Continuous Suspended Sediment Monitoring in South and Lower South San Francisco Bay Year One Report for 2022

Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is of critical importance to the management of San Francisco Bay (SFB), yet has not been a focus of sustained high frequency monitoring efforts in shallow shoal and slough habitats that make up a majority of the area of the South Bay (SB) and Lower South Bay (LSB). In this report, we provide a status update for year one of a three year collaboration between the San Francisco Bay Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS) and Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) with the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP) to estimate high frequency SSC throughout the SB and LSB. As a part of this effort, 15-minute turbidity data from seven locations, collected as part of the NMS Moored Sensor Program (MSP), was paired with monthly discrete SSC sampling, with the goal of creating a robust turbidity-SSC calibration. An additional turbidity-specific sensor was also deployed and paired with discrete SSC sampling on the shoal near the Eden Landing Whale’s Tail. Here we present preliminary results from turbidity-SSC calibrations at these eight sites, which together span a range of environments (deep channel, shoal, slough) representative of SFB. Following completion of this calibration, resource managers will be able to convert continuous high-frequency turbidity data to SSC at locations throughout SB and LSB, greatly aiding future sediment-focused efforts