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  • Title

    Delta Wetland Resilience and Blue Carbon

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description This project estimates carbon storage for the past, present and future Delta, as well as GHG fluxes and elevation change based on chosen restoration and rice farming scenarios in the future Delta using the Delta Landscape Scenario Planning Tool. The project also investigates how well the current organic matter parameterizations and inorganic sediment parameterization in the Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM) represent Delta marsh accretion processes. Knowledge of marsh accretion and migration will be used to develop a spatial conceptual model of marsh resilience in the Delta.
    Science topics Carbon, Greenhouse gas GHG, Resilience, Sea level rise, Subsidence, Wetlands
    Updated June 14, 2024
  • Title

    Delta Aquatic Resource Inventory

    Lead Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy
    Description The Delta Aquatic Resources Inventory of surface waters, wetlands and other aquatic resources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) will provide a standard regional approach to wetland classification and mapping to support wetland restoration planning, tracking, and reporting. It will faciliate implementation of the California Wetland and Riparian Areas Monitoring Plan (WRAMP) in the Delta.
    Science topics Wetland mapping
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Delta Historical Ecology

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description The San Francisco Estuary Institute-Aquatic Science Center, in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Game, completed a historical ecology study of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The project improves understanding of what the Delta looked like and how it functioned prior to the significant modification that has occurred over the last 160 years.
    Science topics Historical ecology, Landscape change
    Updated July 29, 2024
  • Title

    Delta Landscapes Project

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description The Delta Landscapes Project has developed a body of work to inform landscape-scale restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem. The project is built on knowledge, first published in 2012’s Delta Historical Ecology Investigation, of how the Delta ecosystem functioned in the early 1800s (prior to the California Gold Rush and subsequent landscape-level changes).
    Science topics Landscape metrics, Restoration planning, Marsh wildlife, Riparian wildlife, Terrestrial wildlife, Fish
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Delta Landscapes Primary Production Project

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description This project compares first-order estimates of primary production among five major groups of primary producers, historically and today, to better identify the potential food production of different habitat types, and inform restoration actions that could increase food availability for wildlife.
    Science topics Primary production, Phytoplankton, Emergent macrophytes, Epiphytic algae, SAV/FAV
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Delta Salmon Rearing Project

    Lead San Francisco Estuary Institute [SFEI]
    Description This project summarizes existing research and knowledge around suitable rearing habitat for Chinook salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta;identifies areas of suitability for rearing salmon using a combined suitability analysis of four mapped habitat parameters;and provides recommendations for types of restoration needed to improve or restore rearing habitat, as well as to identify where in the Delta these restoration efforts could be prioritized.
    Science topics Salmon rearing, Salmon migration, Habitat restoration
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Soil type as a driver of agricultural climate change response in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description This research project aims to increase understanding of how iron-rich peatland soils cycle carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the delta and establish how carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions vary with management practices and crop type. It also explores how a drier future climate will influence biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions in iron-rich soils and how to best adapt land management practices. The goal of this research is to identify agricultural practices that can generate a portfolio of climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for delta farmers. The greenhouse gas data collected as part of this research also helped to generate increasingly accurate emission offset credits for potential wetland restoration projects in California’s Cap-and-Trade program.
    Science topics Agriculture, Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Soil
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Operation Baseline Project 2B: Phytoplankton, CSU Maritime Academy

    Lead California State University Maritime Academy
    Description Planned upgrades to the Sacramento Regional wastewater treatment plant (Regional San) between 2019 and 2021 will reduce total nitrogen inputs by >60% and shift the dominant form of nitrogen entering the Delta from ammonium (NH4) to nitrate (NO3). These changes will affect the Delta in ways unforeseeable with existing knowledge. The focus of this project is to quantify the links between wastewater nitrogen and phytoplankton standing stock, community composition and carbon and nitrogen production. Working in collaboration with the other two Operation Baseline projects, we will: 1. validate in situ monitoring approaches for phytoplankton standing stock and community composition (i.e. using size-fractionated chlorophyll-a and diagnostic phytopigments via HPLC) and 2. provide estimates of ambient and nitrogen-saturated phytoplankton NH4 and NO3 uptake rates as well as C uptake. Phytoplankton N and C uptake rates will be made along spatial gradients in nitrogen and water residence time (Task 1) and in three wetland habitats with varying influence from wastewater nitrogen (Task 3). Together with the other proposals, this project will provide much needed baseline characterization of nutrient processes in the Delta prior to Regional San upgrades.
    Science topics Algae, Floating aquatic vegetation, Food webs, Nitrogen / ammonia, Open water, Other discharge contaminants, Phytoplankton, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Wastewater discharge, Water operations / exports, Wetlands, Zooplankton
    Updated December 14, 2022
  • Title

    Operation Baseline Project 2C: Zooplankton, Romberg Tiburon Center, SFSU

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description This project will examine responses of zooplankton (copepods) to variations in the foodweb attributable to nutrient sources. At each wetland site we will determine spatial abundance patterns and rates of reproduction, growth, and mortality. These will be integrated with information on phytoplankton and physical dynamics to determine how population dynamics responds to nutrient conditions. Stable isotopes will be used to assess nutrient source contributions to growth.
    Science topics Algae, Floating aquatic vegetation, Food webs, Nitrogen / ammonia, Open water, Other discharge contaminants, Phytoplankton, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Wastewater discharge, Water operations / exports, Wetlands, Zooplankton
    Updated December 14, 2022
  • Title

    Habitat, hatcheries, and nonnative predators interact to affect juvenile salmon behavior and survival

    Lead University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
    Description Chinook salmon are an iconic part of California’s environment and heritage, and important both economically and culturally. In the Sacramento River, the winter-run Chinook population is endangered, and there is strong interest in restoring these populations. To do so, resource managers need to better understand the pressures on wild populations. Predation by nonnative predators affects survival of young salmon but may also affect the behavior of salmon. Changes to salmon behavior also have costs but are not currently considered in management. Managers need information on how predators affect juvenile salmon behavior, how they might vary under different conditions, and how they scale up to affect populations.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Fishing
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Investigation of the resilience of the salt marsh harvest mouse and best management practices in response to climate change

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This study aimed to investigate the response of the salt marsh harvest mouse to several threats of climate change, including extreme annual climate cycles and sea level rise. The study was based on ongoing population surveys in the Suisun Marsh, and a study of upland/elevated refuge throughout the species’ range, over the two-year study. It also involved the piloting of advance remote detection technology (camera traps, audio detectors, and digital mouse traps) and effective, affordable high tide refuge (islands and trellises). Finally, ongoing trapping efforts at established survey sites is providing data for ongoing analysis on the effects of weather patterns and space needs of populations.
    Science topics Climate change, Salt marsh harvest mouse, Saltwater / freshwater marshes
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Effects of copper exposure on the olfactory response of Delta smelt [Hypomesus transpacificus]: Investigating linkages between morphological and behavioral anti-predator response

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This study aimed to address the question of how water-borne copper can affect the ability of delta smelt to detect predator related odorants and conduct essential behaviors. To do this, the project included a thorough morphological and cytological study of the delta smelt olfactory organ, which had previously not been well-studied. The researchers also characterized the olfactory mediated antipredatory response to alarm cues and assessed the effects of copper exposure on the anti-predator behavior and morphology of the olfactory rosette of delta smelt.
    Science topics Copper, Delta Smelt, Toxicity
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Effect of temperature and salinity on physiological performance and growth of longfin smelt: Developing a captive culture for a threatened species in the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description This research project aimed to improve understanding of the physiological requirements for survival and reproduction across the entire life history of longfin smelt (from egg to larvae to juvenile to reproducing adult). The overall goals of this project were to assist in developing a captive longfin smelt culture and assess longfin smelt responses to multiple stressors across all life stages, which has been difficult because of extremely low (<10%) larval survival of these fish.
    Science topics Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, Salinity, Temperature
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Reevaluating ecosystem functioning and carbon storage potential of a coastal wetland through integration of lateral and vertical carbon flux estimates

    Lead University of Washington [UW]
    Description This study aims to produce an integrated, net ecosystem carbon budget for Suisun Marsh, a representative ecosystem in the delta. This project combines diverse measurements on land and in the adjacent marine environment to produce the first directly measured, complete carbon budget for a coastal wetland habitat. This work has generated a more complete picture of the potential of wetland preservation for greenhouse gas reduction, as well as the processes that shape wetland accretion and resilience to sea-level rise. The project will provide vital information for understanding the ecosystem services, food webs, and carbon storage potential of the region’s wetlands, as well as provide new methodology that could be used by researchers around the world.
    Science topics Atmosphere, Carbon, Carbon storage, Evaporation / evapotranspiration, Non-forested vegetation, Sea level rise, Sediments, Surface water / flow, Wetlands
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Simulating methylmercury production and transport at the sediment-water interface to improve the water quality in the Delta

    Lead University of California - Merced [UC Merced]
    Description The aim of this project was to improve basic knowledge of mercury cycling and aid management of net methylmercury production in the delta by developing a kinetic-thermodynamic reaction model that describes and quantifies mercury cycling in delta sediments. The model was used to assess uncertainties and estimate methylation and demethylation rates — the processes by which methylmercury is produced and breaks down. In addition, the project examined coupling of mercury cycling with cycling of iron, sulfur, and manganese.
    Science topics Bioaccumulation, Chemistry, Hg and methyl mercury
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Defining habitat quality for young-of-year longfin smelt: Historical otolith-based reconstructions of growth and salinity history in relation to geography, climate, and outflow

