California’s Water Code gives the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) the responsibility of protecting its ocean water quality by controlling waste discharges and the intake of seawater. It also requires that the California Ocean Plan be reviewed every three years to guarantee that the current standards are adequate and not allowing marine species degradation or posing a public health threat. The plan was last amended to address desalination facility intakes and brine discharges in May 2015, and went into effect in January 2016.