Bathymetry and Digital Elevation Models of Coyote Creek and Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | March 15th, 2018

In 2010 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center completed three cruises to map the bathymetry of the main channel and shall

In 2010 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center completed three cruises to map the bathymetry of the main channel and shallow intertidal mudflats in the southern most part of south San Francisco Bay. The three surveys were merged to generate comprehensive maps of Coyote Creek (from Calaveras Point east to the railroad bridge) and Alviso Slough (from the bay to the town of Alviso) to establish baseline bathymetry prior to the breaching of levees adjacent to Alviso and Guadalupe Sloughs as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Since 2010 the USGS has conducted twelve additional surveys to monitor bathymetric change in this region as restoration progresses.

Battling the Inland Sea

University of California Press | July 1st, 1998

Bay Area Green Infrastructure Water Quality Synthesis

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 1st, 2018

San Francisco Bay is impacted by the numerous urban pollutants that flow from the surrounding landscape during storm events. In San Francisco Bay, total maximum daily lo

San Francisco Bay is impacted by the numerous urban pollutants that flow from the surrounding landscape during storm events. In San Francisco Bay, total maximum daily load (TMDL) clean-up plans are in place for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg) (Davis et al., 2007; Davis et al., 2012). As municipalities strive to reach regulatory targets, green infrastructure (GI) presents a promising solution for managing stormwater pollutants while achieving additional environmental and social benefits. However, remaining data gaps including the best design layout, media composition, and vegetation and submerged zone effects on performance can prevent local managers from accurately assessing water quality benefits provided by green infrastructure as well as the maintenance needs to sustain adequate performance.

Bay Area Water Supply Resilience and the Bay-Delta Plan

Publisher not available | March 15th, 2024

Bay Delta Plan Phase 2 Workshop Summary Report

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | January 1st, 2013

The California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) is tasked with updating the 2006 Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay-Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan). The Boa

The California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) is tasked with updating the 2006 Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay-Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan). The Board planning activities for this process have four phases. Phase 1 focused on San Joaquin River flow requirements and southern Delta water quality objectives. The current phase (Phase 2) focuses on fish and wildlife beneficial uses. Phase 3 will focus on modifications to water rights and Phase 4 will focus on the development and implementation of flow requirements for priority Delta tributaries. Phase 2 workshops were held to conduct discussions and generate information regarding the scientific and technical basis for considering potential changes to the Bay-Delta Plan. The workshops were informal; the Board did not take any official action and there was no sworn testimony. Information provided during the workshops will augment information developed through earlier reviews and will inform the Board members and staff on what, if any, changes should be made to the Bay-Delta Plan. Three workshops were held. Full workshop agendas are provided in Appendix A. 1. Ecosystem Changes and the Low Salinity Zone, September 5–6, 2012 – including the effects of the low salinity zone on various estuarine species, the interaction of salinity with non-flow related factors, and the identification of modeling or other tools that can be used to measure and reasonably protect estuarine habitat. 2. Bay-Delta Fishery Resources, October 1–2, 2012 – including flow, cold water pool, habitat, and water project operational constraints needed to reasonably protect Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River winter-run, Central Valley late fall–run Chinook salmon, and pelagic species (including Delta smelt and longfin smelt); and the interaction of these issues with non-flow related factors. 3. Analytical Tools for Evaluating the Water Supply, Hydrodynamic, and Hydropower Effects of the Bay-Delta Plan, November 13–14, 2012 – including the CalSim II water supply model, DSM2 and RMA2 hydrodynamic models, Plexus hydropower model, and others as  applicable, together with results from applying these models to various scenarios.

Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan)

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 13th, 2006

"Bay Delta Plan" is short for the State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary Water Quality Control P

