District Size: 2,886 square miles or 1,847,300 acres Year Formed: 1995 Projects: The District contains three major watersheds within which the District primarily works: San Diego, Cottonwood-Tijuana, and San Luis Rey-Escondido (as well as portions of the Salton Sea). Within these three watersheds there are multiple subwatersheds, including the Carlsbad Hydrologic Unit, Otay, Tijuana, Sweetwater and others (figures taken from EPA Watershed Profiles). These three main watersheds contain a total of:
41 rivers and streams
194 lakes
23,848.3 watershed acres
3,758.5 river miles
2,761.3 square miles
10 tribes
For details on watershed projects, please check District Web Site Overview: The Resource Conservation District (RCD) is a local independent special purpose district formed under Division 9 of the California Public Resources Code. The RCD is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of seven volunteer landowners or designated agents of landowners living within the District and appointed by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Resource Overview:
Geography ranges from sea level to 6700 feet, and from coastal beaches through inland valleys, foothills, mountains, and deserts. The Cleveland National Forest and Cuyamaca State Parks are the largest forested areas in San Diego County.
Climate: Climate ranges from winter lows of 20? Fahrenheit in mountainous regions to summer highs of 110? in inland valleys and 115? in desert areas. Average temperatures are in the temperate range of 70-75?.
Soils: There are over 53 different soil types and 244 soil mapping units within the RCD of Greater San Diego County. Soil is the most important natural resource in the RCD. It produces crops for food, wood and cover for wildlife habitat.
Water Resources: The water resources in the RCD of Greater San Diego County are coastal water, surface water, ground water, imported water and reclaimed water. Fresh water supplied within the RCD is obtained from local surface and ground water development projects (10%) and imported surface water programs (90%).
Coastal Waters: Coastal waters in the Region include bays, harbors, estuaries, beaches and open ocean. The deep craft commercial harbor is San Diego Bay. A shallower small craft harbor is Mission Bay. Important estuaries are represented by coastal lagoons such as Tijuana Estuary, Sweetwater Marsh, San Diego River, San Dieguito River Estuary, San Elijo Lagoon, Batiquitos Lagoon, Agua Hedionda Lagoon, and Buena Vista Lagoon. Beaches occur along large stretches of coastal waters.
Surface Waters: Within the RCD boundaries are seven principal stream systems which flow from the western highlands to the Pacific Ocean. From North to South these stream systems are San Marcos Creek, Escondido Creek, San Dieguito River, San Diego River, Sweetwater River, Otay River and the Tijuana River. Most of the streams are ephemeral due to the rainfall pattern and the development of reservoirs.
Ground Waters: All major drainage basins in the RCD contain ground water basins. The basins are relatively small in area and usually shallow. Nearly all of the local ground waters of the Region have been intensively developed for municipal and agricultural supply purposes.
Imported Surface Waters: The RCD receives practically all of its imported water supplies from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The MWD obtains its water supplies from the Colorado River Aqueduct and the State Water Project. The San Diego County Water Authority allocates water supplies to member agencies in the RCD.
RCD Program Highlights:
Technical assistance is provided through a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Technical assistance programs include commenting on Environmental Impact Reports, providing printed information on best management practices and "how-to" fact sheets.
Technical assistance also comes in the form of coordination in arranging workshops or task force meetings and special projects. In addition, through memoranda of understanding, other agencies allow their technicians to provide one-on-one assistance to landusers upon the RCD's request.
The RCD is a repository of conservation information of value to students, engineers, surveyors, real estate agents and the public in general. These items include:
Soil Survey for San Diego County, California
Topographic and Soil Maps
Technical Brochures on Best Management Practices
Aerial Photographs
Environmental Education Videos
Environmental Education Library of curricula, magazines and books
Educational Posters
A variety of reports and natural resource information received from other agencies and universities is also available. Please visit the district web site for detailed information.
