This webinar originally aired on September 12, 2013.
Learn about two programs to protect the water quality critical to the health and effectiveness of marine protected areas. EPA’s Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Program provides grants to coastal and Great Lakes states to monitor beaches for contamination and notify the public about water pollution threats. The program is now implementing new water quality criteria, including analysis and monitoring methods. California’s State Water Board administers 34 Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS). To preserve biologically unique and sensitive marine ecosystems for future generations, municipalities, wastewater treatment plants and other dischargers are regulated to reduce water pollution impacts to these special places.
Presented by John Wathen of US EPA and Johanna Weston of the California State Water Board.
This webinar is co-sponsored by the NOAA National Marine Protected Areas Center, OpenChannels, MPA News, and the EBM Tools Network.