Elkhorn Slough is a 7mi tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay in Monterey County, California. The community of Moss Landing and the Moss Landing Power Plant are located at the mouth of the slough on the bay.Elkhorn Slough harbors the largest tract of tidal salt marsh in California outside of the San Francisco Bay and provides much-needed habitat for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including more than 340 species of birds.WatershedCarneros Creek is the primary source of freshwater flowing into Elkhorn Slough. McClusky Slough to the north and Moro Cojo Slough to the south also provide freshwater inputs.Conservation ownershipMore than of the watershed's are protected under a mosaic of private and public ownership.FoundationsThe nonprofit Elkhorn Slough Foundation is the single largest land owner in the watershed, with nearly. The nonprofit Nature Conservancy was the first to buy Elkhorn Slough property with the goal to protect the area's habitat and wildlife. The Nature Conservancy started with only 60 acres in 1971 and through gifts and purchases of disjointed parcels, gained over by September 2012, when it transferred to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. The Foundation already managed conservation on these parcels.
