Tomales Bay looking north from the mouth of Lagunitas Creek. Photo by Robert Campbell.
What's Inside
About Us
Members
Get Involved
Watershed
Stewardship
Water Quality
Beach Water Quality
State of the Bay Conference 2012
State of the Bay Conference 2010
Information & Reports
Timeline (PDF)
TBWC Resources
"2004 Tomales Bay Watershed Stewardship Plan, A Framework for Action," PDF document - 2.7 MB
"Executive Summary,
Tomales Bay Watershed Stewardship Plan 6-page PDF document - 188 KB
"Tomales Bay Water Quality Monitoring Plan," PDF document - 273.1 KB
"Tomales Bay Watershed Council Operating Procedures," 10-page document - updated April 11, 2008.
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*Adopt Our Watershed from the Tomales Bay Watershed Council*
We are proud to introduce a collaborative stewardship program for the Tomales Bay watershed, click here for more info.
**2013 Beach Monitoring Season Has Begun**
The 2013 'Recreational Use' monitoring of bacteria levels at local beaches started April 1st. Weekly Conditions Updates HERE .
Who We Are
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Map of the Tomales Bay Watershed with major subwatersheds
(click here for pdf version of map).
The Tomales Bay Watershed Council is made up of representatives from local organizations, businesses and government agencies who are dedicated to managing the 255 square miles of the Tomales Bay watershed, an area that encompasses about one-third of Marin County, California. Our purpose is to help implement the Tomales Bay Stewardship Plan, unanimously adopted in 2003 as a means for preserving and protecting the water and land resources for sustainable uses by agriculture, aquaculture, business, environmental, recreation and residential interests.
Tomales Bay 'Call to Action'
Tomales Bay is the geographic heart of the portion of western Marin County that
includes the watersheds of Lagunitas, Olema, and Walker creeks. There are hundreds of tributaries associated with these three largest creeks, and the surrounding landscape can be viewed as a vast circulatory system, connecting all the plant, animal, and human inhabitants. Waters flow into Tomales Bay through wildlands, dairy ranches, forests, parks, and human communities. Its upper boundary is made up of coastal ridgelines – a rim of sorts measuring142 miles.
TBWC held its first meeting in January 2000 and began working collectively on the Watershed Stewardship Plan adopted four years later. However, a plan is only as strong as the commitment of the people who carry it out, namely the residents of West Marin and the many people who visit the area to enjoy its beauty and recreational features. It is our hope that you will join us in supporting this extensive stewardship effort: responsible action is its own reward.
The Council's Current Activities
The Restoration Feasibility and Conceptual Design Draft Report for Third Valley Creek and Chicken Ranch Beach is available for review and comment. Download the report here. (*Note: This is a ~25MB pdf file. A report summary (2MB) is available from our Information & Reports page).
Current grant funding is supporting a watershed-wide water quality sampling program. Find out more on the water-quality page of our site.
In 2007, the TBWCF was awarded another Proposition 50 grant from the State Water Resources Board to implement the Tomales Bay Wetlands Restoration and Monitoring Program to integrate the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project (GWRP) and water quality monitoring to reduce and eliminate existing threats and to identify emerging threats that face this critically important watershed. This funding supports three main elements 1) restoration and monitoring of the GWRP, 2) source area monitoring, and 3) trends monitoring - by establishing long-term water quality monitoring at fixed-sites at bottom of eleven tributary watersheds, and at four bay sites, enabling the analysis of long-term water quality trends in the watershed. More details, and recent results are available on the Trends Monitoring page.
Read the Integrated Coastal Watershed Management Plan (ICWMP) submitted by the Tomales Bay Watershed Council for Prop 50 in the Step 2, Round 1 application. Appendices are available upon request. To download complete report by chapter, visit our Information and Reports page.
In April 2006, the TBWC moved into its new Olema Valley headquarters, joining the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center at its facility six miles south of the Olema junction on Highway 1.
In January 2006, the State Waters Resources Control Board awarded Tomales Bay Watershed Council a sizable planning grant. Part of the "Water Security, Clean
Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002," such funds are known as Proposition 50 grants.
Ours funded the development of an Integrated Coastal Watershed Management Plan, as well as a Septic Solutions Report and Municipal Stormwater Assessment and Recommendation Report.
As called for in our Tomales Bay Stewardship Plan, and with support from the Marin Community Foundation and County of Marin, TBWC conducted Water Quality Monitoring Program, which included sampling at three local swimming locations – Ink Wells, Samuel P. Taylor and Green Bridge – and conducted source area monitoring in Inverness – at Third Valley Creek and at Chicken Ranch Beach – to gather information about sources of watershed pollution from septic systems and other human-related activities.
Read more about our current and ongoing activities on the About Us page, or download our Fall 2008 newsletter (pdf).
Be informed! Information on beach closures and water quality monitoring results are available on the Earth911 Web site at www.earth911.org/WaterQuality.
How You Can Support the TBWC
Meetings: Everyone is welcome to join us at our meetings on the third Tuesday of each month, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m., at the Red Barn, Point Reyes Seashore Headquarters, Bear Valley Road, Olema. For information, including meeting agendas and summaries, contact Council Coordinator Neysa King.
Tax-Deductible Contributions: The Tomales Bay Watershed Council is a working group of stakeholders and not a formal entity, so in order to support implementation of the Stewardship and Integrated Coastal Watershed Management plans, we have created the Tomales Bay Watershed Council Foundation, a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. To date, the Foundation has received many grants from the State Water Resources Control Board, Regional Water Board, County of Marin, Marin Community Foundation, Switzer Foundation, and other private funding sources.
With the support of these funds, stewardship activities for Tomales Bay watershed are underway, with much more planned.
To help us in our ongoing efforts to continue to preserve and protect this valuable watershed, please consider making a tax-deductable contribution, payable to the Tomales Bay Watershed Council Foundation (TBWCF), Box 447, Pt. Reyes Station, CA 94956.
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Contact us at Tomales Bay Watershed Council, Box 447, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956, 415-868-9081, or email Council Coordinator Neysa King
Copyright © 2005 - 2009 Tomales Bay Watershed Council
Web site by Karen Peterson
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