Flood Control 2.0

Flood Control 2.0 is an ambitious regional effort aimed at helping restore stream and wetland habitats, water quality, and shoreline resilience around San Francisco Bay. The project leverages local resources from several forward-looking flood control agencies to redesign major flood control channels so that they provide both future flood conveyance and ecological benefit under a changing climate. This timely project will develop a set of innovative approaches for bringing environmental benefits and cost-savings to flood protection efforts at the mouths of creeks that drain to San Francisco Bay.

A Broad Scan of Bay Contaminants: Non-targeted Analysis of Bay Wildlife

A Bay RMP study employed a cutting edge analytical technique to detect low levels of five unmonitored compounds in wildlife of San Francisco Bay. San Francisco Bay wildlife were tested for previously unmonitored contaminants using a non-targeted analysis that screens mainly for long-lived, fat-soluble, chlorine- and bromine-rich chemicals. Bay mussel and harbor seal samples contained five contaminants not previously identified in Bay wildlife, and for which toxicity is largely unknown.

A Broad Scan of Bay Contaminants: Cutting-Edge Analysis Identifies Low Levels of Five Unmonitored Compounds in Wildlife of San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay wildlife were tested for previously unmonitored contaminants using a non-targeted analysis that screens mainly for long-lived, fat-soluble, chlorine and bromine-rich chemicals. Bay mussel and harbor seal samples contained five contaminants not previously identified in Bay wildlife, and for which toxicity is largely unknown. Most of the Bay chemical contamination was from high priority contaminants that the RMP already monitors, or closely related compounds. Future non-targeted analysis could include techniques that examine water-soluble compounds.

San Francisco Bay Data on Microplastic Pollution Featured in San Jose Mercury News

Preliminary measurements of microplastic pollution in San Francisco Bay are featured in a recent San Jose Mercury News article on AB 888, a bill to ban microbeads in personal care products. San Francisco Estuary Institute is conducting a study on microplastics on behalf of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay, in partnership with San Francisco Baykeeper. Findings to date suggest Bay water has similar levels of contamination as the Great Lakes, despite substantial dilution from the Pacific Ocean.

NOAA remote sensing tools and application for evaluating CyanoHABs in California lakes

There are thousands of lakes in the State of California. A number of these lakes are experiencing “harmful algal blooms” associated with cyanobacteria, or CyanoHABs. These blooms impact drinking water supplies and recreational safety, and have caused the deaths of numerous dogs and other domestic animals, as well as wildlife. Due to the number of lakes in the State, it would be a monumental task to conduct water quality monitoring sufficient to assess threats to animal and human health and to understand status and trends.

Place Invaders

Cohen, A. N. 1993. Place Invaders. Pacific Discovery (Calif. Acad. Sci.) 46, 22-26.
Subscribe to RSS - Clean Water Program