San Francisco Bay

Pilot Study Examining Spatial Differences in Water Quality Between Shoal and Channel Habitats

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

Under the umbrella of the Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS; www.sfbaynutrients.sfei.org), we are investigating relationships between the SFB’s elevated nutrient levels

Under the umbrella of the Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS; www.sfbaynutrients.sfei.org), we are investigating relationships between the SFB’s elevated nutrient levels and phytoplankton production, with the goal of identifying protective nutrient loads and effective nutrient management options. To address these goals, NMS work includes continued ship-based monitoring (in collaboration with USGS); augmenting that monitoring with high-frequency sensor data and intensive field studies; and developing coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models -- calibrated using field observations -- to simulate water quality under a range of forcings.

Piloting a Water Rights Information System for California

Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE) | July 15th, 2021

California’s complex water management challenges are growing and intensifying. Systemic stressors like the more frequent and severe droughts and floods driven by climat

California’s complex water management challenges are growing and intensifying. Systemic stressors like the more frequent and severe droughts and floods driven by climate change are only making it harder to respond. Accordingly, California needs to dramatically improve the ability of local, regional, and State entities to make agile and effective water management decisions. We believe doing so will require enhanced understanding of our water resources and how they align with the needs of a range of agencies and stakeholders. Water rights data provide a crucial opportunity for advancing this understanding. We find that modernizing water rights data is feasible, affordable, and can increase transparency and clarity for better decision-making.

Plan of Development Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Interagency Delta Committee (IDC) | January 20th, 1965

Plan writing as a policy tool: instrumental, conceptual, and tactical uses of water management plans in California

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (Springer) | February 24th, 2022

Numerous environmental regulations require organizations to codify prospective activities in a written plan. However, evidence suggests that many plans are never implemen

Numerous environmental regulations require organizations to codify prospective activities in a written plan. However, evidence suggests that many plans are never implemented, raising questions about why public agencies continually require plans, whether mandating plans allows agencies to meet their policy aims, and what additional purposes plans serve. Adopting concepts from literature on research utilization, we develop a plan use typology, defining instrumental use as occurring when the requirement to write a plan directly addresses a stated policy problem, conceptual use as occurring when the requirement to write a plan indirectly addresses a policy problem by raising awareness of an issue or improving governance capacity, and tactical use as occurring when the requirement to write a plan serves a political or symbolic purpose unrelated to solving the policy problem. We then apply the typology to four California statutes that require local and regional utilities to write water management plans. We first assess the statutes to identify the goals underlying the requirement to write a plan and assess what plan uses are emphasized in guidance documents and the written plans themselves. Lastly, we interview the plan writing organizations to capture their perspectives on the value and limitations of these plans. We find that legislators turn to plans to support instrumental and conceptual goals but that the plans themselves and the way they are used by authoring agencies primarily serve conceptual and tactical uses, suggesting a disconnect between the policy goals underlying plans and their actual use.

Pollutants of concern (POC) loads monitoring progress report, water years (WYs) 2012, 2013, and 2014

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | July 1st, 2016

The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) has determined that San Francisco Bay is impaired by mercury and PCBs due to threats to wildlife and

The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) has determined that San Francisco Bay is impaired by mercury and PCBs due to threats to wildlife and human consumers of fish from the Bay. These contaminants persist in the environment and accumulate in aquatic food webs (SFRWRCB 2006; SFRWRCB, 2008). The Water Board has identified urban runoff from local watersheds as a pathway for pollutants of concern into the Bay, including mercury and PCBs. The Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP; SFRWRCB, 2009) contains several provisions requiring studies to measure local watershed loads of suspended sediment (SS), total organic carbon (TOC), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), total mercury (HgT), total methylmercury (MeHgT), nitrate-N (NO3), phosphate-P (PO4), and total phosphorus (TP) (provision C.8.e), as well as other pollutants covered under provision C.14. (e.g. legacy pesticides, PBDEs, and selenium).

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.

Pollutants of concern reconnaissance monitoring final progress report, water years 2015 and 2016

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 1st, 2017

The San Francisco Bay mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) called for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and H

The San Francisco Bay mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) called for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and Hg 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 to 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 identifying those watersheds, source areas, and source properties that are potentially most polluted and are therefore most likely to be cost effective areas for addressing load reduction requirements through implementation of control measures.

