SCCWRP 2009-2010 Research Plan

Research Plan 2009-2010

INTRODUCTION

The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority (SCCWRP) is a research institute studying the coastal ecosystems of southern California, from watersheds to the ocean. Each year, a Research Plan is prepared for the SCCWRP Commission (SCCWRP’s governing board), allowing them to review the planned activities for the upcoming year and ensure that SCCWRP’s ever-evolving scientific investigations are consistent with the organization’s overall mission and goals. The Research Plan provides an overview of the activities of SCCWRP scientists and provides the reader with the impetus behind each project, expected outcomes, and collaborators involved.

The Plan is organized by research themes, grouping together projects that answer similar questions and paralleling the presentation of research areas on SCCWRP’s website. Much of SCCWRP’s research is by nature interdisciplinary, reflecting the inherent interconnectedness of environmental systems. Thus, the research themes overlap in a variety of ways. Each plays a role in SCCWRP’s mission to improve scientific understanding of linkages among human activities, natural events, and the health of the Southern California coastal environment.

The Plan begins with a contaminants theme, studying the release, transfer, fate, and effects of both legacy and emerging substances in the environment. The second theme, nutrients, centers on one class of less-regulated contaminants (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorous) that frequently impair aquatic systems in the US.

The next themes in the Research Plan are tied together by spatial focus. First, stormwater research focuses on how surface runoff from developed land affects aquatic ecosystems. Stormwater is often funneled untreated into the ocean and other waterways, concentrating and transporting contaminants from across the watershed. These studies look holistically at upland drainage areas to inform management of downstream effects. Next, wetlands research at SCCWRP investigates processes in regularly inundated wetland, coastal estuary and riparian environments. These areas provide a variety of important ecological services as well as recreational and habitat benefits, but have experienced vast losses in recent years. Thus, many needs exist for scientific support of wetland monitoring, conservation and restoration activities. A third research theme examines microbiology at beach environments to assess the risk of illness in swimmers, and enable coastal managers to rapidly and accurately detect potentially harmful pathogens.

The last theme, regional monitoring, encompasses projects where scientists are developing collaborative, holistic assessments across large spatial scales. Throughout its history, SCCWRP has initiated several large-scale efforts to coordinate stakeholders and evaluate environmental conditions across a variety of coastal ecosystem types. These programs have the added benefit of improving regional communication, data comparability, and information sharing. SCCWRP’s information management projects are also included under this theme, since many of them support large-scale monitoring efforts.

A. CONTAMINANTS

Extensive population expansion and urban development over the past 150 years has placed stress on the marine and aquatic environments of southern California, including an increase in the number of pollution sources. Some of these pollution sources are closely controlled and tracked through mechanisms such as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting system, but many diffuse sources are monitored little or not at all. Even for those sources that are well monitored, there is less information available about the fates of pollutants once they enter the environment. Additionally, there are new pollutants continually emerging for which the environmental occurrence, fate, and risk of biological effects are not well understood. These factors, and many others, present significant challenges to those working to steward southern California’s marine and aquatic natural resources.

Over its history, SCCWRP has undertaken a large number of projects that quantify sources, fates and effects of contaminants in southern California’s marine and aquatic environments. SCCWRP scientists have developed and refined many new laboratory and sampling methods. For example, source identification and toxicity identification methodologies have been developed to address the presence of multiple comingled contaminants often contained in environmental samples. SCCWRP scientists have also invested in assessing the impacts of pollutants on native aquatic life. They recently developed a framework for assessing sediment quality which integrates chemistry, toxicity and biological community assessment methodologies.

The projects in this section of the Research Plan are alike in that they explore the relationship between chemicals in the environment and their potential impacts on living organisms. However, each study takes a different approach to understanding contaminant emissions and effects. The first group deals with characterizing pollutant sources and combining data sources to track relative contributions and total mass emissions to the Southern California Bight (SCB). The second group of projects focuses on accurately examining receptors of contamination. The third group of projects integrates the study of both fate and effects within the framework of sediment quality assessment. The fourth group of studies is centered on improving knowledge of occurrence and effects of emerging contaminants. These research topics cumulatively produce a more complete picture of the pollution stressors affecting southern California’s ecosystems.

1. Sources

SCCWRP’s Southern California Bight (SCB) mass emissions database is one of the longest continuously running databases in the United States that addresses pollutant sources to the coastal ocean. SCCWRP has been compiling effluent data on most major point sources of pollution to the SCB since 1970, including those from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), industrial discharges, oil platforms, power generating stations, and dredged material disposal. These data have been used to estimate relative pollutant loading from various sources and to assess trends in pollutant emissions relative to changes in regulations and management practices.

This year’s Research Plan includes three projects focused on estimating contaminant sources to the SCB. The first project updates analysis of mass emissions from large POTWs, where regular effluent monitoring is performed. The second project was begun recently to estimate nonpoint stormwater mass emissions to the SCB. The third project continues to update and analyze data on emissions from other (smaller) point source dischargers, so as to allow comparisons of relative source contributions and summed emissions over time.

a. Characteristics of Effluents from Large Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Pollutant mass emissions from the four largest publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) have historically been the largest source of contaminant input to the SCB. However, contaminant loads from these sources have declined by more than 95% over the last 30 years as a result of increased effluent treatment, source control, industrial pretreatment, and reclamation. This project characterizes each agency’s effluent based on their discharge monitoring reports and calculates mass emission estimates during the 2007-2008 time period. These calculations will continue the time series of annual mass emission estimates dating back to 1972.

This is an ongoing project. This year staff will compile the most recent annual monitoring reports, update our existing database, and investigate emerging and ongoing trends in POTW discharges.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: City of Los Angeles, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Orange County Sanitation District, City of San Diego

b. Characteristics of Stormwater Mass Emissions to the SCB

Point source discharges, such as those from wastewater or industrial discharge pipes, have historically been the focus of water quality management activities. Over the past 35 years, improved source control and treatment practices have dramatically reduced mass emissions from point sources. As a result, nonpoint source discharges (such as stormwater runoff) have become a proportionately greater contributor to overall pollutant loading to the ocean. Stormwater runoff, especially in wet years, may be the predominant source of many pollutants. It entails large volumes of water spread over diffuse spatial scales, making our ability to critically assess inputs relatively coarse. Estimating status and trends in stormwater emissions to the Southern California Bight (SCB) requires compilation and standardization of monitoring data from numerous municipal agencies that manage river discharge to the ocean. Empirical estimates may be difficult to make, since there is no standard approach for measuring and reporting data on pollutant loadings from stormwater.

The goal of this project is to compile, standardize, and analyze stormwater loading data from major rivers that discharge to the SCB. These steps will facilitate transfer of the data to the California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN), and allow for assessment of status and trends in both point and nonpoint source discharges to the SCB.

This is the first year of an ongoing research project.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition

c. Comparative Mass Emissions to the Southern California Bight

One tool used to evaluate the risk of environmental impairment is estimation of mass emissions for constituents of concern. This allows comparisons over time for a single source, in order to assess if discharges are increasing or decreasing in magnitude relative to other sources. It also allows comparison amongst different sources to assess relative risk. SCCWRP has conducted mass emission comparisons from a variety of sources at periodic intervals dating back to 1970. Estimates of mass emissions from large publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) have been made annually for the last 38 years. Estimates from other sources (such as small POTWs, industrial dischargers, dredged material disposal, urban runoff, oil platforms, vessel discharges, and aerial deposition) have been conducted at frequencies of about every five years. SCCWRP’s last effort to comprehensively characterize all sources occurred in 2000.

The goal of the current project is to once again estimate mass emissions from all sources for the 2005-2006 time period in order to determine: 1) combined mass emissions; 2) relative contribution of each source; and 3) trends in mass emissions from each source over the last 38 years.

This is an ongoing project. This year will focus on compilation of discharge data from small POTWs, industrial dischargers, and power generating stations.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: None at this time

2. Measurement, Fate and Bioavailability

Since its inception, SCCWRP has been developing contaminant measurement methodologies for quantifying trace constituents (e.g., DDT, PAH, lead, mercury and copper) at low levels in hard-to-analyze media (e.g. seawater, sediments, tissues). Analytical protocols developed and/or improved at SCCWRP have been utilized in numerous studies internationally and have frequently become the “standard method” used in routine monitoring laboratories throughout the SCB. One recent example of this technology development is the use of in situ passive water column sampling devices based on solid phase microextraction (SPME). SPMEs enable cost-effective measurement of trace organic contaminants at ultra-low levels. Obtaining these measurements previously required dozens of hours, thousands of dollars per sample, and highly sensitive expensive equipment, but now can be achieved with equal or better quality for under $100.

This year’s Research Plan highlights two projects that follow the theme of research-grade method development for ultra-trace level organic pollutants. The first project focuses on practical applications of the new SPME technology. The second project develops analytical methods for toxaphene.

a. In situ Measurement of Toxic Organic Compounds in Sediment Pore Water

While bulk sediments may contain measurable quantities of toxic hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) like PAHs, PCBs, and chlorinated pesticides, it is the bioavailable fraction freely dissolved in sediment pore water that is most likely to stress biological organisms. Quantification of the bioavailable fraction of HOCs with current technology is extremely difficult. Concentrations found by traditional methods often lack the sensitivity to assess impairment to aquatic life, while non-target compounds often interfere with accurate and reliable measurements. Passive methods that measure freely dissolved HOCs in sediment pore water offer clear advantages over traditional ex situ techniques, but have not yet been optimized and/or tested for this application. SCCWRP’s recently developed in situ SPME sampler may represent the simple, inexpensive, and sensitive method needed to assess biological impacts.

The goal of this study is to develop and test an in situ sediment pore water sampler based on SPME technology for hydrophobic organic pollutants in order to more accurately quantify exposure of sediment dwelling organisms to HOCs. This project consists of three major tasks: 1) selection and calibration of SPME fibers for a wide range of regulated HOCs; 2) optimization and performance evaluation of prototype samplers under controlled laboratory conditions; and 3) in situ testing of the most promising sampler configuration.

This is the third year of a three-year study. Calibration of SPME fibers with different sorbent coating thicknesses for PAHs, PCBs, DDTs and chlordanes was accomplished in the first year. The sampler’s capability to mimic bioavailability of HOCs to benthic invertebrates under controlled laboratory conditions was demonstrated in the second year. In year three, the successful sampler design will be deployed in situ at several field locations representing a range of sediment quality conditions, and its measurement will be compared with multiple chemical and biological effects endpoints.

Lead Investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Chinese Academy of Sciences (Dr. Eddy Zeng), SPAWAR Systems Center (Dr. Bart Chadwick), US Environmental Protection Agency (Bruce Duncan), Texas A&M (Dr. Kirby Donnelly), Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (Dr. Jeff Crooks)

External Funding Support: Cooperative Institute of Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology

c. Development of Analytical Methods for Toxaphene

Toxaphene is the generic name of a complex organochlorine pesticide mixture that was used extensively during the last half of the 20th century. Banned in the 1980s, residues of toxaphene (like chlordanes, DDTs and PCBs) are contaminants of concern due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential for toxic effects. However, the environmental fate and behavior of toxaphene is complex and poorly understood, even though it appears as a cause for impairment on several 303(d) listed waterbodies within California. The standard analytical methodologies used to generate environmental toxaphene data (e.g. US EPA Method 8081) suffer from poor selectivity, and hence, specificity for toxaphene. The utility of approved methods is further compromised by profound changes in residue congener profiles in the environment. In recent years, the application of new instrumental techniques and the availability of purified standards have allowed analysts to better characterize toxaphene contamination. Development and acceptance of these updated methods is crucial for confirming previous reports of toxaphene contamination in impaired waterways.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new determinative method for identification and quantification of toxaphene residues in organic extracts of environmental samples. Matrices of interest for this determinative method include natural waters, aquatic sediments, and biological tissue.

This is the second year of a three-year study. In the first year, analytical protocols for processing and analyzing environmental samples (including fish tissue) for residues of toxaphene were developed, validated, and documented. In the second year, SCCWRP will make preparations for a laboratory intercalibration exercise, which must be conducted as part of the EPA’s method approval process. In the third year, researchers will coordinate and participate in the aforementioned laboratory intercalibration exercise.

Lead Investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: US Environmental Protection Agency (Dr. Shen-Yi Yang), National Institute of Standards and Technology (Dr. John Kucklick), Ashland Chemical (formerly Hercules Inc.) (Tim Hassett)

External Funding Support: Ashland Chemical, US Navy

3. Sediment Quality

Many chemical contaminants that enter coastal waters are deposited in sediment where they can accumulate to harmful concentrations and may adversely impact sediment dwelling organisms, as well as fish and wildlife that consume contaminated prey. The assessment and management of sediment quality is an important component of many monitoring and regulatory programs. Because a complex array of sediment processes influence the bioavailability of sediment contamination to marine life, a multifaceted approach is needed to assess their impact on ecosystems and human and wildlife health. Throughout its history, SCCWRP has actively developed methods for assessing sediment quality. Past and current research has included the development of tools for the assessment of three key components that influence sediment quality: sediment chemistry and contaminant bioavailability, sediment toxicity, and benthic macrofauna community condition. Work on applying these methods in regional monitoring assessments has also resulted in the development of new approaches for the interpretation of sediment quality data. This research culminated in inclusion of many of these tools in the State Water Resources Control Board recent adoption of sediment quality objectives (SQOs), the first such criteria to be developed for any state in the nation.

The first four projects in this section of the Research Plan will continue improving methods for assessing the impacts of sediment contamination. The fifth, a new project, looks specifically at the efficacy of molecular tools for evaluating sediment toxicity. The sixth works to develop comparability among benthic infauna assessment methodologies between southern California and other parts of the nation. The last two are new projects dealing with development of innovative techniques for sediment toxicity and benthic community assessment (sediment profile imaging and DNA barcoding).

a. Guidance for Implementation of a Sediment Quality Assessment Framework for Marine Bays

Marine bays in southern California are highly developed regions that support many uses, including recreation, commerce and shipping. These uses and their proximity to urban areas permit a wide variety of contaminant inputs, sometimes resulting in contaminated sediment. Environmental managers need to evaluate the significance of sediment contamination as part of water quality assessments or sediment cleanup activities. Historically, those assessments have differed from project to project in what parameters were used and what thresholds were meaningful for each parameter. The State of California recently adopted sediment quality objectives (SQOs) for marine bays based largely on SCCWRP research. The SQO assessment framework is based on integrating multiple lines of evidence (i.e., sediment chemistry, toxicity, and benthic infauna) to provide a stronger scientific foundation than using a single line of evidence.

The State now faces the challenge of providing the training and guidance necessary for successful implementation of the SQO assessment framework. The goal of this project is to assist the State in developing such guidance materials.