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This project aimed to use experiments to develop new otolith-based tools for longfin smelt and to then apply them to an extensive collection of archived wild Longfin Smelt specimens, to build a better understanding of longfin smelt life history, habitat use, and the interactions between stressors and abundance. In addition, the project aims to improve the understanding of how longfin smelt populations are affected by freshwater outflow. The project also aims to provide tools to support and evaluate habitat restoration, and facilitate development of a plan to recover this threatened species.
    Science topics Longfin Smelt, Outflow, Salinity
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    Operation Baseline Project 1: Conceptual Framework

    Lead Delta Stewardship Council
    Description A multidisciplinary team will develop a thorough conceptual model that will describe current conditions and consider changes from the WWTP upgrade. The model will be used to identify the highest priority science questions and investigations to pursue before, during, and after the plant upgrade.
    Science topics Algae, Floating aquatic vegetation, Food webs, Nitrogen / ammonia, Open water, Other discharge contaminants, Phytoplankton, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Wastewater discharge, Water operations / exports, Wetlands, Zooplankton
    Updated December 14, 2022
  • Title

    Operation Baseline Project 2A1: USGS Pilot Studies

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Two pilot studies were funded to establish a baseline in open water and shallow wetland habitats prior to the WWTP upgrade. Study 1: Nutrient concentrations, transformation rates, and links to the foodweb. Study 2: Method to improve monitoring using fixed stations coupled with high-speed boat measurements
    Science topics Algae, Floating aquatic vegetation, Food webs, Nitrogen / ammonia, Open water, Other discharge contaminants, Phytoplankton, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Wastewater discharge, Water operations / exports, Wetlands, Zooplankton
    Updated December 14, 2022
  • Title

    Operation Baseline Project 2A2: USGS Pilot Studies - Isotopes

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Evaluate the usefulness of stable isotopes to trace nutrients form effluent water
    Science topics Algae, Floating aquatic vegetation, Food webs, Nitrogen / ammonia, Open water, Other discharge contaminants, Phytoplankton, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Wastewater discharge, Water operations / exports, Wetlands, Zooplankton
    Updated December 14, 2022
  • Title

    Hydrodynamic Influences on the Food Webs of Restoring Tidal Wetlands

    Lead California Department of Fish and Wildlife [CDFW]
    Description Funding will be use to implement targeted studies that examine the effect of hydrogeomorphology and biogeochemistry on aquatic habitat and resident fish. Increased knowledge of how physical processess drive fish and trophic interactions is imperative to the success of potential restoration projects in the region. Objectives are to evaluate and map the physical and hydrodynamic characteristics of the study sloughs;evaluate the effects of elevation and sea level rise;create a network of water quality stations to measure differences in slough functions;evaluate the influence of flow and tide on food production in sloughs and tidal wetlands;charaterize differences and evaluate how slough restoration effects food productions;evaluate fish community composition;evaluate fish response to habitat differences;evaluate fish use of wetlands as nursery habitats;develop recommendations for improving design of tidal wetland restoration projects to increase food availability for juvenile native fishes;evaluate the influence of flow and tide on trophic dynamics in sloughs and tidal wetlands;and characterize differences and evaluate how slough condition affects food production.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Investigating the Factors that Affect Distribution, Abundance, and Recruitment of Age-0 Longfin Smelt in the upper San Francisco Estuary

    Lead Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
    Description
    Science topics Longfin Smelt
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Mechanisms underlying the flow relationship of longfin smelt: I. Movement and feeding

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description The project is to apply modern analytical methods, bioacoustic detection and particle tracking models to refine understanding of the vertical and longitudinal distribution of longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and how they are affected by flow and food availability. Funding will be used to conduct the research to protect and maintain the estuary's threatened longfin smelt population.
    Science topics Longfin Smelt
    Updated November 17, 2022
  • Title

    The Effect of Drought on Delta Smelt Vital Rates

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This Project is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the effects of drought and management's response to drought on the Delta Smelt in order to avoid extinction. This study will test predication from other models to evaluate the impact of drought and management measures on Delta Smelt responses in terms of growth, phenotype diversity and survival during the spring and summer, when drought impacts are greatest.
    Science topics Delta Smelt, Drought
    Updated November 18, 2022
  • Title

    The effects of early hypersaline acclimation due to climate change on the toxicity of pyrethroid, an insecticide, in salmonids.

    Lead University of California - Riverside [UC Riverside]
    Description Sea level rise and drought are expected to result in hypersaline waterways in the Delta. Endangered Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout go through smoltification to be able to live and mature in saline environments. However, with salinities and temperatures increasing in historically freshwater areas, these fish may be facing new stressors. Pesticide runoff into the Delta is common due to the urbanization and agriculture of many regions and can adversely affect fish. Additionally, previous research has shown that salinity exposure increases the toxicity of contaminants in anadromous fish, and it is had been demonstrated that bifenthrin, a common insecticide in the Bay, can have endocrine disrupting effects on juvenile salmonids. This project will examine the impacts of hypersaline conditions, various temperatures, and exposure to bifenthrin on the development and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout. Specifically, it will: Test the impacts of premature hypersaline acclimation and temperature on the survivial and smoltification process of a range of juvenile salmonids; Test the combined impacts of premature hypersaline acclimation, temperature, and bifenthrin exposure on smoltification, survival and behavior;and Predict the population level effects of drought and pesticide runoff on the health of endangered salmonids Additionally, this research will provide information to CA Department of Pesticide Regulation for potential pesticide management in the Delta, as well as to the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife for conservation practices of endangered juvenile salmonids in the Delta.
    Science topics Salinity
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    A Next-generation Model of Juvenile Salmon Migration through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
    Description While migrating through the Delta and its tributaries, Chinook salmon and steelhead move through diverse habitats, encounter predators, interact with highly dynamic flows, and are impacted by a multitude of human-made structures. Funding for this Project will be use to develop integrated system-level models that will effectively manage salmonid populations and other key resources in the California Central Valley.
    Science topics Salmon migration
    Updated November 18, 2022
  • Title

    Quantifying Biogeochemical Processes through Transport Modeling: Pilot Application in the Cache Slough Complex

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Funding for this project will focus on observations and hydrodynamic models of the Cache Slough Complex. To accomplish this, the project implementation will involve making extensive use of models developed in ongoing CDFW-funded projects. These projects have included the development and initial calibration of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Cache Slough Complex. The model utilizes the Deltares Flexible Mesh numerical model, an open-source hydrodynamic model applied in a growing number of studies in the Bay/Delta system. Work is continuing in that project to refine the model calibration within the Cache Slough Complex and extend the calibrated period. The model is also being applied to study how tidal forcing and channel configuration shape the hydrodynamic connections between parts of the system.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 18, 2022
  • Title

    Reconstructing juvenile salmon growth, condition and Delta habitat use in the 2014-15 drought and beyond

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This study uses otolith chemistry and microstructure to monitor how salmon use the Delta as rearing habitat and a migratory corridor, and the mechanisms cuing their outmigration from natal rivers. We will quantify the extent to which Delta-rearing contributes to salmon population resilency under different conditions (including drought and flood conditions) and provide baseline data to assess population responses to future habitat restoration and changing climate. Physical tags are limited to larger fish that are more sea-ready than fry, and are thus ineffective to estimate the full rearing potential of Delta habitats, while abundance surveys provide only a snapshot of information. Otolith reconstructions allow us to estimate “who” is using the Delta (which populations and life history types), for how long, and their growth rates relative to other rearing habitats. This project will generate empirical data that will inform management actions aimed at maximizing salmon abundance, life history diversity, and resilience to future stressors.
    Science topics Drought
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Juvenile salmon distribution, abundance, and growth in restored and relict Delta marsh habitats

    Lead California Department of Fish and Wildlife [CDFW]
    Description Project is to conduct a study that will to determine whether observed salmon responses match the assumptions and expectations of habitat suitability and life-cycle models currently guiding resource management and habitat restoration in the Bay-Delta, while at the same time supplying much-needed quantitative information to improve these models. The broader purpose is to improve these models to allow more objective and accurate predictions of alternative management and restoration actions intended to recover Central Valley salmon populations. The overarching goal of this project is to quantify the distribution, abundance, residence time and growth of juvenile salmon within the Bay-Delta.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Problems and Promise of Restoring Tidal Marsh to Benefit Native Fishes in the North Delta during Drought and Flood

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The Project will improve scientific understanding of the North Delta ecosystem and to improve better basis for management and creation of restoration sites, as well as management of the region to benefit native fishes. The Project will improve scientific understanding of how fish populations are influenced by the interactions between wetlands and hydrology, geomorphology, water quality and food availability. Funding will be use to conduct water quality monitoring;hydrodynamic modeling;and fish and invertebrate surveys.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Application of cutting-edge tools to retrospectively evaluate habitat suitability and flow effects for Longfin Smelt

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) is a native forage fish, characteristic of the natural biological community of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). This study will examine variation and interactions among hatch dates, instantaneous and total growth rates, habitat use, and timing of transitions among habitats with different salinities, and variation among years with very different climate and freshwater outflow conditions. This information is crucial for managing freshwater flows and can be used to evaluate the effects of tidal wetland restoration in the San Francisco Estuary.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 19, 2022
  • Title

    Contaminant Effects on Two California Fish Species and the Food Web That Supports Them

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Water temperatures are increasing due to global climate change, and are predicted to reach levels that exceed the thermal tolerance of sensitive Delta species such as the Delta Smelt by 2050. Little is directly known about the differences in sensitivity between Inland Silverside and Delta Smelt to such stressors, or how either species responds to multiple stressors. Funding will be use to study how these two species respond to drought-induced stressors (temperature, salinity, and reduced dilution of contaminants) which will provide key insights, given that one is near extinction and the other is thriving under drought conditions.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 19, 2022
  • Title

    Defining the fundamental niche of Longfin Smelt [Spirinchus thaleichthys]: Physiological mechanisms of environmental tolerance.

