2017/2018 Salmonid and Green Sturgeon Incidental Take and Monitoring Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 19th, 2018

2018 Bivalve Retrieval Cruise Report

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | November 1st, 2018

This report describes activities associated with the 2018 bivalve retrieval cruise of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP). Measur

This report describes activities associated with the 2018 bivalve retrieval cruise of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP). Measurement of contaminant concentrations in transplanted bivalves accumulated during dry season deployment is designed to provide long-term data on the bioaccumulation of trace elements and trace organic compounds in tissue throughout the Estuary. 

2018 Clear Creek Technical Team Annual Report for the Coordinated Long-Term Operations Biological Opinion

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | July 1st, 2019

2018 Technical Memorandum Regarding the Accounting of San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon at the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Fish Collection Facilities

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | January 15th, 2018

2019 Regional Monitoring Plan (RMP) North Bay Selenium Monitoring Sampling and Analysis Plan

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | January 31st, 2020

In 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board approved a selenium TMDL for North San Francisco Bay. The TMDL established a target concentration of 11.3 ug/g dw in whi

In 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board approved a selenium TMDL for North San Francisco Bay. The TMDL established a target concentration of 11.3 ug/g dw in white sturgeon muscle tissue as the basis for evaluating impairment (SFBRWQCB 2015). Following discussions surrounding the North Bay TMDL, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board asked the RMP Selenium Workgroup to develop a robust monitoring design for North Bay. The goal of the monitoring is to identify leading indicators of change to allow prompt management response to signs of increasing impairment. At the 2016 technical workshop, participants reached a consensus that monitoring sturgeon, clams, and water are all needed to answer management questions. Recommendations for long-term monitoring of these three matrices are detailed in the North Bay Monitoring Design document (Grieb et al. 2018). The USGS conducted monthly clam monitoring at multiple locations in North Bay for over 20 years, but USGS funding for this work ended in 2016. In 2019, the RMP will resume clam monitoring following a modified monitoring design optimized for early detection of changes in selenium trends in clams. These efforts will continue the long-term monitoring of Potamocorbula amurensis. Grieb et al. (2018) also recommended monitoring dissolved and particulate selenium in the water column. Long-term monitoring of water and sturgeon tissue in North Bay will be added to the clam sampling to track interannual trends and changes in sources or environmental processes influencing food web selenium exposures in North Bay. Potamocorbula amurensis and water samples will be collected from two long-term USGS monitoring locations in northern San Francisco Bay. Samples will be collected and processed by SFEI and Applied Marine Sciences (AMS) aboard the R/V Questuary . Sampling will take place over six months each year in two key three-month periods: July-September and December-February. White sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) samples will be collected by DFW during their tagging efforts aboard the New Alosa . These efforts occur during DFW’s fall tagging cruises (Sept - Oct). Non-lethal muscle plug samples will be collected from the epaxial muscle of each fish, just in front of the dorsal fin (Figure 5). Brooks Applied Labs (BAL), CalTest Analytical Laboratory (CalTest), and the UC Davis Stable Isotope Lab will be the analytical partners for this work. Stable isotope analysis will be used to identify spatial and temporal relationships within a food web, as well as potential sources of selenium. BAL will analyze dissolved and particulate selenium in water; clams, and sturgeon samples; and CalTest will conduct ancillary analyses on dissolved water samples. The purpose of this Sampling and Analysis Plan is to clearly document the sampling design, methods, and responsibilities; and to facilitate coordination among project partners.

2019 Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) Sport Fish Monitoring Sampling and Analysis Plan

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | December 1st, 2019

2022 Drought Plan Klamath Project, Oregon-California Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | April 29th, 2022

The Klamath Project (Project) delivers water for irrigation purposes to up to approximately 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California when water is availab

The Klamath Project (Project) delivers water for irrigation purposes to up to approximately 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California when water is available. The Project relies upon several primary water sources to meet irrigation demands including water from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Clear Lake Reservoir, and Gerber Reservoir, and from the Klamath and Lost rivers. The Project’s water supplies (Project Supply or Supplies) have been impacted by the severe drought conditions currently affecting the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. This 2022 Drought Plan describes the background for and the process of allocating the available Project Supply during the 2022 spring/summer irrigation season (April 15 through September 30, 20222), consistent with the contract priorities that exist within the Project.

