Water & Weather Monitoring

Elkhorn Slough Reserve conducts rigorous long-term monitoring to track water quality and weather in the estuary.

Healthy water conditions are essential for all life in Elkhorn Slough, but high agricultural inputs combined with stagnant conditions in diked portions of the estuary have led to poor water quality and low biodiversity. As nutrient inputs decrease and natural tidal exchange is allowed to return, our monitoring data will show improvements.

Both water quality and weather are also affected by global climate change, and our monitoring is important for understanding how conditions are changing.