North Bay Selenium Monitoring Design

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and implementation plan for selenium in North San Francisco Bay (NSFB). The TMDL is based on attainment of water column and fish tissue target concentrations protective of human health, aquatic life, and wildlife, and was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in August 2016. The USEPA also published proposed aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife criteria for selenium in the Bay and Delta in 2016. Subsequently, the San Francisco Water Board reached out to the Selenium Workgroup of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) to consider the development and implementation of a robust selenium monitoring plan for the North Bay. A primary goal is to identify leading indicators of change to allow prompt management response to signs of increasing risk of impairment.