For more than 50 years, SCCWRP has been working in partnership with the end-user environmental management community to develop and apply next-generation science to improve the management of aquatic ecosystems throughout Southern California and beyond. By building a rigorous scientific foundation upon which managers can make informed decisions and take informed actions, SCCWRP has effectively unified and rallied its 14 member agencies and other environmental organizations around best-practices approaches for improving management of aquatic systems.
SCCWRP’s accomplishments are as diverse as they are far-reaching. Some accomplishments, however, stand above others for their enduring relevance and influence on management. In celebration of SCCWRP’s 50th anniversary in 2019, SCCWRP asked staff, the SCCWRP Commission and Commission’s Technical Advisory Group (CTAG), and other supporters to identify SCCWRP’s most important, managerially relevant accomplishments of all time.
While dozens of important SCCWRP accomplishments were considered, six emerged as consensus picks with strong, across-the-board support. They have been placed into one of two categories – technical accomplishments and organizational accomplishments – and appear in no particular order below.
SCCWRP’s top four technical accomplishments
Regional Monitoring Assessments
SCCWRP unifies disparate organizations around geographically encompassing ecological assessments of the coastal ocean and the watersheds that drain to it. Read more »
Sediment Quality Assessments
SCCWRP has brought standardization and quantitative rigor to how the ecological impacts of sediment contamination are assessed across coastal California. Read more »
Protection of Beach Water Quality
SCCWRP uses cutting-edge science to improve detection and management of waterborne microbial contamination at Southern California beaches. Read more »
Biological Tools for Ecological Health Assessments
SCCWRP has harnessed the power of biology-based monitoring methods to gain unprecedented, quantitative insights into water body condition. Read more »
SCCWRP’s top two organizational accomplishments
Consensus-building Around Emerging Science
SCCWRP invests in building and strengthening scientific partnerships – and then leveraging this network to develop broad consensus on emerging science. Read more »
Collaborative Management Forums
SCCWRP has created a neutral, collaborative setting where water-quality managers with divergent viewpoints can come together to discuss and debate science. Read more »
