The southern California Current System is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification, deoxygenation (OAH) and harmful algal blooms (HABS), all of which are exacerbated by global climate change. Management of local pollution sources, increasing ecosystem resilience and investment in bioremediation are all strategies specifically identified to address OAH and HABs in the California Ocean Protection Council’s (OPC) Strategic Plan (2020; the plan can be found here). Disentangling the magnitude and interaction of local pollution, climate change and the biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks requires an integrated system modeling approach carefully validated against available datasets. It also requires a patient application of this modeling system to drive management conversations about climate change adaptation and local pollution management. Other ingredients to this solution include an active and engaged stakeholder community and scientific consensus on the import of these changes to nearshore biological communities. This talk presents a case study of how a multidisciplinary team of scientists and managers are assembling the scientific ingredients to California’s strategic response to climate change and its impact on OAH and HABs in Southern California Bight nearshore, a large marine embayment on the US West Coast.