This is the third year of a three-year project. The first and second years focused on production of technical reports and other publications that provided the underlying scientific foundation for the SQOs. Several workshops were also conducted to provide training in data analysis and interpretation. The third year will focus on providing additional training to users of the SQO framework, and the development of improved data analysis tools.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board (Chris Beegan); numerous regulated, regulatory and non-governmental organizations

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

b. Development of a Sediment Quality Assessment Framework for Estuaries

Estuaries represent the interface between marine and freshwater habitats, adding a layer of physical complexity to sediment assessments. Sediment quality assessment tools developed for marine habitats may not be appropriate in estuaries for many reasons: different biological communities; salinity differences that affect the chemical form or bioavailability of contaminants; different types of contaminants; and different methods to measure toxicity. There has been less sediment quality monitoring of estuaries as compared to marine bays. As a result, there is currently insufficient information available to support development of assessment tools. Such tools are needed, though, because the State of California intends to develop sediment quality objectives (SQOs) for estuaries.

The goal of this project is to develop a framework for assessing sediment quality in California’s estuaries. The project consists of four major elements: 1) compiling data on estuarine sediment quality; 2) developing and calibrating methods for evaluating sediment contaminant exposure, toxicity, and benthic community alterations; 3) developing a framework for data integration and interpretation; and 4) developing guidance and tools to assist managers in conducting estuarine sediment quality assessments.

This is the fifth year of a six-year project. Compilation of existing sediment quality data and analyses to identify the characteristics of estuarine and bay benthic assemblages took place during the first two years. The third and fourth years included field sampling of sediment quality in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta and compilation of additional data on estuarine benthic assemblages. The fifth year will include data analysis and development of methods for chemistry, toxicity, and benthic community data interpretation. This work will focus on two habitat types: the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta and the mesohaline portion of San Francisco Bay.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board (Chris Beegan), San Francisco Estuary Institute, numerous regulated, regulatory and non-governmental organizations

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

c. Framework to Assess Impacts from Sediment Contaminant Bioaccumulation

SCCWRP’s sediment quality assessment tools developed to date have focused on effects on organisms living in the sediment, but sediment contamination can indirectly impact organisms that do not reside in sediments and are exposed to sediment contamination through the food chain. Key targets for these effects are marine birds, fish, and humans. The assessment of impacts due to bioaccumulation in prey organisms and their consumption by humans and wildlife is often the driving factor in ecological risk assessments, especially with respect to impacts from DDTs, PCBs, and mercury. The assessment of indirect effects due to sediment contamination is more complex and requires a different conceptual approach than that used to assess direct effects on benthic communities. The potential for indirect effects on an organism is influenced by several factors, including the component of the sediment contaminants that are biologically available to prey species, the complexity of the food web, movements of the receptor organisms, food consumption rate, and species-specific variations in chemical sensitivity. No consistent framework exists among California’s environmental management agencies to assess sediment quality with respect to these indirect impacts, limiting the ability of managers to fully and fairly evaluate sediment quality data.

The goal of this project is to develop an assessment framework based on a multiple line of evidence approach for evaluating the indirect effects of sediment contamination on humans and wildlife. The project consists of three major elements: 1) developing a conceptual framework for data integration and interpretation; 2) developing bioaccumulation models and other tools for data analysis; and 3) evaluating the assessment framework for various case scenarios that represent a range of applications.

This is the fourth year of a six-year project. The development of a work plan for the project, establishment of advisory and steering committees, development of a draft conceptual approach, and case studies were conducted during the first three years. The fourth year will include the development of data analysis tools and evaluation of the framework and tools within selected case scenarios.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board (Chris Beegan), San Francisco Estuary Institute (Ben Greenfield), numerous regulated, regulatory and non-governmental organizations

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

d. Development of Toxicity Identification Methods for Current Use Pesticides

Identifying the specific constituents responsible for the toxicity observed in sediment toxicity tests is a complex task. Conventional chemical analyses are rarely sufficient to identify the culpable constituents because most environmental samples contain mixtures of contaminants. There are also many factors, such as sediment organic carbon content or grain size, that affect bioavailability of chemical constituents. However, identification of the constituents responsible for toxicity is an important management endpoint for activities like site remediation, sediment quality objective compliance and total maximum daily load establishment. Toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) refers to a sequence of laboratory investigations used to help determine the cause of toxicity. This sequence includes laboratory methods to first characterize the general classes of toxicants present (e.g., metals), then identify and confirm the specific constituents causing the effects (e.g., copper). Standardized characterization and identification methods are available for water samples, but fewer methods are available for sediments. Moreover, reliability and specificity of the sediment methods are poorly understood.

Recent TIE applications by SCCWRP have implicated organic contaminants as a probable cause of toxicity at several sites in southern California and suggest that current use pesticides such as pyrethroids may be the primary cause for toxicity. However, many other contaminants are present in these samples and TIE methods for pyrethroid pesticides have not been developed for marine sediments, so it is difficult to confirm that these pesticides are the responsible toxic constituents. The goal of this project is to develop and refine toxicity identification methods for current use pesticides in marine sediments. This goal will be addressed through three types of activities: 1) method development studies with spiked water and sediment samples; 2) application of the methods to field sites containing toxic sediments; and 3) collaborative studies with other research institutions.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year focused on adapting existing methods for freshwater sediments and surface water to marine samples. The second year included studies to refine these methods for marine toxicity test species, improve the specificity of methods for pyrethroid pesticides, and investigate the utility of the methods with field samples. The third year will include spiked sediment and water experiments to define threshold effect levels for legacy and current use pesticides, further refinement of TIE treatments for pesticides, and establishment of a statewide workgroup to improve collaboration and coordination of TIE development activities among research organizations.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: City of Los Angeles (Dr. Shokoufe Marashi, Dr. Gerald McGowen)

External Funding Support: City of Los Angeles

e. Molecular Tools for Toxicity Identification Evaluation

The toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) process is used to determine the causal agents in sediment samples found to be toxic in laboratory tests. This process uses a variety of chemical/physical separation methods and treatments to remove one or more toxicant classes, coupled with toxicity testing following each manipulation. The time and cost associated with conducting a TIE in this manner can be substantial. These approaches have generally been successful in differentiating broad classes of toxicants in some sediments, but less successful for identifying individual pollutants. Because sediment TIE approaches rely on acute toxicity testing, they are not applicable to sediments with low-level toxicity, causing sublethal effects. In addition, separation approaches cannot consider synergistic or antagonist effects associated with contaminant mixtures. For all these reasons, sediment TIEs (or other toxicant identification methods) are often not implemented, forcing environmental managers to rely on incomplete or inaccurate information to determine the constituents responsible for impaired sediment quality. Improved TIE methods are needed that can cost-effectively provide more detailed information applicable to a variety of contaminant types and concentrations. Recent advances in molecular biotechnology may allow development and application of such methods.

The goal of this project is to develop a new suite of TIE tools based on genomics (e.g., analysis of gene expression or protein production). This goal will be addressed through three types of activities: 1) gene sequencing and microarrays development for marine invertebrates; 2) development of gene expression profiles for target contaminants; and 3) comparison of toxicant identification based on gene expression results to conventional TIE methods.

This is the first year of a five-year study. The first year will focus on sequencing RNA from marine amphipods exposed to a variety of contaminant stressors, and development of a prototype microarray.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Josh Westfall), San Francisco Estuary Institute, UC Davis (Brian Anderson), UC Berkeley (Dr. Chris Vulpe)

f. Development of Benthic Infauna as Indicators for Sediment Quality Assessment

Benthic macrofauna are often used to assess the condition of sediment quality because they cannot escape exposure to sediment-associated contaminants. They also integrate the effects of multiple co-occurring contaminants, and have differential sensitivity to various contaminants, enabling an understanding of community responses to contamination induced stress. Interpreting impacts to benthic infaunal assemblages, however, is challenging because of the biological community complexity: hundreds of species and thousands of individuals are often found in one square meter of sediment. Benthic indices remove much of the complexity associated with data interpretation by communicating complex biological information to environmental managers and the public using a single number that ranks sites on a scale from “good” to “bad”. The benthic index value can be used by managers to prioritize impacted sites, track trends over time or correlate benthic biological responses with stressor data. Unfortunately, benthic indices have only been developed for a subset of marine habitats, inhibiting application to large spatial scale assessments. Furthermore, where they have been developed for different habitats, few studies have calibrated multiple indices against each other to ensure that index scores across habitats indicate similar levels of impact.

The goal of this project is to develop intercalibrated marine and estuarine benthic indices for multiple habitats. The development of intercalibrated benthic indices will be accomplished through three tasks: 1) compile new and existing data with synoptic benthic infaunal and environmental data; 2) evaluate traditional and novel benthic index approaches for use in California bays and estuaries; and 3) assist the EPA with evaluating traditional and novel benthic index approaches for use in west coast bays and estuaries.

This is the second year of a two-year study. The first year will focus on assembling data and evaluating benthic indices. The second year will focus on intercalibrating the benthic indices among different habitats.

Lead Investigator: Ananda Ranasinghe (anandar@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: US Environmental Protection Agency Pacific Coast Ecology Branch (Dr. Henry Lee, Dr. Melanie Frazier), USGS Pacific Coast Ecosystem Information System (Deborah Reusser), State of Washington Department of Ecology (Margaret Dutch)

External Funding Support: US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), State of Washington Department of Ecology

g. Sediment Profile Imaging for Evaluating Benthic Community Condition

Benthic infauna are used extensively as indicators of sediment quality. However, traditional benthic assessments involve identifying and counting organisms, which is time-consuming and labor intensive. There is a shortage of trained taxonomists who identify and count benthic organisms, even as the demand increases because of regulatory programs such as the State of California’s Sediment Quality Objectives. Fewer taxonomists are being trained than in the past and many existing taxonomists are approaching retirement age.

The goal of this project is to investigate an alternate method of measuring benthic community condition: sediment profile imagery (SPI). The SPI is a field-deployed digital camera that captures cross-sectional images of soft-bottom environments. These images reveal important benthic morphology such as burrows, tubes of infaunal organisms, and the redox potential discontinuity.

This is the second year of a four-year study. The first year focused on data collection. Side-by-side comparisons between SPI and traditional benthic assessments were taken at 74 sites in Los Angeles Harbor, Long Beach Harbor, and San Diego Bay in coordination with the Bight’08 Regional Marine Monitoring Program. To assess the ability of SPI to track known gradients of impact, images were collected at 39 sites near the mouth of Chollas Creek, an urban watershed in San Diego Bay that is the subject of contaminated sediment TMDL. During the second and third years, the images will be processed and the infaunal samples will be identified. The fourth year will focus on evaluating SPI performance.

Lead Investigator: Ananda Ranasinghe (anandar@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: US EPA Office of Research and Development (Dr. Giancarlo Cicchetti), Bight’08 participating laboratories

h. DNA Barcoding for Assessing Benthic Infauna Communities

Assemblages of benthic species are used to assess environmental conditions. However, traditional methods for identifying and counting benthic infauna as indicators of sediment quality can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. This project addresses that challenge by examining a new molecular biological tool for rapidly identifying species within benthic community assemblages. DNA barcoding espouses the idea that all biological species can be identified using a short gene sequence from a standardized position in the genome – a “DNA barcode” – analogous to the black stripes of the Universal Product Code used to distinguish commercial products. Using standard and widely available tools of molecular biology, DNA is extracted from the tissue of specimens. The barcode region is then isolated, replicated by PCR amplification, and sequenced. Building a library of barcode sequences from known reference specimens is the first step. After that, unknown specimens can be identified by ‘looking up’ their sequences in the reference library. Thus, building a library of benthic invertebrate species barcodes may enable rapid assessment of the species composition for benthic infauna samples, which can be interpreted to correspond with other benthic indices. Additionally, examination of barcode data will likely reveal instances where a reassessment of morphologically-defined species is warranted. For instance cryptic (previously unrecognized) species may be discovered, or a merger of groups previously believed to be separate species may be indicated. Thus, one short-term benefit of DNA barcoding will be clarification of the catalog of benthic marine invertebrate species taxonomy for southern California.

The goal of our DNA barcoding project is to assess the efficacy of barcoding for rapidly identifying benthic invertebrate species for use in assessing environmental conditions in the Southern California Bight. The project will involve three steps: 1) establish a DNA barcode reference library of vouchered reference specimens that have been identified using traditional taxonomic methods and have also been genetically sequenced to identify their unique genetic barcode. The barcode must consistently identify all members of the species, while also excluding closely related species, 2) develop protocols for sample processing. Current methods for preserving benthic invertebrates for traditional identification rely on formalin as an initial fixative, which renders the samples unsuitable for molecular methods. It will be necessary to modify existing preservation methods to accommodate subsequent molecular methods, and 3) determining how to incorporate barcode data into environmental indices. Current environmental indices are based on abundance of individual species as indicators, whereas barcode data may not be as quantitative regarding the number of individuals within a species present in the sample.

This is the first year of a three-year study. The first year will focus on molecular analysis to establish a barcoding library for the dominant benthic species in the SCB.

Lead Investigator: Peter Miller (peterm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: US Environmental Protection Agency (Dr. Mark Bagley), SCCWRP member agencies

4. Emerging Contaminants

Much has been learned about the priority legacy pollutants such as DDT, PCBs, mercury and lead that were studied extensively by SCCWRP in its first three decades of existence. Less is currently known about the sources, fate and effects of newly developed chemicals, especially those only recently manufactured and used in a widespread manner. These so-called “contaminants of emerging concern” (CECs) number in the thousands and can be classified into four major categories: pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), current use pesticides (CUPs), natural and/or synthetic hormones, and industrial and commercial chemicals (ICCs). Examples of emerging contaminants are oxybenzone (active ingredient in sunscreen), fipronil (an insecticide used to combat termites and fire ants), ethinyl estradiol (active ingredient in birth control pills), and PBDEs (a flame retarding additive in electronics and clothing). These chemicals have not been extensively evaluated, often due to the lack of available measurement methods, but they represent a potential risk to non-target organisms after being released to the environment. Limited studies suggest that some emerging contaminants can exert toxic effects at relatively low concentrations.

This year’s Research Plan contains four continuing projects geared toward developing a better understanding of the occurrence, fate, effects, and assessment of emerging contaminants. One new project supports a statewide effort to address emerging contaminants in recycled water.

a. Analytical Methods for Emerging Contaminants

The list of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) is large and increasing daily. In many cases, levels of CECs are very low (e.g. parts per billion or less). While existing analytical methods may be appropriate for some target compounds, standardized intercalibrated methods are not yet available for the vast majority of emerging contaminants. Another complicating factor is that a myriad of environmental toxicants are likely to co-occur in the environment. Sampling and analysis of these multiple chemical classes currently requires substantial expertise, labor, and cost. As a result, little to no effort has been taken to measure these constituents, or to match the chemical concentrations with biological effects data.

The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate analytical methods for detection and quantification of specific classes of emerging contaminants in various matrices (e.g. water, sediment, and biological tissues) and at environmentally relevant levels. The initial focus of this study will be on the more hydrophobic contaminant classes (i.e., those that accumulate in sediment and biological tissues) including pyrethoids and PBDEs. A second objective is to incorporate cost-effective passive sampling technology (e.g., SPME) in these methodologies wherever possible.

