CARLSBAD -- The day before a draft version of a management plan for the Agua Hedionda watershed went out for public review, local wildlife officials and preservationists gave their assessment Wednesday of North County's wetland areas.

"This is everybody's problem," said Diane Nygaard of Preserve Calavera as she looked out across the Buena Vista Creek valley on the northern edge of Carlsbad. "Everybody needs clean water and we can't have clean water unless we solve these issues."

Her organization, which focuses on the Mount Calavera region in northeastern Carlsbad, is joining forces with local lagoon preservation societies and federal Fish & Wildlife employees to improve conditions at North County's creeks and in the valleys that surround them.

One bright spot related to watershed issues is that the Agua Hedionda Watershed Management Plan is scheduled to be released in draft form Thursday, said Meleah Ashford, a consultant who is working on the document.

A watershed is defined as an area of land where the water all eventually drains to a common point. In Agua Hedionda's case, the watershed covers a 31-square-mile region centered around Agua Hedionda Creek. The region begins in the western end of San Marcos and continues westward to Carlsbad's coastal area.

The management report will pinpoint areas where restoration work might improve creekside conditions and suggest areas that could be purchased for preservation purposes, Ashford said.

"What's really exciting about this plan is that it's science-based," Nygaard said.

Funded through a $500,000 grant from the state Water Resources Control Board and organized by the city of Vista, the watershed assessment began in January 2007 and is expected to conclude in November.

Though Vista managed the project, city employees in Carlsbad, San Marcos and Oceanside, as well as the county of San Diego, contributed information because they are part of the watershed area, Ashford said.

A presentation on the document is set for 1 to 3 p.m., July 17 at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon discovery center on Cannon Road. To view the document online, visit www.carlsbadwatershednetwork.org.

That document is just the first step toward improving conditions in the watershed, she and others said. Next comes the dirty part -- getting the trash and non-native plants out and trying to encourage surrounding landowners to make improvements, including reducing irrigation runoff.

However, just having a plan is a big accomplishment and a similar document should be written for the Buena Vista Creek watershed, said Andy Mauro of the Buena Vista Audubon Society.

Mauro noted that plans are in the works for a $100 million restoration of Buena Vista Lagoon within the next decade. He added that it would be beneficial to look at conditions upstream along Buena Vista Creek before reworking the lagoon.

During a North County watershed tour Wednesday, Nygaard focused on conditions along Buena Vista Creek. She started just east of College Boulevard, pointing out the concrete-lined channel that contains the creek.

Multiple drains from surrounding properties pour runoff from sidewalks and parking lots into the creek, she said. She took comfort, she added, from the fact that a few willow trees had established themselves on the south side of the channel despite its concrete lining.

"We've got some actual wetland plants here, which is amazing," she said, then drew people's attention to several mallard ducks near the willows.

Nygaard didn't point out the abandoned purple shopping cart in the creek, but she sighed as she spotted two balloons that had gotten away from their owners.

On the west side of College Boulevard, creek conditions are much better, she said as she walked toward that side of the roadway. She pointed out a thick expanse of native brush and said it was the result of a mitigation agreement put in place when an nearby auto dealership was built.

"You give Mother Nature a little help and she has tremendous powers of recovery," she said.

However, the area could still use more assistance, Mauro said as he spotted several non-native invasive species, including the giant reed arundo and the glossy, broad-leaved caster bean plant.