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Records

  • Title

    Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey

    Lead Point Blue Conservation Science
    Description PFSS is a coordinated multi-partner monitoring program led by Point Blue Conservation Science designed to guide the management and conservation of wintering shorebirds in the Pacific Flyway. The PFSS contributes data to the Migratory Shorebird Project, the largest coordinated survey of wintering shorebirds on the Pacific Coast of the Americas spanning 10 countries from Canada to Peru.
    Science topics Hunting, Flood, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Sloughs, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Floating aquatic vegetation, Seasonally flooded, Open water, Managed ponds, Riparian wildlife, Forests, Non-forested vegetation, Delta islands, Pacific flyway, Shorebirds, Saltwater / freshwater marshes, Habitat, Non-resident / overwintering birds
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Freeport Regional Water Project

    Lead East Bay Municipal Utilities District
    Description The Freeport Regional Water Authority (FRWP) is a cooperative effort of the Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) of Oakland to supply surface water from the Sacramento River to customers in central Sacramento County and the East Bay area of California.
    Science topics Surface water / flow, Stage, Drought, Environmental drivers
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Levee Inspections

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description DWR, under the authority of Water Code § 8360, § 8370, and § 8371, performs a verification inspection of the maintenance of the SRFCP levees performed by the local responsible agencies, and reports to the USACE periodically regarding the status of levee maintenance accomplished under the provisions of Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 208.10. While there are no specific water code provisions directing DWR to inspect and report on Maintenance of the San Joaquin River Flood Control System, DWR has performed inspections and provided reports for many years as a matter of practice that is consistent with Title 33, CFR. The inspections thus verify, for both river basins, that local agencies are performing their legal and statutory responsibilities pursuant to Water Code § 12642 and § 12657, and are meeting their legal obligations under assurance agreements with the State to operate and maintain their flood control projects “on any stream flowing into or in, the Sacramento Valley or the San Joaquin Valley”. The State inspects and reports only on the status of maintenance practices and on observable levee conditions. The State does not routinely conduct field studies to assess the structural integrity of the levees or their foundations as part of its annual inspection program. Beginning in 2003, the DWR Flood Project Inspection Section (FPIS) and subsequently the Flood Project Integrity and Inspection Branch (FPIIB) has conducted a field survey of the waterward erosion sites and reported them. In addition, the obvious signs of structural weakness such as longitudinal cracks in the crown or slope of the levee, sloughing, or any other noticeable sign of movement within the cross section of the levee are also reported.
    Science topics Levees, Stage, Tides, Flood
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Smelt Larva Survey

    Lead California State Water Resources Control Board [SWRCB]
    Description The Smelt Larva Survey provides near real-time distribution data for longfin smelt larvae in the Delta, Suisun Bay and Suisun Marsh. Sampling takes place within the first two weeks in January and repeats every other week through the second week in March. Each 4-day survey consists of a single 10-minute oblique tow conducted at each of the 35 survey locations (see map) using an egg and larva net. The 505-micron mesh net is hung on a rigid frame shaped like an inverted-U, which in turn is attached to skis to prevent it from digging into the bottom when deployed. The net mouth area measures 0.37 m2. The conical net tapers back from the frame 3.35 m to a 1-liter cod-end jar, which collects and concentrates the sample. Immediately after each tow, juvenile fishes are removed, identified, measured and returned to the water immediately, and the remaining larvae are preserved in 10% formalin for later identification in the Lab in Stockton.
    Science topics Stage, Salinity, Water temperature, Turbidity, Main channels, Sloughs, Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Green sturgeon, White Sturgeon, Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, Sacramento Splittail, Conductivity
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    California Aquatic Resource Inventory [CARI]

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description The California Aquatic Resource Inventory is a standardized statewide map of surface waters and related habitat types, including wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, and their riparian areas. The CARI v0 dataset includes: the National Wetland Inventory (NWI, last updated in 2010) of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD, high resolution dataset at 1:2400 scale, last updated in 1999) of the US Geological Survey, three regional datasets developed by SFEI's GIS team using CARI's standardized, and more detailed, mapping protocols and used to demonstrate the WRAMP framework. Links to more information about these mapping efforts are listed below under "Subprojects" (below). San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Resources Inventory (BAARI)- 2011 Lake Tahoe Basin (TARIv2.1) - 2016 Laguna de Santa Rosa Plain (near Santa Rosa ,CA. NCARI) - 2013, and Six County Aquatic Resources Inventory (including Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Yuba, and Sutter Counties, California) developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (Sacramento District) through federal funding - 2010. For more information contact ecoatlas@sfei.org
    Science topics Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Saltwater / freshwater marshes
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Multibeam Delta Bathymetry Surveys

