City of Santa Cruz Water Department Canham Meadow Wetland Restoration

Location: Scotts Valley, CA
Client: City of Santa Cruz Water Department

Project Description

Canham Meadow is located in the Glenwood Preserve within the City of Scotts Valley. The preserve is managed by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. Urban expansion within the watershed had caused excessive erosion in the preserve, leading to the formation of a large gully where a wet meadow once thrived. The gully acted as a drainage channel, actively lowering the local water table and drying the historically wet meadow. 

ECI focused on restoring the eroded gully and recreating natural wet meadow conditions. To address this, ECI regraded the area, established a drainage basin, implemented flow dissipation measures, and installed a diverse native plant cover. This allowed stormwater to dissipate across a wide area instead of being concentrated into a gully. ECI also conducted long-term monitoring and maintenance at the site to ensure native plant vegetation met the project’s success criteria. The project has significantly improved wet meadow conditions, benefiting both native plants and the local ecology.

Project Services

Habitat restoration, invasive species management, grading, planting, irrigation, hydroseeding, erosion control, long-term maintenance, monitoring, adaptive management