SCCWRP exploring how to integrate coastal estuary monitoring with California State Parks

SCCWRP has begun exploring how to integrate a suite of newly developed tools for monitoring the health of coastal estuaries into California State Parks’ estuarine monitoring and management programs.

During a State Parks workshop in December, SCCWRP’s Dr. Jan Walker highlighted recent partnerships that SCCWRP has helped forge to advance estuarine monitoring across coastal California, including California’s new Estuary Marine Protected Area (EMPA) Monitoring Program and the ongoing Estuaries study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program. The programs are using a new statewide monitoring framework intended to bring consistency to estuary monitoring across California.

California State Parks manages nearly a quarter of the California coast, including 153 estuaries that are affiliated with 98 unique State Parks units. Furthermore, 75% of all State Parks coastal units are affiliated with an estuary.