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Records

  • Title

    Functional diversity and predator dynamics along the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta

    Lead University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
    Description This project's objectives are to: 1) determine snake species diversity and relative abundance, 2) establish resources available and examine the functional role that snakes play along field sites within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, 3) document predator-prey interactions, and 4) assess the thermal physiology of snakes and the thermal profile of microhabitats along the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
    Science topics Habitat, Invasive / non native species
    Updated May 8, 2024
  • Title

    Harmonizing pesticide risk management of the Bay Delta watershed

    Lead University of California - Santa Barbara [UCSB]
    Description Objective One: Employ high-resolution irrigation data to predict pesticide risks in the Bay Delta Watershed (BDW). This effort will enable more accurate prediction of health hazards given irrigation is a key driver of pesticide transport to surface and ground water. The effects of irrigation methods to pesticide transport vary significantly in their contribution of pesticides to runoff/leachate due to effects on pesticide build-up/wash-off and soil moisture conditions antecedent to precipitation. Objective Two: Provide harmonized species indicators of pesticide toxic burden releases for the Bay Delta which consider diverse resident taxa and human health. California benefits from a plethora of academic researchers, environmental advocacy groups, municipalities, and government groups working to protect the environment. Due to the complexities of this work, efforts often focus on a particular taxa or environmental compartment. This introduces a significant challenge in evaluating the pros and cons of any particular pesticide use. Currently, 79 of the 208 watersheds near the Delta which receive agricultural pesticide applications have increasing pesticide toxic burdens to aquatic taxa. Enabling evaluation of chemical alternatives which reduce toxic burdens across taxa is important to restoring ecosystem health. Objective Three. Quantify the variability of pesticide degradation and the significance to pesticide risk in the BDW. The degree to which pesticides remain in the soils of the BDW increases their probability for accumulation, transport, and nontarget affects. Degradation is highly variable in soils; an investigation of 10 pesticides in 8 soil types under equivalent conditions demonstrated a mean difference of 540% in the minimum and maximum rate of degradation for pesticides evaluated. Yet, researchers and regulators often only employ the median observed rate of degradation which may under predict risks to waterbodies of the BDW.
    Science topics Pesticides
    Updated November 30, 2022
  • Title

    Examining the relationship between Longfin Smelt and flow in the San Francisco Bay Delta

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description The overarching goal of this study is to investigate the time-varying effects of flow variation and food availability on longfin smelt population dynamics, via advanced modeling of a diverse set of environmental and ecological monitoring time series. Specifically, this project will:(1) Assess how key environmental drivers (flow, salinity, temperature) have changed over the past 5 decades (1967 to present) across the San Francisco Estuary (SFE); (2) Examine how longfin smelt population dynamics have changed over that time period, and whether/when breakpoints in abundance and trends exist (e.g., periods of 'decline' vs' stability'); (3) Quantify the effects of environmental on driving observed fluctuations in longfin smelt dynamics; (4) Determine whether/how environment-smelt relationships have changed in magnitude or sign over time; and if they changed, whether such changes have been spatially consistent across the SFE. These goals will inform ongoing conservation efforts of longfin smelt by determining the combinations of flow, habitat, and prey availability conditions that lead to stable population dynamics for the species.
    Science topics Fish, Flows, Longfin Smelt, Zooplankton
    Updated May 8, 2024
  • Title

    Assessing sea-level rise and flooding changes in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta using historical water-level records

    Lead California State University [CSU]
    Description The project aims to recover, digitize, and analyze more than 1300 station years of ‘lost-and-forgotten’ water level records collected from 1857 to 1982 in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These measurements, augmented by modern data, will improve our understanding of tidal, flood, and sea level trends in the system. By determining ‘hotspots’ of habitat and flood risk sensitivity, the results may be used to better focus future scientific and management priorities, to protect the environment, manage flood risk, and enhance community resilience to climate change
    Science topics Backwater, Climate change, Environmental drivers, Estuaries, Land elevation, Levees, Outflow, Sea level rise, Stage, Subsidence, Surface water / flow, Tides, Velocity, Vessels and shipping channels, Water, Wind
    Updated October 10, 2023
  • Title

    Open-Source Resources for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Telemetry Research Community

    Lead Cramer Fish Sciences
    Description There is a great deal of telemetry data amassed from studies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It continues to grow every year with special studies and monitoring efforts. Multiple research priorities surrounding fish ecology in the Delta could be addressed, at least in part, by synthesizing the myriad telemetry data sets that exist; this work would benefit greatly from the centralization and standardization of data workflows surrounding telemetry research. With the guidance of a PIT Advisory Team, we plan to establish a collection of open-source, technology-agnostic, accessible resources to support a reproducible and transparent telemetry data workflow for researchers in the region. The workflow and resources do not invent new procedures, rather improve and standardize those already used by the telemetry research community. This will bring us in closer alignment with centralized, coordinated data workflows that have been successfully implemented in other regions and data communities. The final open-source set of resources will include a design and roadmap for implementing a central telemetry database and workflow, an R package for the preparation, QA/QC, and basic analysis of telemetry data, and a regional workshop offering training programs in the proposed telemetry data workflow.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Fish, Other species, Salmon migration, Steelhead Trout, Striped bass, Sturgeon
    Updated December 22, 2023
  • Title

    Continuous Flow and Water Quality Monitoring Network in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description This project envisions the continuation, expansion, and further integration of high frequency monitoring for flow, water quality (including chlorophyll and nutrients), sediment, as well as biological responses at key locations in the Delta and Suisun Bay. The physical properties monitored by the fixed-station network are the primary drivers of the habitat conditions and biological responses that management actions hope to achieve. Nutrient dynamics are explicitly measured at select stations to improve our understanding of how physical dynamics, water quality and landscape features shape the base of Delta food webs. These data will provide information about drivers linked to food quantity and quality as well as potential toxins production by harmful algae. Suspended-sediment monitoring provides an understanding of the inputs and internal exchanges between regions, locations of sources and sinks, and provides insight into the underlying cause of turbidity variability in the study area. Suspended-sediment measurements gage the availability of suspended sediment for existing marshes and for proposed large-scale marsh restoration efforts in the Delta. There are a total of 5 sub-tasks in this project: • Task 1: Hydrodynamics Team – Fixed Station Network Operation and Maintenance • Task 2: BioGeoChemistry Team -- Fixed Station Network Operation and Maintenance • Task 3: Delta Sediment Team – Fixed Station Network Operation and Maintenance • Task 4: Bay Sediment Team – Fixed Station Network Operation and Maintenance • Task 5: Project Management
    Science topics Chlorophyll A / B, Conductivity, Dissolved oxygen, Flows, Nutrients, pH, Phytoplankton, Sediments, Stage, Surface water / flow, Tides, Turbidity, Velocity, Water operations / exports, Water temperature
    Updated January 19, 2024