This is the third year of a three-year study. The first year resulted in the development and validation of analytical methods for pyrethroids and PBDEs in sediment and tissue samples. The second year resulted in the successful calibration of passive sampling devices for selected emerging contaminants, including pyrethroid pesticides. The third year will validate the developed methods via laboratory intercalibration comparisons and field trials, and will also evaluate the feasibility of incorporating additional analytical techniques to further improve the methods (e.g. supplementing SPME with electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry (ECNI-MS)). Methods for additional classes of emerging contaminants will also be developed.

Lead Investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, United States Geological Survey, City of Los Angeles, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Loyola Marymount University (Dr. Rachel Adams), California State University Long Beach (Richard Gossett), National Institute of Standards and Technology (Dr. John Kucklick), San Francisco Estuary Institute (Dr. Susan Klosterhaus)

b. Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Contaminants in Coastal Habitats

Recent studies have suggested that emerging contaminants in the coastal SCB may be affecting wildlife. Sediment toxicity in embayments has been linked to the occurrence of current use pesticides (see Development of Toxicity Identification Methods for Current Use Pesticides), while levels of brominated flame retardants found in SCB wildlife are among the highest in the nation. Initial efforts to determine likely sources and/or causative chemical agents in each of these cases, however, have focused on regulated, “legacy” contaminants and have been largely inconclusive. A variety of factors have prevented measurement of these constituents in SCB ecosystems, particularly where they are matched with biological effects data (see Analytical Methods for Emerging Contaminants).

The goal of this project is to assess the input, occurrence, and levels of emerging contaminants throughout the SCB. This project will identify those classes of emerging contaminants that are being discharged into the marine environment as well as those that persist and accumulate in sediments and biota. SCCWRP aims to gain a better understanding of the occurrence, relative source input, and potential for chemically mediated effects due to emerging contaminants in the SCB ecosystem.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first year identified and measured several classes of emerging contaminants in POTW effluent, receiving seawater, marine sediment and fish. The second year documented levels of PBDEs in marine mammal tissue collected from coastal locations throughout the SCB. The third year will be devoted to documenting PBDE levels in sediment, invertebrate and fish tissue throughout the SCB. The fourth and fifth years will examine the input history of emerging contaminants, including alternative brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in dated sediment cores from the Palos Verdes Shelf and more recent contamination in surface sediments collected for the 2008 Bight Regional Monitoring Program.

Lead Investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Orange County Sanitation District, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Geological Survey, University of California Riverside (Dr. Daniel Schlenk), California State University Long Beach (Richard Gossett), Southern Nevada Water Authority (Dr. Shane Snyder), Mississippi State Chemistry Lab (Dr. Kevin Armbrust), San Francisco Estuary Institute, Bight’08 Regional Monitoring Participants

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

c. Science Advisory Panel for the State of California Recycled Water Policy

In early 2009, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted their Recycled Water Policy, part of which addresses constituents/contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Since regulatory requirements for recycled water must be based on the best available peer-reviewed science, the Policy mandated the convening of an expert advisory panel to assess the current state of scientific knowledge regarding CEC risks to the general public and the environment. Among the specific issues to be addressed by the panel are questions such as: “What are the appropriate constituents to be monitored in recycled water?”, “What toxicological information is available for these constituents?”, and “What levels of CECs should trigger enhanced monitoring in recycled, ground or surface waters?” Recommendations by the expert panel will be used by the Water Board and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to make informed policy decisions on CEC issues.

The goal of this project is to recruit, convene, and support a panel of scientific experts that can provide the State with recommendations for addressing CEC issues in the Recycled Water Policy. To accomplish this, the panel will utilize state-of-the-science information to make recommendations. SCCWRP will collate and synthesize these for the Water Board and CDPH in a written report, and will address and respond to comments from peer reviewers and the public.

This is the first year of a two-year project. The first year will focus on engaging the panel members in a series of meetings to introduce and address the Recycled Water Policy issues, and to formulate and document Panel recommendations. The second year will focus on refining/clarifying these recommendations based on external input and submission of the final recommendations to the State Water Board.

Lead Investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: None

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

d. Emerging Contaminant Effects on Coastal Fish

A variety of emerging contaminants have been found on the coastal shelf and embayments of the Southern California Bight (SCB). Some emerging contaminants can disrupt the endocrine system of non-target organisms after being released to the environment, since they mimic or interfere with the action of reproductive hormones such as estrogen or testosterone. In the SCB, indicators of estrogen exposure such as egg yolk protein production and egg development in male flatfish on the coastal shelf have been observed, but the cause and significance of these effects is unknown. Virtually no information is available on endocrine disruption in embayment and/or wetland fish species. Moreover, little is known about the background levels and natural variability of these biological responses, making it difficult to determine the environmental significance of endocrine disruption due to emerging contaminants.

The goals of this project are to: 1) determine which groups of emerging contaminants fish are exposed to; 2) determine whether coastal and wetland fish show evidence of endocrine disruption or other impacts associated with emerging contaminant exposure; and 3) determine whether effects on fish are associated with POTW effluent or nonpoint source discharges.

This is the fifth year of a six-year study. In the first year, methods were developed to assess endocrine disruption and other biological effects by measuring vitellogenin, hormones, and gonad condition. In the second and third years, preliminary experiments were conducted to construct and validate a gene microarray (see also Molecular Tools for Assessing Contaminant Exposure and Effects) and field studies were initiated to measure the effects of endocrine response in flatfish living near POTW outfalls. Sample and data analyses from a coastal shelf field study were completed in the fourth year. Laboratory exposures of fish to POTW effluent and additional field sampling to determine baseline conditions in reference flatfish were also conducted, along with investigation of effects in wetlands were also conducted. The fifth year will concentrate on chemical and biological analysis of tissue samples from wetlands collected during the previous year’s laboratory and field activities.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Joe Gully), Orange County Sanitation District (Dr. Jeff Armstrong), City of San Diego (Dr. Tim Stebbins), City of Los Angeles (Curtis Cash), City of Oxnard (Scott Johnson), University of California San Diego (Dr. Michael Baker), University of California Riverside (Dr. Dan Schlenk), University of California Davis (Dr. Gary Cherr), California State University Long Beach (Dr. Kevin Kelley), Ocean Institute, 2008 Bight Regional Monitoring participants

External Funding Support: Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Orange County Sanitation District, City of San Diego, City of Los Angeles, EPA Region IX, Regional Water Quality Control Board 8, State Water Resources Control Board

e. Molecular Tools for Assessing Contaminant Exposure and Effects

Several indicators of endocrine disruption, including elevated vitellogenin and atypical hormone concentrations, have been detected in male fish collected from areas near large POTWs (see Emerging Contaminant Effects on Coastal Fish). However, it is not known whether the observed effects are caused by legacy contamination, ongoing effluent and/or nonpoint discharges of emerging contaminants, other factors, or a combination thereof. Both the source and identity of the endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) need to be determined before appropriate management actions can be taken. Unfortunately, the data from previous studies are not sufficient for determining the nature and source of contaminant exposure. This is largely due to technology limitations and the relatively large expense of generating the necessary chemical data. Rapid advances in biotechnology have resulted in new tools that measure changes in gene expression using microarray technology to investigate the response of organisms to environmental stressors. These gene microarrays can potentially provide a rapid and comprehensive evaluation of an organism’s response to contaminants.

The goal of this project is to develop and apply a gene microarray tool for investigating contaminant exposure and identifying impacts on sentinel organisms in the coastal marine environment. This project is comprised of four tasks: 1) develop and refine microarrays for use with southern California fish species; 2) compare gene expression measurements to other environmental assessment methods; 3) investigate the correspondence between molecular changes (e.g., gene expression and endocrine disruption) in fish to exposure from POTW effluent or nonpoint (runoff) discharges; and 4) develop molecular tools for other sentinel species.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first year focused on developing a prototype gene microarray for flatfish. The second year included refinement of the microarray, development of qPCR analysis methods and analysis of fish collected from POTW versus non-POTW locations. The third year will include the analysis of samples from fish exposed to POTW effluent and fish in wetland areas, as well as comparison of the gene expression results to other measurement types.

Lead Investigator: Steve Bay (steveb@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: University of California San Diego (Dr. Michael Baker), University of California Riverside (Dr. Dan Schlenk), University of California Davis (Dr. Gary Cherr), California State University Long Beach (Dr. Kevin Kelley), Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Joe Gully), Orange County Sanitation District (Dr. Jeff Armstrong), City of San Diego (Dr. Tim Stebbins), City of Los Angeles (Curtis Cash)

External Funding Support: EPA Region IX, Regional Water Quality Control Board 8, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Orange County Sanitation District, City of San Diego, City of Los Angeles

B. NUTRIENTS

Nutrient over-enrichment is one of the leading causes of impairment in the nation’s waters. Excessive nutrient loading causes eutrophication, which is an increase in the production of organic matter in the form of algae and aquatic plants. Eutrophication can occur in estuaries, lagoons, streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters. The direct effects of eutrophication may include harmful algal blooms, a decrease in aquatic species diversity, hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen levels), poor aesthetics, odor, altered food webs, and loss of critical habitat. In coastal areas, the upstream ecological changes caused by nutrient enrichment can have far-reaching consequences downstream, such as lowered fishery production, loss or degradation of seagrass and kelp beds, smothering of benthic organisms, nuisance odors, and impacts on human and marine mammal health.

Though eutrophication may create significant economic and social costs, the extent and magnitude of eutrophication has not been well characterized in southern California aquatic ecosystems. Data gaps exist with respect to identification and estimation of nutrient loads from various sources. The factors that control the biological response to these nutrient loads are likewise unknown. Unlike sediment contaminants, many of which transform slowly if at all, nutrients are dynamic, changing forms rapidly and transferring between media (i.e., sediments, water, air), with numerous mechanisms for active biological uptake and release. Effective management requires a thorough understanding of these basic nutrient biogeochemistry processes.

SCCWRP scientists have developed a research agenda that addresses these data gaps by studying both nutrient dynamics and algal responses. Research on the extent of eutrophication and its causal factors will assist environmental scientists in defining critical pathways that regulators and stakeholders can use for controlling nutrient-related impacts. A second research focus is to develop a set of assessment tools and models to improve the management of eutrophication in southern California aquatic ecosystems. Ultimately, this research should aid managers and policy-makers in developing critical nutrient threshold levels for restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems.

This portion of the Research Plan features five projects. The first three are targeted at developing eutrophication assessment tools for streams and estuaries, while the fourth focuses on understanding eutrophication processes in lagoons. The fifth project is a new study, addressing nutrient loading contributions from atmospheric deposition in southern California.

a. Development of a Periphyton Bioassessment Tool for Southern California Streams

As primary producers, algae occupy the base of aquatic ecosystem food webs and are therefore a crucial component of healthy, highly functional streams. There are many factors that control algal growth, distribution, and community composition. These include exposure to light, water temperature, current speed, water chemistry, presence of grazers, substrate types, and channel morphology. As such, changes to a multitude of anthropogenic and natural factors can affect streams, as mediated through algae. Southern California streams range from pristine to highly urbanized, spanning effluent- and urban-runoff dominated systems, as well as streams susceptible to atmospheric deposition of nutrients and contaminants. Many southern California streams exhibit modified hydrology, are channelized, and are devoid of natural canopy. Such factors can contribute to excessive algal growth that, in turn, may impact many beneficial uses. Because of complex factors that influence algal growth and the variety of stream types and environmental conditions in California, causal relationships among these factors are not fully understood. An enhanced knowledge of stream algal dynamics can help in developing the tools necessary to determine when algal communities transition from their role as important components of a healthy ecosystem to that of a threat to beneficial uses. The desire is to create assessment tools, such as algal indices, that are diagnostic of nutrient impairment and other classes of anthropogenic disturbance.

The goal of this project is to produce tools utilizing benthic soft-bodied algae and diatoms (collectively called “periphyton”) communities for bioassessment of stream condition and nutrient impairment. This will be accomplished by: 1) compiling a data set of algal community composition, water chemistry, physical habitat, and landscape parameters for undisturbed (e.g., reference) southern California coastal streams; and 2) using the reference dataset to develop a Periphyton Index of Biotic Integrity (PIBI).

This is the third year of a three-year project. The first and second years were focused on developing protocols for periphyton collection, field sampling, and laboratory processing to begin creating a robust nutrient/periphyton reference dataset. In addition, during the second year, work began on developing comprehensive taxonomic resources for PIBI end-users, including a guide to regional flora of diatoms and soft-bodied algae, a georeferenced photo-library of specimens, and taxonomic keys. Preliminary analyses of data in the second year revealed a general response of the diatom assemblage to anthropogenic stress, as well as more specific diagnostic responses, such as associations of nitrogen-fixing diatom and soft-bodied taxa with low ambient concentrations of nitrate. Knowledge of these types of relationships is valuable for the development of the PIBI. The third year will focus on developing metrics for the PIBI and transferring the PIBI to managers and practitioners through release of the user-support materials, training workshops, and demonstration of its application in a watershed survey.

Lead Investigator: Betty Fetscher (bettyf@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: University of Colorado (Dr. Patrick Kociolek), California State Universities at San Marcos (Dr. Robert Sheath) and Monterey Bay (Dr. Marc Los Huertos)

b. Technical Support for Development of Nutrient Numeric Endpoints in California Estuaries

The EPA Region IX, the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), and SCCWRP have previously finalized a technical approach and framework for developing numeric nutrient endpoints (NNEs) for California estuaries. This approach is founded on two fundamental principles: 1) biological response indicators provide a more direct risk-based linkage to beneficial uses than nutrient concentrations alone; and 2) a weight of evidence approach with multiple indicators will produce NNEs with greater scientific validity. Current candidate indicators for numeric endpoint development include dissolved oxygen, a range of primary producer variables, such as macroalgal and microalgal biomass, nuisance submerged aquatic vegetation, toxin-forming harmful algal blooms, and general indicators such as water clarity, bad aesthetics and/or odors.

While this conceptual approach provides a sound platform for achieving NNEs, there are several data gaps that need to be filled before NNEs become a reality. The goal of this project is to address the data gaps that preclude a better understanding of nutrient loading and biogeochemical cycling in estuaries, as well as primary producer extent and distribution in California estuaries. Most importantly, scientists need to define the linkage between nutrient loading, primary production, and impacts to the management endpoints of concern. Without the knowledge of these linkages between the major stressor-response components of estuaries at risk of eutrophication, it is impossible to develop the predictive tools necessary to manage and regulate water quality. This research will (1) support the development of consistent statewide standards, (2) provide clear linkages between science-based criteria and impacted estuarine beneficial uses, and (3) provide regionally-specific data for better-performing models to help manage eutrophication.

This is the second year of a four-year study. The first year focused on filling data gaps by measuring dominant primary producer groups in California estuaries and evaluating appropriate dissolved oxygen numeric endpoints. Year two will focus on filling data gaps specific to eutrophication in San Francisco Bay and southern California estuaries. Year three will be dedicated to providing technical support to the SWRCB for selection of a dissolved oxygen numeric endpoint.