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description The California Department of Water Resources (CA-DWR), North Central Region Office (NCRO), Bathymetry and Technical Support Section has conducted bathymetry surveys in the Delta since 2011 (according to the Bathymetry Catalog). Data have been used to support planning for the installation of behavioural fish barriers, to assess the river’s channel capacity and ability to convey flows, to assess water quality dynamics, to better understand the area’s risk of flooding and to improve the quality of flood hazard data and maps available to local communities (under the DWR’s FloodSAFE California Initiative), to improve knowledge of sediment presence and movement, to provide high-resolution bathymetry data for hydraulic models, to assess the placement of a drought barrier, to determine how the channel bottom is evolving due to the installation of an emergency drought barrier, and to determine the effects of fish passage projects.
    Science topics Flood, Land elevation, Main channels, Sloughs, Backwater
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has operated a fisheries monitoring program in the Yolo Bypass, a seasonal floodplain and tidal slough, since 1998. The objectives of the Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program (YBFMP) are to: (1) collect baseline data on lower trophic levels (phytoplankton, zooplankton, and aquatic insects), juvenile fish and adult fish, hydrology, and water quality parameters;(2) investigation of the temporal and seasonal patterns in chlorophyll-a concentrations, including whether high concentrations are exported from the Bypass during agricultural and natural flow events and the possibility of manipulating bypass flows to benefit listed species like Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). The YBFMP operates a rotary screw trap and fyke trap, and conducts biweekly beach seine and lower trophic surveys in addition to maintaining water quality instrumentation in the bypass. The YBFMP serves to fill information gaps regarding environmental conditions in the bypass that trigger migrations and enhanced survival and growth of native fishes, as well as provide data for IEP synthesis efforts.
    Science topics Surface water / flow, Stage, Velocity, Direction, Tides, Flood, Chlorophyll A / B, Phytoplankton, Other zooplankton, Water temperature, Dissolved oxygen, pH, Turbidity, Other discharge contaminants, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Main channels, Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Green sturgeon, White Sturgeon, Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, Sacramento Splittail, Insects, Striped bass, Conductivity, Saltwater / freshwater marshes, Fish, Invasive / non native species
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Continuous Monitoring of Water Quality & Suspended-Sediment Transport [Bay-Delta]

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Our group at the USGS continuously monitors suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, and water level at many sites throughout the San Francisco Bay (Bay) and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers Delta (Delta). Our work began in 1988 to explore the spatial and temporal variability of water quality and sediment transport and to provide decision makers, resource managers, and the public with the most up-to-date knowledge. Topics we study include water quality, sediment transport, water clarity, erosion and deposition, sediment-associated contaminants and habitat quality, wetland restoration, and sea level rise.
    Science topics Water operations / exports, Water storage, Water conveyance / infrastructure, Surface water / flow, Stage, Velocity, Suspended sediment, Bedload, Deposition, Erosion, Chemistry, Toxicity, Salinity, Water temperature, Dissolved oxygen, Turbidity, Other discharge contaminants, Intertidal / transition zones, Main channels, Sloughs, Open water, Riparian wildlife, Conductivity, Water use / demand, Water intakes, fish screens & passage
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    National Strong Motion Project [NSMP]

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description The USGS National Strong-Motion Project (formerly titled the National Strong Motion Program) has the primary Federal responsibility for acquiring strong motion records of significant earthquakes in the United States recorded by sensors placed in the ground and in man-made structures. Currently the NSMP operates and maintains strong-motion instruments at more than 660 ground, free-field and reference sites, and more than 3200 channels of data from about 180 structural arrays. When a significant earthquake occurs, the NSMP automatically retrieves strong motion recordings from its instrumentation as well as from more than 2000 other instruments operated throughout the US by federal, state, and local agencies, private companies, and academic institutions that participate in the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). The NSMP rapidly processes these recordings according to COSMOS standards and archives the products at the Center for Engineering Strong Motion Data.
    Science topics Land elevation, Subsidence, Sea level rise, Seismicity, Forests, Non-forested vegetation, Delta islands, Pacific flyway
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Atmospheric River Reconnaissance

    Lead University of California - San Diego [UCSD]
    Description CW3E works directly with water managers in the West to develop science and tools designed to better prepare for the variability inherent in the western US climate. Atmospheric River (AR) Reconnaissance (AR Recon) campaigns support improved prediction of landfalling ARs on the U.S. west coast. ARs are a type of storm that is key to the region's precipitation, flooding, and water supply. Forecasts of landfalling ARs are critical to precipitation prediction and yet are in error by +/- 400 km at even just 3-day lead time (see figure to the right;Wick et al. 2013). The concept for AR Recon was first recommended in a report to the Western States Water Council (Ralph et al. 2014) that was prepared by a broad cross-disciplinary group in 2013. AR Recon was conducted with 3 missions in 2016, 6 in 2018, and 6 in 2019. USACE and the California Department of Water Resources were key sponsors of the AR Recon 2018 and 2019 campaigns. Aircraft that are normally used for hurricane reconnaissance were deployed over the northeast Pacific to collect observations to support improved AR forecasts. The data were assimilated by global modeling centers in real-time.
    Science topics Flood, Air temperature, Precipitation, Wind, Extreme storms, Chinook Salmon, Snowpack / snow water equivalent SWE
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Central Valley Joint Venture [CVJV]

    Lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]
    Description The Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV) is a self-directed coalition consisting of 21 State and Federal agencies, private conservation organizations and one corporation. This partnership directs their efforts toward the common goal of providing for the habitat needs of migrating and resident birds in the Central Valley of California. The CVJV was established in 1988 as a regional partnership focused on the conservation of waterfowl and wetlands under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. It has since broadened its focus to the conservation of habitats for other birds, consistent with major national and international bird conservation plans and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. The Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture was formally organized in 1988 and was one of the original six priority joint ventures formed under the NAWMP. Renamed the Central Valley Joint Venture in 2004, the Management Board now consists of nineteen public and private members. The CVJV is currently administered through a coordination office within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and is guided by a Management Board that receives input and recommendations from a variety of working committees.
    Science topics Hunting, Agriculture, Urban development, Recreation & tourism, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Seasonally flooded, Riparian wildlife, Waterfowl, Shorebirds, Gulls, Habitat, Non-resident / overwintering birds
    Updated April 29, 2022