https://www.sfei.org/documents/2019-pulse-bay-pollutant-pathwaysDownload the Pulse of the Bay! This report from the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay features articles on the four major pathways by which pollutants enter the Bay: municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, stormwater, and dredging and dredged sediment disposal. Each article provides a basic introduction to the pathway and discusses the regulatory framework, recent findings, and future challenges. The report also includes some of the latest highlights from monitoring of important parameters such as nutrients, emerging contaminants, mercury, PCBs, and selenium.
The Software Engineering team has undertaken an effort to migrate an older Pascal codebase into a modern, opensource, web based platform. Visual Plumes is an open-source, server-based application for simulating jets and plumes in water columns. Such simulations are critical for the preparation of mixing zone analyses, TMDLs, and other water-quality applications.
The State of Our Estuary (formerly the State of the Estuary Report) evaluates the status and trends of a suite of indicators selected to represent ecosystem health in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (the Estuary).
Over the last decade, harmful algal blooms (HABs) have emerged as one of the highest-priority water quality management issues in the San Francisco Estuary, which includes the San Francisco Bay (Bay) and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta). Although major HAB events in the Bay have historically been rare, recent studies have determined that multiple HAB species and their toxins are frequently detected, highlighting the potential for major HAB risks.
EcoAtlas is a mapping and geographic data visualization tool that continues to evolve to meet emerging needs. The toolset now includes new data layers and summaries to support the watershed planning, tracking, and reporting needs for the state. Within EcoAtlas, the Landscape Profile Tool provides easy access to summaries and data visualizations on watershed characteristics, ecological condition, habitat connectivity, and coastal habitats for an area of interest.
If you are a community member interested in plastics and California's environment, then this page is for you. We invite you to peruse the information shared below as well as information on the primary project page. What follows is a description of the opportunities, as a community member, to engage in the development of a statewide plastics monitoring plan.
Plastics, in their various chemical composition and sizes, pose serious challenges to the vitality of California's ecosystems. Once escaped into the environment, plastic contamination persists for very long periods and breaks down into ever smaller pieces, becoming more readily available to wildlife and populations who live, work, and play in those same habitats.
