The California Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Alert Network was formed after a workshop held in April 2008. Participants included the leading HAB researchers in California, and a wide variety of interests such as water quality management, shellfish management related to public health, animal rescue communities, universities, state and local agencies.
Goals of CalHABMAP:
- Design a HAB network that will meet the needs of, and be accessible to, all HAB stakeholders.
- Create a centralized web location where all HAB data and predictive information can be visualized and accessed by all HAB stakeholder groups throughout the state.
- Conduct an economic analysis to determine the potential impacts of HABs to California coastal economies. Recently, EPA estimated the impact of HABs on the US economy to be over $40 million each year.
- Conduct a comparison of analytical methods for toxin analysis and harmful algae identification and enumeration, in order to combine and compare datasets collected throughout California.
- Collaborate with the Water Quality Monitoring Council to ensure that HAB information and data are included in and accessible from water quality websites.
The monitoring data reported here primarily focuses on marine (coastal) HABs. Similar content for freshwater and estuarine HABs is included on the California Cyanobacteria and Harmful Algal Bloom network (CCHABs) webpage and data portal.