Reconnaissance monitoring for water years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 was completed with funding provided by the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP). This report is designed to be updated each year until completion of the study. At least one additional water year (2020) is underway. An earlier draft of this report was prepared for the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) in support of materials submitted on or before March 31st 2020 in compliance with the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP) Order No. R2-2015-0049.
The 2019 RMP Annual Meeting was held on October 10 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, CA. The theme of the meeting was “Pollutant Pathways to the Bay.” The meeting featured sessions on the four main pathways: municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, stormwater, and dredging and disposal of dredged sediment.
In 2019 the Bay RMP hosted its second Data Exploration Challenge, a contest encouraging high school and university students to explore data available in SFEI's publicly available database, CD3. This was the second iteration of the contest, initially started in fall 2018.
Participants were asked to imagine themselves as a public health official in the Bay Area that is launching a public outreach effort to tell people where and which fish caught from San Francisco Bay are less safe to eat, and identify possible ways to reduce fish contamination in the future.
Sediment bulk density is the total mass of mineral and organic sediment within a defined volume. It is a key variable in many research questions pertaining to Bay sediment studies but one that is often poorly quantified and can be misinterpreted. The motivation for this report comes from a recommendation by Schoellhamer et al. (2018) to compile more accurate estimates of bulk density of Bay sediments to convert between volume and mass with a higher level of certainty.
Sediment bulk density is the total mass of mineral and organic sediment within a defined volume. It is a key variable in many research questions pertaining to Bay sediment studies but one that is often poorly quantified and can be misinterpreted. The motivation for this report comes from a recommendation by Schoellhamer et al. (2018) to compile more accurate estimates of bulk density of Bay sediments to convert between volume and mass with a higher level of certainty. Through funding and guidance from the Bay Regional Monitoring Program Sediment Work Group, this report is a first step towards compiling the available data on sediment bulk densities across Bay habitats and along salinity gradients to provide better information for resource managers and others working on sediment-related issues. This report discusses the need to know the bulk density of Bay soils to convert between sediment mass and soil volume; clarifies general definitions and common points of confusion related to sediment bulk density; compiles primary sources of bulk density measurements, secondary sources of bulk density estimates, and standard engineering estimates of bulk density for different habitats in San Francisco Bay; and, provides a database where practitioners can track, analyze, and share bulk density measurements.
In the summer of 2017, open Bay water samples were collected during the RMP Status and Trends Water Cruise. Samples were analyzed for 19 neonicotinoids and metabolites. The only neonicotinoid detected was imidacloprid, an active ingredient used in both urban and agricultural applications. Imidacloprid was detected at a single site above the method detection limits (2.2-2.6 ng/L) in Lower South Bay at a level of 4.2 ng/L. This value is within the range of concentrations found in a separate RMP study in water samples collected from the South and Lower South Bay margins in 2017. Imidacloprid was detected at 3 of 12 of the margin sites at levels between 3.9 and 11 ng/L; no other neonicotinoids were detected. Of note, these RMP studies appear to represent the first evaluation of ambient neonicotinoid concentrations in an estuarine environment in the nation.
This study used non-targeted analysis, a powerful tool that provides a broad, open-ended view of thousands of synthetic and naturally-derived chemicals simultaneously. We identified hundreds of contaminants, and the results have opened our eyes to urban stormwater runoff as an important pathway for emerging contaminants to enter the Bay.
In 2016, the RMP launched a novel investigation to detect new or unexpected contaminants in Bay waters, as well as treated sewage (or wastewater) discharged to the Bay. This study used non-targeted analysis, a powerful tool that provides a broad, open-ended view of thousands of synthetic and naturally-derived chemicals simultaneously. We identified hundreds of contaminants, and the results have opened our eyes to urban stormwater runoff as an important pathway for emerging contaminants to enter the Bay.
