The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County is a non-profit working to protect water quality in San Luis Obispo County. The key component of their mission to permanently protect and improve county lands, for the benefit of people and wildlife.
Kaila Dettman, the Executive Director at The Land Conservancy, spearheads the work to minimize our impact on and improve water quality in waterways, riparian areas, creeks, and streams.
“Everything we are doing impacts water,” Kaila explains. For example, the 8,000-acre project they are working on at the headwaters of Lake Nacimiento is protecting the municipal-water resources for multiple cities in SLO county, and it feeds into the Salinas River helping counteract the saltwater intrusion in Monterey County. As well, their work in the Santa Rosa Watershed in Cambria protects a crucial resource in this water-poor community.
On a wider scale, The Land Conservancy, The Morro Bay National Estuary Program, and The Morro Bay Open Space Alliance are all working to achieve a healthier estuary through protection of properties and creeks that drain into the estuary. The Land Conservancy also has a long history of riparian and floodplain projects connected to the conservation and restoration of San Luis Obispo Creek and at Santa Margarita Lake, the headwaters of the Salinas River, and Nipomo Creek.