Bight ’13 CIA element publishes integrated summary reports
The integrated findings of the Contaminant Impact Assessment (CIA) element of Bight ’13 have been published in a final assessment report and an accompanying, 12-page executive summary intended for a management audience.
The Bight ’13 Contaminant Impact Assessment Planning Committee, which published the summary documents in March with facilitation by SCCWRP, synthesized the findings of five detailed assessment reports that chronicle the multiple scientific approaches taken to assess how sediment contamination has impacted marine ecosystems across 1,539 square miles of Southern California’s coastal waters.
The five assessment reports that were synthesized are Sediment Chemistry, Sediment Toxicity, Benthic Infauna, Demersal Fishes and Megabenthic Invertebrates, and Contaminant Bioaccumulation.
Primary findings from the Bight ’13 CIA element were:
- About 94% of the assessed area of the entire Bight is unimpacted or likely unimpacted by sediment contamination.
- About one-half of the assessed area of marina seafloors, and one-third of the assessed area of estuary seafloors, are possibly or likely impacted by sediment contamination. In contrast, about 5% of the offshore continental shelf area is possibly or likely impacted by sediment contamination.
- The total area of embayment seafloors impacted by sediment contamination has decreased by two-thirds since the late 1990s, from nearly 50% of the area in 1998 to 18% of area in 2013.
The CIA Synthesis Executive Summary has been professionally printed in full color; additional copies are available from SCCWRP upon request. All of the Bight ’13 assessment reports are available online.
More news related to: Regional Monitoring, Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program