Founded in 1993, the Santa Monica Baykeeper's mission is to protect and restore the Santa Monica Bay, San Pedro Bay and adjacent waters through enforcement, fieldwork, and community action. We work to achieve this goal through litigation and regulatory programs that ensure water quality protections in waterways throughout L.A. County


Programs

Kelp Restoration

The challenges of restoring and monitoring this building block of a healthy California ocean community are met through a combination of fieldwork, community action and education.

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Beachkeeper Program

The goals of the Beachkeeper program are to increase awareness of the quality of our local waters, and recruit volunteers from the community to participate in the hands-on monitoring and high quality data collection.

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Public Outreach & Education

Our public outreach and watershed education programs inform citizens about the connection between human activities and the health of our local waterways.

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Advocacy

Enforcement is a cornerstone of environmental protection and without it, it is hard to believe we will ever achieve our goals of clean coastal waters.

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Staff Members

Tom Ford

Baykeeper

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Carlos Carreon

Beachkeeper Program Coordinator

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Brian Meux

Kelp Project Coordinator

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Mark Abramson

Director of Watershed Program

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Tatiana Gaur

Staff Attorney

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Woodside, a foreign-owned and operated oil and natural gas company, proposes to build and operate a massive LNG terminal off-shore near LAX, placing California’s public safety, the environment, and our energy security at risk.

Local Governments Could be Held Accountable for Results for the First Time

LOS ANGELES (March 3, 2008) The County of Los Angeles and the City of Malibu must stop bacteria and toxins from flowing into coastal waters where they sicken beachgoers and damage marine life, according to two lawsuits filed today in federal court by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Santa Monica Baykeeper. In the past, local governments have been required by courts to take steps to reduce urban runoff, which is the top source of coastal water pollution, but today's lawsuits are the first attempt to hold governments accountable for measurable results.

read the press release

Stone Canyon Creek Restoration at UCLA

Volunteers Wanted to Help Save and Restore UCLA's Stone Canyon Creek.

State Water Board April 15th Trash, Streams and Wetlands

On April 15, 2008, the State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved the Trash Total Maximum Daily Load,TMDL, for the Los Angeles River. This is the second time the State Water Resources Control Board approves the Los Angeles River Trash TMDL and is an important step towards cleaning up the ...

Have you ever met a grunion you did not want to greet? Now is your chance.

Santa Monica Baykeeper is excited to support Grunion.org. Carlos Carreon, Beachkeeper Program Coordinator, recently went out on a grunion patrol in Manhattan Beach to greet these mystical fish as they came ashore just after the evening high tide. Pepperdine University researchers are conducting this volunteer-driven project to study ...

Marina del Rey Local Coastal Plan Review

The first meeting of the Coastal Commissio in 2008 took place in Marina del Rey. The most important agenda item was the periodic review of the Marina del Rey Local Coastal Plan (LCP). Under the Coastal Act, after an LCP is certified by the Coastal Commission, the Commission ...

Library Alehouse Tonight!

Santa Monica Baykeeper was chosen by the Library Alehouse as the cause of the month for January, 2008 and the SMBK staff wants to celebrate! SMBK staff will be at the Library Alehouse today from 5-7pm. Stop by, say hi, and have a pint of one of the 27 beers ...

January 29th, Meet the Baykeeper staff at Library Alehouse

The Library Alehouse has chosen the Santa Monica Baykeeper as the cause of the month for January 2008. On Tuesday, January 29th, The Library Alehouse will donate 15% of its sales to the Baykeeper. Please stop by for an easy and fun way to support the Santa Monica Baykeeper ...

BAN THE BAG - Tuesday, January 22

Take a stand. Less than 5 percent of the 6 billion plastic bags used in L.A. County are recycled each year. The rest litter our landscape, take up precious space in our landfills, and pollute our marine environment, endangering our marine life. Tuesday, January 22 the Los Angeles County Board ...

O.C. sewage will soon be drinking water

A $490-million plant will clean effluent to state standards, then inject it into the groundwater basin for further filtration. By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 2, 2008 Los Angeles Times As a hedge against water shortages and population growth, Orange County has begun operating the world's largest, most modern reclamation ...

B.Y.O.B.

Thursday, December 20th, is A DAY WITH OUT A BAG. Los Angeles County residents use 6 billion plastic bags a year and only 5% of those bags get recycled. Do your part. Giive up disposable bags in favor of reusable totes for 24 hours. Help reduse plastic bag usage this ...

Tuna Canyon Creek at the Coastal Commission

Mark Abramson and Tatiana Gaur of Santa Monica Baykeeper (SMBK) composed a comment letter to the California Coastal Commission regarding a proposed road realignment project in Tuna Canyon. Tuna Canyon is a small watershed located between Las Flores Canyon and Topanga Canyon in the City of Malibu. The County of Los Angeles proposed to ...