Holding polluters accountable
What’s at stake
The Otter Project holds polluters accountable for achieving water quality standards in California’s watersheds and coastal oceans. The Central Coast has the highest percentage of “highly toxic” surface waters in the State of California; 55% of Central Coast water kills the test organisms put into water samples. These toxins and chemicals can build up and impact sea otter’s immune system. Additionally, unmitigated nutrient runoff causes ocean “dead zones” and harmful algal blooms. Exposure to domoic acid, a toxin produced by algal blooms, has been shown to cause fatal sea otter heart disease. Otters are also susceptible to microcystis poisoning—a highly toxic freshwater algae that flows into the ocean and becomes concentrated in the shellfish otters eat.
Our solutions
Stormwater and water quality enforcement
Stormwater is a leading source of water quality pollution to California’s watersheds and ocean. Controlling stormwater pollution is less about rainwater and more about the good practices that keep pollution off the streets and out of the storm drains. Where practices are poor, the first rain of the season is known as the “first flush,” sending a rush of built up toxic pollution from our yards, parking lots, and streets and into the ocean. The Otter Project takes a proactive role in advocating for effective stormwater management along the Central Coast, where flushing events are intensifying with climate change, discharging directly into southern sea otter habitat. The Otter Project advocates for strong permits, and works with its members to identify and enforce rules against municipalities and businesses that are not doing their part to manage stormwater.
Preventing plastic pollution
Levels of plastic pollution in Monterey Bay rival the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The toxic debris in our bay makes its way through the food web and into sea otters’ stomachs, and our own, through the seafood we consume. The Otter Project works to prevent land-based sources of plastic pollution from reaching our coast by ensuring the State Water Board’s Trash Policy is properly implemented to stop the flow of trash from our cities, including the City of Salinas, highways, and other trash hot spots – by 2030.
Stop illegal toxics dumping
California’s coasts are under threat from dangerous toxic chemicals. Over half of California’s lakes, bays, wetlands, and estuaries are too polluted to swim, drink, or fish. Low income communities and communities of color suffer disproportionately from pollution from toxic operations, such as scrap metal yards, landfills, and cement processors, and are at greater risk for cancer and other health consequences as a result. Southern sea otters are also not spared from toxic pollution, through both direct exposure and ingesting chemicals in the food they eat. Through citizen lawsuits, the Otter Project tackles toxic chemicals by stopping the flow of pollution to local waters and improve the way these heavy industries operate and trigger improvements beyond single facilities.