Coastal vulnerability to storm surge being documented at 10 sites

SCCWRP and its project partners have begun using camera stations and water-level loggers set up at 10 Southern California sites to collect data on how El Nino storm surges this winter impact vulnerable coastal lagoons and estuaries.

The El Nino lagoon and estuary monitoring project is an effort to understand how sea level rise fueled by global climate change may impact low-lying coastal areas.

In addition to the 10 priority sites being monitored by SCCWRP and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 25 additional coastal sites stretching from San Diego to the Central Coast are being monitored by other project partners, including a group of citizen scientists.

Data from the project are expected to be used to help calibrate sea-level rise response models being developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and others.