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This Project will evaluate reproductive output, embryo to larval development, and growth and maturation of Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys). This Project is designed to comprehensively assess effects of extreme events and their interaction with contaminant effects, and aims to fill knowledge gaps relating to turbidity (e.g., stress levels associated with predation risk), age-specific fecundity, egg and early larval buoyancy, and other essential requirements for captive rearing conditions that will aid the successful culture.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Impact of Climate Variability on Surface Water Quality: Cyanobacteria and Contaminants

    Lead University of California
    Description
    Science topics Harmful algal blooms HAB
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Impact of Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Water Flows on Migratory Behavior of Chinook Salmon Smolts in the South Delta

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Funding for this study project will be use track the swimming movements of salmon smolts during migration using acoustic transmitters and detection arrays near the confluence of Old River and the San Joaquin River. Analyses will be carried out to determine swimming velocity relative to current velocity. Modeling will estimate fish distribution; fish transit times; entrainment of fish into channels of the south Delta; and alternative water export management scenarios that may result in reduced entrainment.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 19, 2022
  • Title

    Impacts of climate change on pesticide bioavailability and sublethal effects on juvenile Chinook salmon in the Delta: Potential benefits of floodplain rearing

    Lead University of California - Riverside [UC Riverside]
    Description The Project will include field studies to estimate loadings and bioavailability of pesticides, concentrations of pesticide residues in salmonid prey, and the trophic basis of juvenile Chinook salmon growth (benthic vs. pelagic food web pathways) and how each of these differ between floodplain and river channel habitats in the Delta. Data from the field studies will inform development of laboratory studies that will assess the potential effects of exposure to environmentally-relevant pesticide types and concentrations in prey on swimming performance, olfaction and neuroendocrinology of juvenile Chinook salmon. Laboratory studies will also evaluate how water temperature (including increased water temperatures predicted with climate change) influences these sub-lethal effects of pesticides on juvenile salmon.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 29, 2022
  • Title

    Identifying the Causes of Feminization of Chinook Salmon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River System

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description Purpose was to assess the potential importance of endocrine-disrupting chemical contaminants to salmon and other resident speices of waters that are discharged into the San Francisco-San Joaquin Delta.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    How Abiotic Processes, Biotic Processes, and Their Interactions Sustain Habiata Charactersitics and Functions in River Channels and Their Floodplains: An Investigation of How a Reach of the Merced River Responds to Restoration

    Lead University of California - Santa Barbara [UCSB]
    Description The purpose of this project is to determine how river restoration affects the abundance and distribution of salmonid and non-salmonid fishes at critical life stages. The proposal involves field survey of hydraulics, sedimentation processes, channel changes, habitat conditions, invertebrate and fish communities and their interactions.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Quantitative Indicators and Life History Implications of Environmental Stress on Sturgeon

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The purpose of this project is to analyze the effects of the pollutants on the overall fitness of different life stages of the green and white sturgeon. This research will significantly enhance our understanding of stressors on sturgeon and allow further development of life history models.
    Science topics Water temperature, Salinity, Pelagic fish, Methylmercury, Sturgeon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    The Transport and Dispersion of Rafting Vegetation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description The research we are proposing here is focused on developing a thorough, mechanistic understanding of how rafting vegetation, such as hyacinths or egeria, is transported in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Our approach is to examine in detail the forces that act on rafts of vegetation, and the resulting raft accelerations, to establish a predictive model of raft pathlines. Our model development will be built around a series of field experiments that include measurements of raft movement using GPS-logging drifters integrated into rafts, tidal and wind-forcing using a boat mounted current profiler and an anemometer, and direct estimation of the water-induced shear stress using a point velocity meter incorporated into the actual rafts. These field observations will be used to critically evaluate a numerical model of both channel (tidal) flows and resulting raft movement. Our initial development will include a highly-resolved channel flow model, which will explicitly capture more lateral variability, including low velocity side “pockets”, than is typically resolved with Delta scale hydrodynamic models. Initially, this will allow us to carefully evaluate the quality of our raft tracking calculations. Once the approach is established to be accurate, however, these high-resolution flows will be used to numerically calculate the effective advection and dispersion of rafts in the Delta channel under consideration. This analysis will be focused on parameterizing the effects on raft transport of structures and processes that are unresolved in typical Delta hydrodynamics models. An example of a process that is likely to be important to parameterize is the trapping and retention of rafts along the perimeter of channels due to off-axis wind forcing, and the resulting along-channel dispersion of rafts. In order to examine the effective advection and dispersion of rafts in Delta channels, we propose to pursue this combination of field and numerical studies of raft transport in locations of increasing complexity: first in idealized, straight channels, then in a natural, sinuous channel and a channel junction, and finally throughout the entire Delta. Our research is strongly motivated by the desire to provide a predictive model of dispersion in the Delta for floating objects that respond to both wind and tidal forcing. Immediate applications involve the movement of hyacinth rafts and egeria to evaluate potential management strategies. Important future applications are likely to include consideration of other biological invasions, due to the potential for rafts to provide a transport pathway, and analysis of the movement of accidental or intentional releases of floating material in the Delta.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 29, 2022
  • Title

    The Consequences of Operational Decisions on Water Quality: Reconciling Delta Smelt, Salmon, and Human Needs

    Lead Contra Costa Water District [CCWD]
    Description The purpose of this project is to assess the consequences of actions taken to protect threatened or endangered Chinook salmon species relative to other upstream and in-Delta water management actions that have changed seasonal salinity in the Delta, thus reducing the ability of delta smelt to survive as a species;and, to investigate with modeling scenarios the potential to ameliorate this trade-off with specific operational actions.
    Science topics Delta Smelt, Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    A Calibration-Free Approach to Modeling Delta Flows and Transport

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate an integrated system for the prediction of Delta flows and transport in real-time that doesn't rely upon historical data sets for calibration and validation. The system consists of observational and computational components, along with real-time communication and coordination.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Pilot Mark-Recapture Study to Estimate Delta Smelt Pre-Screen Loss and Salvage Efficiency

    Lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]
    Description The purpose of this project is to perform a study to determine whether it is feasible to quantify entrainment losses of juvenile and adult delta smelt due to water exports. This information is critical to better understanding the movement of Delta smelt in the system.
    Science topics Delta Smelt
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Are Apparent Sex Reversed Chinook Salmon a Symptom of Genotoxicity?

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Goal was to test the relative importance of chemical stressors on population viability and genetic diversity for fall-run Chinook salmon (in association with environmental contaminant exposure in the Central Valley delta).
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Using Flowcam Technology to Measure High Frequency Spatial and Temporal Variation in Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Species Composition and Develop State-of-the-Art Plankton Monitoring

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description The purpose of this project is to use the new imaging-in-flow instrument FlowCAM to rapidly and automatically identify, enumerate and estimate biomass for in situ and laboratory phytoplankton and zooplankton species composition samples in the SF Estuary.
    Science topics Phytoplankton, Zooplankton
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    A Non-Point Source of Contaminants to the Estuarine Food Web: Mobilized Particles from the Intertidal Zone

    Lead California State University [CSU]
    Description The purpose of this research project is to quantify the process of contaminant concentration and resuspension of shallow and intertidal cohesive sediments at sites along the salinity gradient from Prospect Island to San Pablo Bay. This research is important because it helps to understand the pathways by which contaminants are assimilated, which is essential to appropriately manage habitat areas.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Estimating Juvenile Chinook Salmon Spring and Winter Run bundance at Chipps Island

    Lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]
    Description The purpose of this project will develop and implement a DNA sampling protocol for juvenile Chinook salmon captured at Chipps Island.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Analysis of Archived Samples to Assess Patterns of Historic Invasive Bivalve Biomass

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description The purpose of this project is to provide information regarding the effect of bivalves in restored habitat by assessing patterns of invasive bivalve biomass. This research is important because these bivalves are invasive and dominant in the upper SF Bay-Delta system, which are considered to be a major sink of primary productivity in the system.
    Science topics Bivalve
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    A Statistical Model of Central Valley Chinook Incorporating Uncertainty

    Lead R2 Resource Consultants Inc.
    Description The purpose of this project is to develop a statistical modeling approach to the two Central Valley Chinook Salmon species that incorporates mortality in all phases of salmon life history, and includes the effects of uncertainty in assessing population status, guiding future research, and making management decisions.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Quantifying Factors Affecting Migration Routing and Survival of Juvenile Late-Fall Chinook Salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Juvenile Chinook salmon emigrating from natal tributaries of the Sacramento River must negotiate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta where they disperse among the Delta's complex channel network. Natural processes and water management actions affect the fraction of the population using different migration routes through the Delta and survival within those routes, but quantifying these relationships has proven difficult. Since 2006, acoustic telemetry techniques have been used to quantify both movement among migration routes and survival within routes, providing the first insights into how route-specific survival contributes to population-level survival in the Delta. In this project, we propose to use existing acoustic telemetry data from multiple sources to 1) Quantify factors affecting migration routing of juvenile salmon emigrating from the Sacramento River, 2) Quantify factors affecting survival of juvenile salmon within specific migration routes, and 3) Simulate population-level survival through the Delta under a limited number of historical and operational scenarios. Collating telemetry data from multiple sources over numerous years offers a unique opportunity to identify important relationships that might otherwise be difficult to detect for any particular study in a given year. Quantifying such relationships is critical to informing resource management that seeks to balance use of water resources with recovery of endangered salmon populations.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Impact of Urbanization on Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and Their Prey: a Case Study of the American River

