The Sanitation Districts' coastal water quality monitoring program has two components: nearshore/offshore water quality monitoring and a nearshore light energy survey. These monitoring efforts are found in the Coastal Water Quality chapter of the Warren Facility Biennial Receiving Water Monitoring Report.

Nearshore/Offshore Water Quality Monitoring

Nearshore/Offshore Water Column Monitoring assures that California Ocean Plan limits for dissolved oxygen, pH and light transmission are being met in the area near the outfalls, and that nutrients from the discharge are not causing objectionable aquatic growth or otherwise degrading the receiving water biota. This monitoring data is also intended to contribute to a regional understanding of seasonal patterns in nearshore water column structure.

The Nearshore/Offshore Monitoring program is conducted at 48 stations on a quarterly basis. At each station, continuous profiles are measured from surface to bottom (or to a maximum depth of 100 m) for dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, light transmissivity, chlorophyll-a, and pH (hereafter referred to as a CTD profile or sample). Water samples are collected concurrently with the CTD sampling, at a subset of 24 stations and analyzed for ammonia nitrogen at the surface, 15, 30 and, where depth allows, 45 m below the surface to identify the location of effluent plume.

The Sanitation Districts conduct the Nearshore/Offshore Monitoring program cooperatively with monitoring groups from neighboring agencies, including the City of Los Angeles, Orange County Sanitation Districts, City of San Diego and City of Oxnard. All agencies sample along similarly arranged transect lines, with equivalent spacing of stations both along the coast and from the shore to offshore. The monitoring data collected by the Sanitation Districts is incorporated with data from the other participants to produce a regional data set which includes over 300 CTD profiles collected between Ventura and San Diego Counties. The regional data sets are provided to the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS), which makes selected data available on its website.

Map of Offshore CTD Sampling Sites

Nearshore Light Energy Surveys

The Nearshore Light Energy Survey assures that discharged effluent does not reduce natural light below levels sufficient to ensure protection of benthic algal communities, such as the giant kelp beds that are very prominent in the Palos Verdes coastal waters.

The Ocean Monitoring and Research group monitors light energy at seven nearshore stations on a monthly basis. The stations are located along the 18-m isobath around the Palos Verdes headland. At each station, profiles of light energy are made from surface to bottom and are compared with ambient light levels.

Map of Nearshore Light Energy Monitoring Sites

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