Welcome

The San Diego River Conservancy is an independent, non-regulatory state agency established to preserve, restore and enhance the San Diego River Area. The Conservancy’s 18 member Governing Board consists of both state and local representatives, creating a diverse partnership dedicated to conserving this highly valued resource of statewide significance.

The San Diego River Conservancy’s mission is accomplished by conserving land, and protecting or providing recreational opportunities, open space, wildlife species and habitat, wetlands, water quality, natural flood conveyance, historical, cultural, and tribal resources, and educational opportunities. For example, one important Conservancy goal is to build, in conjunction with our partners, a River-long park and hiking trail stretching fifty-two miles from the River’s headwaters near Julian to the Pacific Ocean.

With over 10,000 years of human habitation, the San Diego River Area boasts no less than twenty-nine State Historic Landmarks, four National Historic Landmarks, three state parks, twenty local and municipal parks and public open spaces, as well as rich cultural resources. Today, the region is home to over one-half million people, including five Native American tribes, and at least twenty-five state and federally listed endangered and threatened plant and animal species. The region is also of significant economic value, welcoming more than twenty five million visitors, and helping to support an annual tourism industry in San Diego of over five billion dollars.