The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is a partnership between the federal  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and coastal and Great Lakes states to study and protect our vital coastal and estuarine resources.  Funding, national guidance and technical assistance are provided by NOAA.Each of the 28 reserves - representing different biogeographic regions of the United States - is managed on daily basis by a lead state agency or university, with input from local partners.  These areas are protected for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship. 

As an integral part of the NERRS' research program, the System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) provides standardized, quantitative measures to determine how reserve conditions are changing in both the short-term and the long-term.  Crucial information for researchers, resource managers, educators, and other coastal decision makers.

The SWMP data for each reserve are managed by the Centralized Data Management Office (CDMO), which is managed through a grant to the University of South Carolina and is housed at the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is headquartered at the Baruch Institute’s field laboratory in Georgetown, SC.