Over 90% of Southern California coastal wetlands have been destroyed.  These ecosystems are critical habitats for many aquatic and terrestrial animals, refuges for endangered species and important nursery grounds for juvenile animals.  Wetlands provide an important buffer against the ocean during storms and can improve ocean water quality.  The UC Sea Grant Program investigates how coastal wetlands remove bacteria from terrestrial runoff before it enters the ocean.  This is important since high bacterial populations can be harmful to human health and result in beach closures.  Our research indicates how coastal wetlands should be restored to protect or improve ocean water quality.

SEA GRANT
West Coast Regional and Information Planning
The Ocean Protection Council (OPC) has been working closely with the California and the University of Southern California Sea Grant programs to improve scientific understanding in high priority issue areas.  As a first step, the OPC supported the West Coast Sea Grant programs' initiative to develop a Regional Research and Information Plan for the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.

An important component of this effort was a stakeholder-driven process to prioritze research and information needs for the West Coast.  This included four stakeholder workshops held in California throughout the fall of 2007 as well as workshops in Washington and Oregon.  The goal of Sea Grant and the OPC was to involve the broadest possible range of ocean and coastal interests in the process, including coastal residents, scholars and researchers; community organizations; marine conservation groups; state and local governments; resource managers at both the state and federal levels; and any person or group who depends on ocean resources for livelihood or recreation.

We are pleased to announce that the four Sea Grant programs in Oregon, Washington and California have completed Phase I of their Regional Research and Information Planning effort.  The final report is now available for download at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/research/RegionalPlanning.

During Phase II of the Sea Grant regional effort, the programs will use the report to develop priorities to guide regional-scale initiatives and investments in natural and social science research to provide the best possible science for wise policy and resource management.