You may not notice them as they meander, quietly, behind our parks and our streets and near our homes, carrying water to our estuaries, bays and to the ocean.

But some of you may have noticed those round blue signs next to area roadways. They identify creeks or rivers that you may have passed many times but you never knew existed. In Santa Cruz County, these signs are part of an effort by the Resource Conservation District to increase public awareness of local watersheds thanks to funding from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, the California Coastal Conservancy, the city of Santa Cruz Water Department and others. This and similar efforts in the region install signs identifying creeks and watershed boundaries, which complements work to reduce pollutants that flow to our rivers, creeks and the ocean.

The term watershed describes a land area from which water flows downhill to a single spot. Water drains both underground and on the surface into streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries, eventually reaching the ocean. The major watersheds that send water into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary include the Carmel River, Salinas River, Pajaro River, San Lorenzo River, Gazos Creek, Scott Creek and Elkhorn Slough. To see a map of the major watersheds in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary region, visit http://montereybay.noaa.gov/monitoringnetwork/map.html. The health of the ocean is influenced by the quality of the water that flows into it.

Each watershed hosts a network of waterways -- some seasonal, some which are wet year-round -- that support plant life, which in turn provides shelter for birds and animals and also provides shade and shelter for fish. Some of the water we consume comes from above-ground sources, which, if the conditions are right, can re-charge underground aquifers. Some coastal aquifers, which also supply drinking water, have been heavily mined and are subject to saltwater intrusion.

In past columns, I've discussed how the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Coastal Watershed Council, Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network and others have worked to gauge the quality of water in rivers and creeks throughout the Central California coast. Pollutants such as nutrients, sediments and pathogens exceed state quality standards in many Central California waterways. These pollutants can harm fish and wildlife, cause illness for people who swim or surf and can make beaches unsafe and unsightly.

Recent published reports on storm water pollution such as First Flush and Snapshot Day often paint an alarming picture, but they give public agencies, volunteers and conservation groups a good idea of where they need to focus their work to improve the health of area watercourses and, ultimately, the ocean.

Incorporating watersheds, rivers and creeks into our sense of place can lead to increased efforts to protect them. During the initial work done by the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District, 135 round blue signs were installed identifying 36 creeks and 10 watersheds. There are just over 200 named creeks and 19 watersheds in the county with countless unnamed creeks and streams leaving opportunities for additional sign locations.

Angie Stuart of the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District says, "The design of the watershed signs was taken from a program in San Diego. The Southern Sonoma County RCD did a similar program and also created a guide for the project, which was very helpful in getting our program started.

"This has been a really fun yet challenging project," notes Stuart. "I've lived in Santa Cruz almost my entire life and was amazed to learn that there were creeks right in Live Oak that I didn't even know existed, let alone their names. Two of my favorite discoveries were Leona Creek on Brommer Street near Seventh Avenue that flows into Schwan Lake and Borregas Creek that meanders right next to the Farm restaurant near Cabrillo College.

If you know the names of local creeks and streams that are not identified on county maps but may have names known locally in neighborhoods, or if you are interested in sponsoring a sign on a particular creek, PLEASE contact Stuart at astuart@rcdsantacruz.org. You can find conservation districts in communities outside the county at the California Association of Resource Conservation District Web site at www.carcd.org.

Healthy watersheds contribute to ocean health. They are therefore important to area fisheries, and in my next column I will start to explore the history of fishing on the Central California coast.