El Capitan Creek fish passage improvement was constructed during the fall of 2005 and was a cooperative effort between the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County and the owner of the privately operated El Capitan Canyon Campground. California Department of Fish and Wildlife awarded the Land Trust a grant to remove a barrier to fish passage in lower El Capitan Creek and replace it with an arch culvert while restoring the creek banks. The project is visible from Hwy 101 looking inland up El Capitan Creek. The new culvert provides the water flow and natural creek bottom needed to promote fish passage and the survival of endangered Southern steelhead.