Lead Investigator: Martha Sutula (marthas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board, EPA Region IX, UC Davis (Dr. John Largier), UCLA (Dr. Peggy Fong), EPA Office of Research and Development (Dr. Naomi Dettenbeck, Dr. Jim Kaldy), 2nd Nature (Dr. Nicole Beck), Entrix Corp. (Dr. Camm Swift), San Francisco Estuary Institute (Dr. Lester McKee)

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

c. Investigation of Algal Nuisance and Relationships with Nutrient Sources in Rainbow Creek and the Santa Margarita River Watershed

The presence of nuisance algae in Southern California streams can alter water chemistry parameters such as dissolved oxygen and pH, as well as produce algal toxins and taste/odor problems. All of these factors can adversely affect stream biota, impact aquatic life and affect recreational beneficial uses. Management of eutrophication and nuisance algae requires an understanding of the factors controlling algal response to nutrient loads. While algal biomass is limited by nitrogen and/or phosphorus, it is also influenced by light availability, recent scour, and herbivory. To account for the relationships between ambient nutrient concentrations and algal nuisance, the Nutrient Numeric Endpoint (NNE) framework established “benthic biomass spreadsheet tools” relating ambient nutrient concentrations with algal biomass, while also accounting for stream physical factors such as velocity and canopy cover. However, opportunities to validate the benthic biomass spreadsheet tool have been limited, particularly in arid regions such as southern California.

Another important component of addressing nuisance algae is identifying and tracing specific nutrient sources to impaired waterbodies. In any given system, there can be multiple point and non-point sources of nutrients; nutrients may also be cycled in situ. Stable isotopes of key elements, such as 14N and 15N, show promise as a means to track nutrient sources and cycling. Different substrates (e.g., soil nitrogen, atmospheric nitrogen, chemical fertilizers, manure, and sewage) have unique isotopic signatures, much like fingerprints, that can potentially be used to identify the sources of nutrients to aquatic systems.

The Santa Margarita River watershed provides a valuable opportunity to study relationships between nutrient sources and algae. Rainbow Creek, in particular, contains a variety of land-use types, including agriculture, residential development, nurseries, and golf courses. Data from this study will provide a means of validating the NNE spreadsheet tool in our region, and will also shed light on the utility of stable isotope geochemistry tools for nutrient source tracking and their potential for application in TMDL development, refinement, and implementation. The goals of this project are to: 1) establish a reference data set of nutrient concentration-algal response for Rainbow Creek and selected other reaches within the Santa Margarita River (SMR) watershed, 2) validate the NNE spreadsheet tool against this dataset, and 3) identify the isotopic composition of nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate sources into the sampling reaches for this study and begin to trace sources and transformation processes.

This is the first year of a three-year project. This first year will focus on developing a study plan for the project, identifying sites, and initiating field sampling.

Lead Investigator: Betty Fetscher (bettyf@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: UC Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences (Dr. Adina Paytan)

d. Quantifying the Role of Sediments in Nutrient Cycling in Southern California Lagoons

Southern California estuaries and lagoons are heavily influenced by their urbanized watersheds. Watershed runoff, coupled with reduced tidal influence from restricted inlets, has resulted in nutrient-related impairments in many systems, such as excessive algal growth and low dissolved oxygen. Most existing management strategies focus on nutrient inputs during the growing season (i.e., summer dry weather inputs) because that is when eutrophication effects are most noticeable. Recent SCCWRP research, however, has indicated that sediments represent an important (sometimes primary) nutrient loading input during the growing season. Sediment nutrients are deposited following storm events that occur during the wet season and provide a continuous nutrient source through resuspension for summertime algal blooms. This two-part cycle that disconnects inputs from effects is just one example of several potential pathways that complicate management of southern California estuaries (See Technical Support for Development of Nutrient Numeric Endpoints in California Estuaries).

The goal of this project is to further understand the mechanisms and processes that control nutrient cycling in southern California lagoons. While previous SCCWRP research has indicated that sediment can be a particularly important pathway in some systems, differences in inputs, hydrology, and estuarine morphology preclude extrapolation to all estuaries. Ultimately, the goal is to extend this research to build dynamic computer simulation models that will link various sources of nutrients (including sediments) with algal growth, algal biomass, and dissolved oxygen within lagoons.

This is the third year of a three-year project. The first year focused on development of a conceptual framework to guide the collection of monitoring and special studies data. Year two focused on field sampling and data analysis. The third year will focus on aiding in the interpretation of study data for model development and final reporting.

Lead Investigators: Martha Sutula (marthas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: University of California Los Angeles (Dr. Peggy Fong), Louisiana State University (Dr. Jaye Cable)

e. Validation of Measurement Techniques for Quantifying Atmospheric Nutrient Deposition

While previous SCCWRP research has shown that atmospheric deposition can be a large source of trace metals to southern California watersheds, virtually no data exists on atmospheric deposition of nutrients and its contribution to water quality impairments in this region. One reason for the lack of data is that there are no standardized techniques for direct measurement of atmospheric nutrient deposition. Inferential methods, which have been frequently used in other regions, are both expensive and time consuming. Surrogate surfaces offer a simple, inexpensive method for direct measurement of atmospheric nutrient deposition, but surrogate surfaces have not been tested in the semi-arid conditions of southern California.

The goal of this project is to provide a reliable measurement technique for atmospheric nutrient deposition in southern California. Establishing sound measurement techniques is a first step to characterizing and understanding the impact of atmospheric nutrient deposition on water quality in southern California. This will be accomplished by refinement and comparison of surrogate surface methods against more standardized inferential methods to estimate atmospheric nutrient deposition.

This is the first year of a two-year project. The first year will focus on method development and validation in order to refine surrogate surface sampling techniques for atmospheric nutrient deposition, especially as it applies to a semi-arid climate. The second year will focus on filling data gaps by measuring atmospheric nutrient deposition in multiple locations in southern California in order to estimate the annual load to critical waterbodies of southern California.

Lead Investigator: Lisa Sabin (lisas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Bight’08 Water Quality participants

C. STORMWATER

Watershed development can affect urban runoff, and ultimately receiving waters, in several ways. Some of this effect can be attributed to hydromodification, where increased watershed imperviousness results in increased runoff volume and higher peak flows. These changes can cause stream bank erosion, alteration of aquatic habitats, and impacts to stream biota. Urbanization also tends to create a greater number of potential pollutant sources, which are more easily introduced into waterways since impervious surfaces inhibit filtering of the accumulated pollutants through soils.

Dynamic computer simulation models are used by stormwater managers to evaluate potential control strategies, including TMDL development and BMP implementation. These models rely on an understanding of the mechanisms that affect stormwater hydrology and the associated constituent loading. Knowledge of these factors helps managers pinpoint more effective control strategies for the locations and times periods of greatest risk. SCCWRP has placed great emphasis over the last decade on sampling stormwater runoff from dozens of sites over a variety of storm conditions. These data have been used to calibrate and validate watershed models for over 20 different southern California watersheds between Santa Monica Bay and San Diego. Watershed-specific studies have helped quantify factors such as erosion potential for different stream types, pollutant build-up and wash off, and particle size distributions and pollutant fractionation in runoff.

The goal of SCCWRP’s stormwater research program is to enhance understanding of the processes associated with stormwater runoff, and to develop models and other tools that can be used by managers to guide decisions about stormwater management. This year’s Research Plan contains four areas of emphasis. These projects are continuing studies which respectively deal with the effect of particles on pollutant transport, wildfire effects on runoff, development of tools to assess the effects of hydromodification and increased runoff volumes, and development of watershed models that can be used to evaluate potential management scenarios.

a. Dynamics and Partitioning of Stormwater Particles

Initial research by SCCWRP and others has indicated that most metals are preferentially associated with specific particle size fractions. Moreover, particle density and size distribution can change dramatically over the course of a storm. The dynamics of metal and organic contaminants associated with various particle sizes over the course of a storm have not been well described in southern California or elsewhere. Such information allows us to link particle-associated contaminant sources to estuaries, where they may settle out and degrade sediment quality. It also allows us to develop watershed models that accurately predict particle loading and associated contaminants for use in BMP design.

The objective of this project is to characterize the particle size distribution within stormwater discharge and to quantify the differential partitioning of pollutants of concern to various particle size fractions.

This is the third year of a four-year project. During the first year, SCCWRP scientists focused on developing and testing methods for continuous quantification of particle size distributions in stormwater. During the second year, the method was finalized and field validated. This year, these methods will be applied to begin evaluating stormwater particle dynamics and pollutant partitioning to specific particle size fractions.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Loyola Marymount University (Dr. John Dorsey), CRG Marine Labs (Richard Gossett)

b. Effects of Regionwide Fires on Deposition, Runoff, and Emissions to the SCB

Fire is a natural component of Mediterranean ecosystems, such as those found in southern California. Severe burns have been shown to increase runoff and sediment generation to downstream areas. Constituents associated with the increased runoff have the potential to affect water quality in downstream receiving waters and the near-shore coastal environment. This condition may be especially problematic for streams that are already impaired. Most research on post-fire water quality has focused on nutrient and sediment enrichment in relatively natural areas. However, post-fire runoff also has the potential to increase loadings of carbon, organic compounds such as PAHs, and trace metals. Constituent loadings may occur by several mechanisms over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Potential loading mechanisms include direct runoff, debris flows, or atmospheric deposition of ash followed by storm runoff. Investigating the magnitude and duration of fire effects in downstream and/or adjacent watersheds is critical to accounting for its influence on cumulative water quality impacts and attainment of water quality standards.

This goal of this project is to investigate the fate of water quality constituents resulting from southern California wildfires in order to quantify the effects of post-fire runoff on downstream metals and organics concentrations and loads. Both direct effects of runoff from burn areas and indirect effects associated with ash fallout will be investigated as part of this project.

This is the third year of a three-year project. The first year focused on monitoring of burned and unburned watersheds to begin assessing the relative contribution of post-fire runoff to downstream constituent loading. During the second year, a workshop was convened to synthesize the science on contaminant loading associated with fires and to begin development of a regional post-fire water quality response plan. This year’s work will include additional data collection and completion of the coordinated regional strategy for future post-fire effects monitoring.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition

c. Assessment and Management of Hydromodification Effects

The process of urbanization has the potential to affect stream courses by altering watershed hydrology. Development and redevelopment can increase the amount of impervious surfaces on formerly undeveloped landscapes. This reduces the capacity of the remaining pervious surfaces to capture and infiltrate rainfall so that, as a result, a larger percentage of rainfall becomes runoff during any given storm. In addition, runoff reaches the stream channel much more efficiently, so peak discharge rates post-development are higher compared to pre-development for an equivalent rainfall event. This phenomenon is termed hydromodification.

The goal of this project is to develop a series of tools supporting implementation of hydromodification management measures that could be used to better protect the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of streams and their associated beneficial uses. This project will provide tools to answer the following questions: 1) Which streams are at the greatest risk to the effects of hydromodification? 2) With increases in impervious cover, what are the anticipated effects in terms of increased erosion, sedimentation, or habitat loss? 3) What are some potential management measures that could be implemented to offset hydromodification effects and how effective are they likely to be?

This is the third year of a four-year project. The first two years focused on collection of geomorphic data from a range of stream sites and development of preliminary screening tools to rank the relative susceptibility of streams to hydromodification effects. This year will focus on refinement of the assessment tool and development of predictive models to assess expected stream channel response to hydromodification.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Colorado State University Fort Collins (Dr. Brian Bledsoe), Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC), Stillwater Sciences (Dr. Derek Booth)

d. Development and Evaluation of Watershed Models

Watershed models are important tools for effective water quality management. The benefits of models are that they: 1) facilitate our understanding of sources, transport, and fates of pollutants; 2) provide tools to evaluate potential management scenarios; 3) provide estimates of pollutant loadings over a range of time periods and conditions that are not able to be empirically monitored; and 4) help focus future research on areas of greatest uncertainty. SCCWRP has been able to quantify the precision, accuracy, and bias of hydrodynamic and water quality models for a variety of southern California watersheds. These models have been applied to assess pollutant loading over a range of conditions, and to inform development and implementation of several TMDLs.

The ongoing goal of SCCWRP’s modeling research is to develop and validate modeling applications for use in evaluating management scenarios. The project includes: 1) investigation of key physical processes that may affect management actions; 2) validation of model performance with field data; and 3) information transfer to the stormwater management community.

This is an ongoing project. In the coming year, watershed modeling will be applied to support four areas of SCCWRP’s overall research agenda. First, one of the main elements of SCCWRP’s Assessment and Management of Hydromodification Effects project involves development of models to assess the general magnitude and trajectory of effects on stream channels due to increased runoff from impervious surfaces. Second, several TMDL development efforts in San Diego County are being supported by SCCWRP’s modeling efforts. This project will allow testing of the transferability of the calibration data set developed for the Los Angeles area to other portions of southern California. Third, SCCWRP’s project on Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Wetlands is based on linking watershed and estuary models to help project physical and biological effects to coastal wetlands. Fourth, watershed models are being applied to help estimate nutrient loading from southern California’s coastal watersheds. These estimates will be used to support the development of a regional nutrient mass balance under the Bight ‘08 Regional Monitoring Program and estuary-specific eutrophication assessments under the Nutrient Numeric Endpoint project. This year a new element will be added to this modeling effort to specifically assess contributions of nutrients from agricultural lands. The agricultural runoff assessment will be applied initially in the upper Santa Ana Watershed and may be expanded to other areas in subsequent years.

Lead Investigator: Drew Ackerman (drewa@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition

D. WETLANDS

Southern California’s wetland and riparian areas have experienced dramatic losses over the last two hundred years, estimated at greater than 90% of the historical extent. As a result, approximately 19 state and federal agencies, as well as many local and non-profit organizations, sponsor programs aimed at conserving and managing wetlands. Implementation and coordination of these programs, though, is complicated by lack of basic information on the extent, distribution, and condition of both historical and contemporary wetlands. Further barriers are presented by the lack of standardized mapping and assessment tools that are necessary to compile such data.

Maps showing the present extent and condition of wetlands throughout California would offer a useful management tool, allowing managers to both assess the degree of wetland loss or impairment over time and monitor future changes. Along these same lines, examination of historical data (i.e., historical ecology research) aids effective wetland restoration activities by building knowledge of past wetland types, location, and extent. Beyond looking at spatial information, scientific modeling applications demonstrate understanding of wetland processes and allow the user to predict the effects of future changes (e.g., novel weather patterns that result from climate change). Models can be used by environmental planners and managers in designing approaches to prevent future wetland loss.

This section of the SCCWRP Research Plan deals with tools and programs for improving understanding of the status and trends in wetland extent and condition. The first section under this area focuses on comparison of the historical and current extent of wetlands. In contrast, the second element of wetland research projects focuses on addressing key questions related to future wetland management activities, such as updating regional wetland maps, the approach to accounting for uncertainty in wetland restoration planning, and planning for how coastal wetland extent may be affected by global climate change.

1. Historical Ecology

Historical analysis helps us to recognize the mechanisms of past wetland decline, provide templates for future restoration, and provide context for making decisions about resource allocation. Historical ecology also illuminates potential constraints for consideration in restoration planning by providing a better understanding of how ecosystems have functioned over time, and how they have adapted and responded to changes in the landscape. In this way, historical ecology provides valuable insight for restoration and conservation planning by detailing the appropriate locations and distribution of habitats and plant communities. It also provides insight as to where the greatest losses have occurred in terms of geography and specific habitat types.

