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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	Local Maintaining Agency Annual Reporting
Lead	California Department of Water Resource [DWR]
Description	Additions to the Water Code include requirements for local levee maintaining agencies (Local Agencies) to submit to DWR, by September 30 each year, specific information relative to the Project Levees they operate and maintain. Local Agencies who maintain either (1) Project Levees or (2) Non-Project Levees that also benefit land within the boundaries of an area benefited by a Project Levee, are required to submit five categories of information annually. A Local Agency responsible for operation and maintenance of a levee not otherwise subject to these requirements may voluntarily prepare and submit to DWR or the CVFPB a flood management report for website posting The Flood Project Integrity and Inspection Branch (FPIIB) produces annual inspection reports using summarized levee data acquired through the Local Maintaining Agency Reporting Program.
Science topics	Levees, Stage, Tides, Flood
Updated	April 29, 2022

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

Title	Levee Waterside Erosion Surveys
Lead	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE]
Description	The USACE, with DWR sponsorship, has contracted for waterside erosion surveys of the Sacramento River system since 1998. As stated earlier, FPIIB began conducting waterside erosion surveys of the San Joaquin River portion of the State-Federal flood protection system Project levees in September of 2006. The primary purpose of these surveys is to: a) inspect the waterside levees for erosion activity, b) document and report new erosion sites, c) document and report the current condition of previously identified erosion sites, and d) rank and rate the severity of erosion sites based upon the findings from the field survey. The USACE and its contractors generate the report on erosion found in the Sacramento River system;FPIIB staff supplements their inspection reports with the USACE data as it becomes available.
Science topics	Water conveyance / infrastructure, Levees, Stage, Tides, Flood
Updated	April 29, 2022

Title	Groundwater Monitoring
Lead	U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [USBR]
Description	The SJRRP has installed 211 groundwater monitoring wells with 48 locations measuring groundwater temperature. Most monitoring wells are manually measured weekly and results from fourteen key monitoring wells are available online. Groundwater levels in many of these wells will be measured electronically at a high frequency (hourly) and manual measurements will be made periodically to assure the quality of data recorded by the instruments. Generally weekly/monthly manual groundwater level measurements will be made, with more frequent weekly measurements made in priority wells. Several key wells will be telemetered, transmitted real-time to a central database, and posted on CDEC, with links from the SJRRP website (restoresjr.net).
Science topics	Water storage, Water conveyance / infrastructure, Levees, Groundwater, Water temperature, Conductivity, Water use / demand
Updated	April 29, 2022

Title	Nutria Eradication Program
Lead	California Department of Fish and Wildlife [CDFW]
Description	CDFW implemented the Nutria Eradication Incident Command System in 2018 to detect, assess, control and eradicate invasive nutria in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. The program includes rights of entry, camera traps, trapping and removal of 823 (to date) nutria.
Science topics	Levees, Sloughs, Backwater, Managed ponds, Nutria, Environmental drivers, Socio-economic drivers
Updated	April 29, 2022

Title	Landsat Science Program
Lead	Goddard Space Flight Center
Description	Multispectral earth imaging satellite acquires data for earth observation. Numerous applications and extensive history of success with environmental and land use programs.
Science topics	Levees, Dredging, Forest harvesting, Agriculture, Urban development, Roads and bridges, Rail lines, Docks and ports, Surface water / flow, Groundwater, Stage, Direction, Tides, Residence time, Waves, Flood, Drought, Wildfire, Harmful algal blooms HAB, Phytoplankton, Suspended sediment, Turbidity, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Main channels, Sloughs, Backwater, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Floating aquatic vegetation, Seasonally flooded, Open water, Managed ponds, Riparian wildlife, Forests, Non-forested vegetation, Delta islands, Pacific flyway, Saltwater / freshwater marshes, Habitat, Energy and mines, Snowpack / snow water equivalent SWE
Updated	April 29, 2022

Title	Sentinel Satellite
Lead	European Space Agency
Description	Earth observation using multispectral imagery from satellites. Especially suitable for monitoring changes in land cover.
Science topics	Levees, Dredging, Forest harvesting, Agriculture, Urban development, Recreation & tourism, Surface water / flow, Groundwater, Stage, Velocity, Direction, Tides, Residence time, Waves, Flood, Drought, Land elevation, Subsidence, Sea level rise, Seismicity, Wildfire, Air temperature, Precipitation, Wind, Extreme heat, Extreme storms, Suspended sediment, Water temperature, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Main channels, Sloughs, Backwater, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Floating aquatic vegetation, Seasonally flooded, Open water, Managed ponds, Riparian wildlife, Forests, Non-forested vegetation, Delta islands, Pacific flyway, Saltwater / freshwater marshes, Habitat, Energy and mines, Snowpack / snow water equivalent SWE, Water intakes, fish screens & passage
Updated	April 29, 2022

Title	WorldView-3
Lead	DigitalGlobe
Description	Provides commercial satellite services. Multiple satellites continuously collecting multispectral imagery throughout the globe. Available for download and processing by end users.
Science topics	Levees, Forest harvesting, Agriculture, Urban development, Recreation & tourism, Roads and bridges, Rail lines, Docks and ports, Surface water / flow, Stage, Direction, Tides, Residence time, Flood, Drought, Land elevation, Subsidence, Sea level rise, Seismicity, Wildfire, Suspended sediment, Erosion, Turbidity, Mudflats, Intertidal / transition zones, Above-highwater refugia, Main channels, Sloughs, Backwater, Submerged aquatic vegetation, Floating aquatic vegetation, Seasonally flooded, Open water, Managed ponds, Riparian wildlife, Forests, Non-forested vegetation, Delta islands, Pacific flyway, Saltwater / freshwater marshes, Energy and mines, Snowpack / snow water equivalent SWE, Vessels and shipping channels
Updated	April 29, 2022

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

Title	Perceptions of risk and management of the Delta levee system
Lead	University of California - Santa Cruz [UCSC]
Description	This study of the perceptions of flood risk and management of the levee system in a deltaic region of California illuminates the social, cultural, and psychological complexities of risk assessment. In order to better understand risk tolerance, we included stakeholders from the following groups: agriculture, engineering, boating and recreation industry, local reclamation districts, conservation organizations, water exporters, county government, and state agencies. Methods employed are qualitative and quantitative and include interviews and media analysis. For decades the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been ripe with political controversies stemming from conflicting interests for its natural resources. The results of this study reveal distinct views on the sustainability of the Delta’s levees, the resilience of local communities, and who is accountable for present conditions. The findings of this study also elucidate nuances in the conversations on the viability of mitigation and adaptation as conditions in the Delta change. We conducted this study in two parts. First, we used the Q methodology and found five distinct views that shape stakeholders’ perceptions of risk of flooding from levee failure: fatalistic, skeptical, free market, bio-centric, and human ingenuity. Second, we collected over 500 newspaper articles from 1986 to 2017 to analyze the framing of issue of flooding in the Delta. As opposed to our study with diverse stakeholders, our media analysis show that the issue of flood risk has been framed in the media mostly along the binary lines of unpreventable catastrophe and control through emergency management.
Science topics	Levees
Updated	January 23, 2024

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