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

Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia

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

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Bioanalytical Cell Screening Assays

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

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Harmful Algal Blooms

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

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

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April 24, 2025
Seminar: “Shorelines from Space – Assessing California’s Changing Coast with Remote Sensing”

June 13, 2025
Seminar: “San Francisco Bay Regional Monitoring Program”

May 2, 2025
Seminar: “National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS): Past, Present, and Future”

Jimenez, K., Y. Kong, Y. Zhang, D. Ferketic, S.K. Nagori, J. Yang, A.A. Yulo, B. Kramer, O.G. Prado, T. Cason, R. Chowdhry, A. Kemsley, L.M. Espinosa, J.A. Steele, J.F. Griffith, J.A. Jay. 2025. Evaluation of a modified IDEXX method for antimicrobial resistance monitoring of extended Beta-lactamases-producing Escherichia coli in impacted waters near the U.S.-Mexico border. One Health

RD Mazor. 2025. Bioassessment Survey of the Stormwater Monitoring Coalition: Workplan for Years 2021 through 2025 Version 5.0 (2025). Technical Report 1174. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Costa Mesa, CA.

Wasson, K., K. Cressman, K. Beheshti, E.C. Herder, C. Endris, C.D.G. Harley, A. Abadia-Cardoso, R. Beas-Luna, J. Carolsfeld, A.L. Chang, J.A. Crooks, M.C. Ferner, E.D. Grosholz, N. Harrington, J. Harris, H. Hayford, A.R. Helms, J. Lorda, J.L. Ruesink, A. Ruiz de Alegria-Arzaburu, S.S. Rumrill, J. Schmitt, R.S. Smith, J.B. Walker, C.R. Whitcraft, S. Yang, D. Zacherl, C.J. Zabin. 2025. Setting the limit: cold rather than hot temperatures limit intertidal distribution of a coastal foundation species. Marine Environmental Research

Kalra, I., B.P. Stewart, K.M. Florea, J. Smith, E.A. Webb, D.A. Caron. 2025. Temporal and spatial dynamics of harmful algal bloom-associated microbial communities in eutrophic Clear Lake, California. Applied and Environmental Microbiology DOI:10.1128/aem.00011-25.