The goal of SCCWRP’s historical ecology program is to build an understanding of the historical extent and distribution of southern California’s coastal wetlands, river systems, and watersheds. Previous research focused on translating historical information by digitizing and attributing historical southern California coastal topographic maps (t-sheets). The current project uses a variety of historical information sources to provide a conceptual picture of southern California’s coastal wetlands and watersheds circa 1850, as context for current-day wetland assessments and management efforts.

a. Historical Ecology of Coastal Watersheds

The overall goal of the proposed project is to provide new understanding about baseline conditions of streams and wetlands in the Ballona Creek, Ventura River, and Santa Clara River watersheds based on information from the mid- to late-19th century through the early 20th century. This information is currently not readily accessible to environmental managers, scientists, and the public, but could answer a range of key questions about the restoration potential of each watershed, such as where to have streams accessible to daylight, or how to recommend a landscaping palette of native vegetation for restoration projects. Similar to recreating the historical ecology of coastal wetlands, this project requires the acquisition, georeferencing, digitizing, and interpretation of t-sheets. However, much more information is also gathered to help fill in data gaps, cross-reference facts, and make estimations for interim time-periods. Specifically, information on wetland and riparian habitat is needed, especially in relation to natural events and management activities within the watershed, such as floods, fires, agriculture, channel modifications, and water diversions and impoundments.

The goals of this project are to develop a framework and infrastructure for compiling sentinel data sets on historic condition, and to use these data to evaluate how the distribution of wetlands has changed over time, specifically in response to key changes in land use or stream management. The changes to be examined include distribution of wetland and riparian habitat in the watershed during the period from 1850-1910, structure and composition of riparian habitat, riparian structure of the floodplain in wet vs. dry years, and spatial distribution of wetland and riparian vegetation community types and wildlife species.

This is the second year of the watershed historical ecology program, which includes several individual components. The first involves investigating the lower Ventura River and lower Santa Clara River watersheds. Data compilation and synthesis has been completed for this project and data analysis will begin this year. The second component, investigating the Ballona Creek watershed, will be initiated this year.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: San Francisco Estuary Institute (Robin Grossinger), California State University Northridge (Dr. Shauna Dark), University of Southern California (Dr. Travis Longcore), Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (Dr. Shelley Luce), Stillwater Sciences (Dr. Peter Downs)

2. Wetland Extent and Condition

In response to intense development pressure on coastal and watershed wetlands, California has established a 5-year Nonpoint Source (NPS) implementation plan that calls for management practices to protect wetland and riparian habitats from pollution. Successful protection and management of southern California’s wetlands relies on an understanding of the extent and condition of wetlands. However, many of the available regional or statewide maps of wetland location, composition, and status are either meager and/or outdated. While the previous section of the Research Plan addressed historical extent of wetland resources, this section focuses research on current and expected future wetland extent and condition.

This year’s research on wetland extent and condition includes continuing projects on mapping and prediction of climate change effects. A third continuing project is aimed at addressing uncertainties regarding appropriate habitat distributions for coastal wetland restoration projects.

a. Mapping the Extent and Distribution of Southern California Wetland and Riparian Resources

Despite the rapid urbanization of Southern California, recent wetland and riparian habitat maps do not exist for over two-thirds of the region. The Southern California Wetland Recovery Project (WRP), a collaboration of 17 state and federal agencies involved in regional wetland conservation, restoration and management, designated the update of wetland and riparian maps as a critical priority. The southern California region has also been designated as a high priority for mapping by the Statewide Wetland Inventory, an initiative of the State Wetlands Conservation Policy. Updated wetland and riparian maps are also key to improving wetland protection policies as the Regional Water Quality Control Boards update their Basin Plans.

The goal of this project is to update wetland and associated riparian habitat maps in southern California coastal watersheds. The objective is to produce a full set of wetland and riparian habitat maps for the region with a base imagery standard of year 2000 or newer. The geographic scope of this project includes all coastal watersheds from Point Conception to the border with Mexico. Maps will be created, ground-truthed and verified using methodology consistent with statewide standards for mapping of wetlands and riparian areas. WRP partner agencies and stakeholder groups will be involved in map verification to ensure accuracy of the final product.

This is the second of a three-year project. The first year focused on mapping activities. The second year will focus on producing and verifying draft maps.

Lead Investigator: Martha Sutula (marthas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: California State University Northridge (Dr. Shauna Dark), US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory

b. Effect of Climate Change on Coastal Wetland Extent and Distribution

The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report estimates that mean temperatures will increase by 2-4°C over the next 100 years. Associated with this temperature rise, increases in mean sea level between 20 and 60 cm are expected. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the area between Point Conception and the Mexican Border is at high to very high risk of adverse effects of sea level rise. In addition to sea level rise, global warming is also expected to affect rainfall-runoff patterns, with trends toward increased annual river runoff in the wintertime. Concern over the expected effects of global climate change and resultant sea level rise have led coastal countries and states, including California, to begin developing management plans to address expected future changes. Almost all of these planning efforts focus on an assessment of risks to populations and infrastructure associated with erosion and flooding from sea level rise. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of global climate change on the extent and distribution of coastal wetlands. This gap is particularly noteworthy given the large investment, both past and planned, in coastal wetland restoration.

The goal of this project is to address the anticipated effects of global climate change on the extent and distribution of southern California’s coastal wetlands. Specifically, SCCWRP will assess how changes in climatic forcing from both the ocean and terrestrial side of coastal wetlands may affect a range of wetland types that exist in a variety of physiographic and development settings. This project will build on previous work on global climate change by USGS, US Global Change Research Program, Synthesis and Upscaling of Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment Studies, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In addition, it will leverage studies of historic and contemporary wetland extent by SCCWRP and the San Francisco Estuary Institute to provide ecological context for assessing change. Finally, this work will be coordinated with related studies being conducted by the California Ocean Protection Council. Although focused on southern California, the long-term objective of this study is to develop an approach that can be expanded to answer similar questions about expected change in coastal wetlands throughout California.

This is the second year of a two-year project. The first year focused on summarizing the literature and developing the initial framework for the watershed and estuary models. The second year will focus on application of the models to assess several potential future climate scenarios.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: University of California Los Angeles (Dr. Terry Hogue), NOAA Center for Coastal Ocean Research (Carol Auer), Southern California Wetland Recovery Project

c. Science to Support Wetland Restoration Uncertainties

Wetland restoration decisions are often made in the face of uncertainty and/or in an attempt to balance competing interests. Restoration design parameters may be determined based on professional judgment or specific agency mandates, but are seldom made in the context of historical conditions or regional conservation priorities. Currently, the existing distribution of habitat types, along with various site constraints, has the strongest influence on restoration designs. However, wetland ecologists and managers agree that regional restoration goals should be incorporated into site-specific restoration plans and that these plans should incorporate contemporary and historical information about the distribution of wetland resources.

To begin addressing some of the uncertainties facing wetland restoration, the Science Advisory Panel (SAP) of the Wetland Recovery Project has identified a series of priority uncertainties that affect many wetland and stream restoration projects throughout southern California. SCCWRP staff will work with the SAP to develop a series of “white papers” that evaluate the status of science related to restoration uncertainties. They will also provide recommendations for priority research areas. The first white paper focused on a key decision in the planning of coastal wetland restoration projects – the determination of the types and spatial distribution of habitats to be included in a particular restoration project. It proposed a framework for incorporating the use of contemporary and historical wetland habitat information into restoration decisions for Southern California coastal estuaries. This framework was then applied to planning for the Ballona wetlands restoration.

This is the second year of a multi-year project. The second white paper will be initiated this year.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Wetland Recovery Project

E. BEACH WATER QUALITY

California’s beaches are among the most popular and the most extensively monitored coastal waters in the world. Each year, millions of people visit the state’s beaches while thousands of water quality measurements are taken to prevent exposure to pathogens. A great deal of expense goes into these monitoring efforts, but the existing system is not optimal for several reasons. First, monitoring programs typically use bacterial enumeration methods that require 24 hours to obtain results, precluding same-day warnings in the event of poor water quality. Second, standard bacterial measurement methods are unable to differentiate among sources of bacteria, including whether the sources are natural or anthropogenic. Currently in California, the predominant sources of bacteria to beaches are from diffuse nonpoint (and possibly nonhuman) sources rather than the predominately sewage sources for which the indicators were originally developed. Because of this, standard bacterial indicators are not always well-correlated with human pathogen concentrations in receiving waters and storm drain discharges. Third, the relationship between standard bacterial measures and epidemiology of swimming-related illness at nonpoint source beaches is not well-studied.

Recent advances in molecular biology and immunochemistry have produced new candidate methods for measuring microbial water quality. These may provide beach monitoring programs with tools that more accurately assess public health risk in a timely manner. New testing methods also allow the user to track fecal bacteria to a source organism and determine if it came from wildlife, pet waste, or a sewage spill, for example. A variety of indicators are being tested in comparison with older methods to determine which provide the best correlation with human epidemiology. Efforts to record extensive epidemiological information in conjunction with water quality testing will provide improved insight as to the health risk associated with specific bacterial indicator levels. SCCWRP’s coordination of these research efforts, training of end users, and data management activities build a means of communication among monitoring and regulating parties.

The Beach Water Quality section of the Research Plan draws together studies that are aimed at determining when it is safe to swim, and whether existing and/or new indicators are most predictive of illness in swimmers at nonpoint source affected beaches. They are divided into research projects on indicator method development, beach epidemiology surveys, bacterial source tracking and source identification, water quality standards for shellfishing areas, and data sharing.

a. Rapid Bacterial Indicator Development

Current growth-based methods used to enumerate indicator bacteria (multiple tube fermentation, membrane filtration and chromogenic substrate) are too slow to effectively evaluate risk of swimmers’ exposure to waterborne pathogens. These methods require an 18-24 hour period for laboratory incubation of samples, during which time the public may be exposed to contaminated water. The incubation time lag also makes it difficult to track sources of microbiological contamination. Most sources of contamination are intermittent and last less than a day. Lacking a more rapid method, investigators are unable to follow the trail of contamination back to its origin. Rapid measurement techniques would allow for near-real time tracking of sewage spills and speed the reopening of non-contaminated beaches.

The goal of this project is to develop rapid methods that can augment or replace the existing methods for one or more indicator bacteria. The objective is to develop a method that will detect and quantify viable indicator organisms (or a molecular substructure of the organism) in less than two hours. Preliminary method development and testing has taken place in southern California since 2005. This study utilizes the best-performing methods and refines them for local application. SCCWRP will also participate in training staff at existing beach monitoring laboratories in use of the methods.

This is the second year of a three-year project. The first year included side-by-side testing of rapid methods and traditional growth-based methods for over 400 environmental samples. The second year focused on method performance testing with environmental samples including identifying locations, times, and substances that lead to problematic issues such as inhibition. The third year will finish the method performance evaluation with publication of a Standard Operating Procedure. SCCWRP staff will also assist with technical transfer by training staff at routine monitoring laboratories to conduct rapid indicator analyses.

Lead Investigator: Steve Weisberg (stevew@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Orange County Sanitation District, University of North Carolina (Dr. Rachel Noble)

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

b. Epidemiology of Nonpoint Source Impacted Beaches

Epidemiology studies are used at beaches to identify if swimmers are at risk of developing illnesses based on water contact recreation. Over the last 40 years, there have been roughly three dozen such studies around the world. Of these, less than half were conducted at marine beaches and virtually all were at beaches with known sources of human fecal contamination. Current beach pollution in southern California, though, is predominantly associated with nonpoint sources of unknown, and at least partly nonhuman, origin. Previous epidemiology studies have demonstrated that when human point sources exist, quantifiable relationships between the frequency of illness and levels of fecal indicator bacteria (such as Enterococcus, total coliforms, fecal coliforms or E. coli). However, some studies have documented that relationships between fecal indicator bacteria and human pathogens are not well-correlated at beaches impacted by nonpoint sources.

The goal of this project is to conduct epidemiological studies to assess the risk of swimming-related illness following exposure to nonpoint source contaminated waters. If the risk of illness increases at nonpoint source impacted beaches, then SCCWRP will examine whether traditional fecal indicator bacteria are predictive of illness. Finally, staff will also examine whether nontraditional methods of microbial detection, including human specific markers and pathogens, are better predictors of illness than the traditional indicator bacteria.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first two years targeted data collection at two beaches; Doheny State Beach and Avalon Bay. More than 2,000 sample analyses were conducted incorporating 36 different measurement methods across 24 different laboratories. In addition, over 17,000 beachgoers were recruited into the study to quantify the frequency of health effects in the swimming population. The third year will again focus on data collection, this time at Malibu Surfrider State Beach. Years four and five will focus on data analysis and reporting.

Lead Investigator: Ken Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: University of California Berkeley (Dr. Jack Colford), the Orange County Sanitation Districts (Charles McGee), Heal the Bay (Dr. Mark Gold), US Environmental Protection Agency, City of Avalon, City of Malibu, City of Dana Point

External Funding Support: US Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, State Water Resources Control Board, Cooperative Institute of Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology, City of Dana Point, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

c. Bacterial Source Tracking in Upper Santa Monica Bay

Beaches at the mouths of many watersheds in Southern California have fecal indicator bacteria levels that exceed ocean water quality (AB411) standards. Recent TMDL programs have required management efforts in watersheds to reduce bacteria levels at the ocean shoreline. As a prelude to remediation in a watershed, bacteria sources need to be tracked and problematic sites identified. However, approaches to bacteria source tracking to date have been piecemeal, with no agreed-upon approach to bacterial source tracking. A common approach is needed so that environmental managers can understand the extent of source contamination and cost of remediation in order to develop priorities at a regional scale.

The goal of this project is to develop a source tracking protocol that can be used to identify whether surface runoff is the primary bacteria source to impacted beaches throughout southern California. Ramirez Creek (RC) and Escondido Creek (EC) watersheds, located in the City of Malibu and Los Angeles County, are two of many watersheds that stretch from the hills above Santa Monica Bay to the ocean. Beaches at the mouth of RC and EC have continued to show high indicator bacteria counts for three of the four years since the bacteria TMDL was put into effect in 2005. The source tracking protocol will be tested at RC and EC and, if these creeks are impacting their downstream beaches, then additional protocols will be tested for identifying the primary bacterial sources upstream.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year focused on determining the spatial and temporal patterns in fecal indicator bacteria, optical brighteners, and human fecal markers. The second and third year increased sampling intensity in areas of concern and initiated more detailed bacterial analysis. Year four will focus on confirmation of contamination sources.

Lead Investigator: Steve Weisberg (stevew@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Heal the Bay

External Funding Support: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

d. Shellfish Beneficial Use

Shellfish harvesting is one of the beneficial uses designated in the California Ocean Plan. The current definition of shellfish harvesting used by the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) is broad, encompassing recreational harvesting for consumption, harvesting for bait, and commercial aquaculture. The breadth of this definition reduces flexibility to apply the most appropriate water quality standards for each of these applications in specific areas. The current regulations also do not allow for exclusions to exceedances caused by natural sources at commercial or recreational shellfish harvesting areas. As such, the regulations do not allow for closure based on bacterial contamination from a storm event or other chronic natural sources. Without a more focused definition of the “shellfish harvesting” beneficial use, management efforts could be misdirected.

