Clean Water Program

A journal article published in April details the findings of a collaborative survey of contaminants in fish on the California coast conducted by the RMP, the California Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program, and the Southern California Bight Program in 2009-2010. The paper used that strong dataset as a foundation for a broad review of mercury in fish on the coast of western North America.  This work was done as part of a series of articles summarizing mercury science for western North America in a special issue of Science of the Total Environment.

Birds are valuable sentinel species in water quality monitoring in the Bay and in programs around the world, including the Great Lakes, the Canadian arctic, and the Baltic Sea. The RMP monitors a broad suite of contaminants in the eggs of Double-crested Cormorants and Forster’s Terns. Eggs are collected on a three-year cycle. The latest round of egg collections occurred this spring. Long-term declines in PBDEs, DDT, and dioxins have been observed. Concentrations of PCBs and PFOS have been highest in the Lower South Bay.

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In response to findings from a 2015 Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) Special Study on microplastic pollution in the Bay, the Program has begun to develop a strategy for further microplastic monitoring and science. A SFEI-hosted workshop on June 29th brought together key stakeholders and a panel of scientific experts, including Anna-Marie Cook (USEPA), Dr. Sherri Mason (SUNY Fredonia), and Dr. Chelsea Rochman (UC Davis). The Bay Area Clean Water Agencies and other technical experts also participated.