AMS scientists characterized the existing marine biological resources and potential Project impacts, including sensitive and special-status species, within a portion of Santa Monica Bay on behalf of West Basin Municipal Water District for a proposed coastal desalination facility.

The West Basin Municipal Water District, a wholesale water agency serving a number of municipalities, corporations, and local water agencies in the coastal Los Angeles area, proposed a coastal desalination facility to be co-located at the El Segundo Generating Station. The proposed project included the construction of a facility that would produce 20 million gallons per day (MGD) of potable drinking water, as well as a potential expansion of the facility to produce up to 60 MGD of potable water from Santa Monica Bay, California. AMS served as the marine resources lead to prepare the marine biological resources and impacts sections of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on behalf of West Basin Municipal Water District.

As part of its efforts in support of the Project, AMS scientists characterized the existing marine biological resources, including sensitive and special-status species, within a portion of Santa Monica Bay and evaluated potential Project impacts to those resources. Additionally, AMS recommended measures to avoid potential Project related impacts and analyzed data to advise Project placement to lessen any environmental effects.

AMS scientists brought their extensive experience from conducting NEPA and CEQA analyses for a number of other projects around the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas. Our understanding of the regulatory process combined with in-depth experience of biological resources gained from our scientists’ work along the California coast for the past four decades combines to provide our clients with a wealth of relevant knowledge that is employed to support effective and efficient Project completion. 

Jay Johnson

AMS Contact:
Jay Johnson serves as project manager for AMS for marine biological resources and impacts assessments in support of CEQA. Jay Johnson is a senior oceanographer with over 30 years of experience supporting a wide variety of commercial and industrial clients, as well as regulatory and resource management agencies.