The purpose of this project is to collect the information necessary for the State to consider reclassifying shellfish harvesting areas based on the type of harvesting conducted. The objectives are to (1) identify existing commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting areas on the coast and in enclosed bays/estuaries of California, (2) identify potential shellfish harvesting areas, and (3) develop an approach for assessing bait-only collection areas.

This is the second year of a three-year study. Tasks in this year will include identifying current and historical shellfish beds, as well as field surveys for confirmation of the spatial data.

Lead Investigator: Steve Weisberg (stevew@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, San Francisco Estuary Institute

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

e. BeachWatch Database Maintenance

Historically, storage of data collected by county environmental health departments in California for beach water quality has been disparate and unconnected. In an effort to minimize differences between these agencies and allow for data consistency in meeting AB411 requirements, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) enlisted SCCWRP’s assistance in creating a standardized data transfer system. From 1999 through 2001, SCCWRP created and implemented a database system designed to make data transfer from California county health agencies to the SWRCB simple and consistent. In addition, special features were included in the database system to make lab and advisory data easier to input, and to allow for simple data analysis and reporting. This system was initially deployed for use by southern California county health departments, but its successful use in southern California led to its implementation in the rest of California by 2006. In addition to the core functionality of the southern California database, GIS features have been added to the northern and central county health departments databases to allow for real time visualization of beach water quality results.

The goal of this project is for SCCWRP to provide continued support to each of the county health departments and the SWRCB, in order to ensure successful submission of beach water quality data.

This is an ongoing project. SCCWRP is providing continued database maintenance and data upload support, as well as assisting with unique requests, such as creating specialized data reports.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: City of Long Beach, 15 county health departments

External Funding Support: California Department of Health Services

F. REGIONAL MONITORING

A variety of environmental agencies and stakeholder groups in southern California collectively spend over $30 million annually to assess the status of streams, estuaries, beaches, and marine environments in southern California. Approximately three-quarters of this amount are spent by regulated parties to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. However, the NPDES program focuses on monitoring near permitted discharges, leading to a lack of spatial coverage and regional data integration. Thus, less than 7% of the southern California marine environment is actually monitored on an ongoing basis. Without data for the remaining areas, the health of the southern California environment as a whole cannot be assessed.
Conducting large-scale regional assessments has many benefits to regulatory and regulated agencies alike. Regulated agencies benefit by gaining a regional perspective; Rather than making comparisons to a small number of control sites that may or may not be similar to their discharge site, they are able to compare local results to the entire breadth of natural variability inherent to the ecosystem, also known as the regional reference condition. Regulatory agencies benefit by being able to compare the relative impacts of various dischargers and assess the effects of cumulative emissions. These types of comparisons allow regulators to target resources where management actions are most needed.

The regional monitoring projects are presented by habitat because marine, wetland, beach, and freshwater stream ecosystems demand unique approaches to sampling design, measurement methods, and data interpretation. The first four sections on ecosystem-based regional monitoring programs have several similarities. First, they are all aimed at answering questions about spatial extent, such as the percent of the southern California mainland shelf area exhibiting signs of human disturbance, or the number of stream-miles impacted by anthropogenic activities. Secondly, they all rely on multiple lines of evidence to assess impacts, including indicators of habitat quality, water/sediment quality, and biology. Third and perhaps most importantly, all of the regional monitoring studies are conducted as integrated collaborative programs where multiple organizations play a role in data collection. This element is important because it forms a basis for ongoing interactions. It also helps improve region-wide data quality while driving development of environmental assessment tools, standardized information sharing protocols, and cross-agency agreements about results and conclusions. The final section of projects, on information and data management, is aimed at improving monitoring approaches and regional data sharing to build capacity for large-scale assessments.

1. Regional Marine Assessments

Regional marine monitoring programs have been a focal point of SCCWRP’s activities since the 1970s. Originating with the 60-m survey conducted in 1977, then the reference surveys of the 1980s, and finally the Bight programs starting in 1994, SCCWRP has committed itself to understanding large-scale impacts to the ocean environment. The Bight programs have been especially useful in developing environmental assessment tools for use by managers.

This year’s Research Plan highlights eight regional marine monitoring projects. Five of them are implemented under the umbrella of the 2008 Southern California Bight Regional Marine Monitoring Program (Bight’08) including Coastal Ecology, Water Quality, Rocky Subtidal, Areas of Special Biological Significance, and Shoreline Microbiology. The sixth project, Southern California Mussel Watch, is a program that bolsters regional assessments of tissue contamination. The seventh involves a separate consortium for regular rocky subtidal habitat monitoring on a statewide level. The last is a new project, involving a collaborative examination of the offshore conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) data used to define outfall plumes from wastewater treatment facilities.

a. Bight'08 Coastal Ecology

Bight’08 is an integrated and collaborative regional monitoring program that follows a line of regional monitoring programs taking place approximately every five years since 1994. Bight’08 is conducted by a consortium of over 90 local organizations working together, each contributing a small part toward a condition assessment of the whole southern California Bight (SCB). In this way, no single agency controls the fate of the program, but instead it is fed by interaction and communication. The result is a regional program that has widespread appeal, serves the needs of local agencies, and delivers information directly to managers for improved decision making. The Coastal Ecology portion of Bight’08 will address three primary questions: 1) What is the extent and magnitude of impact in the SCB (and how does this impact vary by habitat)? 2) What are the trends in SCB environmental condition? and 3) What are the levels of contaminants in organisms that may be harvested for seafood? These questions will be addressed by measuring numerous indicators of environmental condition (e.g., habitat quality, sediment contamination, toxicity, infaunal communities, fish communities) at nearly 400 sites spread across 13 different habitats ranging from estuaries to the deep ocean basins.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first year was spent planning and conducting QA exercises to ensure data comparability among participating agencies. The second and third years will be spent sampling and conducting analyses. The fourth and fifth years will be spent analyzing data, making Bight-wide assessments and completing reports.

Lead Investigator: Ken Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: More than 65 participating organizations

b. Bight’08 Water Quality

The Offshore Water Quality component of the Southern California Bight (SCB) Regional Monitoring Program focuses on assessing the condition of the waters in the near coastal ocean. This was one of the original elements of the Bight Regional Monitoring Program, initially implemented as part of the 1994 Pilot Project. The pilot project led to formation of the Central Bight Water Quality group, a collection of four large wastewater treatment agencies that now coordinate conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) surveys between Ventura and Orange Counties on a quarterly basis. SCCWRP’s Bight Regional Monitoring Program, conducted once every five years, builds from this existing collaboration by bringing in new partners, and expanding the variety of parameters measured and questions addressed. New components of this year’s investigation deal with nutrient source characterization and harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs are a potentially serious consequence of nutrient over-enrichment in the coastal ocean, and can cause water column hypoxia, fish kills, or release of planktonic neurotoxins such as domoic acid.

The overall goals of this study are to (1) quantify the major nutrient sources to the Southern California Bight and (2) characterize the extent, magnitude, and ecological characteristics of algal blooms, with an emphasis on HABs. It will involve three primary tasks: (1) Establishing the relative nutrient contributions of four major sources to the SCB (upwelling, POTW discharge, atmospheric deposition, terrestrial coastal runoff) and estimating anthropogenic versus natural nutrient loading to the SCB; (2) Characterizing the spatial and temporal patterns of algal blooms, as well as the effects of these blooms, with an emphasis on HABs and specifically Pseudo-nitzschia and domoic acid; and (3) Identifying the specific water quality conditions associated with bloom events. The relative nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, silica) contributions of four major sources to the SCB will be quantitatively estimated, and comparative loading for anthropogenic versus natural nutrient sources will also be determined. This data will be used to assess the timing and magnitude of nutrient delivery to the coastal ocean relative to remotely-sensed and field observations of algal blooms. Ultimately, these relationships will help to discern the mechanisms and conditions that lead to both nearshore and offshore algal blooms and HABs. The study will contribute to the question of whether anthropogenic nutrient contributions to the coastal ocean exacerbate the frequency, magnitude, or duration of HABs in southern California.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first year was spent planning and conducting QA exercises to ensure data comparability among participating agencies. The second and third years are to be spent sampling and conducting analyses. The fourth and fifth years will be spent analyzing data, making Bight-wide assessments and completing reports.

Lead Investigator: Meredith Howard (meredithh@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: More than 24 participating organizations

c. Bight’08 Areas of Special Biological Significance

Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) are state Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where the discharge of waste is prohibited. There are 34 ASBS throughout the State of California; 14 are located in southern California. Nearly 1,700 outfalls have been identified in ASBS statewide that could carry waste from nonpoint sources, especially in wet weather. Since zero waste discharge is allowed to ASBS, typical regulatory limits (i.e. effluent limits) do not apply. Instead, state regulatory statute stipulates the maintenance of “natural water quality.” Maintaining this objective is challenging due to the mix of natural and anthropogenic wastes during wet weather events, compounded by the large variability in natural contributions due to changing hydrologic and geologic conditions, among other factors. Little information exists on what constitutes “natural water quality” in ASBS.

The goal of this study is to answer three questions: 1) What is the range of natural water quality at reference locations? 2) How does water quality along ASBS coastlines compare to natural water quality at reference locations? 3) How does the extent of natural quality compare among ASBS with and without discharges? The first question will produce reference thresholds, while the third question will examine the status of ASBS regionally to determine if these marine protected areas are impacted and, if so, the extent of the impact relative to non-ASBS areas.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year was used to design the regional program. The second year was used for sampling and analysis. Nearly 400 samples were collected by over 10 different organizations during the 2008-09 wet season. The third and fourth years will be used for data analysis, assessments, and reporting.

Lead Investigator: Ken Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board, Regional Water Quality Control Boards 4, 8 and 9, ASBS regulated stakeholders

d. Bight’08 Rocky Habitat

Rocky habitat provides some of the SCB’s most spectacular underwater scenery. Giant forests of the kelp Macrocystis pyrifera represent some of the most productive marine habitats on earth. Despite some intensive rocky habitat/kelp forest monitoring programs, there is little data integration among researchers, and ongoing bightwide assessments of this unique habitat are lacking. This problem is compounded by the requirement of California’s Marine Life Protection Act for a marine protected area design to produce an interrelated regional network of sites. No unified maps of hard bottom habitat currently exist, nor does a bight-wide assessment of fish, invertebrate, and macro-algal densities.

The goal of the Bight’08 Rocky Habitat component is to answer three questions: 1) What is the distribution of hard bottom habitats in the SCB? 2) What is the range of natural biological conditions in these reef assemblages? and 3) How do these conditions overlay or correlate with anthropogenic factors? A reef index of health will be developed in response to the third question, as this is critical to various resource management concerns and needs.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year was used to design the regional program. The second year was used for sampling and analysis. Over 15 organizations sampled more than 60 reefs from San Diego to Point Conception, including the Channel Islands. The third and fourth years will be used for data analysis, assessments, and reporting.

Lead Investigator: Ken Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: More than 15 participating organizations

e. Bight’08 Shoreline Microbiology

Previous regional surveys found that 95% of southern California beaches meet the State’s quality standards for water contact recreation. The remaining 5% are mostly located near urban runoff outlets. Several studies have suggested that some of the indicator bacteria emanating from these outlets may originate from regrowth within the drain systems, rather than from human fecal sources.

The goal of the Bight’08 Shoreline Microbiology Component is to identify the principal sources of fecal indicator bacteria at chronically problematic beaches in the southern California Bight. The first task will be to determine what percentage of chronically problematic beaches has human sources of fecal indicator bacteria. The second task will be to identify the non-human sources of fecal indicator bacteria at those beaches without human sources. Sources may include sloughing of storm drain biofilms, or regrowth on beach wrack, beach sand, or sediment. These sources will be quantified using traditional fecal indicator bacteria, speciation of enterococcus, and new measurement technologies including those that differentiate between human and nonhuman sources of fecal contamination. A key element in this study will be the development of new methods. This will involve developing standardized protocols for measuring fecal indicator bacteria in sand and beach wrack.

This is the third year of a five-year study. The first year was used to design the regional program. The second year was used for development of measurement protocols for fecal indicator bacteria in sand. The third year will be used for a pilot study to test the protocols with sand from Surfrider Beach in Malibu and to develop measurement methods for bacteria in storm drain biofilms. The fourth year will involve sampling and analysis at more than 15 different problematic beaches. Beach wrack as a source of bacteria and regrowth of bacteria in sand will be evaluated during this multi-beach sampling effort. The fifth year will be used for data assessment and interpretation.

Lead Investigator: John Griffith (johng@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: More than 18 participating organizations

f. Southern California Mussel Watch

To characterize the spatial extent and temporal trends in coastal contaminant levels nationwide, NOAA’s National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program has collected and analyzed bivalve species since 1986. Representative samples of locally abundant species are collected from fixed sites during the winter to assess long-term temporal trends in trace metal and organic contaminant levels. NS&T established 21 “Mussel Watch” sites in the SCB, with most located along the open coast. This data set has provided unparalleled information on the declines of biological exposure to contaminants associated with source control and increased effluent treatment over the last 20 years. It has also demonstrated that local hot spots still exist in the SCB and it provides a point of comparison between the SCB and the rest of the country. Finally, as new chemicals are released to the environment, the NS&T sentinel sites provide a mechanism to monitor the fate of these potential contaminants.

The goals of this study are to: 1) increase spatial coverage of NOAA’s NS&T Program in the Southern California region; 2) provide Mussel Watch contaminant data at Areas of Special Biological Significance and Marine Protected Areas; 3) compare results of passive sampling methods (e.g. SPME) with bivalve accumulation; and 4) identify contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that warrant inclusion into the NS&T program. To achieve these goals, an additional 13 sites have been established in the SCB. Local agencies collect the bivalves and then contaminant burdens are measured at NOAA’s analytical laboratory. A collaborative effort to select priority CECs for future assessment is also planned as a part of this project.

This is the third year of a five-year project. The first year was devoted to establishing new sites and conducting sampling activities. Bivalve and SPME samples were collected and analyzed for trace constituents in year two. The third year will be devoted to (1) a second round of bivalve collection; (2) evaluating more cost-effective methods for legacy organic and trace metal NS&T constituents; and (3) investigating the occurrence of CECs in sediment, bivalves and dissolved in the water column. The fourth and fifth years will be devoted to sample and data analysis for samples collected in year three, and refining the list of CECs to be included in future NS&T cycles.

Lead investigator: Keith Maruya (keithm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, State Water Resources Control Board, Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network, United States Geological Survey

g. MARINe: Multi Agency Rocky Intertidal Network

Seven different organizations currently monitor intertidal habitats in the southern California Bight, ranging from universities to a variety of resource management agencies. Each program has its own goals, needs and techniques for sampling, information management, and data analysis. Historically, none of these agencies communicated and there was no mechanism for creating regionwide evaluations about the health of intertidal habitats. In 2001, SCCWRP participated with these organizations in creating the multi-agency rocky intertidal network (MARINe). The goal of MARINe is to develop consistency and comparability among monitoring programs in order to make regional assessments of rocky intertidal condition. As part of that effort, MARINe agencies standardized field methods and taxonomy, and created an information management structure. SCCWRP was the fundamental agency tasked with creating and maintaining the information management system for MARINe.

