Passion for Water Quality, Innovation and Collaboration Drives Us
The Bay Foundation
Nearly two million people live in the Santa Monica Bay Watershed stretching from Ventura County to Palos Verdes, from the Santa Monica Mountains and Griffith Park, to Baldwin Hills and out to the sea.
More than 5,000 species of animals, fish, birds and plants make their home in the Bay and the Bay Watershed.
And millions of people visit this area from around the world.
The Bay Foundation (TBF)—also known as the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation—is a 501(c) 3 non-profit environmental group founded in 1990 to restore and enhance Santa Monica Bay and local coastal waters. TBF is staffed by science and policy experts who are passionate about understanding and protecting the Bay and the Bay watershed, and all the benefits that a healthy ecosystem can provide all those who use and enjoy it.
TBF works with a broad group of stakeholders, including government agencies, environmental groups, local communities, industry and scientists, to create and put into action innovative policies and projects that clean up our waterways, create green spaces in urban areas, and restore natural habitats both on land and underwater, such as wetlands and kelp forests.
TBF is part of the U.S. EPA’s Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program (SMBNEP)—learn more about estuaries HERE. The SMBNEP is one of 28 similar programs established under Section 320 of the 1987 Clean Water Act and administered by the U.S. EPA.
As part of the SMBNEP, TBF is the non-profit partner of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and is focused on research, education, planning, cleanup efforts, and other priorities identified in the SMBNEP’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), a publicly-adopted comprehensive plan of action for protecting and restoring Santa Monica Bay. For more information on the entire SMBNEP, please visit the Background page.
For the FY21 SMBNEP Work Plan, please click here.
Since we began, TBF and the implementation of the CCMP have made massive improvements to the human and environmental health of the region. Please Explore our work to learn more.