The tidal wetlands of Southern California are some of the most threatened estuarine systems on the west coast. The high urbanization of wetlands in Southern California places them under serious threat of habitat transformation and loss in the face of sea level rise. Further, these systems are highly understudied, particularly in regards to inlet dynamics.
The Climate Science Alliance joined the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, San Francisco Estuary Institute/Aquatic Science Center, Coastal Conservancy and the US Geological Survey for part of a 4-year project titled "Marshes on the Margins: Developing Tidal Wetlands Adaptation Strategies in Southern California".
This project, beginning in 2016, identified how the dynamic estuarine systems of Southern California will be affected (physically and biologically) by sea level rise and determined how and where nature-based solutions can be used to provide resilience to those effects. Specifically, these organizations implemented tools at case-study sites, applying the developed products of the project to four wetland systems or local governments in Southern California. The wetland case-study sites include: Tijuana Estuary, Los Penasquitos Lagoon, Los Cerritos Wetlands, and Goleta Slough.
Learn more about the project on the "Marshes on the Margins" page here.