The goal of this project is to support the MARINe agencies by supplying ongoing information management of their centralized database system. This maintenance will include data assimilation for their assessment reports. SCCWRP is also working with its MARINe partners to develop indices that summarize the condition of the rocky intertidal biological communities.

This is an ongoing project to provide continued database maintenance and data loading support to the MARINe network.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: MARINe member organizations including University of California at Santa Barbara (Dr. Jack Engle), University of California at Santa Cruz (Dr. Pete Raimondi), California State University Fullerton (Dr. Steve Murray), National Park Service (Dr. Dan Richards), University of California at Los Angeles (Dr. Rich Ambrose), and National Center for Environmental Analysis and Synthesis (Dr. Mark Schildhauer)

External Funding Support: Minerals Management Service

h. Water Quality Compliance Assessment

Compliance with water quality objectives must be based on a standardized, scientifically-grounded approach to collecting and interpreting data. In southern California, Publically Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) that discharge treated effluent via offshore outfalls are required to assess whether their discharge results in deviation from water quality objectives as stated in California’s Ocean Plan. While the POTWs in southern California have collaborated effectively over the last thirty years to implement a regional monitoring program that provides the data necessary to make these assessments, they have not yet developed a shared approach for interpreting whether these monitoring data demonstrate compliance with the Plan. The regional monitoring program consists of extensive quarterly surveys that measure water quality parameters both near their discharges and at farfield reference areas. These surveys provide depth-continuous measurements of conductivity, temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, pH, transmissivity, and chlorophyll and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence, collectively known as CTD+. CTD+ measurements are also coupled with static water sampling at a subset of sites for parameters not measured by the CTD sampling device (e.g., nutrients, enteric bacteria).

The goal of this project is to provide a scientific foundation for development of a shared compliance assessment framework for coastal southern California POTWs. The project consists of three tasks. The first is to determine the extent to which CTD+ parameters can be used to define the spatial extent of outfall plumes. Currently, plume extent is derived from parameters measured by static water sampling, which is costly and spatially limited. More promising methods involve continuous measurement by CTD+ casts of CDOM fluorescence in combination with other parameters. On the basis of these data, a multi-metric index will be developed by SCCWRP, and compared to traditional methods. The second task involves quantifying instrument-related variability associated with the assessment parameters of interest, in order to provide context for interpreting water quality differences between outfall plume and reference conditions. To accomplish this, field-based experiments and statistical analysis of the existing dataset will be carried out to quantify variability associated with instrument calibration, post-calibration drift, and small-scale spatial variability. The third task seeks to define “reference” conditions, in which a reference envelope will be developed in the context of spatial (e.g., cross-shelf, along-shelf, depth) and temporal (e.g., seasonal, interannual) variability. This is the first year of a one-year project.

Lead Investigator: Nikolay Nezlin (nikolayn@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sanitation District, Orange County Sanitation District, City of San Diego

2. Regional Wetland Assessments

Southern California has experienced one of the highest proportional losses of wetlands in the country. Both the federal and state governments have expressed goals of short-term, no-net loss and long-term net gain of wetlands. However, coordination of a comprehensive wetland protection and recovery strategy in California has been hindered by the fact that 17 federal and state agencies share jurisdiction and responsibility for wetland stewardship, leading to administrative and bureaucratic challenges. In 1997, these agencies formed the Southern California Wetland Recovery Project (WRP) with a goal of increasing regional coordination of wetland preservation, restoration and management. The WRP, working in concert with local governments, environmental organizations, and scientists, aims to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for preserving and restoring the region’s wetlands. Development of a regional wetland monitoring and assessment program has been a priority for the WRP since 2001. Such a program is essential to provide an understanding of current wetland extent and condition as well as trends over time. Monitoring also allows the WRP to evaluate the efficacy of management activities.

The current research agenda focuses on application of the assessment tools developed over the past five years to new wetland monitoring programs. First, a new project will improve systematic monitoring of wetlands across the state. The second continuing project under this section focuses on assessment of wetland extent and condition in southern California. The next is a new project to develop a network of reference sites (those with “natural” conditions) for targeted classes of coastal wetlands. Reference sites offer a valuable basis for comparison when attempting to distinguish inherent variability versus anthropogenic impacts. Finally, a collaborative effort to evaluate the extent and magnitude of eutrophication in southern California coastal wetlands is taking place as part of the Bight ’08 Regional Monitoring Program.

a. Status and Trends in the Extent of California’s Wetlands and Intensification of the 2011 National Wetland Condition Assessment

Billions of dollars have been invested over the last 20 years for the protection and restoration of wetlands and riparian areas in California. The effectiveness of these investments is uncertain, though, because California’s wetlands are not systematically monitored. The existing State Wetland Inventory system is inadequate for several reasons: 1) patchwork base imagery dates and resolution of mapping, 2) inaccuracy of mapping with limited ground-truthing, and 3) cost of comprehensively mapping the state with sufficient frequency to provide an up-to-date analysis of trends. Acknowledging these difficulties, the US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory (NWI) adopted a probability-based survey approach to assess trends in wetland acreage on a national level. According to the new system, wetlands within a statistically sampled four square-mile grid will be mapped with remote sensing data in combination with an adequate degree of ground-truthing, in order to determine the degree of recent wetland change (presented as “status and trends (S&T) plots”). Because of improved resolution in mapping, trends in wetland change can be detected earlier. The new S&T design is currently being incorporated into the EPA’s 2011 National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA). The 2011 NWCA presents an opportunity for California to further the investment in probability-based assessments of wetland extent and condition by: 1) intensifying the number of S&T plots in California, and 2) conducting an intensification of assessment of wetland condition consistent with NWCA methodologies.

The goal of this project is to increase state capacity for implementing a probability-based approach for monitoring the status and trends in wetland extent and condition. Specific tasks include: 1) Develop a probability-based design, standard operating procedures, and costs for wetland extent S&T mapping; 2) Train and inter-calibrate regional mapping center partners in mapping methods; 3) Build capacity for a state agency to assume the technical lead on wetland mapping; 4) Initiate technology transfer by mapping a minimum of 100 new S&T plots; and 5) Develop and implement a plan to intensify the NWCA within California. This project will provide a way for state and federal agencies to assess the net effect of their policies and programs on wetland extent.

This is the first year of a 3-year project. This first year will focus on developing a sampling design for the S&T assessment.

Lead Investigator: Martha Sutula (marthas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: California Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Game, San Francisco Estuary Institute, California State University Northridge, US Environmental Protection Agency, and US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory

External Funding Support: US Environmental Protection Agency

b. Regional Monitoring/Assessment Program For Southern California Wetlands

Wetland monitoring most often occurs at the project/site scale in response to regulatory or permit requirements. In any given year, hundreds of individual wetland projects may be monitored. Nevertheless, it is difficult to compile results from these projects to provide an overall regional assessment of wetland condition. The main obstacles to such an assessment have been the lack of consistent assessment tools and the lack of an integrated regional monitoring framework.

Over the past several years, SCCWRP and the Wetlands Recovery Project Science Advisory Panel (WRP SAP) have developed both the tools and the regional framework for wetland assessment. To date, monitoring frameworks have been completed for estuaries, coastal lagoons, and riverine wetlands. The objective of this project is to begin implementation of these tools as the first phase of a regional wetland assessment program. This program will involve updating resource inventories, developing and validating landscape assessment and rapid assessment methodologies, guiding the selection of appropriate monitoring indicators, and exploring partnerships with other organizations interested in monitoring southern California wetlands.

This is an ongoing project. Activities in the current year will focus on initial implementation of the estuarine regional monitoring program. The initial elements of the riverine regional monitoring program will also be implemented as an element of the Stormwater Monitoring Coalition’s (SMC) regional assessment for wadeable streams (see Regional Watershed Monitoring). Finally, tools to support ambient and project monitoring (e.g., protocols, quality assurance procedures, standard reporting procedures) will be developed in concert with an existing interagency workgroup.

Lead Investigator: Eric Stein (erics@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Wetland Recovery Project

External funding support: California Coastal Conservancy

c. Development of a Statewide Network of Reference Wetlands for California

Interpretation of regional monitoring data requires context to better understand status and trends and the relationship of specific sites/projects to regional condition. Reference sites can provide such context. Defining reference conditions provides a scientifically defensible basis upon which to measure the inherent natural variability of wetlands. Reference wetlands can also help define appropriate expectations or targets for management actions that affect wetland condition, including restoration and mitigation projects. This project represents an important first step toward the development of a wetland reference network for California, which currently does not exist.

The goals of this project are to: (1) establish a conceptual approach to the development of a statewide network of reference wetlands, and (2) to select reference sites for targeted wetland classes in coastal regions (e.g., Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, Sierra bioregions) using the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM). This project will also help to establish a formal process for refinement of CRAM training and quality assurance processes via a network of regional audit teams. These audit teams will support CRAM implementation within state and federal monitoring and regulatory programs.

This is the first year of a two-year project.

Lead Investigator: Chris Solek (chriss@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: San Francisco Estuary Institute (Dr. Josh Collins), Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District (Dr. Chad Roberts), Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (Ross Clark)

d. Bight ’08 Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands

Eutrophication is the increased production of organic matter through excessive aquatic algae and plant growth, caused in part by increased nutrient loading to coastal waters. The effects of nutrient loading on estuaries and coastal waters have not been well monitored in California, with the notable exception of San Francisco Bay. California lacks consistent, statewide water quality standards to manage the effects of nutrient over-enrichment and eutrophication in estuaries. One fundamental data gap is better articulation of regional differences in biological response to nutrient loads.

The Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands portion of Bight ’08 will address three major questions: 1) What is the extent and magnitude of eutrophication in SCB estuaries? 2) Do differences exist between estuarine classes (e.g., protected embayments, perennially tidal lagoons, seasonally tidal lagoons, non-tidal lagoons, river mouth estuaries) with respect to biological response to nutrient loads? and 3) How does muting of the tidal forcing within an estuary impact the biological response to nutrient loads? These questions will be answered through an assessment of eutrophication status at 30 sites in 25 estuaries.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year was spent planning and conducting QA exercises to ensure comparability among participating agencies. The second year will be spent sampling and conducting analyses. The third and fourth years will be spent analyzing data and completing reports.

Lead Investigator: Martha Sutula (marthas@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: More than 41 participating agencies including SCCWRP’s member agencies

3. Regional Freshwater Assessments

Despite the many beneficial uses derived from rivers and streams, southern California’s burgeoning population imparts a large number of potential stressors to coastal watersheds. Habitat alteration, hydromodification through increased imperviousness, flood control, water augmentation and diversion, discharge of treated and industrial wastewaters, and contributions from urban runoff can all result in impairments to aquatic life in the region’s rivers and streams. There are a number of monitoring efforts that are intended to assess the health of southern California’s rivers and streams, but most of this effort is located near in-stream discharges where monitoring is required to assess discharge effects. These programs cover only 29% of the stream miles in southern California and present a biased picture of aquatic health because the sites were selected to be near known areas of concern.

This year’s Research Plan highlights three regional monitoring projects for freshwater in-stream habitats. The first focuses on integrating the existing monitoring efforts into a comprehensive regional program. The second extends the monitoring program to include an assessment of non-perennial streams (streams that flow for only a portion of the year), which are presently unmonitored. The third project will develop biological assessment tools that can be used to interpret data from these monitoring programs.

a. Regional Watershed Monitoring

In-stream bioassessment monitoring in southern California is currently conducted by over a dozen different organizations. Each of these organizations has disparate programs that vary in design, frequency, and the indicators selected for measurement. Even where designs are similar, the field techniques, laboratory methods, and quality assurance requirements are often not comparable, making cumulative assessments impossible. Finally, even assuming that all programs are of comparable design and quality, there is no integrated information management system that allows data sharing among programs.

The goal of this project is to implement a large-scale regional monitoring program for southern California’s coastal streams and rivers. A comprehensive monitoring plan that integrated elements of several individualized monitoring programs was designed by the southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC). The plan establishes comparability in the field and the laboratory, performance-based quality assurance guidelines, and an information management system for sharing data. This integrated regional monitoring program is collaborative, so that each individual program can assess their local geography, then contribute their portion to the whole region in order to address large-scale management needs and provide answers to the public about the health of southern California’s streams and rivers.

This is the second year of a five-year study. The first year included the development of the monitoring infrastructure including comparability and QA evaluations. The second and future years will focus on sampling, laboratory analysis, and assessment reports.

Lead Investigator: Ken Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition, State Water Resources Control Board’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program, Regional Water Quality Control Boards 4, 8 and 9

b. Non-perennial Stream Assessment

Non-perennial streams in southern California that do not have year-round flow are often overlooked as a beneficial use resource, even though they make up two-thirds of the stream miles throughout southern California. Moreover, assessment tools to determine if biological communities are healthy or impaired have been developed almost exclusively in perennial streams, while their applicability in non-perennial streams has not been calibrated or validated.

The goal of this project is to adapt bioassessment techniques for non-perennial streams. This will require overcoming several barriers, including identifying the locations of non-perennial streams, quantifying successional changes in the BMI fauna in non-perennial streams, documenting the performance of existing bioassessment tools (IBIs and OE models) in non-perennial streams, and determining whether there are anthropogenic stressors specific to intermittent streams over the yearly cycle of flooding and drying. Ultimately, an attempt will be made to identify the factors, such as critical flow conditions, that most influence BMI communities in non-perennial streams.

This is the third year of a four-year study. The first year focused on mapping non-perennial stream reaches and concluded with a GIS map. The second and third years will conduct intensive temporal sampling of non-perennial stream reaches beginning at the conclusion of the wet season and continuing into the summer drying cycle. The fourth year will include data analysis, assessment tool evaluation, and reporting.

Lead Investigator: Raphael Mazor (raphaelm@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: California Department of Fish and Game (Dr. Pete Ode), Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition

External Funding Support: San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board

c. Developing a Technical Foundation for Freshwater Biological Objectives

California’s streams are regulated through a variety of programs across multiple State and Federal agencies. A common element of every program is the need for objective assessment endpoints that can be used to gauge success or compliance. Direct measures of biological condition are increasingly preferred as assessment endpoints because they more closely link to the beneficial uses or functions that are the focus of protection and management. In contrast, chemistry- or toxicity-based assessment endpoints require inferences about their relationship with the ecological integrity of these natural systems. Biological indicators have the added advantage of integrating condition over space and time, thus providing a more comprehensive assessment than other traditional indicators.

