San Francisco Bay

Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay region

San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFBRWQCB) | March 20th, 2015

By law, the Water Board is required to develop, adopt (after public hearing), and implement a Basin Plan for the Region. The Basin Plan is the master policy document that

By law, the Water Board is required to develop, adopt (after public hearing), and implement a Basin Plan for the Region. The Basin Plan is the master policy document that contains descriptions of the legal, technical, and programmatic bases of water quality regulation in the Region. The plan must include: • A statement of beneficial water uses that the Water Board will protect; • The water quality objectives needed to protect the designated beneficial water uses; and • The strategies and time schedules for achieving the water quality objectives. The Water Board first adopted a plan for waters inland from the Golden Gate in 1968. After several revisions, the first comprehensive Basin Plan for the Region was adopted by the Water Board and approved by the State Water Board in April 1975. Subsequently, major revisions were adopted in 1982, 1986, 1992, 1995, 2002, and 2004. Each proposed amendment to the Basin Plan is subject to an extensive public review process. The Water Board must then adopt the amendment, which is then subject to approval by the State Water Board. In most cases, the Office of Administrative Law and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) must approve the amendment as well. The basin planning process drives the Water Board's effort to manage water quality. The Basin Plan provides a definitive program of actions designed to preserve and enhance water quality and to protect beneficial uses in a manner that will result in maximum benefit to the people of California. The Basin Plan fulfills the following needs: • The U.S. EPA requires such a plan in order to allocate federal grants to cities and districts for construction of wastewater treatment facilities. • The Basin Plan provides a basis for establishing priorities as to how both state and federal grants are disbursed for constructing and upgrading wastewater treatment facilities. • The Basin Plan fulfills the requirements of the Porter-Cologne Act that call for water quality control plans in California. • The Basin Plan, by defining the resources, services, and qualities of aquatic ecosystems to be maintained, provides a basis for the Water Board to establish or revise waste discharge requirements and for the State Water Board to establish or revise water rights permits. • The Basin Plan establishes conditions (discharge prohibitions) that must be met at all times. • The Basin Plan establishes or indicates water quality standards applicable to waters of the Region, as required by the federal Clean Water Act. • The Basin Plan establishes water quality attainment strategies, including total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) required by the Clean Water Act, for pollutants and water bodies where water quality standards are not currently met. The intent of this comprehensive planning effort is to provide positive and firm direction for future water quality control. However, adequate provision must be made for changing conditions and technology. The Water Board will review the Basin Plan at least once every three years. Unlike traditional plans, which often become obsolete within a few years after their preparation, the Basin Plan is updated as deemed necessary to maintain pace with technological, hydrological, political, and physical changes in the Region. This Basin Plan contains water quality regulations adopted by the Water Board, and approved by the State Water Board, the Office of Administrative Law, and U.S. EPA. It also contains statewide regulations adopted by the State Water Board and other state agencies that refer to  activities regulated by the Water Board. For the most recent list of statewide regulations applicable in the Region, please refer to the State Water Board’s Compendium of Current, Statewide Applicable Water Quality Regulations. Federal laws and regulations also specify water quality standards and are available at U.S. EPA’s website. To check for amendments and other changes, please visit the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board's basin planning page.

Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed (Draft)

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | July 25th, 2025

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) has previously adopted water quality control plans and policies to protect water quality and control

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) has previously adopted water quality control plans and policies to protect water quality and control the water resources that affect the beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta. These plans and policies were adopted consistent with section 13000 et seq. of the California Water Code and pursuant to the authority contained in section 13170. This Water Quality Control Plan covers the Bay-Delta estuary and tributary watersheds (Bay-Delta Plan or plan). The State Water Board will periodically review this plan, as discussed in section 4.6, pursuant to Water Code section 13240, to ensure that it provides reasonable protection for the designated beneficial uses. A summary description of the most recent updates to the plan are provided in section 1.4. 1 Current and previous versions of the Bay-Delta Plan and supporting documents are available at: 

Water quality for agriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) | July 15th, 1985

Water Quality in Basin-Fill Aquifers of the Southwestern United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, 1993–2009

