San Elijo Lagoon and Ecological Reserve in Encinitas's Cardiff by the Sea community protects 979 acres of coastal wetland habitat within the Escondido Creek Watershed, sustaining more than 700 documented plant and animal species including the federally endangered light-footed Ridgway's rail. The reserve's trail network extends over nine miles across ten trailheads, connecting coastal strand, salt marsh, freshwater marsh, riparian woodland, coastal sage scrub, and mixed chaparral zones that hikers also access via the adjacent Annie's Canyon Trail at the Solana Beach border. A $120-million restoration project funded by the TransNet half-cent sales tax completed dredging and mudflat reconstruction across the East, Central, and West Basins, improving tidal circulation that had been restricted since railroad and highway construction bisected the lagoon in the late 1800s. The 5,600-square-foot Nature Center on Manchester Avenue holds LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, operating on solar energy with recycled-material construction and serving as the interpretive hub managed by Nature Center staff and the nonprofit Nature Collective. Approximately 40 percent of all North American bird species have been recorded during the reserve's monthly bird counts, with eelgrass beds in the restored main channel serving as a primary indicator of post-restoration aquatic habitat quality.