Refuge Fact Sheet

Sweetwater Marsh
National Wildlife Refuge
San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex
1080 Gunpowder Point
Chula Vista, California 91910
(619) 691-1262
Refuge Manager: Rebecca Young
Established 1977

America's National Wildlife Refuges...
Where wildlife comes naturally!

San Diego National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) is located on the east side of San Diego Bay in the cities of Chula Vista and National City. The Refuge is comprised of 316 acres of salt marsh and coastal uplands along the Pacific Flyway. Approximately 75% of California's wetlands have been destroyed, and 91% of San Diego Bay's wetlands have been filled in, drained, or diked.

Sweetwater Marsh is an endangered species refuge that provides habitat for two federally endangered species of bird, one federally endangered plant, a State of California endangered bird species and one threatened species of bird. Sweetwater Marsh is the only place in the United States where yerba reuma (Frankenia palimeri), a member of the heath family, grows naturally. The Refuge provides habitat for a variety of migrating shorebirds and wintering waterfowl. Over 200 species of birds have been recorded at Sweetwater Marsh.

Sweetwater Marsh functions as an essential link between Multiple Species Conservation Program wildlands, the South San Diego Bay NWR, and the Tijuana Slough NWR in Imperial Beach. The Nature Interpretive Center, operated by the City of Chula Vista, has museum designation and offers visitors opportunities for education, wildlife interpretation and viewing and limited hiking trails on the refuge. Nature Center education programs reach over 3,000 students in the South Bay in a formal classroom and field-study environment, trains 2,100 South Bay teachers, and hosts 48,000 visitors each year in the Interpretive Center and on refuge lands.

Sweetwater Marsh:

• Preserves South San Diego Bay wetlands necessary for both resident birds and thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl migrating or overwintering along the Pacific Flyway each year.
• Conserves South San Diego Bay's last salt marsh habitat.
• Provides habitat and protection for the federally endangered light-footed clapper rail and California least tern, as well as a federally endangered plant, salt marsh bird's beak, State endangered Belding's savannah sparrow and threatened Western snowy plover.
• Provides environmental education to thousands of school children and adults each year, and recreation and interpretive opportunities in urban San Diego County.
• Provides opportunities to implement recovery actions for endangered species and wetlands restoration and research.

Refuge Objectives

• To protect threatened and endangered species
• To restore and enhance native habitat for resident wildlife and migratory birds
• To provide the public with opportunities for environmental education and wildlife
  compatible recreation

  Current Issues of Concern

• Habitat fragmentation due to San Diego Bay development
• Exotic species invasion of native habitats
• Contaminants from past activities prior to becoming a Refuge

Significant Species

• Light-footed clapper rail
• California least tern
• Belding's savanna sparrow
• Western snowy plover
• Yerba reuma
• Salt marsh bird's beak

  Public Use

• Visitor Center
• Limited Hiking Trails
• Bird Walks
• Education Programs
• Volunteer Program