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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SCCWRP Commission meeting -
SCCWRP Commission meeting -
SCCWRP Commission meeting -
SCCWRP Commission meeting -
SCCWRP Commission meeting -

McGill, L., T. Sleugh, C. Petrik, K.C. Schiff, K. McLaughlin, L. Aluwihare, B. Semmens. 2024. The persistent DDT footprint of ocean disposal, and ecological controls on bioaccumulation in fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Schiff, K.C., A. Zimmer-Faust, D. Nguyen, J.F. Griffith, J.A. Steele, D.E. McCargar, S. Wallace. 2024. Using HF183 to Estimate Watershed-Wide Annual Loadings of Human Fecal Pollution from Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems. Sustainability

Frieder, C.A., F. Kessouri, M. Ho, M. Sutula, D. Bianchi, J.C. McWilliams, C. Deutsch, E. Howard. 2024. Effects of urban eutrophication on pelagic habitat capacity in the Southern California Bight. Frontiers in Marine Science

McLellan, S.L., A. Chariton, A. Codello, J.S. McClary-Gutierrez, M.K. Schussman, E.M. Marzinelli, J.M. O’Neil, E.J. Schott, J.L. Bowen, J.H. Vineis, L. Maignien, C. Lemonnier, M. Perennou, K.S. Gibbs, G.J. Zhou, K.M.Y. Leung, M. Kirs, J.F. Griffith, J.A. Steele, S.E. Wearer, A.L. O’Brien, D. Song, S. Liang, J. Li, L. Airoldi, F.P. Mancuso, P.S. Salomon, A.W. Silva-Lima RC Pereira, A.B. Boehm, E.W.X. Lim, S. Wuertz, E. Fernandez, E. Teira, M.L. Liao, Y.W. Dong, P.D. Steinberg. 2024. Universal microbial indicators provide surveillance of sewage contamination in harbours worldwide. Nature Water DOI:10.1038/s44221-024-00315-5.