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description The American River provides spawning/rearing habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead, yet passes through 30 miles of dense urban development. Urban runoff contains pyrethroid insecticides that cause the river to become toxic to standard testing species with every storm event. This study will go beyond observed toxicity, and address toxicity to chironomids, caddisflies, and mayflies, key diet components of juvenile fish in the river. A bioenergetic model will be used to evaluate effects of food web changes on young salmonids. Our key approach is the use of river-side systems with flowing river water that allow us to replicate realistic pesticide exposures, while controlling other variables. We will determine sensitivity to pyrethroids and fipronil of salmonid prey taxa, and expose them, as well as standard testing species, in the flow-through systems through six storm events. We will maintain experimental streams containing riverine benthic invertebrate communities, and measure response to the pyrethroid pulses. To supplement analyses of the indirect, food web-mediated effects, we will measure endocrine effects through vitellogenin induction in salmon and steelhead. Finally, one treatment includes river water from which organic contaminants have been removed by activated charcoal, to help establish cause of toxicity. The goal is to determine if known toxicity in the American River is a threat to benthic invertebrates and, through the food web, to salmon and steelhead.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Above-highwater refugia, Other discharge contaminants, Food webs
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Habitat Values of Native SAV [Submerged Aquatic Vegetation] in the Low Salinity Zone of San Francisco Estuary

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description We will investigate the importance of native submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in providing food web support for native fish species in the low salinity zone of the San Francisco Bay-Delta. These SAV beds, composed primarily of Stuckenia pectinata (sago pondweed), are an extensive feature along many of the islands in Suisun Bay and the west Delta, yet almost nothing is known of their seasonal or interannual patterns, their invertebrate communities, or how their physical structure or food resources influence use by native fishes. We hypothesize that the position of these beds in the shallow subtidal zone along the islands increases habitat options adjacent to wetlands and channels for numerous fish species, including species of concern such as delta smelt and chinook salmon. The objectives of this project are to: 1) characterize patterns in habitat structure, community composition, and productivity of SAV beds in four locations in Suisun Bay and the western Delta over a three year period (with comparisons to non-native Egeria densa beds), 2) document the epifaunal invertebrate community composition and abundance in the Stuckenia beds, 3) assess fish use of these beds through seining and acoustic monitoring of hatchery-tagged fish, 4) utilize stable isotope analyses to evaluate food web relationships within and among the beds, and 5) begin preliminary evaluation of the potential to restore native SAV to subsided lands in this region.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Green sturgeon, White Sturgeon, Sacramento Splittail, Delta Smelt, Steelhead Trout
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Physiological Mechanisms of Environmental tolerance in Delta Smelt [Hypomesus transpacificus]: From Molecules to Adverse Outcomes

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The proposed project directly addresses priority research detailed by the Delta Science Program to protect native fishes that depend on the Bay-Delta system focusing on adaptations to local habitats and physiological tolerances to key environmental stressors;in delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). Temperature and salinity changes associated with anthropogenic climate change are likely to further exacerbate delta smelt population declines. We hypothesize that delta smelt tolerance to forecasted temperature rises and salinity intrusions into the Bay-Delta system can be assessed at a mechanistic level, and that acclimation thresholds can be established by means of genomic responses. This proposal builds upon successful development of a cDNA microarray for delta smelt containing approximately 2000 individual gene fragments, and the subsequent application of biomarkers for assessing the effects of chemical stressors on larval development with links to swimming behavior. We propose to develop a Next Generation oligonucleotide microarray in delta smelt, with ca. 15K genes, in order to assess mechanistic tolerance to changes in gemperature and salinity. Genomic studies will be conducted integrating effects on energetic activity and swimming performance studies, in an interdisciplinary approach that will permit the establishment of links between tolerance mechanisms and adverse outcomes.
    Science topics Delta Smelt, Water temperature, Salinity, Turbidity
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Nutritional Quality of Zooplankton as Prey for Fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Dalta

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Primary consumers (zooplankton) are a critical trophic link for energy transfer to upper trophic levels and a key food source for threatened and endangered fish species in the Delta. The zooplankton community was shaped by large spatial and temporal changes in both abundances and species composition that affected quantity of zooplankton carbon. It is also expected that taxonomic shifts affected quality of zooplankton carbon for fish due to altering biomass transfer at the base of the food web that can profoundly influence nutritional quality and population dynamics at higher trophic levels. Yet the biochemical composition of plankton remains largely unstudied in this system despite the fact that the importance of zooplankton nutritional quality for fish is one potential major component for the long-term decline and more recent collapse of pelagic fish species. The proposed research aims to measure essential nutritional status (stoichiometry, fatty acids, sterols) for zooplankton taxa and will calculate food-quality indices for fish. On the basis of nutritional plankton and biomass values, spatial patterns as well as long-term and recent changes in plankton quality associated with compositional shifts will be estimated. We propose that through integrating plankton food-quality into the management and restoration plan for the Delta, the dynamics of the ecosystem can be viewed from a new perspective that has key implications for understanding the decline in pelagic organisms.
    Science topics Zooplankton
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Foodweb Support for the Threatened Delta Smelt and Other Estuarine Fishes in Suisun Bay and the Western Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description The purpose of the project is to increase understanding of the foodweb supporting delta smelt and other estuarine species. This research is important because: 1) it could lead to increased foodweb support for the threatened delta smelt and 2) identify potential mechanisms underlying relationships of abundance or survival of some fish to freshwater flow.
    Science topics Delta Smelt
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    An Open-Source, Three-Dimensional Unstructured-Grid Model of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta: Model Construction and Application to Delta Hydrodynamics and Temperature Variability

    Lead Stanford University
    Description Motivated by the need to predict transport in the Delta, this project will apply the open-source, unstructured-grid computer model, SUNTANS (Stanford Unstructured Nonhydrostatic Terrain following Adaptive Navier Stokes simulator) to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. SUNTANS solves the governing equations of fluid flow on a grid that permits fine detail in areas of particular interest in the Delta, while allowing us to include the entirety of the Bay/Delta system so as to properly model oceanic and estuarine influences on the Delta We have two aims:(1) to carry out the model development needed to apply SUNTANS to the Delta;(2) to apply the model to look at aspects of the physical variability of the Delta that are critical to ecosystem function and to understanding how physical processes in the Delta affect ecosystem function, most notably entrainment of fish and other organisms by the export facilities. In particular, we propose to look at flow behavior at channel junctions, a key aspect of Delta hydrodynamics that influences dispersion in the Delta and thus the transport of biota, nutrients and contaminants. We also will examine the dynamics of spatial and temperature variability in the Delta in response to tides, atmospheric forcing, river flows, and diversions, variability that must be properly calculated to forecast how climate change and altered project operations may affect key species like Delta Smelt. We will carry out new fieldwork to support our modeling.
    Science topics Water temperature
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Integrating Ecosystems, Flood Control, Agriculture, and Water Supply Benefits: An Application to the Yolo Bypass

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The Yolo Bypass presents an opportunity to develop mechanisms governing the management of flows across floodplains that balance ecosystem services with economic and recreational functions, and to study the untapped potential of such floodplains to play a role in conjunctive surface and groundwater management. Analysis to the necessary high degree of spatial resolution for such management decisions is generally lacking for the Yolo Bypass. This proposal seeks funding for an interdisciplinary study to better understand the economic, hydrologic, and ecological functioning of land and water across the bypass, and to develop tools that use this knowledge in identifying promising strategies for the timing and configuration of spring inundation. Agronomic, economic, and hydraulic models will be used with formal interviews to study the relationship between flooding and six Yolo Bypass functions: (1) Agricultural Economics, (2) Waterfowl management, (3) Native Fish habitat, (4) Flood Control, (5) Groundwater storage, and (6) Recreation. Data from these first efforts will be incorporated into an optimization model that identifies promising inundation alternatives for ecosystem services which minimize costs to landowners and waterfowl managers, and maximize potential conjunctive use benefits. This synthesis answers the Delta Science Program's request for coupled hydrologic and ecosystem models, and for water and ecosystem management decision support system development.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    CASCaDE II: Computational Asessments of Scenarios of Change for the Delta Ecosystem

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description This proposal builds upon an existing model-based effort to develop a holistic view of the Bay-Delta-River-Watershed system. CASCaDE I developed a set of linked models to assess Delta ecosystem response to climate change. In CASCaDE II, we propose to refine and extend those modeling capabilities to assess Delta ecosystem response to changes in climate and physical configuration. With a new state-of-the-art hydrodynamic and sediment model at its core, CASCaDE II will link models of climate, hydrology, hydrodynamics, sediment, geomorphology, phytoplankton, bivalves, contaminants, marsh accretion, and fish. Our goals are to apply these linked models to 1) better understand Delta ecosystem function, 2) assess possible futures of the Delta under scenarios of climate and structural change, and 3) provide science-based information to support the DSC in its co-equal goals of water supply and ecosystem protection. The tools developed will provide an objective basis for anticipating and diagnosing Delta ecosystem responses to planned and unplanned changes. Experiments using the linked models are designed to address questions such as: How will climate change, together with new conveyance structures or increased flooded island habitat, alter water flow and drinking water quality? With projected changes in residence time, turbidity, temperature, and salinity, how will primary productivity, invasive bivalves, marsh processes, contaminant dynamics, and fish populations respond?
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Quantifying the contribution of tidal flow variations to survival of juvenile Chinook salmon

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description The purpose of this project is to quantify how tides in the Delta influence survival of juvenile salmon. Juvenile salmon survival increases when there is more flow and the river is less tidally influenced. We hypothesize that the increase in survival is because of reduced travel times causing less exposure to predators. This project will test this hypothesis using multiple models including ones that can predict how management actions that modify tidal patterns affect juvenile salmon survival.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Salmon migration, Surface water / flow, Tides, Water management
    Updated June 17, 2024
  • Title

    Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in the Delta: Linking Benthic Nutrient Cycling to Restoration, Aquatic Vegetation, Phytoplankton Productivity, and Harmful Algal Blooms

