A public agency applying next-generation science to aquatic ecosystems management - Since 1969 - Southern California Coastal Water Research Project

Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia

Researchers are documenting how corrosive coastal ocean conditions and low dissolved oxygen levels threaten the health of marine food webs.

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Bioanalytical Cell Screening Assays

Researchers are investigating how to adapt cell bioassays as a cost-effective screening tool to improve monitoring of bioactive chemical contaminants in aquatic systems.

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Harmful Algal Blooms

SCCWRP and its research partners are examining how to mitigate the proliferation of ecologically disruptive blooms in aquatic systems that threaten the health of wildlife and humans.

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The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) is an aquatic sciences research institute that works to improve management of aquatic systems in Southern California and beyond. Since its founding as an intergovernmental public agency in 1969, SCCWRP has been developing strategies, tools and technologies that the region’s water-quality management community relies on to more effectively protect and enhance the ecological health of Southern California’s coastal ocean and watersheds that drain to it. As an R&D agency, SCCWRP’s reputation is built on conducting research and translating this science into actionable guidance and recommendations that inform management decision-making and policy development.

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September 5, 2025
SCCWRP Commission meeting

September 19, 2025
Seminar: “Process controls on low flows in headwaters: What do we know (and not know, but could) that can help inform management?”

Tiernan, E.D., J. Gray, L.S. Beck, E. Fassman-Beck. 2025. Design of a Mobile, Field-Scale Rainfall Generator for Urban Runoff Water Quality Studies. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering DOI:10.1061/JIDEDH.IRENG-10507.

Fassman-Beck, E., E.D. Tiernan, K.L. Cheng, K.C. Schiff. 2025. A data-driven index for evaluating BMP water quality performance. Water Research

Mazor, R.D., J.S. Brown. 2025. An assessment of the biological condition of streams in the San Francisco Bay. Technical Report 1419. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Costa Mesa, CA.

Mazor, R.D., A.C. Rehn, N. Lombardo, M. Sutula. 2025. A Technical Foundation for Biointegrity and Eutrophication Indicators and Thresholds for Modified Channels, Intermittent Streams, and Streams on the Central Valley Floor: 2025 Update. Technical Report 1343. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Costa Mesa, CA.