Water Quality

 

Initiative

While Morro Bay is considered to be a relatively healthy ecosystem, it is increasingly threatened by pollution that is affecting water quality. Excessive man-made nutrients and other contaminants of emergent concern find their way to the bay from farm and urban runoff as well as wastewater seepage and spills.

One such pollutant being studied by SLOSEA scientists, nonylphenol, has been found in significant concentrations in water, sediments and tissue samples from the bay. Arrow gobies [Clevelandia ios] living in the bay and estuary, for example, have developed liver pathologies and gonadal tumors in the presence of elevated nonylphenol concentrations. SLOSEA scientists are completing experiments to assess the possibility of a correlation. Absent any correlation, the presence of nonylphenol is still a concern because it is toxic to aquatic organisms and known to disrupt the hormone balance if present at sufficient concentration.

SLOSEA's Approach:

The San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA) is working with local water quality regulators and resource managers to understand the pollutants in Morro Bay and surrounding areas to help ensure clean water for our coastal ecosystems. SLOSEA is leading this effort by:

• Establishing a water quality observatory in Morro Bay that enables modeling and predictions about the movement of pollutants within the ecosystem.
• Researching the impacts of specific pollutants such as nonylphenol on marine organisms.
• Contributing to state-wide monitoring programs to track pollutants in coastal ecosystems.
• Providing data and recommendations to local municipalities and water boards to address the causes of pollution and implement effective new sewage treatment technologies.