State Water Quality Protection Areas
Piloting Tools to Assess State Water Quality Protection Areas
Coastal Quest’s Partnership with the State Water Resources Control Board
In partnership with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Coastal Quest (CQ) is piloting scalable solutions to improve water quality. Addressing one of SWRCB’s key priorities, CQ and SWRCB launched a Central Coast pilot project in 2022 to support efforts to strengthen water quality enforcement and management and assist with assessing areas with the potential for the nomination of new State Water Quality Protection Areas (SWQPAs), such as Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS).
We created a GIS pilot tool for the Central Coast, that can be used to assess coastal areas for their holistic benefits. We collaborated with the Central Coast Water Boards and the MPA State Leadership Team to refine the tool.
SWQPA Assessment Tool
We built the SWQPA Assessment Tool to support reviews of SWQPA nominations and potential future nominations.
Let’s work together to protect and support coastal water quality through new and necessary water quality protection designations. Contact us at coastalnbs@coastal-quest.org if you would like to learn more about this tool or need training.
What is an SWQPA?
SWQPAs are “areas designated to protect marine species or biological communities from an undesirable alteration in natural water quality…waste discharge shall be prohibited or limited.”
There are two types of SWQPAs: ASBS and General Protection Areas (SWQPA-GP).
An ASBS is an ocean area monitored and maintained for water quality by the SWRCB. Per the SWRCB website: “ASBS cover much of the length of California’s coastal waters. They support an unusual variety of aquatic life, and often host unique individual species. ASBS are basic building blocks for a sustainable, resilient coastal environment and economy.”
In 2012, the SWRCB created a new category of SWQPA called SWQPA-General Protection (SWQPA-GP) to protect water quality within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) specifically.
Fun Facts
- There are currently 34 ASBS.
- No new ASBS have been designated since 1974.
- One ASBS nomination is currently under review. The public can nominate new ASBS or SWQPA-GP at any time by following the SWRCB’s nomination process in the SWRCB Ocean Plan.