Pollutants of Concern Reconnaissance Monitoring Progress Report, Water Years 2015-2018

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

The San Francisco Bay polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and mercury (Hg) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) call for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and Hg l

The San Francisco Bay polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and mercury (Hg) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) call for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and Hg loads entering the Bay via stormwater. In 2009, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) issued the first Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP). This 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 to the Bay from smaller urbanized tributaries (Provisions C.11. and C.12.). In 2015, the Regional Water Board issued the second iteration of the MRP. “MRP 2.0” placed an increased focus on identifying those watersheds, source areas, and source properties that are potentially the most polluted and are therefore most likely to be cost-effective areas for addressing load-reduction requirements.  To support this increased focus, a stormwater reconnaissance monitoring field protocol was developed and implemented in water years (WYs) 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Most of the sites monitored were in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo Counties, with a few sites in Contra Costa and Solano Counties. At 60 sampling sites, time-weighted composite water samples were collected during individual storm events and analyzed for 40 PCB congeners, total Hg (HgT), and suspended sediment concentration (SSC). At a subset of sites, additional samples were analyzed for selected trace metals, organic carbon (OC), and grain size. Where possible, sampling efficiency was increased by sampling two or three sites during a single storm if the sites were near enough to one another that alternating between them was safe and rapid. This same field protocol is being implemented in the winter of WY 2019 by the RMP. The San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program and the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program have also implemented the sampling protocol with their own funding.  During this study beginning in WY 2015, the RMP began piloting the use of un-staffed “remote” suspended sediment samplers (Hamlin samplers and Walling Tube samplers). These remote samplers were designed to enhance settling and capture of suspended sediment from the water column. At 10 of the manual sampling sites, a remote sample was collected using a Hamlin suspended sediment sampler in parallel with the manual sample, and at 9 sites, a remote sample was collected using a Walling Tube suspended sediment sampler in parallel with the manual sample. 

Pollutants of Concern Reconnaissance Monitoring Water Years 2015, 2016, and 2017

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | July 2nd, 2018

The San Francisco Bay polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and mercury (Hg) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) call for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and Hg l

The San Francisco Bay polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and mercury (Hg) total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) call for implementation of control measures to reduce PCB and Hg loads entering the Bay via stormwater. In 2009, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) issued the first combined Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP). This 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 to the Bay from smaller urbanized tributaries (Provisions C.11. and C.12.). In 2015, the Regional Water Board issued the second iteration of the MRP. “MRP 2.0” placed an increased focus on identifying those watersheds, source areas, and source properties that are potentially the most polluted and are therefore most likely to be cost-effective areas for addressing load-reduction requirements through implementation of control measures. 

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in wastewater: Significance of unknown precursors, manufacturing shifts, and likely AFFF impacts

Water Research, Elsevier | May 15th, 2016

In late 2014, wastewater effluent samples were collected from eight treatment plants that discharge to San Francisco (SF) Bay in order to assess poly- and perfluoroalkyl

In late 2014, wastewater effluent samples were collected from eight treatment plants that discharge to San Francisco (SF) Bay in order to assess poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) currently released from municipal and industrial sources. In addition to direct measurement of twenty specific PFAS analytes, the total concentration of perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) precursors was also indirectly measured by adapting a previously developed oxidation assay. Effluent from six municipal treatment plants contained similar amounts of total PFASs, with highest median concentrations of PFHxA (24 ng/L), followed by PFOA (23 ng/L), PFBA (19 ng/L), and PFOS (15 ng/L). Compared to SF Bay municipal wastewater samples collected in 2009, the short chain perfluorinated carboxylates PFBA and PFHxA rose significantly in concentration. Effluent samples from two treatment plants contained much higher levels of PFASs: over two samplings, wastewater from one municipal plant contained an average of 420 ng/L PFOS and wastewater from an airport industrial treatment plant contained 560 ng/L PFOS, 390 ng/L 6:2 FtS, 570 ng/L PFPeA, and 500 ng/L PFHxA. The elevated levels observed in effluent samples from these two plants are likely related to aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) sources impacting their influent; PFASs attributable to both current use and discontinued AFFF formulations were observed. Indirectly measured PFAA precursor compounds accounted for 33%–63% of the total molar concentration of PFASs across all effluent samples and the PFAA precursors indicated by the oxidation assay were predominately short-chained. PFAS levels in SF Bay effluent samples reflect the manufacturing shifts towards shorter chained PFASs while also demonstrating significant impacts from localized usage of AFFF.