Taking the Pulse of Morro Bay
The Morro Bay Volunteer Monitoring Program provides citizen monitors with opportunities
to get out on the creeks
and bay to collect
long-term monitoring data for the Morro Bay
watershed.
The volunteer-generated data is used
to evaluate the success of resource
management efforts and to track the health of
a unique natural resource. The program also
strives to increase public understanding and
involvement in the Morro Bay estuary and its watershed. Find out how to get involved here.
Understanding and tracking the health of Morro Bay and its watershed requires consistent, reliable information collection. Our monitoring program conducts work in the estuary and throughout the watershed. Only by studying and understanding current conditions can the program and its partners adapt and address challenges facing this valuable resource. No other entity has such consistent and detailed data on the health of Morro Bay and its watershed.
Our monitoring effort has two primary goals: to track long-term trends and to determine the effectiveness of specific conservation projects. High quality data is critically important in prioritizing future projects, evaluating the effectiveness of existing projects, and assessing long-term changes in health.
The Estuary Program's monitoring effort includes year-round and seasonal monitoring and provides valuable information to local non-profits; state, federal and local agencies; and private citizens to support our mutual goal to protect and preserve this unique area.
Monitoring efforts:
- Water Quality: Monthly monitoring at bay and creek sites throughout the watershed to collect data on basic water quality parameters and flow.
- Phytoplankton: Monthly pulls are conducted to help identify toxic plankton blooms. This aids the California Department of Public Health in regulating the safety of shellfish harvest.
- Creek Biological Assessments: Annually conduct habitat assessments and collect macroinvertebrate samples in streams throughout watershed. Provides information on long-term water quality as well as the quality of creek habitat.
- Eelgrass: Biennial bay-wide mapping of submerged aquatic vegetation types. Helps track the health of eelgrass beds over time.
- Sedimentation: Automated samplers are deployed to track sediment during storm events. The data can be used to create estimates of sediment being transported in creeks during high-flow conditions, helping us understand the long-term trends in sediment transport to the bay. Permanent benchmarks established in the mudflat area and along the bay shoreline are used to measure incremental changes in erosion and deposition in these dynamic areas within the bay.
- Project effectiveness monitoring: Specific monitoring designed to provide information on the effectiveness of specific conservation efforts such as riparian fence installation and grazing management practices.