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Nutrients in sediment play a large role in influencing food webs, harmful algal blooms, aquatic vegetation, and drinking water quality. This study will investigate the amount, types, and dynamics of nutrients in Delta sediments. It will also examine sediment microbial communities that mediate these processes. Results of this study will help determine how the planned reduction in nutrient inputs to the Delta will effect sediment nutrients and microbial communities following the upgrade of the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment plant. Data will also inform how wetland restoration and invasive aquatic vegetation influence sediment nutrients and microbial communities. These data will contribute to improving computer models that inform large-scale nutrient management actions.
    Science topics Aquatic vegetation, Benthic, Cyanobacteria, Harmful algal blooms HAB, Nitrogen, Nitrogen / ammonia, Nutrients, Phytoplankton, Sediments
    Updated May 14, 2024
  • Title

    Low-Cost Satellite Remote Sensing of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Enhance Mapping for Invasive and Native Aquatic Vegetation

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Invasive aquatic vegetation (IAV) acts as an ecosystem engineer by changing habitat conditions and water quality. This negatively affects the survival of native species. Over the past 15 years, IAV has more than doubled its footprint in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta waterways. The State of California spends millions of dollars each year to control IAV in the Delta-Suisun region and costs are likely to continue to rise. Gaining a better understanding of the spread, life history characteristics, and potential vulnerabilities of these species can lead to more effective control strategies. The recent launch of the Sentinel-2 satellite can fill temporal gaps left by annual airborne surveys. This study will create a data pipeline for sustained, low-cost satellite-based monitoring of aquatic and marsh vegetation year-round. To quantify one of the Delta Plan performance measures, the time and degree of floodplain inundation for the Yolo Bypass will be measured. This study will result in new metrics to measure progress toward habitat goals in several restoration sites.
    Science topics Aquatic vegetation, Invasive / non native species
    Updated October 3, 2024
  • Title

    Resolving Contradictions in Foodweb Support for Native Pelagic Fishes

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description Much research in the Delta has focused on foodweb dynamics, stimulated by evidence that low productivity of plankton is linked to declines in several fish species including the endangered delta smelt. Pseudodiaptomus forbesi is the most abundant copepod (small crustaceans) in the Delta in summer. It is an important food source for many fishes and makes up about half of the food of delta smelt. This study focuses on the feeding, reproduction, and growth of copepods as essential foodweb support for fishes. This work investigates four diverse habitats including two open-water channels and two shallow habitats. The researchers will measure copepods´ feeding rates on microscopic plants and animals, and relate feeding to their rates of growth and reproduction. Computer models will be used to estimate their movement and death rates. These results will show the sources of nutrition used for growth and reproduction of these key organisms. Results will inform how food webs respond to large scale changes in the Delta ecosystem, for example, restoration and the Sacramento wastewater treatment plant upgrade.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Life History Variation in Steelhead Trout and the Implications for Water Management

    Lead University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
    Description The purpose of this project is to explore the ways in which different stream hydrology and temperature can affect the growth and maturation of steelhead trout. Model examination will incude various stream flow management regimes may affect trout population dynamics region-wide.
    Science topics Steelhead Trout
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Recreational Hunting as an Ecosystem Service of Restoration in the Bay-Delta Watershed

    Lead Santa Clara University
    Description Ecological restoration in the Bay-Delta watershed provides increased access to hunting opportunities for recreational hunters in the region in addition to benefitting native flora and fauna. While increased hunting is not always considered an economic benefit, it is a dividend from investments in habitat restoration. This research will quantify in dollars the economic impact of restoring sites and opening them for hunting. The study will survey members of the public at restored sites in the Bay-Delta and Sacramento River regions that have resulted in new and/or improved hunting access. In addition to the economic analysis, the survey will shed light on two other issues: 1) whether there is a tradeoff among recreational usage, carbon storage, and habitat quality for restored sites, and 2) whether current users perceive an unmet need for recreational access in the region. These analyses will be useful in explaining multi-benefit restoration projects to stakeholders and policymakers, and informative to future decision-making.
    Science topics Hunting
    Updated December 7, 2022
  • Title

    Evaluating Juvenile Salmonid Behavioral Responses to Hydrodynamic Conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Lead State Water Contractors [SWC]
    Description This study combines detailed model predictions with salmonid tracking data to inform how river flows affect steelhead movement through the Delta. This project leverages an existing 6-year data set to support analysis of salmonid behavioral responses across a broad range of water years. The study will evaluate behavior relative to flow under existing regulatory requirements (Old and Middle River Flow and the Inflow to Export ratio), evaluate five new potential water management metrics identified by the Collaborative Adaptive Management Team Salmonid Scoping Team, and improve the understanding of what conditions affect survival.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Impact of Temperature and Contaminants on Chinook Salmon Survival: A Multi-Stressor Approach

    Lead National Marine Fisheries Service [NMFS]
    Description The decline of native salmon species has resulted in their protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the California Endangered Species Act. Disease and predation are primary drivers of mortality as salmon migrate. Multiple stressors, such as exposure to contaminants and elevated temperature, can impact rates of disease and predation of salmon as they migrate to the ocean. This study examines how contaminant exposures at different temperatures affects salmon health. Specifically, the study investigates the sensitivity of salmon to a contaminant mixture of bifenthrin (a pyrethoid pesticide) and triclosan (an antibacterial added to personal care products). Both contaminants can alter fish swimming behavior and critical physiological functions. Similarly, temperature stress can impact fish physiology and behavior, as well as exacerbate the adverse effects of contaminants.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    An Evaluation of Sublethal and Latent Pyrethroid Toxicity Across a Salinity Gradient in Two Delta Fish Species

    Lead Oregon State University
    Description Pyrethroids are a type of insecticide frequently detected in the San Francisco Bay and Delta (SFBD). They are highly toxic to fishes and may contribute to their decline. The Central Valley Water Resources Control Board has adopted regulations for many pyrethroids. These concentration goals for Delta surface waters are quite stringent. However, they do not take into account non-lethal effects in fishes, particularly during the early life stages and at the salinity conditions we see in the SFBD. Understanding non-lethal effects in fish is vital to influencing population health. This study investigates pyrethroid toxicity on Delta smelt and Inland Silverside embryos, while accounting for changing SFBD salinity and other factors such as sediment. Results will inform the development of pesticide regulation criteria and control efforts, furthering the protection of SFBD fishes.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Integrated Science and Management of Nutrient, Salt, and Mercury Export from San Joaquin River Wetland Tributaries to the Delta

    Lead University of California - Merced [UC Merced]
    Description Mercury, salinity, and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are major contaminants of concern and are an understudied source of water quality impairment to the Delta. This study will (1) examine seasonal variation and transfer of salt, nutrients, and mercury out of managed wetlands;(2) establish and verify whether other routinely monitored water components can serve as reliable alternatives (proxies) for detecting mercury and nutrients;(3) integrate monitoring data and proxy relationships to estimate levels of contaminants;and (4) develop science-based strategies for adaptive co-management of salt, nutrients, and mercury from seasonal wetlands to improve water quality in the Delta. Outcomes from this study will provide improved best practices and guidelines for management of salt, nutrients, and mercury in wetlands. Results will also address key knowledge gaps identified in the Delta Nutrient Research Plan and provide support for the Delta Mercury Control Plan.
    Science topics Nutrients, Salinity, Hg and methyl mercury
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Improving Green Sturgeon Population and Migration Monitoring

    Lead University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
    Description Green sturgeon is a listed species under the federal Endangered Species Act. This project supports the recovery and management of the southern distinct population segment of green sturgeon by improving population and migration monitoring. Improved monitoring is recommended in multiple initiatives to help protect this species, such as the Green Sturgeon Recovery Plan. There is some uncertainty on whether the most appropriate green sturgeon monitoring techniques are being used. This project compares the different estimation and monitoring techniques to identify the superior protocol. To compare the effectiveness of different techniques, scientists will monitor green sturgeon in the Sacramento River using sonar technology. Monitoring data will be used to estimate the population size and death rates due to by-catch. This project will also review and synthesize past acoustic telemetry data to determine if the data can be modeled to improve population size estimates.
    Science topics Green sturgeon
    Updated June 3, 2024
  • Title

    Consequences of Phragmites invasion for community function in Suisun Marsh

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This project aims to quantify the impacts of common reed (Phragmites) invasion on community structure and ecosystem function during early stages of tidal restoration in wetlands. The study will focus on the Tule Red Tidal Restoration site in Suisun Marsh. The research aims to produce a conceptual model that will describe habitat structure, invertebrate communities, and predator use of wetlands affected by Phragmites invasion. The conceptual model resulting from this study will guide future predictions of wetland response to invasion and to develop mitigation strategies. Data collected will also support food web models and the understanding of invasive plants as stressors, as well as foster translational science to the management community.
    Science topics Invasive / non native species
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Risk of fish predation within and across tidal wetland complexes

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This study focuses on understanding how restored tidal wetlands with different physical configurations function as refuge and rearing habitat for fishes, including native and imperiled species such as delta smelt and juvenile Chinook salmon. This research will assess the spatial distribution of predation risk as it varies within and across tidal wetlands. The proposed research will generate a statistical model that helps predict predation outcomes from various restored tidal wetland designs and channel configurations. This will be a powerful tool for managers to forecast how proposed habitat restoration or water management actions may impact native fish populations.
    Science topics Tidal wetlands
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    CASCaDE: Computational Asessments of Scenarios of Change for the Delta Ecosystem

