SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A new recreational vessel sewage management guide, "When Nature Calls", is now available for boaters. Sewage discharges are preventable. This new guide provides information on the proper use of marine sanitation devices and stationary sewage pumpouts, and proper boat sewage management.

"Properly disposing boat sewage makes a difference in water quality and protects aquatic life," stated California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) Acting Deputy Director Christopher C. Conlin. "You might think one boater's contribution to the overall pollution problem is minuscule, but considering there are more than four million recreational boaters in California, individual discharges add up."

The guide also provides web links to pumpout locations located around the state, a link to a video on how to properly use a pumpout, the legal requirements of boaters when disposing of waste and much more. Recreational boaters can access the guide online at: DBW or the Foundation's website.

The publication was created by California's Clean Vessel Education Program, a partnership of The Bay Foundation and DBW.

The Clean Vessel Education Program provides boater education programs to promote public awareness about boat sewage and its proper disposal. The Bay Foundation, 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 the Santa Monica Bay (from the LA-Ventura county line to the Palos Verdes Peninsula) and local coastal waters.

For more information about the guide, please contact the Environmental Boating Program Coordinator, Vivian Matuk, at Vivian.Matuk@coastal.ca.gov or (415) 904-6905.