Contra Costa Flood Control and John Muir Land Trust Open Non-Motorized Kayak Launch at Pacheco Marsh

Watershed restoration managers from the John Muir Land Trust and the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District opened a dedicated non-motorized kayak, canoe, and stand-up paddleboard launch ramp on Friday afternoon at Pacheco Marsh along Waterfront Road just east of Martinez and north of Pacheco. Built as the culminating public-access amenity of the 252-acre Lower Walnut Creek Restoration Project, the gently sloped articulated concrete-mat and timber launch slip allows paddlers to enter the calm tidal waters of lower Walnut Creek half a mile upstream from its confluence with Suisun Bay and the Carquinez Strait. A graveled drop-off turnaround, washdown hose bib, and twelve timber kayak storage racks sit ninety feet from the main parking lot.

Over the past four years, county flood engineers and land-trust ecologists breached legacy industrial levees and excavated more than three miles of meandering tidal channels across Pacheco Marsh, reconnecting the historical floodplain to absorb winter storm surges flowing down from Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Concord while creating prime nursery habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon and longfin smelt. Paddlers launching on a rising tide can now glide quietly past restored pickleweed plains, sandbar haul-outs, and four seasonal waterfowl islands.

To protect nesting California Ridgway's rails and migratory shorebirds from wake disturbance, watercraft access at the Pacheco Marsh slip is restricted exclusively to human-powered kayaks, canoes, and rowboats, with clearly marked floating buoys indicating seasonal wildlife buffer zones during spring nesting months. A wheelchair-accessible compacted stone path leads from the staging area restrooms to a shaded timber kayak-transfer bench at the water's edge.

Funding for the $420,000 watercraft launch and staging area expansion came from a California Department of Water Resources Urban Streams Restoration grant matched with Measure AA San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority funds. Paddlers and trail walkers can check daily tide tables, parking gate hours, and free naturalist paddle tours on the John Muir Land Trust Pacheco Marsh Portal.