Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper (SBCK)

Advocacy - the organization advocates for science-based conservation policies that protect the Santa Barbara channel and its watersheds. In 2022, we succeeded in a lawsuit that challenged two federal agencies' approval of offshore fracking without environmental review of the impacts to the marine environment. We successfully advocated for the city of goleta's single use plastic reduction ordinance. We worked to strengthen policies to reduce pollution from irrigated agricultural lands that contaminates drinking water supplies and surface waters.

Citizen engagement - the organization mobilizes community volunteers to take specific actions to improve conservation. We train volunteers to participate in shore-based surveys of three coastal marine protected areas, to supplement our staff conducted boat-based surveys. We carried out our watershed brigade program with 526 volunteers, who removed more than 10,000 pounds of trash and marine debris in clean up events. Our staff and volunteers worked with local fishermen to remove 60 derelict lobster traps from a one-mile stretch of black rock beach. We partnered with other organizations to remove 3,991 pounds of marine debris from channel island beaches. We conducted water quality monitoring on the channel, in the ventura river, and along local beaches.

Education - the organization inspires local students to better understand and appreciate the local environment through a combination of interactive classroom lessons and outdoor educational experiences. In 2022, we reached 1,200 local students with our environmental science education programming. We hosted our 19th annual student art show on the theme of "what the channel means to me." More than 250 pieces of artwork were submitted by local high school students for consideration in the show.