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 15th, 2014

Water Quality in California

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | February 23rd, 2026

Water Quality in the State Water Project, 2000 and 2001

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 1st, 2004

Water quality is routinely monitored at about 30 stations throughout the State Water Project (SWP). Water quality samples are collected by staff of the five field divisio

Water quality is routinely monitored at about 30 stations throughout the State Water Project (SWP). Water quality samples are collected by staff of the five field divisions in the Division of Operations and Maintenance and sent to Bryte Laboratory for analysis. SWP stations include those located in the Feather River watershed, North Bay Aqueduct, South Bay Aqueduct, and the California Aqueduct with its four terminus lakes in Southern California (Figure 1-1). Samples are collected on the third Wednesday of each month at the regular stations. Analyses include minerals, metals, metalloids, nutrients, organic chemicals, and disinfection by-product precursors. Further, around 15 automated water quality stations continuously monitor parameters such as salinity and turbidity on a real-time basis. Station descriptions and water quality constituents analyzed are detailed in Appendix A. Monitoring in the SWP is done on a routine basis to identify trends and assess water quality conditions with respect to long-term trends, operations, hydrology, seasons, emergencies, water treatment issues, and drinking water standards. Primary and secondary Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) apply to drinking water and were compared to SWP data to provide a relative indication of raw water quality. MCLs are presented in Appendix B. Water quality trend assessment focused on salinity, bromide, and organic carbon. Water quality in the California and South Bay Aqueducts was good during 2000 due, in part, to above normal water year conditions in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Drier conditions in 2001 resulted in less favorable water quality with respect to mineralogy. North Bay Aqueduct exports exhibited the usual impairments during winter as a result of organic carbon and turbidity increases. Water quality in the Feather River watershed was excellent, as usual, with low to non-detectable levels of minerals and minor elements.

Water quality measurements in San Francisco Bay by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1969–2015

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | August 8th, 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a place-based research program in San Francisco Bay (USA) that began in 1969 and continues, providing one of the longest reco

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a place-based research program in San Francisco Bay (USA) that began in 1969 and continues, providing one of the longest records of water-quality measurements in a North American estuary. Constituents include salinity, temperature, light extinction coefficient, and concentrations of chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, suspended particulate matter, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, silicate, and phosphate. We describe the sampling program, analytical methods, structure of the data record, and how to access all measurements made from 1969 through 2015. We provide a summary of how these data have been used by USGS and other researchers to deepen understanding of how estuaries are structured and function differently from the river and ocean ecosystems they bridge.

Water Quality Science in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Chemical Contaminants and Nutrients

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | July 26th, 2018

This review focuses on contaminants and nutrients in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta), and on how findings about them have been sometimes used and sometimes n

This review focuses on contaminants and nutrients in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta), and on how findings about them have been sometimes used and sometimes neglected in decisions related to ecosystem health in the Delta. The review considers water quality measurements made both in support of basic research and as part of routine monitoring studies in the Delta. However, the topic of monitoring per se is not comprehensively covered in this review because the Delta ISB is in the initial stages of reviewing the extensive monitoring enterprise in the Delta. This review of water quality is based on responses to a questionnaire sent to government agencies and science programs, interviews with water quality specialists and users of water quality data, relevant scientific publications, presentations observed in workshops and conferences, and public comments received on draft versions of the review. While we sought input from a broad range of stakeholders, we do not assume that we received a complete range of perceptions about this important issue. Additionally, water quality research and monitoring efforts are constantly evolving in the Delta, and several new programs and improvements were made as this review was being researched and prepared. This review should be considered to be part of an ongoing process by the Delta ISB.

Water Resources Data for California, Water year 1983, Volume 2, Pacific Slope Basins from Arroyo Grande to Oregon State Line except Central Valley

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | January 15th, 1985

Water resources data for the 1983 water year for California consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage and contents in lakes and reservo

Water resources data for the 1983 water year for California consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage and contents in lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality in wells. Volume 2 contains discharge records for 145 gaging stations; stage and contents for 19 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 17 stations; water levels for 67 observation wells. Also included are 2 low-flow partial-record stations and 18 water-quality partial-record stations. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating State and Federal agencies in California.

Water Resources Development and Protection [Proposition 8]

LA Law Library (LALaw) | November 4th, 1980