International partnership established to assess health of Baja California estuaries

SCCWRP has built a partnership with researchers in Mexico to assess the health of coastal estuaries in Baja California next year using a proposed estuarine monitoring framework developed for California.

SCCWRP and its partners traveled to Baja California in October to conduct initial field reconnaissance in preparation for the full test, scheduled for spring 2022 at two sites: Bahía de San Quintín and Estero Punta Banda.

The proposed California estuarine monitoring framework was developed last year to bring consistency to estuarine monitoring efforts statewide. The framework consists of a set of customizable field protocols for sampling an estuary over a three-day period; it is undergoing a final round of testing in spring 2022 prior to being rolled out across California.

In addition to the benefit of being able to test the framework outside California, researchers hope that the more pristine condition of Baja California’s estuaries can provide an additional point of comparison for Southern California estuaries.