Biological Opinion for the Reinitiation of Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | December 6th, 2024

Biological Opinion on Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | October 21st, 2019

Biological opinion on the coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) | December 15th, 2008

On May 16, 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources asked the Service to initiate consultation on the Long-Term Operational C

On May 16, 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources asked the Service to initiate consultation on the Long-Term Operational Criteria and Plan (OCAP) for coordination of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, specifically concerning the delta smelt and its critical habitat. (See OCAP Legal Archives.) On December 15, 2008, the Fish & Wildlife Service issued a biological opinion (BO) on the Long-Term Operational Criteria and Plan (OCAP) for coordination of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. The Service determined that the continued operation of these two water projects, as described in the plan, was likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the delta smelt and adversely modify its critical habitat. The inclusion by the Service of reasonable and prudent alternatives, and their acceptance by the water agencies, avoided jeopardy and adverse modification.

Biological sensitivities to high-resolution climate change projections in the California current marine ecosystem

Wiley | July 28th, 2022

Biology-based Stressor Thresholds

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | October 1st, 2011

The objective of this memo is to describe how biological assessment data (such as those collected using Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) bioasse

The objective of this memo is to describe how biological assessment data (such as those collected using Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) bioassessment protocols) can be used to develop biologically-relevant stressor thresholds. This memo describes an objective approach for setting regulatory stressor thresholds based on the association between biological condition and stressor intensity gradients. While these relationships show a large amount of variability typical of biological data, there are clear thresholds that indicate levels below or above which stream health is maintained or degraded.

Bisphenols in San Francisco Bay: Wastewater, Stormwater, and Margin Sediment Monitoring

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | October 28th, 2022

Bisphenols are a class of synthetic, mobile, endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Bisphenol A (BPA), the most well-studied bisphenol, is produced and used in vast quantities w

Bisphenols are a class of synthetic, mobile, endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Bisphenol A (BPA), the most well-studied bisphenol, is produced and used in vast quantities worldwide—especially in polycarbonate plastics and as a polymer additive. Recently, some manufacturers have begun using alternative bisphenol compounds, such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS). These uses of bisphenols have led to widespread bisphenol detections in the environment and wildlife. The present study examined wastewater effluent in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Francisco Bay sediment samples for 17 bisphenols. The effluent samples were compared to available stormwater runoff data to better understand bisphenol transport, fate, and potential risks to wildlife.

Blurred lines: Multiple freshwater and marine algal toxins at the land-sea interface of San Francisco Bay, California

Harmful Algae (Elsevier) | March 10th, 2018

San Francisco Bay (SFB) is a eutrophic estuary that harbors both freshwater and marine toxigenic organisms that are responsible for harmful algal blooms. While there are

San Francisco Bay (SFB) is a eutrophic estuary that harbors both freshwater and marine toxigenic organisms that are responsible for harmful algal blooms. While there are few commercial fishery harvests within SFB, recreational and subsistence harvesting for shellfish is common. Coastal shellfish are monitored for domoic acid and paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), but within SFB there is no routine monitoring for either toxin. Dinophysis shellfish toxins (DSTs) and freshwater microcystins are also present within SFB, but not routinely monitored. Acute exposure to any of these toxin groups has severe consequences for marine organisms and humans, but chronic exposure to sub-lethal doses, or synergistic effects from multiple toxins, are poorly understood and rarely addressed. This study documents the occurrence of domoic acid and microcystins in SFB from 2011 to 2016, and identifies domoic acid, microcystins, DSTs, and PSTs in marine mussels within SFB in 2012, 2014, and 2015. At least one toxin was detected in 99% of mussel samples, and all four toxin suites were identified in 37% of mussels. The presence of these toxins in marine mussels indicates that wildlife and humans who consume them are exposed to toxins at both sub-lethal and acute levels. As such, there are potential deleterious impacts for marine organisms and humans and these effects are unlikely to be documented. These results demonstrate the need for regular monitoring of marine and freshwater toxins in SFB, and suggest that co-occurrence of multiple toxins is a potential threat in other ecosystems where freshwater and seawater mix.

Borrego Water District v. All Persons Who Claim a Right to Extract Groundwater in the Borrego Valley Groundwater Subbasin No. 7-024-01

Superior Court of California, County of Orange | April 8th, 2021

Bottled water contaminant exposures and potential human effects

Environment International (Elsevier) | December 19th, 2022

Background: Bottled water (BW) consumption in the United States and globally has increased amidst heightened concern about environmental contaminant exposures and health

Background: Bottled water (BW) consumption in the United States and globally has increased amidst heightened concern about environmental contaminant exposures and health risks in drinking water supplies, despite a paucity of directly comparable, environmentally-relevant contaminant exposure data for BW. This study provides insight into exposures and cumulative risks to human health from inorganic/organic/microbial contaminants in BW. Methods: BW from 30 total domestic US (23) and imported (7) sources, including purified tapwater (7) and spring water (23), were analyzed for 3 field parameters, 53 inorganics, 465 organics, 14 microbial metrics, and in vitro estrogen receptor (ER) bioactivity. Health-benchmark-weighted cumulative hazard indices and ratios of organic- contaminant in vitro exposure-activity cutoffs were assessed for detected regulated and unregulated inorganic and organic contaminants. Results: 48 inorganics and 45 organics were detected in sampled BW. No enforceable chemical quality standards were exceeded, but several inorganic and organic contaminants with maximum contaminant level goal(s) (MCLG) of zero (no known safe level of exposure to vulnerable sub-populations) were detected. Among these, arsenic, lead, and uranium were detected in 67 %, 17 %, and 57 % of BW, respectively, almost exclusively in spring-sourced samples not treated by advanced filtration. Organic MCLG exceedances included frequent detections of disinfection byproducts (DBP) in tapwater-sourced BW and sporadic detections of DBP and volatile organic chemicals in BW sourced from tapwater and springs. Precautionary health-based screening levels were exceeded frequently and attributed primarily to DBP in tapwater-sourced BW and co-occurring inorganic and organic contaminants in spring-sourced BW. Conclusion: The results indicate that simultaneous exposures to multiple drinking-water contaminants of potential human-health concern are common in BW. Improved understandings of human exposures based on more environmentally realistic and directly comparable point-of-use exposure characterizations, like this BW study, are essential to public health because drinking water is a biological necessity and, consequently, a high vulnerability vector for human contaminant exposures.

Bottoms Up: Treated sewage could be the safest, most environmentally sound source of tap water yet - if we can get over the yuck factor

Scientific American | July 1st, 2014

On a sunny day in December, I visit a shiny, sterile water-processing facility nestled in the hills of northern San Diego. Sheltered by an ugly cream-colored roof but l

On a sunny day in December, I visit a shiny, sterile water-processing facility nestled in the hills of northern San Diego. Sheltered by an ugly cream-colored roof but lacking walls, the workings of this oversize chemist’s laboratory glisten in the warm winter sun. Visible from every angle are row on row of silver tubes and canisters of various shapes and sizes and great gray metal vats of concealed liquid. As my tour of the small plant comes to a close, I am presented with a challenge: to identify, by sight, the contents of three large glass bottles, spaced evenly on a table before me and filled with clear fluids. The first bottle seems to have a slight yellow hue. The second is colorless. The third has the brilliance of a well-cut diamond.