2024 5-Year Review: Summary & Evaluation of Northern California Steelhead

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | July 9th, 2024

Many West Coast salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) stocks have declined substantially from their historic numbers and now are at a fraction of their historical abun

Many West Coast salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) stocks have declined substantially from their historic numbers and now are at a fraction of their historical abundance. Several factors contribute to these declines, including: overfishing, loss of freshwater and estuarine habitat, hydropower development, poor ocean conditions, and hatchery practices. These factors collectively led to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) listing of 28 salmon and steelhead stocks in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA, under section 4(c)(2), directs the Secretary of Commerce to review the listing classification of threatened and endangered species at least once every 5 years. A 5-year review is a periodic analysis of a species’ status conducted to ensure that the listing classification of a species as threatened or endangered on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (List) (50 CFR 17.11 – 17.12; 50 CFR 223.102, 224.101) is accurate (USFWS and NMFS 2006; NMFS 2020). After completing this review, the Secretary must determine if any species should: (1) be removed from the list; (2) have its status changed from endangered to threatened; or (3) have its status changed from threatened to endangered. If, in the 5-year review, a change in classification is recommended, the recommended change will be further considered in a separate rule-making process. The most recent 5-year review analysis for West Coast salmon and steelhead occurred in 2016. This document describes the results of the 2024 review of ESA-listed Northern California steelhead (NC steelhead). A 5-year review is: • A summary and analysis of available information on a given species; • The tracking of a species’ progress toward recovery; • The recording of the deliberative process used to make a recommendation on whether or not to reclassify a species; • A recommendation on whether reclassification of the species is indicated.

A decision‐support framework for dam removal planning and its application in northern California

Environmental Challenges (Elsevier) | May 27th, 2023

Dam removals are occurring more frequently with the rising cost of maintaining aging infrastructure, public safety concerns, and growing interest in river restoration. So

Dam removals are occurring more frequently with the rising cost of maintaining aging infrastructure, public safety concerns, and growing interest in river restoration. So far, most dam-removals have been unsystematic in their approach. Given the several thousand dam removals expected over the coming decades, a systematic approach to plan future dam removals holds potential for aligning and delivering multiple benefits. Despite multi-sector factors driving decision-making, most existing prioritization frameworks tend to operate within single or related disciplines. Here we present a hierarchical, multi-disciplinary decision-support framework to prioritize dam removals based on opportunistic factors (Tier 1), hydro-ecological variables (Tier 2), and socio-cultural considerations (Tier 3). This framework integrates multiple decision criteria under data availability constraints, incorporates value-driven weights, and can be applied to a portfolio of dams at various spatial scales. The final output facilitates the identification of dam removal projects that align opportunistic, environmental, and social benefits. We recommend the application of this framework as a critical first step to identifying high-priority candidates for removal, recognizing that removal decisions will ultimately require detailed feasibility studies and stakeholder engagement. To illustrate its utility, we apply this framework to California’s North Coast region and identify a small number of “good ”candidates to be considered for removal. We conclude with recommendations for filling critical knowledge gaps and advancing systematic dam removal planning in the United States and beyond.

A Framework for Research Addressing the Role of Ammonia/Ammonium in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay Estuary Ecosystem

CALFED | April 13th, 2009

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay Estuary ecosystem has been drastically altered by human activity since at least the mid-1800s, leading to numer

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay Estuary ecosystem has been drastically altered by human activity since at least the mid-1800s, leading to numerous physical, chemical and biological changes [e.g., see Healey (2008) and Healey et al. (2008) for overviews]. Recent concerns include (1) the precipitous decline of four fish species that inhabit the Delta (collectively referred to as the pelagic organism decline, or POD) and (2) apparent major shifts in community composition of algae and higher trophic levels in the Delta and downstream in Suisun Bay. The four POD species of concern are delta smelt (longfin smelt), threadfin shad and striped bass. One of the potential causes of the POD and the community changes is the discharge of increasing concentrations of a combination of ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) into the Delta ecosystem and eventually into Suisun Bay. For brevity, we hereafter abbreviate the ammonia/ammonium combination as ammonia/um. To address the potential for adverse effects of ammonia/um on the Bay-Delta ecosystem, a ammonia/um workshop was convened by the CALFED Science Program on 10 and 11 March 2009 in Sacramento, California. We participated as an expert panel and were charged with preparing a framework for research that will address the role of ammonia/um in the Bay-Delta ecosystem. In this report, we present our perception and interpretation of the major concerns related to ammonia/um in the Bay-Delta ecosystem; a conceptual framework of the major physical, chemical and biological drivers controlling the ecosystem (including POD populations); our assessment of the major research needs; and concluding remarks. For some research needs, we recommend specific types of research and provide literature citations; however, for other research needs we recommend general approaches for which targeted research will be determined later. In many ways, Bay-Delta research is breaking new ground by tackling a large-scale, complex freshwater-estuarine ecosystem affected by multiple, interactive stressors. Consequently, the Bay-Delta research program will establish a template for future research and management decisions in other hydrologically, biogeochemically, and trophically-similar systems, rather than relying on paths trodden by others.