About the Joint Powers Authority

The Aquatic Science Center (ASC) is a Joint Powers Authority created by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies. ASC is administered by SFEI, and it is staffed entirely by SFEI employees.

ASC’s purpose is the promotion and delivery of science support functions and information management for governmental and non-governmental organizations with roles in water quality protection, policy development, and assessment. It is designed to:

• Integrate, evaluate, manage, and report data and information about the condition of waters and aquatic ecosystems, stressors acting on conditions, and the potential implications of alternative management responses and scenarios;
• Connect science to decision-making processes involving a broad array of stakeholders, and provide a forum to refine and use adaptive management principles in beneficial use protection and restoration;
• Strengthen the integration of regional monitoring information and communicate relevant conclusions to a wide variety of decision-makers;
• Provide an effective mechanism for science support to public agencies involved in environmental planning and decision-making, as well as a forum for developing and adjusting the environmental management, policy, and assessment questions that form the basis of applied research and monitoring programs in aquatic ecosystems.