Main Content
Education
Building environmental awareness and stewardship, changing attitudes and influencing the decisions of tomorrow by educating policy makers, students and the wider community about the biggest threats to the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds and solutions to address those threats.
Field Work
Patrolling the Santa Barbara Channel and its tributaries to identify and deter pollution and respond to citizen reports of pollution. We conduct scientific research to investigate critical threats facing our waters, and collect and disseminate scientifically sound water quality data.
Advocacy
Representing our community’s interest in clean water by providing expert, science-based stakeholder advocacy and testifying before government officials to influence policies to better protect our waters and habitats.
Enforcement
Ensuring that entities, both public and private, comply with environmental laws, and that government agencies enforce those laws. Channelkeeper occasionally uses citizen lawsuits to protect the public interest in clean water and healthy aquatic habitats.
Watershed Brigade
The Watershed Brigade is a community of volunteers dedicated to keeping our local watersheds and beaches clean. Brigade members remove trash from trails, creeks, rivers, urban areas, and beaches, act as environmental stewards, and collect trash data used to help reduce pollution at its source. And it’s fun! Volunteers earn points that make them eligible for perks and prizes.
Corporate Challenge
The Watershed Brigade’s Corporate Challenge is a fun and effective way for your company to make a difference in our community and earn points to compete against other local businesses. Gain community-wide visibility while your company takes positive steps for the environment.
4.5k
VOLUNTEERS ENGAGED
36k
KIDS EDUCATED
10k
LBS OF TRASH CLEARED
Our Blog
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July 19, 2022Take Your Plastic Advocacy to the Next Level
The news headlines about plastic are grim. A dead whale with 33 pounds of plastic in its stomach; a seal with a frisbee stuck around its neck; microplastics found in the meat and milk we consume. Each of us feels the weight of the plastic crisis and wants to take action. We’ve said no to […]
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June 28, 2022Monitoring Plankton to Protect Wildlife, People, and Ocean Health
Did you know that one teaspoon of ocean water can contain over a million living creatures called plankton? These microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and animals (zooplankton) drift with the ocean’s currents and play a fundamental role in many ocean systems. Plankton are tiny yet vital organisms. Phytoplankton form the base of the ocean food web. Small […]
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April 29, 2022Meet MPA Watch Intern, Andrea Chagoya!
The Santa Barbara Channel includes a network of nineteen marine protected areas, five along the coast and fourteen surrounding the Channel Islands. Marine protected areas (MPAs), are underwater parks that provide safe havens for marine wildlife. Through Channelkeeper’s MPA Watch program, staff, volunteers, and interns collect data related to human use activities at eleven of them. […]
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