Workshop on Ocean Acidification and San Francisco Bay

Estuarine acidification due to global carbon dioxide emissions and local eutrophication has the potential to have widespread impacts on marine ecosystems by reducing calcification—key to building shells, for example—in key marine organisms. Recently, the West Coast Ocean Acidification & Hypoxia (OAH) Science Panel recommended improved monitoring to assess biological impacts in the coastal ocean and estuaries. The current status and impacts of acidification on the San Francisco Bay and many other West Coast estuaries are largely unknown.

A workshop at San Francisco Estuary Institute on October 19-20 will convene forty scientists, managers, and representatives of local monitoring entities to assess whether acidification is a likely concern in SF Bay, and to identify its potential impacts to beneficial uses, cost-effective monitoring strategies, and potential management actions, including restoration. San Francisco Bay, as the largest estuary on the West Coast, will serve as a case study for how to approach the development of OAH monitoring strategies for West Coast estuaries.

The workshop attendance is already at capacity but the Organizing Committee will produce a publicly available technical report documenting the key outcomes.

Organizing Committee:

• Karina Nielsen (Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Center, SF State)
• John Largier (BML)
• Martha Sutula (SCCWRP)
• Philip Trowbridge (SFEI)
• Phil Bresnahan (SFEI)
• Luisa Valiela (USEPA Region 9)
• Heidi Nutters (SFEP)
• Sarah Wheeler (OST)