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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May 29, 2026
Seminar: “Overview of Research at the Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory”

June 5, 2026
SCCWRP Commission meeting

Thornton Hampton, L.M., V. McGruer, A.C. Mehinto, W. Cowger, R. McNeish, K.C. Schiff. 2026. Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program: Volume V. Trash and Marine Debris. Technical Report 1473. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Costa Mesa, CA.

Gillett, D.J., C.R. Whitcraft, C. Blanch, A. Le Compte Santiago, E.D. Stein, J. Tupitza. 2026. A Regional Assessment of the Condition and Quality of Southern California’s Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Habitat from the Perspective of Ecosystem Services. Technical Report 1471. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Costa Mesa, CA.

Brander, S.M., S.H. Swan, A.C. Mehinto, K.A. Kidd, J.S. Weis, S.M. Belcher, J.C. DeWitt, S.L. Harper, C.C. Helbing. 2026. Impacts of environmental stressors on fertility and fecundity across taxa, with implications for planetary health. npj Emerging Contaminants DOI:10.1038/s44454-026-00032-6.

Kessouri, F., M. Sutula, J. Smith, J. McWilliams, M. Sandoval-Belmar, D. Bianchi, P. Damien, M. Ho, R. Kudela, C. Anderson. 2026. Anthropogenic, climate, and meso and submesoscale influences on diatom productivity in the Southern California Bight, with implications for domoic acid producing harmful algal blooms. Frontiers in Marine Science