San Elijo Lagoon

San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve is one of the largest remaining coastal wetlands in San Diego County, California, United States.

Native American tribes hunted and gathered along the shores of the estuary at least 8,500 years before European settlers arrived. Shell middens, the refuse of hunting-gathering societies, show the earliest inhabitants relied heavily on coastal resources, including foods such as scallops, clams, shark, barracuda, bonito, and abalone. More recently, the Kumeyaay occupied the area. They traveled seasonally to take advantage of resources both along the coast and inland.

In 1769, the Portola Expedition named the area San Alejo in honor of Saint Alexius. In the early 1800s Spaniards and other Europeans settled the region and established cattle ranches. The California Gold Rush brought an ever-increasing influx of people. Settlers established the community of Olivenhain, along Escondido Creek, as an experimental farming community. Farmers plowed and planted the riparian corridors upstream of the estuary. It was the first time habitation had radically changed the vegetation and terrain surrounding the lagoon. Non-native plants were introduced that later proved highly invasive.

Between 1880 and 1940 dikes and levees were built that allowed duck hunting, salt harvesting, and sewage settling ponds. The most permanent changes were the construction of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1887, Pacific Coast Highway 101 in 1891, and Interstate 5 in 1965. Each required supporting berms that restricted water circulation and the natural influx of ocean water.

In 2016, as part of the North Coast Corridor infrastructure project, both road and rail bridges across the lagoon were planned to be replaced by 2021, in addition to environmental restoration of the lagoon and added preserved acreage.

The lagoon lies within the southernmost part of the city of Encinitas and is bordered by Solana Beach on the south and Rancho Santa Fe inland and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Reserve encompasses an area of 915 acres. The lagoon is the terminus of the Escondido Creek watershed which covers an area of 54,112 acres. The water in the lagoon comes from the Escondido Creek watershed and the Pacific Ocean.

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