SCCWRP researchers have developed tools and data interpretation methods that can be used to assess whether sediment quality at a specific location meets the goal, or Sediment Quality Objective (SQO) set by the State of California for enclosed bays and estuaries. SQOs were developed by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
The SQO policy must accomplish several objectives. It should provide scientifically defensible SQOs that are protective of current and probable future beneficial uses in water bodies, including the support of healthy marine and estuarine ecosystems, fishing activities, and human health. In addition, the SQOs should be feasible for diverse regulatory agency staff having differing levels of technical expertise to implement in a consistent and transparent manner.
The key elements of the SQO policy include:
Historically, sediment quality assessment has been an important feature of many monitoring programs throughout the nation, but no state has developed SQOs for statewide regulatory use. SQO adoption by the SWRCB will represent a national milestone in environmental policy, making California the first state to have a standardized statewide protocol for the evaluation of sediment quality.
The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act within the California Water Code is the principal law governing water quality regulation in California, which established the SWRCB and nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards to implement its provisions, beginning in 1969. It states that any activity or factor that affects water quality is subject to regulation. 1989 amendments to the Porter-Cologne Act required the SWRCB to develop SQOs to contribute to the protection of existing and future beneficial uses within enclosed bays and estuaries. To meet this requirement, the SWRCB developed a workplan in 1991 to develop SQOs, but did not complete the work. The current SQO program is the result of the settlement of a 1999 lawsuit, in which the SWRCB agreed to prepare a revised workplan and complete the SQOs.