Research Areas > Regional Monitoring > National Coastal Assessments

Research Area: National Coastal Assessments

There are a number of national programs that summarize the condition of ecological resources in US coastal waters for Congress and the public. SCCWRP participates in several of these projects and sometimes serves as a coordinator for studies in southern California or the State of California.

SCCWRP Research

An important part of SCCWRP's mission is to provide an integral regional monitoring perspective for interpreting the local monitoring programs of our member agencies. Similarly, SCCWRP also works to determine how southern California's coastal condition compares to that for the rest of the nation. This is accomplished in a number of ways. First, SCCWRP has participated in efforts to develop a nationally consistent suite of ecological indicators, such as the Heinz Center State of the Nation's Ecosystems report. In other cases, SCCWRP has compiled local data for larger assessments, for example, to support NOAA's National Eutrophication Assessment. SCCWRP also serves as a local coordinator for data collection efforts that contribute to national assessments for the EPA's EMAP and NOAA's Mussel Watch programs (see below). Finally, SCCWRP contributes written material or serves on the Steering Committee for some national assessments, such as EPA's National Coastal Condition Report.
 

Significant national coastal assessment projects include:

• EMAP Western Pilot in California
• Southern California Mussel Watch