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Agencies of the CALFED Bay-Delta Authority (CBDA) face tough decisions as they search for strategies to meet their programmatic goals of stabilizing water supplies in California, providing safe drinking water to a growing population, and sustaining diverse populations of native species and their supporting ecosystem functions. The challenge of finding balanced solutions to these goals is daunting because of the enormous complexity of the San Francisco Bay-Delta system and its tributary rivers and their watersheds. The challenge grows as we consider the additional layer of complexity imposed by the certainty that all the key forces that drive dynamics of this ecosystem (climate, hydrology, water management, land use, sea level) will change significantly in future decades. This proposal describes a model-based approach for developing a long view of the Bay-Delta-River-Watershed system. The long view will be developed through simulations with linked models to project changes under a range of plausible scenarios of global warming, hydrologic responses, land-use change, reconfigurations of within-Delta habitats, and sea level rise. Our goals are to develop and apply a model-based approach of ecological forecasting to project future states of the Delta ecosystem under prescribed scenarios of change, and to communicate the outcomes of those scenarios to resource managers facing the daunting challenge of meeting CBDP goals in a continually changing world.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated November 18, 2022
  • Title

    Phytoplankton and cyanobacteria growth and response to stressors

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Pesticide and nutrient inputs from human activities are present in the Sacramenot-San Joaquin Bay-Delta, but the impact of these stressors together on algae is not well known. This research will examine the impacts of herbicides and nutrients on the growth and stress responses of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria present in the San Francisco Estuary. The algae in the delta are diverse with critical ecological effects, ranging from toxin-producing cyanobacteria that form hazardous algal blooms to benthic diatoms and green algae that make up the bulk of the aquatic food web. Contaminants and herbicides can cause changes in algae cellular health which may impact population growth. Understanding algal sub-lethal stress responses will improve our understanding of stressors on the bay-delta food web and bloom formation.
    Science topics Phytoplankton, Cyanobacteria
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Wetland carbon sequestration and impacts of climate change

    Lead California State University [CSU]
    Description This project aims to improve understanding of atmospheric and hydrologic carbon fluxes in a restored tidal salt marsh in the South San Francisco Bay. I will use soil chambers to measure how much carbon dioxide and methane is taken in and emitted from the marsh. The project will also examine how spatial variability in marsh surface cover impact these exchanges. Shahan will use the data collected in this study to create a biogeochemical model that estimates the carbon budgets of wetlands in the Bay-Delta. A complete carbon budget will illuminate relationships between carbon fluxes and environmental variables. This information can support more informed management of wetlands, as well as allow researchers and decision makers to more effectively plan wetland restoration to be effective in managing carbon fluxes in the face of possible impacts due to climate change.
    Science topics Wetlands
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Environmental geochemistry and tidal wetland support of pelagic food webs

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This project aims to characterize and quantify where detrital material (decaying plant matter) originates within wetlands, the composition of that material, and how export of detrital particles occurs. This project will combine powerful characterization tools and techniques that scale from molecules to ecosystems to assess spatial and temporal trends in particle sources, species and composition. Because restoration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will fundamentally alter particle distribution and food availability for aquatic organisms, this study will inform habitat restoration efforts and the revival of native fish populations. The tools developed and adapted for this project may inform management response during extreme conditions and climate events by helping to identify areas that may act as refugia for species.
    Science topics Wetlands
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    The effect of temperature on predation of juvenile salmonids

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description This study will investigate fish swim performance in response to temperature, using salmon and two of its known predators: largemouth bass and Sacramento pikeminnow. The researcher will assess swim performance metrics and predation risk inside and outside the ideal thermal range of each species to determine if a temperature advantage predicts salmon survival in predation scenarios. This project’s results will provide a mechanistic understanding of how temperature stress may influence mortality risk of juvenile Chinook salmon through predation, which will offer a more holistic perspective on the management of this species
    Science topics Temperature
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Pesticide risk analyses and management actions, chemical fate and transport

    Lead University of California - Santa Barbara [UCSB]
    Description This project work will model the risk of pesticide pollution in 225 sub-catchments of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta. The model will account for water management practices, land use, pesticide use rates, and cumulative pesticide stress. Additionally, this work will produce a web-based tool to simulate current and future risks based on the ranking of primary sources of pesticide contribution. This work will provide a framework to predict risk from chemical stressors. Specific objectives are: (1) enhanced pro-active chemical risk assessment, (2) creation of a tool which enables science-based chemical use decisions, (3) improved risk screening for vulnerable areas, and (4) identification of adverse effects of current and future chemical use strategies.
    Science topics Herbicides
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Nitrogen cycling and ecosystem metabolism before and after regulatory action

    Lead Stanford University
    Description This project focuses on nitrogen and carbon cycling within the Bay-Delta, both before and after planned 2021 upgrades to the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (SRWTP). We will measure in situ benthic nitrate (NO3- ) and oxygen (O2) fluxes using a new non-invasive technique, which provides high frequency continuous data over a much larger sediment surface area than traditional methods. The SRTWP currently represents one of the largest point sources of nitrogen to the Bay-Delta, with the upgrades projected to cut nitrogen outputs from the plant by ~65%. This project will help assess the efficacy of this major management action and our results will add to biogeochemical models for the Bay-Delta.
    Science topics Nitrogen / ammonia
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Understanding the Scale and Mechanisms of Connectivity between Splittail Populations and the Implications for Management

    Lead U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
    Description Our proposal seeks to add four elements, telemetry, genetics, physiology, and modeling, to an existing research effort on splittail. The study addresses the hypothesis that there is no difference in population dynamics between the two distinct splittail populations. To address this hypothesis we are conducting a collaborative, interdisciplinary study that includes an intensive field effort combined with state-of-the-art laboratory tools that can determine the natal origins, historical habitat use, feeding, and general health of adult splittail. With this proposal we seek to leverage additional funds that were not previously available to add the four new elements. The telemetry component will take advantage of the expansive existing array of receivers deployed in the estuary to evaluate the movements and migration of splittail. The genetic component will provide a precise means to assign individuals to their respective population, determine sex ratios, and to estimate the effective size of the populations. The physiology component will determine if the newly discovered Petaluma/Napa population of splittail exhibits different requirements and tolerances than the Central Valley population. The modeling component will apply the cumulative information gained by the overall study to evaluate the sensitivity of splittail persistence to demographic variability in population dynamics. This work will directly address the Priority Research Topics presented in the PSP.
    Science topics Sacramento Splittail
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Survivial and Migratory Pattern of Central Valley Juvenile Salmonids

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description The purpose of this project is to determine the survival and movement patterns of late-fall Chinook salmon smolts and steelhead smolts as they migrate downstream. This information is important to better understand how salmon move through the system.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Understanding the Effects Of Nutrient Forms, Nutrient Ratios and Light Availability on the Lower Food Web of the Delta

    Lead University of Maryland - Center for Environmental Science
    Description This proposed study addresses how changes in nutrient form, ratio and loading (water quality) affect the lower pelagic food web that ultimately determines the quality and quantity of food for Delta fishes. Shifts in algal composition and food availability have been implicated in fish decline, but identifying the changes at the base of the food web that are linked to changes in nutrients has been difficult because of the complexity of factors contributing to stress on the food web. Nutrients may shape community composition in complex ways;they do not have to be limiting to be important drivers of plankton communities. Elevated nutrients, particularly chemically reduced forms of nitrogen (N), may be inhibitory rather than stimulatory. We hypothesize that when NO3- is proportionately abundant relative to NH4+ (and the N:P ratio is suitable), diatoms will dominate, but when NH4+ is proportionately abundant, cyanobacteria or flagellates will dominate. Reduced light availability will lead to communities with higher bacterial abundance, and/or higher proportions of flagellates able to alter their nutrition towards mixotrophy. This proposal will directly test these relationships by conducting experimental manipulations with different ambient communities from different sites and seasons. Data will be interpreted with respect to the long-term trends reported for the Bay Delta and supplied as an integrated product for management efforts concerned with water quality and fisheries.
    Science topics Nutrients, Food webs
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    A Multi-Stock Population Dynamics Framework for the Recovery of Sacramento River Chinook Salmon

    Lead University of Washington [UW]
    Description The purpose of this project is to construct a multi-stock salmon population model and management strategy evaluation (MSE) tool that addresses the cross-linkages between water use and fishery ecosystem response. Recent federal court judgment concluded that insufficient evidence was provided for prescribing specific flow restrictions in two recent conservation measures. The inability to provide adequate evidence was a byproduct of not having the correct quantitative tools at hand. We propose to build these tools by furthering technological developments of previous analyses of Central Valley Chinook population dynamics. Specifically, our work will integrate multiple salmon populations together into a single model that can reconstruct historical population dynamics such that environmental conditions and water resource use can be used as predictors of biological responses of multiple populations. Our goal is to integrate populations into a single model so that the effect of water management and fishery management policies can be examined in light of all fish populations simultaneously. This pertains to the biological interactions between the populations as well as the way in which fisheries impact individual populations depending on growth and maturation rate of each population. All analysis will be framed in the context of historical and proposed water use patterns.
    Science topics Flows
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Linking Trophic Ecology with Slough and Wetland Hydrodynamics, Food Web Production and Fish Abundance in Suisun Marsh

    Lead University of California - Davis [UC Davis]
    Description Suisun Marsh remains one of the most productive regions of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE), fueling interest in the Marsh as a model for restoring estuarine function to the region in the future. The UC Davis Suisun Marsh Fish Survey has 30 years of data on physical structure, water quality, benthic and pelagic invertebrates and fish. We will use these and other data to explore patterns of fish abundance in relation to zooplankton, slough geomorphology, and regional hydrodynamics. Our goal is to understand and predict the kinds of physical variability and structure that create attractive habitat for fish, in order to 1) serve as a template for wetland and subtidal habitat restoration in the Estuary and 2) anticipate the effects of sea level rise, levee failure and salinity increases that are expected to have a large impact on the Marsh in the near future. A comprehensive literature and data search will pull together known information for synthesis. Cluster analysis will identify slough complexes into types of functional habitat. Predictive maximum likelihood, hierarchical and multivariate autoregressive models will be used to predict how foodwebs and fish respond to environmental factors. Finally, coupled hydrodynamic-life history models for zooplankton will demonstrate how production is regulated by slough morphology. Results will be integrated as a white paper on the history, current functioning, and future of the Marsh.
    Science topics Levees, Climate change
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    The Role of Microcystis Blooms in the Delta Foodweb: A Functional Approach

