Paying it Forward: The Path Toward Climate-Safe Infrastructure in California

Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group | September 1st, 2018

Pollutants of concern (POC) reconnaissance monitoring final progress report, water year (WY) 2015

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 6th, 2016

The San Francisco Bay mercury and PCB TMDLs called for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and mercury loads entering the Bay via stormwater. Subsequently,

The San Francisco Bay mercury and PCB TMDLs called for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and mercury loads entering the Bay via stormwater. Subsequently, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) issued the first combined Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP). This first MRP contained provisions aimed at improving information on stormwater pollutant loads in selected watersheds (Provision C.8.) and piloted a number of management techniques to reduce PCB and Hg loading entering the Bay from smaller urbanized tributaries (Provisions C.11. and C.12.). In November 2015, the Regional Water Board issued the second MRP. “MRP 2.0” places an increased focus on finding watersheds, sources areas, and source properties that are potentially more polluted and are therefore more likely to be cost effective areas for addressing load reduction requirements through implementation of control measures. To support this increased focus, a stormwater characterization monitoring program was developed and implemented beginning in Water Year (WY) 2015. This same design is being implemented in the winter of WY 2016 by the RMP, the San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program and the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program. In addition, the RMP is piloting a project to explore the use of alternative un-manned “remote” suspended sediment samplers. During WY 2015, composite stormwater samples were collected from 20 watershed locations. At three of these locations, data were also collected using two remote suspended sediment sampler devices, both of which are designed to enhance settling and capture of suspended sediment particles from the water column. This report summarizes and provides a preliminary interpretation of data collected during WY 2015. The data collected is contributing to a broader effort to identify potential management areas. The report is designed to be updated in subsequent years as more data are collected.

Preparing Scientists, Policy-Makers, and Managers for a Fast-Forward Future

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | June 15th, 2021

Primary Production in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: A Science Strategy to Quantify Change and Identify Future Potential

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | May 20th, 2019

Today’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an unusually low-productivity estuary. The constraints on primary production and the relative importance of different production

Today’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an unusually low-productivity estuary. The constraints on primary production and the relative importance of different production sources to the food web are major ecological uncertainties in the Delta system. Understanding how the extensive historical changes in the Delta landscape have altered primary production has the potential to inform restoration planning and management across the region.  The Delta Landscapes Project (SFEI-ASC 2014) has recently produced information that allows us, for the first time, to answer questions about historical primary production and carrying capacity from quantified changes in the areal extent and spatial configuration of habitat types in the Delta since the mid-19th century. Our focus is on estimating primary production because the potential capacity of ecosystems to support fish, bird and other wildlife populations is set by primary production – the supply of food required to produce animal biomass. 

Procedures to evaluate sea-level change: impacts, responses, and adaptation

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | June 30th, 2014

Regional monitoring programs in the United States: Synthesis of four case studies from Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf Coasts

Regional Studies in Marine Science (Elsevier) | November 17th, 2015

Water quality monitoring is a cornerstone of environmental protection and ambient monitoring provides managers with the critical data they need to take informed action. U

Water quality monitoring is a cornerstone of environmental protection and ambient monitoring provides managers with the critical data they need to take informed action. Unlike site-specific monitoring that is at the heart of regulatory permit compliance, regional monitoring can provide an integrated, holistic view of the environment, allowing managers to obtain a more complete picture of natural variability and cumulative impacts, and more effectively prioritize management actions. By reviewing four long-standing regional monitoring programs that cover portions of all three coasts in the United States–Chesapeake Bay, Tampa Bay, Southern California Bight, and San Francisco Bay–important insights can be gleaned about the benefits that regional monitoring provides to managers. These insights include the underlying reasons that make regional monitoring programs successful, the challenges to maintain relevance and viability in the face of ever-changing technology, competing demands and shifting management priorities. The lessons learned can help other managers achieve similar successes as they seek to establish and reinvigorate their own monitoring programs.

Review of the Draft 2022-2026 Science Action Agenda

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 28th, 2022

Review of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Delta Conveyance Project

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | December 16th, 2022

Review of the Interagency Ecological Program

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 29th, 2018

Review of the Monitoring Enterprise in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | March 3rd, 2022