"Bay Delta Plan" is short for the State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary Water Quality Control Plan. The Bay-Delta Plan identifies the beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta, water quality objectives for the reasonable protection of those beneficial uses, and a program of implementation for achieving the objectives. The Bay-Delta Plan, when implemented, can determine the amount and timing of water entering and moving through the Delta. The State Water Board holds dual responsibilities of allocating surface water rights and protecting water quality. The State Water Board allocates water through an administrative system that is intended to maximize the beneficial uses of water while protecting the public trust, serving the public interest, and preventing the waste and unreasonable use or method of diversion of water. While most water quality control planning is done by the Regional Water Boards, the State Water Board has authority to adopt statewide water quality control plans. The State Water Board adopts the Bay-Delta Plan because of the Delta's importance as a major source of water supply for the state. The Bay-Delta Plan protects water quality in the region and includes water quality objectives to protect fish and wildlife beneficial uses through inflows to the Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Delta outflows, in addition to objectives for salinity to protect agricultural beneficial uses. The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is in the process of a phased review and update of the 2006 Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) (referred to as the 2006 Bay-Delta Plan). To learn more about the Bay-Delta Plan, click here. In 2009, the State Water Board began the process of reviewing and likely revising the 2006 Bay Delta Plan.  At the time of the archiving of this document, that update process still continues.  For the latest information, click here to visit the State Water Resources Control Board page for the Bay-Delta Plan Update.. RELATED DOCUMENT: Water Rights Decision 1641, the document that implements the 1995 Bay Delta Plan and is still in force.

Bayesian nitrate source apportionment to individual groundwater wells in the Central Valley by use of elemental and isotopic tracers

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | July 31st, 2016

Groundwater quality is a concern in alluvial aquifers that underlie agricultural areas, such as in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Shallow domestic wells (less tha

Groundwater quality is a concern in alluvial aquifers that underlie agricultural areas, such as in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Shallow domestic wells (less than 150 m deep) in agricultural areas are often contaminated by nitrate. Agricultural and rural nitrate sources include dairy manure, synthetic fertilizers, and septic waste. Knowledge of the relative proportion that each of these sources contributes to nitrate concentration in individual wells can aid future regulatory and land management decisions. We show that nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate, boron isotopes, and iodine concentrations are a useful, novel combination of groundwater tracers to differentiate between manure, fertilizers, septic waste, and natural sources of nitrate. Furthermore, in this work, we develop a new Bayesian mixing model in which these isotopic and elemental tracers were used to estimate the probability distribution of the fractional contributions of manure, fertilizers, septic waste, and natural sources to the nitrate concentration found in an individual well. The approach was applied to 56 nitrate-impacted private domestic wells located in the San Joaquin Valley. Model analysis found that some domestic wells were clearly dominated by the manure source and suggests evidence for majority contributions from either the septic or fertilizer source for other wells. But, predictions of fractional contributions for septic and fertilizer sources were often of similar magnitude, perhaps because modeled uncertainty about the fraction of each was large. For validation of the Bayesian model, fractional estimates were compared to surrounding land use and estimated source contributions were broadly consistent with nearby land use types.

Beaches

Scientific American | August 1st, 1960

Beaches are natural playgrounds partly under the sun and partly under the sea where people can swim and surfboard, sun themselves and study other people. This human a

Beaches are natural playgrounds partly under the sun and partly under the sea where people can swim and surfboard, sun themselves and study other people. This human activity tends to obscure the fact that the beach itself is constantly in motion, quietly changing its configuration and restlessly shifting its position, grain by grain, until huge masses of sand have been moved. On a small scale and in a matter of hours the sand castles disappear and the footprints are erased; on a large scale, after days and months, the height of the sand around the rocks changes, the waves break in new places and the beach becomes broader or narrower. Indeed, over a period of years large quantities of sand may arrive or depart, posing complex problems of conservation for the people who want to enjoy the beach. This dynamic quality was incorporated by the late Columbia University physiographer Douglas W. Johnson into a definition: "A beach is a deposit of material which is in transit either alongshore or off-and-on shore." Thus three elements make a beach: a quantity of rocky material, a shore-line area in which it moves and a supply of energy to move it.

Beale Air Force Base Environmental Cleanup Program Issue 67

U.S. Air Force | October 31st, 2015

Bear Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Bear Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency | June 15th, 2022

The GSP provides the geographical and managerial context of the Bear Valley Basin, summarizes the groundwater basin setting (including groundwater conditions, water budge

The GSP provides the geographical and managerial context of the Bear Valley Basin, summarizes the groundwater basin setting (including groundwater conditions, water budget, and management areas), describes the criteria used to measure and demonstrate sustainability, reviews the existing groundwater monitoring and management programs, and defines how those actions will be incorporated into the Bear Valley Basin GSP to achieve and maintain sustainability in the future.