Estuarine monitoring framework piloted in Baja California, to be applied next year

SCCWRP and its partners have completed a pilot effort to assess the ecological health of two Baja California estuaries using a newly developed estuarine monitoring framework that is expected to be applied to California estuaries next year.

The pilot assessment, completed in September, involved field assessments of two Mexican estuaries and was made possible via an international research partnership.

SCCWRP and its partners developed the estuarine monitoring framework last year to bring statewide consistency to estuarine monitoring efforts. The framework is expected to be used by the California Ocean Protection Council to report on the health of California’s estuarine Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in 2024, as well as by the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program to conduct a regional assessment of estuarine health.

In addition to the benefit of being able to test the framework outside California, the more pristine condition of Baja California’s estuaries has provided an additional point of comparison for Southern California estuaries.