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Challenges Facing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Complex, Chaotic, or Simply Cantankerous?

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | April 9th, 2015

Summary

In 2014, the California Natural Resources Agency and the U.S. Department of the Interior asked the authors of this paper, as four former leaders of The Delta Science Prog

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Challenges Facing the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta: Complex, Chaotic, or Simply Cantankerous?

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | September 17th, 2015

Summary

Freshwater is a scarce and precious resource in California; its overall value is being made clear by the current severe drought. The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is a c

Freshwater is a scarce and precious resource in California; its overall value is being made clear by the current severe drought. The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is a critical node in a complex water supply system that extends throughout much of the western U.S. wherein demand is exceeding supply. The Delta also underpins a major component of the U.S. economy, helps feed a substantial part of the country, is a unique and valuable ecological resource, and is a place with a rich cultural heritage. Sustaining the Delta is a problem that manifests itself in many dimensions including the physical structure of the Delta, the conflicting demands for water, changing water quality, rapidly evolving ecological character, and high institutional complexity. The problems of the California Delta are increasingly complex, sometimes chaotic, and always contentious. There is general agreement that current management will sustain neither the Delta ecosystem nor high-quality water exports, as required under the Delta Reform Act, so there is a renewed urgency to address all dimensions of the problem aggressively. Sustainable management of the Delta ecosystem and California’s highly variable water supply, in the face of global climate change, will require bold political decisions that include adjustments to the infrastructure but give equal emphasis to chronic overuse and misuse of water, promote enhanced efficiency of water use, and facilitate new initiatives for ecosystem recovery. This new approach will need to be underpinned by collaborative science that supports ongoing evaluation and re-adjustment of actions. Problems like the Delta are formally “wicked" problems that cannot be “solved” in the traditional sense, but they can be managed with appropriate knowledge and flexible institutions. Where possible, it is advisable to approach major actions incrementally, with an eye toward avoiding catastrophic unexpected outcomes. Collaborative analyses of risks and benefits that consider all dimensions of the problem are essential. Difficult as the problems are, California has the tools and the intellectual resources to manage the Delta problem and achieve the twin goals of a reliable water supply and an ecologically diverse Delta ecosystem.

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Changes in abundance and distribution of native and alien fishes of Suisun Marsh

American Fisheries Society (AFS) | July 29th, 1994

Summary

Overall fish abundance, abundance of introduced, native, and seasonal fish groups, and species diversity declined over a 14‐year period in Suisun Marsh, a portion of th

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Changing Channels: Regional Information for Developing Multi-benefit Flood Control Channels at the Bay Interface

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | April 3rd, 2017

Summary

Over the past 200 years, many of the channels that drain to San Francisco Bay have been modified for land reclamation and flood management. The local agencies that overse

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Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | February 15th, 2010

Summary

The San Francisco Estuary is a young estuary, about 6-10,000 years old in its present location. It became established during periods of high climatic variability (reflect

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Characterization of brominated, chlorinated, and phosphate flame retardants in San Francisco Bay, an urban estuary

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | February 20th, 2019

Summary

Flame retardant chemical additives are incorporated into consumer goods to meet flammability standards, and many have been detected in environmental matrices. A uniquely

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Characterization of Sediment Contamination in Central Bay Margin Areas

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

Summary

The Bay margins (i.e., mudflats and adjacent shallow areas of the Bay) are important habitats where there is high potential for wildlife to be exposed to contaminants. H

The Bay margins (i.e., mudflats and adjacent shallow areas of the Bay) are important habitats where there is high potential for wildlife to be exposed to contaminants. However, these areas are not routinely sampled due to logistical considerations. In 2015, the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) conducted a survey of margin areas in Central Bay to determine ambient concentrations of contaminants in sediment in these areas. The results generally confirmed the current conceptual model expectation that the margin sediments are often more contaminated that those in the subtidal open bay, with PCBs showing the largest differences. These differences between Central Bay margins and open water areas are likely the largest to be found in San Francisco Bay, as margins in other bay segments generally account for more of the total area and the adjacent land use is less heavily industrial. The ambient data provide a useful baseline context against which the severity of contamination at specific sites can be compared. The baseline data will also be useful in setting targets and tracking improvements in watershed loads and their nearfield receiving waters, or for appropriate re-use or disposal of dredged sediment. These spatially unbiased data can also improve estimates of mean concentrations and contaminant inventories in margins. For example, based on data from this study, contamination in the margin areas accounts for ~20% of PCBs in Central Bay which is disproportionately high compared to the margin area (5% of Central Bay). Given a large inventory of contaminants in the open bay compared to annual loads, changes may be difficult to see at the bay scale in the short- and mid-term. However, with margins’ smaller inventories and greater proximity to likely sources, improvements in margin sediments may be easier to observe. This ambient sampling effort also identified or verified one expected area of very high PCB concentrations which had not been previously measured. However, the randomized monitoring design used for the Central Bay study was not ideal for identifying “hot spots”. Future studies with a goal of detecting hot spots should use deterministic sampling designs.

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Characterizing and quantifying nutrient sources, sinks and transformations in the Delta: synthesis, modeling, and recommendations for monitoring

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | January 5th, 2016

Summary

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta) receives high loads of the nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) from wastewater treatment effluent and agricultural run

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Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River basin, California, using hydrological simulation program

Water, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) | September 30th, 2016

Summary

A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco B

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Charter: Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay

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

Summary

This Charter describes the purpose and function of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP). Established in 1993, the RMP is a collab

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Page : 28

Challenges Facing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Complex, Chaotic, or Simply Cantankerous?

Challenges Facing the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta: Complex, Chaotic, or Simply Cantankerous?

Changes in abundance and distribution of native and alien fishes of Suisun Marsh

Changing Channels: Regional Information for Developing Multi-benefit Flood Control Channels at the Bay Interface

Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta

Characterization of brominated, chlorinated, and phosphate flame retardants in San Francisco Bay, an urban estuary

Characterization of Sediment Contamination in Central Bay Margin Areas

Characterizing and quantifying nutrient sources, sinks and transformations in the Delta: synthesis, modeling, and recommendations for monitoring

Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River basin, California, using hydrological simulation program

Charter: Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay

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