Modeling runs probe relative influence of U.S. vs. Mexican nutrient discharges on coastal algal blooms, OAH

A research team that has been modeling how land-based nutrient discharges into Southern California Bight coastal waters influence algal blooms and ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) has completed a set of modeling runs that shed light on the relative contributions of wastewater discharges from Mexican vs. U.S. sources.

The modeling runs, which wrapped up in October, used multiple scenarios to sequentially eliminate nutrients discharged via U.S.-based wastewater outfalls, U.S. rivers, and the Mexican rivers and outfalls at the southern end of the Southern California Bight.

The modeling work represents another step forward by SCCWRP and its modeling partners to use the ROMS-BEC (Regional Ocean Modeling System-Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling) modeling tools to answer key management questions about how coastal nutrient discharges are affecting OAH conditions.

The findings, which are being drafted as a manuscript, will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.