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description We propose a collaborative investigation of blooms of the toxic, cyanobacteria Microcystis in the San Francisco Estuary Delta including how blooms develop, identification of toxic species and strains, controls on toxin production, and foodweb effects. The research will address Delta Science Program Priority Research Topic 2 and Research Topic 5 in the CALFED-funded analysis of ammonium issues in the Estuary. The appearance of Microcystis in the Delta was coincident with the POD, suggesting a link. The spatial and temporal scales of Microcystis blooms was identified with their environmental covariates but a mechanistic analysis of the conditions that distinguish bloom periods and locations, which are critical for ecosystem modeling and management, are still lacking. Our objectives are to determine: 1- the biotic and abiotic factors controlling Microcystis bloom formation and toxin production;2- how Microcystis strains and microbial associations influence toxicity;3- the role of Microcystis in the Delta pelagic food web and its effect on the POD through zooplankton grazing. Our 3-year work plan comprises 2 years of laboratory and field work (contrasting bloom and non bloom locations). Experiments will be conducted to determine mechanisms driving observed in situ patterns. We will synthesize the results and clarify the environmental-bloom-food web effects in a useable format for management efforts aimed towards water supply, fisheries and recreational use of the Delta.
    Science topics Harmful algal blooms HAB
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Phytoplankton Communities in the San Francisco Estuary: Monitoring and Management using a Submersible Spectrofluorometer

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description The purpose of this project is to evaluate a new submersible spectrofluorometer, the bbe FluoroProbe, for phytoplankton monitoring and management in the SFE. Secondly, this project seeks to investigate high-frequency patterns in spatial phytoplankton group distributions among Delta habitats and along gradients from the western Delta and northern San Francisco Bay.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Modeling the Delta Smelt Population of the San Francisco Estuary

    Lead San Francisco State University [SFSU]
    Description The purpose of this project is to develop an individual-based particle-tracking model examining population behavior of Delta smelt under different scenarios.
    Science topics Delta Smelt
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Fish Diet and Condition

    Lead California Department of Fish and Wildlife [CDFW]
    Description Description The Diet and Condition study has provided information on the food habits of pelagic fishes in the estuary since 2005. We focus on the temporal and spatial differences in diet composition and feeding success of Delta Smelt, Striped Bass, Threadfin Shad, Longfin Smelt, Mississippi Silversides, and American Shad. Need Data from this project has been used to inform the Fall Low Salinity Habitat Program (FLaSH), Directed Outflow Project (DOP), and Management, Analysis and Synthesis Team reports, as well as life history models used for the conservation of fish and their habitats. Understanding what prey are utilized for food in the context of available prey, with the associated body-condition of fish, helps clarify the existence and timing of food limitation for young pelagic fish in the estuary. This work began as part of the Pelagic Organism Decline investigations and continued as a contributor to FLaSH investigations during which we in collaborated with the Fish Health Monitoring Project. Recently staff completed Longfin Smelt diet investigations as part element #296 (Longfin Smelt Investigations – in response to a litigation agreement) that will also contribute to the Longfin Smelt Conceptual Model and Synthesis effort (element #320). Finally, we will process Delta Smelt diets from investigations prompted by the Delta Smelt Resilience Strategy, and as part of the DOP. Objectives 1. What are the diets of pelagic fishes (especially Delta Smelt and Longfin Smelt) in the estuary and do they vary regionally or temporally? 2. Is there evidence of reduced feeding success spatially or temporally in the estuary? 3. Is feeding success associated with changes in relative weight or condition of fish? 4. Is there seasonal and regional overlap of diets between species (with a focus on age-0 Delta Smelt, Longfin Smelt, Striped Bass, Prickly Sculpin, Pacific Herring, and Threadfin Shad)?
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Aquatic Habitat Sampling Platform: Standardized Fish Community Sampling Across Habitat Types

    Lead U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
    Description Description The Aquatic Habitat Sampling Platform (AHSP) is an integrated aquatic species and habitat sampling system that can effectively monitor aquatic organisms and reveal habitat associations while having minimal or no “take” of sensitive species. Further development and deployment of the AHSP will expand data collection to shallow and off-channel habitat, while offering the capability to transition to deeper and open water habitats, providing reliable sampling efficiency estimates (e.g., probability fish detection) and “catch” per unit effort (i.e., number of individual species per volume of water sampled) and improving our knowledge about populations, habitat associations and major stressors of key organisms within the San Francisco Estuary (Estuary). Need Within the Estuary, numerous monitoring techniques are used. However, monitoring weaknesses for determining fish status and trends include: 1) restricted locations available for some techniques;2) limited ability to simultaneously assess zooplankton and fish larvae;and 3) difficulty in estimating fish population size due to lack of gear efficiency information (Honey et al. 2004). Furthermore, past attempts at integrated abundance indices from more than one sampling method have had limited success. Although there continues to be considerable collaborative monitoring and research devoted to understanding Central Valley fish species, coordination among activities has been difficult. Other issues include permitting take of listed species and time-consuming monitoring with extended periods of down time due to sample post-processing of fish and invertebrate species. Identification of key microhabitats for each lifestage and attributes and linking associated physical parameters such as habitat features (e.g., depth, structure, channel type) and water quality is needed. Objectives • Test AHSP operation within the Estuary while providing information highly relevant to pressing Delta management issues (IEP 2016); • Provide detailed information on distribution and approximate abundance of adult Delta Smelt within identified habitat types (Biological Opinion on the Long-Term Operational Criteria and Plan for coordination of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project;https://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/documents/SWPCVP_OPs_BO_12-15_final_OCR.pdf);and • Assess habitat associations and diurnal behavior of Delta Smelt and other fishes (Durand 2015).
    Science topics Delta Smelt
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Central Valley Salmonid Coordinated Genetic Monitoring [Year 4]

    Lead U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
    Description Description This work will include tasks to rapidly identify winter-run Chinook juvenile salmon at the CVP/SWP salvage facilities, process juvenile salmonid tissues from various CVPIA and IEP fish monitoring stations, and support coordination of genetic monitoring across the CVP and SJRRP programs. PIs: Josh Israel (USBR);Scott Blankenship (Cramer Fish Science);Ken Bannister (USFWS);John Carlos Garza (NOAA-Fisheries);Brett Harvey (DWR);Noble Hendrix (QEDA);Rachel Johnson (NOAA-Fisheries);Mariah Meek (UC Davis);Kevin Reece (DWR) Need This study is needed due to the limited accuracy of Lenght at Date stock identification. Inaccurate identification of Chinook salmon is problematic because it compromises the management value of data collected from standard monitoring programs. This project will improve the science and management value of the Central Valley salmon monitoring network, supported through IEP and Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) monitoring stations, by accurately determining stock identification of multiple Chinook salmon stocks across their distribution. Classification tables will be developed to characterize monthly and seasonal accuracy between length-at-date and genetic race assignment at IEP and BiOp monitoring locations. This multi-year dataset will be used to evaluate the likelihood of accurate assignment and potential biophysical explanatory variables influencing genetic accuracy. Objectives Improve accuracy of CVPIA and IEP monitoring programs by providing genetic stock identification information for tissues collected from Red Bluff, Knights Landing, DJFMP, salvage facilities and San Joaquin River fish monitoring stations. Samples will be collected from all four runs of Chinook salmon based on length-at-date (i.e., samples will be collected from Chinook of various sizes throughout the sampling period).
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Enhanced Acoustic Tagging, Analysis, and Real-Time Monitoring

    Lead National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]
    Description Description This project tracks the movement and survival of wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook salmon with a large acoustic receiver network (JSATS), including real-time receivers, and the development of real-time metrics and retrospective modeling of juvenile salmon migration data. Need There is a well-documented need for improved detection and associated modeling of salmon migration and survival in the Central Valley. Understanding salmon survival and movement dynamics in the Delta and its tributaries is critical to the operation of state and federal water projects, recovery of ESA-listed species, and sport and commercial fisheries management. Objectives • Maintain 20 real-time JSATS receivers: will provide information on migrating salmon smolt location and timing of Delta entry and exist, which is key for informing time-sensitive decisions • Deployment of autonomous JSATS receiver array: this will provide fine-scale reach-specific survival and movement rates • Development of new metrics for the real-time data: this will inform key management relevant questions, such how many fish are entrained at critical junctions • Development of real-time website to convey movement and survival rates of acoustic tagged juvenile salmonids at various real-time locations in the Sacramento River and Delta.
    Science topics Salmon migration
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Physiological and Behavioral Effects of Domestication on Delta Smelt