The goal of this project is to develop the technical foundation for biologically-based thresholds or bio-objectives. The technical foundation will require at least five tasks before bio-objectives can be created. These tasks include creating maps of the stream and wetland resource that currently exists, identifying and quantifying reference condition, creating or enhancing biological assessment tools such as indices of biological integrity (IBI), defining a stressor gradient to determine what biological expectations are for the mapped resources, and setting thresholds of concern for biological condition. This project will begin by focusing on biological objectives for California’s perennial wadeable streams and their associated riverine/riparian wetlands. Similarly, the project will initially focus on benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) and the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM) since data for BMIs and CRAM currently exists for much of the state. Ultimately, the project will develop an approach for integrating multiple biological indicators including benthic algal and physical habitat assessment.

This is the first year of a five year project. The first year will focus on developing a detailed study approach and initial data collection.

Lead Investigators: E. Stein (erics@sccwrp.org) and K. Schiff (kens@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: California Department of Fish and Game (Dr. Pete Ode), Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition, State Water Resources Control Board, California Coastal Commission (Ross Clark)

External Funding Support: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board

4. Regional Debris Assessments

The mid-20th century saw the introduction of new materials that resist oxidative and bacteriological decay. These new materials, mostly plastics, have resulted in a build-up of debris over time, with negative aesthetic and ecological consequences. SCCWRP has previously been involved in a number of pioneering studies to quantify and characterize marine debris on beaches, along the ocean shelf, and in the North Pacific gyre. Based in part on these studies, the State of California and numerous municipalities have begun to take management steps aimed at reducing debris.

This section of the Research Plan describes two new monitoring studies that are intended to determine the extent and distribution of marine debris on California beaches, and provide a point of comparison for assessing the effectiveness of management actions.

a. Distribution and Amount of Plastic Pellets on Beaches in California

Marine debris is often thought of as large items, found floating in the ocean or strewn along the beaches; however, smaller plastic items (<5 mm), which are less noticeable, may present a larger problem to the health of marine organisms. A 1998 SCCWRP study estimated that there are over 100 million plastic pellets on beaches in Orange County, California. Around one quadrillion of these plastic pellets (60 billion pounds) are produced in the United States annually and transported via railways, trucks and ships to manufacturers who then mold them into a final product. Many of these pellets are accidentally lost or dropped during transport and find their way via stormwater drains and rivers into the ocean and ultimately onto our beaches. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards are required by AB 258 to implement a program for the control of discharges of preproduction plastic pellets from point and nonpoint sources. However, knowledge of the distribution and amount of plastic pellets on beaches in California is crucial to implementing a plan to control and reduce the discharges of plastic pellets. In addition, a baseline study will prove useful when later assessing the effectiveness of any programs and controls adopted by the SWRCB.

The goal of this project is to provide baseline information on the distribution and amount of plastic pellets on beaches throughout the state of California.

This is the first year of a one-year project.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board (Dominic Gregorio, Emily Siegel), California State University Fullerton (Sarice Friedman), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Dr. Holly Bamford, Sarah Opfer)

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

b. Distribution and Amount of Debris on Beaches in California

A 1998 SCCWRP study estimated that there was over 106 million pieces of trash weighing 12,525 kg on beaches in Orange County, California. This study was the first scientific study of its kind to scientifically quantify trash on California beaches. There have been no comparable beach studies done in other counties in California, nor any follow-up studies performed since 1998 on Orange County beaches.

The goal of this project is to provide baseline information on the distribution and amount of debris on beaches throughout the state of California. The intention is to coordinate this project with the pre-production plastic pellet study (see Distribution and Amount of Plastic Pellets on Beaches in California).

This is the first year of a one-year project.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: State Water Resources Control Board (Dominic Gregorio, Emily Siegel), California State University Fullerton (Sarice Friedman), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Dr. Holly Bamford, Sarah Opfer)

External Funding Support: California Ocean Protection Council

4. Information and Data Center

One of SCCWRP’s main objectives is bringing together organizations and people to make large-scale regional assessments of conditions in the Southern California Bight. A major ongoing challenge for making these assessments is attempting to collate and standardize various monitoring data sets. These data sets, which may be large in number, often exist in multiple forms including paper, spreadsheets, reports, and databases. Even for those datasets that are stored electronically, there are a multitude of formats and capabilities for access, export, and analysis. Many of our projects, such as the Bight program, have spurred the development of standardized data transfer formats that enable collation of large data sets for making regional assessments. This and other SCCWRP projects have provided a model for successful data sharing. Other tools for statistical analysis of monitoring designs and improved spatial mapping techniques have also come out of planning for regional monitoring programs.

This year’s Research Plan first includes three data management projects that continue to strengthen SCCWRP’s role as a regional data center in southern California. These seek to involve more participants in data-sharing and make SCCWRP’s data more accessible for use by partners. In addition, two new projects have been added that strive to improve SCCWRP and partner agencies’ abilities to cost-efficiently achieve meaningful monitoring results via statistical analysis of monitoring designs. The last new project will consolidate and improve accessibility of statewide data on beach water quality.

a. Southern California Regional Data Center

The State of California and the US EPA are charged with evaluating the status of beneficial uses for waterbodies within the State of California every three years. One important component of this assessment is the creation of the 303(d) list, or list of impaired waterbodies. This assessment is the foundation for reports to legislature on the status of water quality and success of water quality management programs. One method of obtaining data for these assessments is through the State’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP), one of the largest ambient monitoring data repositories in the State of California. However, this database is growing rapidly and the old centralized system cannot keep up with the demands of data users. The State is attempting to overcome these challenges through the use of the California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN). CEDEN is a network of federal, state, county, and private organizations interested in the exchange and sharing of water quality and other environmental data from California. To facilitate participation by a rapidly growing number of agencies, CEDEN will be fed data via a system of distributed data centers. The Southern California Regional Data Center (SCRDC) will be housed at SCCWRP.

The overall goal of creating the distributed data center model is to improve data sharing between existing monitoring programs and CEDEN in order to effectively and efficiently provide data for assessment of waterbodies statewide. Over the next year, three objectives will be targeted: (1) continuation of support for the Stormwater Monitoring Coalition in loading their data to the system, as well as recruiting other NPDES permit holders to participate; (2) recruiting and assisting citizen monitoring groups in submitting and sharing their water quality monitoring data; and (3) adding SCCWRP historical data to CEDEN. Specifically, SCCWRP will offer users technical assistance with a web-based data submission tool, and work to provide web-based access to SWAMP data by creating user-friendly queries to extract data and other information.

This is an ongoing project. In the next year, SCCWRP will collaborate with CEDEN and other Data Center partners to develop data visualization and extraction tools. In addition, staff will work on the technical task of connecting the SCRDC to the CEDEN server.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (Rusty Fairey, Mark Pranger), State Water Resources Control Board (Val Connor, Karl Jacobs), San Francisco Estuary Institute (Dr. John Oram, Cristina Grosso), University of California at Davis (Dr. Michael Johnson, Melissa Turner), Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition, and a number of citizen-monitoring groups

External Funding Support: State Water Resources Control Board

b. National Hydrography Dataset Stewardship

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, canals, springs, and wells. The success of the NHD depends on the partnerships that are established between the USGS and a wide variety of organizations that work with geospatial hydrography data. To this end, the USGS has established a stewardship program that enables local partners to develop and modify the dataset as necessary over time. SCCWRP has been chosen as the Santa Ana River Watershed steward.

The goal of this project is for SCCWRP to work with local agencies and scientists to provide accurate and timely updates to the NHD for the Santa Ana River watershed. Maintaining NHD consistency, currency, and accuracy will benefit in the exchange of water-related information such as flow, land use, water quality, and biological resources.

This is the second year of a two-year project. Over the last year, SCCWRP staff participated in workshops in San Diego, Sacramento and at USGS Headquarters in Menlo Park to become familiar with the NHD and was trained to use tools developed by the USGS for NHD modifications. Over the next year, SCCWRP will work with local partners to begin the process of updating and maintaining the NHD for the Santa Ana River watershed.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: United States Geological Survey (Drew Decker, Carol Ostergren)

External Funding Support: United States Geological Survey

c. Web Data Services

SCCWRP provides the scientific community public access to its data sets and associated metadata through the SCCWRP web site. Although the data is available, it is stored and served to the data user on a by-project basis, typically in compressed text files. Many users would prefer to download data across projects and have the option of different formats to view the data. In addition, many users would like to have the ability to visualize the data in a number of different ways. New sophisticated web-based tools for downloading and viewing data have been developed that allow users to access data in easier and more efficient manners. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) coupled with relational databases allow users to easily extract and examine even very complex data sets. Drag and drop or preformatted queries can be used to extract data by location, time, and/or constituent using the GIS interface. The queries can then be used to generate thematic maps, tables, and graphs or download the portions of data sets of specific interest to the user. New tools have also been developed to allow users to make “on the fly” graphics to view the data.

The goal of this project is to develop and maintain browser-based data discovery and visualization tools that will be available over the SCCWRP web page. These tools will allow for customized data extraction, data analysis and presentation.

This is an ongoing project. SCCWRP is currently in the process of investigating many new data visualization tools. Over the next year, staff will begin developing and implementing these tools.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: None at this time

d. Spatial Sampling Designs for Mapping

Maps are useful tools for understanding and managing the marine environment. Using maps, resource managers can quickly locate disturbances, evaluate cumulative effects resulting from multiple sources or types of disturbance, weigh risks to neighboring areas, and assess the relative magnitude and spatial extent of contamination. Perhaps most importantly, maps are an effective and efficient media for communicating information to the public. Despite these benefits, there has been little success in developing statistically defensible maps of environmental quality and aquatic resources in coastal regions. Sparse sampling grids and simple interpolation methods may not reliably predict environmental conditions at non-sampled locations, and do not provide estimates of precision.

The goal of this project is to provide general guidelines to monitoring programs on how to capture the necessary spatial information for constructing scientifically defensible maps of environmental impact. This project will apply the kriging method of interpolation to predict chemical and biological parameters associated with non-sampled locations. SCCWRP will also investigate practical and cost-efficient sampling strategies for augmenting existing monitoring designs, with a focus on estimating spatial correlation and building sound predictions. In particular, a variogram will be used to model spatial variability and translate this information into cost-efficiency curves (prediction error vs. sampling density) for enhancing future surveys. Such curves will allow resource managers to weigh the relative benefits of contributing additional samples to the accuracy of the map.

This is the third year of a five year project. Previously, SCCWRP worked with the City of San Diego and Colorado State University to develop and implement a sophisticated sampling design that would efficiently cover the large monitoring area surrounding the San Diego’s two ocean discharge sites. Intensive iterative analysis using robust spatial statistics helped develop accurate variogram models. The third year will use these synoptic maps of spatial variability, and accompanying statistically defensible predictive spatial models, to develop cost-effective designs for improving mapping offshore of San Diego. A similar mapping study will also be initiated this year with the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), which will mirror the work and procedures used for the San Diego region. After some initial variogram estimation with historical data, OCSD will temporarily increase sample intensity during the fourth year of the project to better quantify spatial variability. The fifth year will then focus on variogram modeling, cost-efficiency analysis for monitoring approaches, and creation of statistically defensible maps of the Orange County continental shelf.

Lead Investigator: Kerry Ritter (kerryr@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: City of San Diego, Colorado State University (Dr. Scott Uruqhart), Orange County Sanitation District

e. Improving Probabilistic Surveys of Environmental Condition to Include Trend Detection

Most regulatory-based environmental monitoring programs focus on going to the same sites repeatedly over time. While this type of sampling design provides tremendous information about temporal trends, it provides little information on the status of the environment beyond those sites. Over the last 15 years, SCCWRP has led an effort to integrate probability-based survey designs in southern California within the Bight Regional Monitoring Programs. Probability-based designs provide invaluable information on the spatial assessment of environmental condition such as “How many acres of marine habitat are impacted?” or “How many stream miles are impaired?”, but are not optimized for trend detection.

The goal of this project is to create a survey design that effectively combines both spatial extent and temporal trend information. This should address the needs of environmental decision-makers to detect increases (or decreases) in size of disturbance over time. While some work has been conducted in optimizing spatial extent and trends in a single sampling design, this has rarely been done in southern California, particularly in marine ecosystems. The project will focus on estimating the variability between sites and sampling periods (up to 10 years), as well as the magnitude of change. This information will be used to perform a cost-efficiency analysis to optimize allocation of sampling effort.

This is the first year of a three-year project. The first and second years will focus on estimating the temporal components of variability relative to the overall variability for Bight ‘08 data, based on data from previous Bight surveys. In the third year, the temporal variability estimates from the previous two years will be used to perform cost-efficiency analyses (e.g., spatial/trend error vs. different sampling allocations across time/space). Finally, these analyses will be compiled into specific recommendations for assessing trends in future Bight Regional Monitoring Programs.

Lead Investigator: Kerry Ritter (kerryr@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: Bight’08 Regional Monitoring participants, Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition, State Water Resources Control Board’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program

f. Clean Beach Initiative Website

Beach water quality data collected by coastal county environmental health agencies in California is reported to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) as part of AB411 requirements. In many cases, each county provides access to its beach water quality monitoring data through its own website, but no central location to find and view all of the data for California exists. Because it is not easily available or viewable, this data cannot be used to its full advantage for answering questions posed by other organizations and the public about beach safety. Consequently, the California Water Quality Monitoring Council is developing a website that will provide a centralized location to find AB411 data and information. SCCWRP staff will work with the SWRCB to develop a system for displaying and viewing this data. The website will focus on answering the question “Is it safe to swim?”

The goal of this project is for SCCWRP to provide an interface for users of California’s Water Quality Monitoring Council’s website to view and download beach water quality monitoring data. In addition, SCCWRP will process the SWRCB’s data to create linked summary reports that describe the displayed information.

This is the first year of a one-year project. Currently, SCCWRP provides support to all coastal California environmental health agencies for uploading data to the SWRCB system. Staff will work with these partners to develop a mechanism for retrieving and displaying this data through the new Water Quality Monitoring Council’s website.

Lead Investigator: Shelly Moore (shellym@sccwrp.org)

Collaborators: SWRCB Water Quality Monitoring Council

External Funding Support: California Department of Health Services

This page was last updated on: 06/25/2009

SCCWRP 2009-2010 Research Plan

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

A. CONTAMINANTS

1. Sources

2. Measurement, Fate and Bioavailability

3. Sediment Quality

4. Emerging Contaminants

B. NUTRIENTS

C. STORMWATER DYNAMICS

D. WETLANDS

1. Historical Ecology

2. Wetland Extent and Condition

E. BEACH WATER QUALITY

F. REGIONAL MONITORING

1. Regional Marine Assessments

2. Regional Wetland Assessments

3. Regional Freshwater Assessments

4. Regional Debris Assessments

5. Information and Data Center

Research Plan 2009-2010

INTRODUCTION

A. CONTAMINANTS

1. Sources

2. Measurement, Fate and Bioavailability

3. Sediment Quality

4. Emerging Contaminants

B. NUTRIENTS

C. STORMWATER

D. WETLANDS

1. Historical Ecology

2. Wetland Extent and Condition

E. BEACH WATER QUALITY

F. REGIONAL MONITORING

1. Regional Marine Assessments

2. Regional Wetland Assessments

3. Regional Freshwater Assessments

4. Regional Debris Assessments

4. Information and Data Center