San Francisco Bay

An integrated framework for stormwater management and life cycle assessment of rainwater harvesting: A comparative study of two underserved communities

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | November 4th, 2024

An Introduction to EcoAtlas: Applied Aquatic Science

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | September 14th, 2016

The term “EcoAtlas” has been in use for over 20 years in association with the study, assessment, and reporting of aquatic resources in California. What began as “W

The term “EcoAtlas” has been in use for over 20 years in association with the study, assessment, and reporting of aquatic resources in California. What began as “Wetland Tracker” in 2000, with its goal of recording essential information about wetland restoration projects in the greater Bay Area, later blossomed into a broad technological ecosystem of interrelated tools, each focused on delivering specialized, program-focused features, as defined by key stakeholder groups. Having evolved over time, EcoAtlas comprises a diverse toolset, but the collection shares common libraries, common approaches, and common development methodologies. Though each emerged from different funding opportunities and requirement drivers, the toolset collectively addresses a synthesized “whole watershed approach.” Whether estimating the ideal riparian buffer width for a given stream or assessing the health of a wetland at the edge of the estuary, the EcoAtlas tools allow practitioners to deploy the right tool for the job across the entire watershed, thereby producing a complete picture through composite outputs.

An Introduction to High-Frequency Nutrient and Biogeochemical Monitoring for the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, Northern California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 11th, 2017

This report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Jo

This report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). This first report provides an introduction to the reasons for and fundamental concepts behind collecting HF measurements, and describes the benefits associated with a real-time, continuous, HF, multi-parameter water quality monitoring station network that is co-located with flow stations. It then provides examples of how HF nutrient measurements have improved our understating of nutrient sources and cycling in aquatic systems worldwide, followed by specific examples from the Delta. These examples describe the ways in which HF instrumentation may be used for both fixed-station and spatial assessments. The overall intent of this document is to describe how HF measurements currently (2017) are being used in the Delta to examine the relationship between nutrient concentrations, nutrient cycling, and aquatic habitat conditions.

An Introduction to the San Francisco Estuary

Bay Institute | April 8th, 2012

San Francisco Bay enters most of our lives as an obstacle to pass over as quickly as traffic-choked bridges allow. Although this beats earlier attitudes—when we saw the

San Francisco Bay enters most of our lives as an obstacle to pass over as quickly as traffic-choked bridges allow. Although this beats earlier attitudes—when we saw the Bay mainly as a dumping ground, a dam site, or a pit to fill in and pave over—we remain largely oblivious to one of the most remarkable wild resources in urban North America. Beneath our wheels lies a world of interesting and outlandish life, with much that puzzles even the scientists who regularly plumb its depths.

An overview of multi-dimensional models of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | December 1st, 2016

Over the past fifteen years, the development and application of models in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has transformed our ability to analyze an

Over the past fifteen years, the development and application of models in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has transformed our ability to analyze and understand the underlying physics of the system. Initial applications of three-dimensional models focused primarily on salt intrusion, and provided a valuable resource for investigating how sea level rise and levee failures in the Delta could influence water quality in the Delta in the future. However, multi-dimensional models have also provided significant insights into some of the fundamental biological relationships that have shaped our thinking about the system by exploring the relationship between X2, flow, fish abundance, and the low salinity zone. Through modeling, it has been possible to move beyond salinity to understand how large-scale changes to the system are likely to affect sediment dynamics, and to assess the potential effects on species that rely on turbidity for habitat. Lastly, the coupling of multi-dimensional hydrodynamic models with particle tracking models has led to advances in our thinking about residence time, the retention of food organisms, the effect of south Delta exports on larval entrainment, and the pathways and behaviors of salmonids that travel through the Delta. This chapter provides an overview of these recent advances and how they have increased our understanding of the distribution and movement of fish and food organisms. The applications presented serve as a guide to the current state of the science of Delta modeling and provide examples of how we can use multidimensional models to predict how future Delta conditions will affect both fish and water supply.  

Anadromous Salmonids in the Delta: New Science 2006-2016

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | July 1st, 2016

As juvenile salmon enter the Delta, they disperse among its complex channel network where they are subject to channel-specific processes that affect their rate of migrati

As juvenile salmon enter the Delta, they disperse among its complex channel network where they are subject to channel-specific processes that affect their rate of migration, vulnerability to predation, feeding success, growth rates, and ultimately, survival. In the decades before 2006, tools available to quantify growth, dispersal, and survival of juvenile salmon in this channel network were limited. Fortunately, thanks to technological advances, much has been learned over the past decade about the role of the Delta in the life cycle of juvenile salmon. One of the most important advances during the past decade has been the widespread adoption of acoustic telemetry techniques. Use of telemetry has shed light on how survival varies among alternative migration routes and the proportion of fish that use each migration route. Chemical and structural analysis have provided insights about when juveniles left their natal river and provided evidence of extended rearing in the brackish or saltwater regions of the Delta. New advancements in genetics now allow individuals captured by trawls to be assigned to specific runs. Detailed information about movement and survival in the Delta has spurred development of agent-based models of juvenile salmon that are coupled to hydrodynamic models. Although much has been learned, knowledge gaps remain about how very small juvenile salmon (fry and parr) use the Delta. Understanding how all life stages of juvenile salmon grow, rear, and survive in the Delta is critical for devising management strategies that support a diversity of life history strategies.

Analyses of Rotary Screw Trap Sampling of Migrating Juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Stanislaus River, 1996-2005

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | August 1st, 2006

Analysis of the costs and benefits of using marsh restoration as a sea level rise adaptation strategy in San Francisco Bay

Bay Institute | February 22nd, 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine opportunities to protect San Francisco Bay’s recovering tidal marsh ecosystems while helping bayshore communities to manage the

The purpose of this study is to examine opportunities to protect San Francisco Bay’s recovering tidal marsh ecosystems while helping bayshore communities to manage the impacts of sea level rise. Specifically, it considers the flood risk management functions that tidal marshes perform naturally and evaluates the possibility of integrating those functions into a co-beneficial shoreline management strategy. The study’s intended audience is planners, politicians, regulators, and other stakeholders with the authority to make or affect decisions that influence the configuration and use of the San Francisco Bay shoreline. The study examines the current functions of San Francisco Bay tidal marshes as well as existing flood risk management strategies. It considers how environmental conditions are likely to change in the era of climate change, and how we can adapt our marshes and our flood risk management practices to accommodate these changes.

Annotated Bibliography for Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Studies Project

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | February 27th, 2017

The California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a riparian tree native to California and northern Baja California. California sycamore is the dominant species in sycamore

The California sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a riparian tree native to California and northern Baja California. California sycamore is the dominant species in sycamore alluvial woodland (SAW), a habitat type defined as open to moderately closed, winter-deciduous broad-leafed riparian woodland dominated by well-spaced Platanus racemosa (Holland 1986), and California sycamore also occurs in the “Platanus racemosa woodland alliance” with various associated species (Sawyer, Keeler-Wolf, and Evens 2009). The central California sycamore alluvial woodland (SAW) habitat type is cited in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan (VHP) as a “very rare and threatened land cover type,” and the VHP contains various goals to conserve and restore SAW habitat. The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and H. T. Harvey & Associates (HTH), in conjunction with the Santa Clara Habitat Agency, have undertaken the Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Studies Project to assess biotic and abiotic factors that influence California sycamore stand health and regeneration. The study is intended to gather and generate data that will be used by the Santa Clara Habitat Agency to guide acquisition and management of California sycamore habitat to meet its conservation goals. 

Annual Report of Activities October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014, American River Group (ARG)

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | September 30th, 2014