    Lead California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
    Description Description Due to the continued population decline of Delta Smelt and the threat of extinction, conservation efforts may include future supplementation practices using the refuge population of Delta Smelt at the Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory (FCCL) in Byron, CA to assist in maintaining the wild population. Prior to any supplementation planning, it is first critical to determine if Delta Smelt with varying levels of domestication indices (i.e. level of hatchery ancestry) respond differently, both physiologically and behaviorally, to various habitat conditions. This project aims to provide a better understanding of the effects of domestication on captive Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) by assessing the refuge population at the FCCL. Three studies will be conducted exploring if domestication index (i.e. the level of hatchery ancestry) affects the physiological and behavioral performance of Delta Smelt in response to physical handling and climate change stressors. Need Physiological and behavioral changes of hatchery fish due to domestication could lead to unintended detrimental effects in the wild;therefore, research characterizing the alterations of hatchery Delta Smelt across levels of domestication indices are warranted to understand the effects of captivity and how they might shape future supplementation and conservation strategies. For example, identification of differences among groups of Delta Smelt with varied domestication index may create the need for domestication management and the implementation of altered hatchery practices. This project will provide relevant and timely information for conservation managers and adaptive restoration strategies and dovetail with the recommendations from the 2017 Delta Smelt Supplementation Workshop. As such, this study is included in the supplementation studies work plan which came out of that workshop. Specifically, this project fits within two topics in the IEP Science Strategy: Effects of Climate Change and Extreme Events and Restoring Native Species and Communities. Objectives 1. To characterize domestication effects on hatchery Delta Smelt by synthesizing existing/historical datasets on growth and reproduction of fish at the FCCL since the start of the hatchery program. 2. To identify the impacts of domestication index on the physiological stress response of Delta Smelt following handling stress. 3. To determine the effects of domestication index on individual and group swimming behavior, responses to predation, and responses within the context of climate change factors including warming and increased salinity.
    Science topics Delta Smelt
    Updated June 13, 2024
  • Title

    Developing an eDNA metabarcoding protocol to improve fish and mussel monitoring in the San Francisco Estuary

    Lead National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]
    Description Description We propose to develop an eDNA metabarcoding protocol to complement existing IEP monitoring surveys and assess the effects of management activities such as habitat restoration or flow alteration. We will develop a reference sequence database for native and invasive fish, mussels, and other macroinvertebrates present in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). We will optimize a molecular and computational pipeline for metabarcoding and ground truth the method against three SFE monitoring efforts, each using different sampling gear. We will investigate the relationship between eDNA sequence read count and fish biomass or abundance (EDSM survey). Finally, we will determine the ability of metabarcoding to detect fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages across large and small spatial scales and over time. Need Our overarching goal is to develop a non-invasive, low cost monitoring tool that can be used in conjunction with existing IEP monitoring programs or used alone to assess biological community composition at locations of interest in the SFE. This proposal is related to the 2020 – 2024 IEP Science Strategy by creating a new monitoring tool that can assist in two main areas: 1) Restoring Bay-Delta native fishes and community interactions and 2) assessing effects of flow alteration on Bay-delta aquatic resources. Broadly, this study will inform management decisions by supporting and augmenting existing monitoring surveys in the SFE. It will also lead to a richer and more complete understanding of SFE ecology. This study is not explicitly required by law or agreement, and to our knowledge is neither a recommended action nor a result from an IEP review or synthesis effort. Objectives Objective 1: Develop robust molecular methods and a computational pipeline for detection of SFE fish and macroinvertebrates by eDNA metabarcoding of water samples. Objective 2: Compare eDNA metabarcoding head-to-head with existing and historical monitoring data from three ongoing ecological surveys using diverse conventional sampling gear and evaluate accuracy of fish abundance and biomass estimates from eDNA metabarcoding data. Objective 3: Evaluate factors that influence eDNA detection of species of interest (e.g. rare or invasive species) and suites of species (e.g. benthic fishes and invertebrates) on two spatial scales, within and between habitats, along with temporal variation.
    Science topics Fish
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Predation Dynamics Across Reach-Specific Gradients in Juvenile Salmon Survival

    Lead U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]
    Description Description The overarching goal of this project is to determine if predation by piscivorous fishes is an important explanatory driver of survival of juvenile Chinook Salmon emigrating through the north Delta. To achieve this goal, we seek to determine if variation in reach-specific characteristics of predation dynamics covary with survival of acoustictagged juvenile Chinook Salmon collected during the study period. This will be accomplished by comparing reach-specific characteristics of the piscivore community and its observed and modeled consumption of juvenile Chinook Salmon across a range of environmental conditions. Need This is not a mandated study but it addresses an important research need. Objectives • How does the piscivore community (species composition, size structure, and abundance) vary across specific migratory pathways (river reaches) in the North Delta? • To what extent do environmental conditions (e.g., water temperature, turbidity, and discharge) control the consumption of juvenile Chinook Salmon? • Do characteristics of the predator community explain variation in survival of acoustic tagged salmon collected during the study period?
    Science topics Predation
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Estimating Abundance of Juvenile Winter-run Chinook Salmon Entering and Exiting the Delta [SAIL]

    Lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]
    Description Description This is a continuation of a five year project funded by CDWR and CDFW and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act in 2017. The objective of the project is to improve estimates of population abundances for fall, winter and spring run juvenile Chinook Salmon at Sacramento and Chipps Island by improving efficiency estimates using data from releases of coded wire tags (CWT), acoustic tags (AT), and by genetically sampling the trawl catch in 2018. The project will (1) develop statistical models for estimating trawl efficiencies using 2016-2018 data for paired AT-CWT releases of winter run and fall-run Chinook Salmon;(2) use 2018 genetic sampling of trawl catch in combination with efficiency estimates to estimate population abundances of fall, spring and winter run at Sacramento and Chipps Island in 2018;(3) implement trawl efficiency studies for multiple salmon runs in 2018 informed by the 2016 and 2017 results and in coordination with hatcheries for inclusion of AT fish with existing CWT releases;and (4) combine trawl efficiencies with genetic samples of trawl catch to provide estimates of fall, spring and winter-run salmon abundance (with estimated precision) entering and exiting the Delta in 2018. Need There is growing appreciation that a salmon monitoring network that could quantitative estimates of abundance is desirable to improve our knowledge and resolution of life stage success and movement across the landscape (Salmon SAIL conceptual models 2016). Objectives (1) Estimate the population-level status and trends for winter run;and status of spring and fall run;(2) evaluate production estimates for juvenile winter-run Chinook Salmon entering the Delta used in water project take development;(3) provide estimates of winter and fall run-specific freshwater cohort strength to support ocean harvest management decisions;(4) establish a time series of winter, spring and fall run-specific production estimates at key locations for incorporation into life cycle models.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Delta Region Areawide Aquatic Weed Project [DRAAWP]

    Lead California Department of Parks and Recreation [PARKS]
    Description The Delta Region Areawide Aquatic Weed Program has been focusing science and the application of science onto the management of invasive aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth, Brazilian egeria, and water primrose in the Delta.
    Science topics Above-highwater refugia, Backwater, Delta islands, Floating aquatic vegetation, Giant reed, Habitat, Intertidal / transition zones, Main channels, Sloughs, Submerged aquatic vegetation
    Updated November 29, 2022
  • Title

    Food Temperature Optimization Model for CVP

    Lead U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
    Description This study aims to improve understanding of how nutrient and zooplankton exports from CVP reservoirs impact downstream food web productivity.
    Science topics None specified
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • Title

    Directed Outflow Project [DOP] - Paired Habitat Sampling

    Lead U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
    Description Special study supporting water quality, food web, and biological measures regarding seasonal outflow and Delta Smelt.
    Science topics Flows, Water management
    Updated April 29, 2022
  • 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

    Identification of environmental conditions driving cyanobacterial multi-species blooms and their toxicity using genome resolved metagenomics

    Lead University of California - Berkeley [UC Berkeley]
    Description In recent years the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has seen an increase in toxigenic cyanobacterial diversity and abundance during harmful cyanobacterial bloom events (cyanoHABs). This increased cyanobacterial diversity parallels an increase in the number of detected toxins during cyanoHABs outside of the typical microcystins that have been previously identified. Currently there are critical knowledge gaps around the full toxigenic potential of rising diversity of cyanobacterial species, and how the total microbial community of cyanoHABs interacts within itself and with external abiotic factors in ways that may promote the expansion of new and diverse cyanoHABs. The goal of this study is to use genome-resolved metagenomics to study the genetic diversity and metabolic and toxigenic potential of cyanoHABs to i) identify cyanobacterial taxa composition and their potential for toxins biosynthesis ii) characterize species succession dynamics and metabolic processes of the full microbial community during cyanobacterial bloom phases, iii) correlate environmental factors and toxin titers with biological components of diverse bloom phases to explain the development of cyanobacterial multi-species dominated bloom.
    Science topics Cyanobacteria, Harmful algal blooms HAB
    Updated May 8, 2024
  • Title

    Fish out of breath: Assessing, developing, and validating physiological bioindicators of hypoxia across the Delta

    Lead University of California - San Diego [UCSD]
    Description This proposal seeks to generate two management tools to optimize ongoing conservation efforts (e.g. wetland restoration, fish supplementation) by accomplishing the following 4 objectives: Objective 1) use controlled laboratory experiments to identify temperature-dependent hypoxia tolerance data (Pcrit) for ChinookSalmon smolts and juvenile Delta Smelt. Objective 2) compile existing temperature and DO monitoring data across the SFE. Objective 3) generate metabolic indices using the newly-generated physiological data (Obj. 1) and existing environmentalinformation (Obj. 2) to examine spatial and temporal patterns in metabolic stress for each species. Objective 4) explore and develop an otolith-based bioindicator to identify past hypoxia exposure.
    Science topics Chinook Salmon, Delta Smelt, Dissolved oxygen, Temperature
    Updated May 8, 2024
  • Title

    Using high frequency flux measurements to constrain dissolved inorganic carbon in a tidal wetland carbon budget

    Lead California State University - East Bay
    Description The main purpose of this project is to determine how much carbon (C) is annually sequestered and exported laterally in a tidal wetland environment through the calculation of a net ecosystem C budget. C hydrologic export, mainly in the form of dissolved inorganic C (DIC), is poorly constrained and can pose a significant component of a wetland C budget that is often overlooked. This project intends to reduce that uncertainty by providing a better understanding of the biogeochemical drivers of C cycling and give further insight into wetland management decision-making.
    Science topics Carbon, Restoration, Tidal wetlands
    Updated November 30, 2022
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