porter Marsh, and Elkhorn Slough in Monterey County. Since 2019, when Monterey Pipe first enrolled in the Industrial General Storm Water Permit, the stormwater discharged from their property contained iron and total suspended solids at levels above standards. Moreover, their iron discharges continued to increase annually polluting Carneros Creek and Elkhorn Slough. Carneros Creek and Elkhorn Slough already appear on the Clean Water Act 303(d) “impaired waters” list for numerous pollutants. Elkhorn Slough, California’s second largest estuary, provides essential habitat for over 700 species of birds, fish, invertebrates, plants, and marine mammals, including threatened and endangered species. Please click here to read more.
March 29, 2025
Water Warriors Kayak and Clean up the Salinas River. Thanks to the support of Monterey Bay Kayaks and the Community Foundation for Monterey County, this past March, we facilitated an outdoor educational trip for 20 community members to kayak and clean the river at the Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge. Together we removed 6 large bags of trash (mostly plastic), one tire, and two FULL bottles of motor oil out of the river. Then community members learned how to test the water quality of the river and the importance of reducing nitrate fertilizer runoff, proper disposal of household hazardous waste, and actions they can take as individuals to protect our waterways!
March 18, 2025
Introducing SB 601: The Right to Clean Water Act – Monterey Waterkeeper and the California Coastkeeper Alliance members advocate in Sacramento to protect California from federal attacks on clean water protections. The 2023 U.S Supreme Court Sackett v. EPA decision stripped many California streams and wetlands of federal Clean Water Act protections, leaving state waters highly vulnerable to pollution. The Trump Administration has already issued several Executive Orders putting California water policy at risk while interfering with state authority. The California Coastkeeper Alliance and Defenders of Wildlife partnered with Senator Allen to present SB 601 The Right to Clean Water Act expanding the Porter-Cologne Act. Our legislation will protect California’s water by providing the state with the same Clean Water Act tools it had before Trump. Please click here to read more.
February 10, 2025
The Board of Directors of Monterey Waterkeeper is proud to announce Natalie Herendeen as its new Executive Director.
Natalie will continue leading Monterey Waterkeeper’s vision for ensuring safe and affordable drinking water for all communities; clean and abundant freshwater flows that support swimmable and healthy habitats; and a climate-resilient ocean that sustains a thriving economy, healthy marine ecosystems, and recreation for all. Click here read more.
November 14, 2024
We’re excited to announce that our MCGives Campaign is now live through December 31! This year-end giving campaign is a great opportunity to support Monterey Waterkeeper’s mission. Every donation helps ensure that all Central Coast communities have access to safe, clean water for generations to come. See details here.
November 1, 2024
We are looking for a new Executive Director to lead the organization in ensuring fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waters in California’s Central Coast for all. Please submit applications by November 30, 2024. See details here.
October 8, 2024
The California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) are submitting comments on the Informal Draft of the Small Municipal Stormwater Permit (Phase II Permit) to advocate for stronger protections for our waterways. Check out their comments here.
October 4, 2024
The California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) are submitting comments on the Informal Draft of the Small Municipal Stormwater Permit (Phase II Permit) to advocate for stronger protections for our waterways. Check out their comments here.
September 17, 2024
Congratulations to Chelsea Hsin-Feng Tu, our Executive Director, for winning this prestigious award! Your exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication continue to inspire us all. Here’s to many more successes ahead! Check out their website here for more info about the award.
September 17, 2024
Monterey Waterkeeper is thrilled to invite applications for our Spring and Summer 2025 legal internship program. We’re seeking one to two dedicated volunteer legal interns to join our team. Read more here and apply before November 30th!
September 15, 2024
Check out our progress update for Summer 2024 here.
August 1, 2024
Read about the little-known history and contributions of the Chinese Fishing Villages of the Monterey Peninsula and nearby present-day marine protected areas.
June 28, 2024
Read our comments to the State Water Board advocating that an upcoming nitrate expert panel uses the ample existing data and scientific research on nitrate over-use and contamination to recommend strong nitrate limitations here.
April 1, 2024
Check out our progress update for Spring 2024 here.
January 7, 2024
Listen to a KSQD radio interview with Monterey Waterkeeper’s executive director Chelsea Tu on the fertilizer nitrate crisis here.
December 21, 2023
Check out an op-ed by Monterey Waterkeeper and the San Jerardo Cooperative on the importance of reducing fertilizer nitrate pollution to protect Central Coast communities here.
November 20, 2023
Check out our progress update for Winter 2023 here.
November 8, 2023
See news coverage of our lawsuit against the State Water Board for weakening key nitrate protections in the Central Coast here.
October 30, 2023
Monterey Waterkeeper and other groups filed a lawsuit against the State Water Board for weakening key nitrate protections in the Central Coast. Check out the press release and complaint here.
October 6, 2023
Check out our progress update for Fall 2023 here.
August 11, 2023
Monterey Waterkeeper submitted a comment letter urging the State Water Board to reduce nitrate pollution and protect drinking water in the Central Coast region.
We will also be providing public comments during the Board’s September 19 hearing. Sign up here to join us!
July 4, 2023
Check out our Summer 2023 progress update here.
June 28, 2023
We are proud to nominate the Point Sur Marine Protected Areas to be the first marine water quality protection area since 1974. Find out more here.
June 8, 2023
Did you know that the Salinas River is a wild and navigable river? Read more about Monterey Waterkeeper’s journey on the river here.
May 22, 2023
Today through June 5, 10% of your purchase at the Columbia Sportswear store in Monterey will be donated to Monterey Waterkeeper! Please present flyer at checkout.
Apr. 21, 2023
Help us strengthen the Central Coast’s policy to reduce fertilizer nitrogen pollution! Sign up here to have your voice heard.
Apr. 14, 2023
Join us for free kayak cleanup excursions on May 6, June 24, & August 19! RSVP here.
Apr. 1, 2023
Check out our Spring 2023 progress update here.
Jan. 24, 2023
We are looking for two law clerks to join us in summer 2023. Applications are due by Feb. 24, 2023 at 5pm.
Dec. 21, 2022
Check out all of Monterey Waterkeeper’s accomplishments in our first year!
Nov. 11, 2022
Check out Monterey Herald’s “Sharing the wonders of the coastal waters,”which covers our very first education adventure to Elkhorn Slough under Monterey Waterkeeper’s new Central Coast Water Leaders program. Read more about it here.
Nov. 2, 2022
We are excited to launch Monterey Waterkeeper’s Central Coast Water Leaders program, which facilitates water education trips with youth from disadvantaged communities to Elkhorn Slough and the Monterey Bay. Read about it here.
Aug. 21, 2022
Join us in a radio conversation on drinking water contamination in the northern Central Coast.
July 18, 2022
Check out Monterey Waterkeeper’s new priorities in the Monterey Herald article “New Central Coast nonprofit focuses on water quality, access”.