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50 Years: The Department of Boating and Waterways, 1957 to 2007
Providing environmentally sound recreational boating is a basic
tenet of the Cal Boating philosophy. As far back as the 1960s and
early 1970s, Cal Boating led the way for other state agencies in taking
environmental responsibility, and the department has continued to
sustain these types of programs in generous proportion to its overall
budget. The department’s commitment to environmental programs
is reflected in a wide range of ongoing activities, which include
the Coastal Data Information Program, Online California Coastal
Records Project, Clean and Green Boating campaign, Clean Vessel Act
Grant Program, “S.S. Relief ” Floating Restroom Program, and Aquatic
Weed Control Program.
The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP)
The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP), an ongoing coastal
wave information gathering system, is Cal Boating’s longest-running,
most popular, and most valuable study project. CDIP was developed
more than 25 years ago at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with
support from the department and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
(which fund the program through a cooperative agreement), and the
California Sea Grant College Program. Originally conceived to help
scientists understand the wave-driven movement of sand on Southern
California beaches, CDIP has grown into the world leader of coastal
wave data collection, modeling and forecasting as well as beach and
cliff erosion monitoring.
At CDIP, oceanographers at the Scripps facility record wave heights
and directions at 15 to 20 locations along the California coast every
15 minutes. Sophisticated computer modeling enables these readings
to be analyzed and translated into real-time wave height for the
P R O T E C T I NG T HE E N V I R ONM E N T
Cal Boating provides this
type of web-based infor
mation for specified locations
along the California coast
every 15 minutes.