KION - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News WeatherElkhorn slough receives $4 million in federal stimulus funds

Elkhorn slough receives $4 million in federal stimulus funds

Watsonville, Calif- "I had a visitor to Elkhorn Slough comment, that they had been to Safari in Africa, the Elkhorn slough wildlife experience surpassed that," says Bruan Largay, Tidal Wetland Director at the slough.

The largest salt marsh land South of San Francisco bay, Elkhorn Slough is an enormous asset to our environment. The estuary, or a location where a river meets the ocean, produces large amounts of food for the vast sea life in and around our Monterey Bay, However, in the past 50 years, natural and human activities have changed the tidal flow in Elkhorn Slough.

"The salt marsh at Elkhorn Slough is dying back, about 200 acres of the salt marsh at Elkhorn slough has died in the past few decades," says Largay.

This week a branch of the Department of Commerce,The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted the slough a $3.95 million dollar fund to improve the health of the Slough.

"This project will entail the construction of a structure that will allow a water flow of Elkhorn slough to be managed," says Largay.

The project, called the Parsons Slough Project, will be completed sometime in 2011 and Largay says its benefits go beyond just the environment.

"We estimate that this project will generate approximately a 130 jobs, creating them or saving them. The economists conducting the analysis project the $4 million dollar expenditure will result in approximately $5.8 million dollars of economic activity."