In recognition of the need to restore and protect the Santa Monica Bay and its resources, the State of California and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established it as a National Estuary Program in December 1988 to develop a plan that would ensure the long-term health of the 266 square mile Bay and its 400 square mile watershed, located in the second most populous region in the United States. That plan, known as the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, won State and Federal approval in 1995. Since then the SMBRP’s primary mission has been to facilitate and oversee the implementation of the Plan.