Last month, Pebble Beach Company, California Coastkeeper Alliance, The Otter Project, and Monterey Waterkeeper announced a historic alliance to protect water quality in Carmel Bay. This partnership represents a significant step forward for Pebble Beach, Carmel Bay, and ocean waters statewide.
Carmel Bay is home to one of California’s 34 Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) – coastal areas designated by the State of California where especially biodiverse and fragile marine communities must be protected. California Coastkeeper Alliance and our member organizations have a long history of protecting California’s ASBS. As just one example: California Coastkeeper Alliance, Monterey Waterkeeper, and The Otter Project have a pending nomination to designate the Point Sur Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as an ASBS. If designated, this would be the first new ASBS designated since the mid-1970s.
A key component of California’s ASBS program is a prohibition against pollution into these protected coastal waters. Last year, California Coastkeeper Alliance, The Otter Project, and Monterey Waterkeeper contacted Pebble Beach Company about discharges from Pebble Beach Golf Links into Carmel Bay ASBS, an iconic coastal habitat that is home to extensive kelp forests and a diverse array of marine life, including sea otters.
The parties chose to work together to develop a path forward grounded in collaboration, accountability, and a shared commitment to preserving the unique and sensitive ecosystems of Carmel Bay. As part of this, Pebble Beach Company, in coordination with our organizations, will pursue a first-in-nation Clean Water Act permit from the Central Coast Regional Water Board for discharges from Pebble Beach Golf Links into Carmel Bay ASBS. This effort includes increasing water quality monitoring and developing updated best management practices related to dry-weather and stormwater discharges into Carmel Bay.
This announcement marks a big step forward for California’s most important marine ecosystems, and serves as a hopeful reminder that through cooperation, even complex challenges can lead to positive outcomes.
Protecting our coast remains one of CCKA’s top priorities. To stay tuned into California Coastkeeper Alliance’s ongoing ASBS protection work and other efforts to protect California’s waters, please consider subscribing to California Coastkeeper Alliance’s monthly newsletter, becoming a lifetime CCKA member, and following us on social media: @CA_Waterkeepers.
Photo: Allie Caulfield
Senior Staff Attorney Lauren Chase Marshall advances CCKA’s water quality initiatives via administrative, litigation, and legislative tools.
