San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Estuary Blueprint 2022

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | September 8th, 2022

In the past few years, the San Francisco Estuary region has confronted epic wildfires, historic rainfall intensity and flooding, and chronic drought. The whiplash of thes

In the past few years, the San Francisco Estuary region has confronted epic wildfires, historic rainfall intensity and flooding, and chronic drought. The whiplash of these events has confirmed that climate change has already begun to impact human and wildlife communities from Sacramento to San Francisco, and beyond. Furthermore, a global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted regional planning and project implementation everywhere, presenting new challenges to traditional processes and creating an unfamiliar working landscape for resource managers. Finally, the pervasive, horrific violence against Black, Brown, and Asian and Asian-American people has amplified long-term calls for racial justice, galvanizing new commitments to address historic and present inequity through every thread of our social fabric. These events have set the context for the multi-stakeholder process that updates the San Francisco Estuary Blueprint.

San Francisco Estuary Blueprint 2022 (Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the San Francisco Estuary)

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | March 16th, 2022

Click here for the definition of a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan)

Click here for the definition of a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan)

San Francisco Water & Power: A History of the Municipal Water Department and Hetch Hetchy System

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) | January 1st, 1985

San Francisquito Creek Baylands Landscape Change Metrics Analysis

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 21st, 2016

The goal of this study is to develop a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower San Francisquito Creek and the surrounding tidal marshes and mu

The goal of this study is to develop a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower San Francisquito Creek and the surrounding tidal marshes and mudflats (referred to here as “baylands”) since the beginning of intensive European-American settlement. Building upon a previous reconnaissance-level historical ecology study (Hermstad et al. 2009), this study analyzes the changes in key landscape features (or landscape metrics) within lower San Francisquito Creek and baylands through comparisons of reconstructed historical (mid-1800s) and contemporary (2011/2012) conditions. The results from this study are intended to provide baseline information that can be used to help with developing restoration and flood control redesign alternatives and appropriate habitat restoration targets. This study is one component of the Flood Control 2.0 project, a regional effort funded by the U.S. EPA to help design flood control channels at the Bay interface that support tidal habitats while maintaining the required level of flood protection. Emerging strategies for flood protection focus on reconnecting channels to floodplains and tidal marshes and using available dredged sediment as a resource to increase marsh elevations and help keep pace with sea level rise. Lower San Francisquito Creek is one of three implementation projects that have partnered with Flood Control 2.0 to assess the benefits of an integrated approach for flood control and habitat management at the Bay interface.

San Joaquin Basin Flood-MAR Watershed Studies Study Design Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 3rd, 2025

Click here to be taken to the California Department of Water Resources Watershed Studies home page

Click here to be taken to the California Department of Water Resources Watershed Studies home page

San Joaquin Basin Flood‑MAR Watershed Studies Calaveras Watershed Study Area Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 3rd, 2025

The San Joaquin Basin Flood‑MAR Watershed Studies (Watershed Studies) — comprising five watershed reports for Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced and Upper San Jo

The San Joaquin Basin Flood‑MAR Watershed Studies (Watershed Studies) — comprising five watershed reports for Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced and Upper San Joaquin watersheds and a Basinwide Summary — deliver data‑driven assessments of climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation that reveal risks and consequences and call for bold, coordinated solutions. In the San Joaquin Basin, the effects of climate change will exacerbate long-standing water management challenges. As these reports quantify, every water management sector — flood, water supply (surface and groundwater), and ecosystems — is vulnerable. Without bold action, the basin and its watersheds face mounting threats to communities, economies, and ecosystems. Although each watershed has unique characteristics, all confront a future climate that is hotter and characterized by more extreme weather. For flood management, the 2022 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan states clearly: Catastrophic flooding in the San Joaquin Basin is not a question of if, but when. Meanwhile, the reliability of water supplies is expected to worsen, and ecosystems face degradation. Click here to be taken to the California Department of Water Resources Watershed Studies home page

San Joaquin Valley Conveyance Study

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 24th, 2025

This San Joaquin Valley Conveyance Study analyzes water conveyance needs in the San Joaquin Valley (Figure ES-1). The purpose of this study is to: •Describe the impa

This San Joaquin Valley Conveyance Study analyzes water conveyance needs in the San Joaquin Valley (Figure ES-1). The purpose of this study is to: •Describe the impacts of subsidence on San Joaquin Valley conveyance facilities. •Evaluate the need for improved or expanded conveyance facilities throughout the San Joaquin Valley.  

San Leandro Bay PCB Study Data Report

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

The goal of RMP PCB special studies over the next few years is to inform the review and possible revision of the PCB TMDL and the reissuance of the Municipal Regional P

The goal of RMP PCB special studies over the next few years is to inform the review and possible revision of the PCB TMDL and the reissuance of the Municipal Regional Permit for Stormwater, both of which are tentatively scheduled to occur in 2020. Conceptual model development for a set of four representative priority margin units will provide a foundation for establishing an effective and efficient monitoring plan to track responses to load reductions, and will also help guide planning of management actions. The Emeryville Crescent was the first PMU to be studied in 2015-2016. The San Leandro Bay PMU is second (2016-2017), Steinberger Slough in San Carlos is third (2017), and Richmond Harbor will be fourth (2018). The conceptual model reports for these four PMUs will be developed and presented using a consistent framework, and will build on each other to form an integrated assessment of these four areas. The lessons learned from these analyses will also be more generally applicable to similar contaminated sites on the margins of the Bay. This document is a data report on field studies to support development of a conceptual model for San Leandro Bay.

San Mateo Plain Groundwater Basin Assessment

San Mateo County | July 12th, 2018

On behalf of the County of San Mateo, EKI Environment & Water, Inc., Todd Groundwater, and HydroFocus, Inc. (the Project Team) have prepared this report to summarize

On behalf of the County of San Mateo, EKI Environment & Water, Inc., Todd Groundwater, and HydroFocus, Inc. (the Project Team) have prepared this report to summarize the efforts and results of the San Mateo Plain Groundwater Basin Assessment (Project). The Project was conducted by the County, with the support of the Project Team, to comprehensively evaluate the San Mateo Plain Groundwater Subbasin as defined by the Department of Water Resources (DWR).

Sand Supply to San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers of the Central Valley, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | October 30th, 2024

Sediment from the Central Valley via the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) and Suisun Bay is a primary source of sand to San Francisco Bay, California. Sand is mined f

Sediment from the Central Valley via the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) and Suisun Bay is a primary source of sand to San Francisco Bay, California. Sand is mined from San Francisco Bay for commercial purposes, such as for use in concrete for construction. To better understand the supply of sand to Suisun Bay and San Francisco Bay, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Francisco Bay Estuary Institute (SFEI) and the San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC), initiated this study to compile and synthesize historical data and estimate the total sediment and sand portion of sediment exiting the Delta to Suisun Bay for a 20-year period between water years 2001 and 2020.