Clifton formerly directed San Diego County’s Ocean Recreational Water Program
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SAN DIEGO, March 3, 2010 –San Diego Coastkeeper, San Diego’s largest professional
environmental organization, announced today that Clay Clifton has joined its staff as the Watershed
Monitoring Program Manager. Clifton brings to Coastkeeper more than ten years of experience in
monitoring contamination events at 52 miles of public beaches, most recently directing the Ocean
Recreational Water Program for the County of San Diego, Department of Environmental Health.
“Clay ran San Diego County’s award-winning beach water quality monitoring program for a
decade; his name is synonymous with water monitoring in this region,” said Bruce Reznik, executive
director for San Diego Coastkeeper. “Clay’s leadership and expertise perfectly complements our
volunteer watershed monitoring program, which is the largest in the state.”
Clifton will run Coastkeeper’s watershed monitoring program, which conducts monthly
sampling events in nine out of 11 county watersheds, encompassing waters that no other organization
currently monitors. A team of trained citizen volunteers collects the data, which is backed by state
approved quality control standards, and then Coastkeeper uses it to help improve government decision
making regarding the local water bodies.
While in his previous role with the county, Clifton worked alongside Scripps Institute of
Oceanography to pilot the San Diego Coastal Ocean Observing System, which was the first system
designed for real time water quality monitoring. He also prepped the county to implement the stateinitiated
AB411, which required the county to increase its sampling efforts and database management
from 30 samples a month to more than 200 a month.
The San Diego County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation also voted Clifton as “Waterman of
the Year, 2005” for his professional accomplishments in support of clean water goals.
Clifton has a master’s degree in marine affairs and policy from University of Miami, Rosenstiel
School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Furman
University.
Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds
and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. We balance community outreach,
education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.
