The San Francisco Bay (Bay) drains water from 40 percent of
California. This includes flows originating from the Sierra
Nevada mountain range and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers
that make their way down through Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta
through the Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
The Bay is the largest harbor on the U.S. Pacific Coast and
covers about 400 square miles with an average depth of 14 feet.
Its deepest point is 360 feet at the Golden Gate.
Every year, more than 67 million tons of cargo pass through the
Golden Gate. The Bay also supports commercial bait shrimp,
herring and Dungeness crab fisheries.
The Bay is a vital estuary and a key link in the Pacific Flyway,
and millions of waterfowl use the shallow portions of the bay as
a refuge each year.
After decades of advocacy by environmental groups, a tiny
silver fish is finally getting federal protection in San
Francisco Bay. On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
announced that the bay’s population of longfin smelt is now on
the federal endangered species list, 12 years after the agency
first deemed the fish threatened or endangered. Once so
abundant that it was fished commercially, the fish has plunged
in numbers by over 99% since the 1980s. The roughly
4-inch fish joins five other San Francisco Bay species on the
federal endangered species list — a dubious distinction
that should offer it better protections. Longfin smelt,
which also spend time in the ocean, do not spawn as much in
years when there is not enough freshwater flowing into the bay
during winter and early spring, scientific studies have found.
… Reestablishing the population of longfin smelt
will require fewer diversions of Sierra Nevada water from
Central Valley rivers to farms and other human uses, said Jon
Rosenfield, senior scientist at the nonprofit organization San
Francisco Baykeeper.
In a case that could limit the authority of federal and state
agencies to regulate water pollution, San Francisco is arguing
to the Supreme Court that it is responsible only for the
pollutants its sewage-treatment plants discharge into the
ocean, and not for the quality of the waters themselves. The
court agreed in May to hear San Francisco’s appeal of a ruling
that said the city was failing to protect swimmers and bathers
from discharges of sewage into the Pacific Ocean. The ruling,
due by June 2025, will determine whether local governments can
be penalized for pollution near their shores, or whether — as
they contend — the law requires them only to limit contaminants
to levels set in advance, like specific discharges per million
parts of water. In its Supreme Court filing, San Francisco
compared itself to a chef telling cooks what ingredients to
include in a pot of soup, rather than vaguely instructing them
not to make the soup “too salty.”
Saying it needs to evaluate all options for new sources of
drinking water, Silicon Valley’s largest water district is
studying a plan to build the first seawater desalination plant
along the shores of San Francisco Bay. The Santa Clara Valley
Water District, a government agency based in San Jose, has
approved spending $1.7 million for Black & Veatch, a Walnut
Creek firm, to conduct an engineering feasibility study over
the next 12 months for a project near the bay’s shoreline in
Palo Alto, Mountain View or San Jose. Under the
proposal, which is still in the early stages, the plant would
take between 20 million to 80 million gallons of water a day
from the bay, run it through filters to strip the salt out and
serve from 10 million to 40 million gallons a day of freshwater
to South Bay homes and businesses. That would provide about
11,000 to 44,000 acre-feet of water per year, enough for
between 100,000 and 500,000 households.
The Bay’s white sturgeon—huge, slow-to-reproduce “living
fossils” that have hardly changed over their approximately 200
million years on Earth—are now facing such peril that the state
of California has closed fishing for them under emergency
regulations while it considers listing them as a threatened
species. White sturgeon lurk in the murky bottom of San
Francisco Bay and the Delta, stealthily making their way
upriver to spawn and slurping up clams. Of San Francisco Bay’s
two sturgeon species, white sturgeon are the homebodies (in
contrast to anadromous green sturgeon, which spend much of
their lives at sea). But adult white sturgeon numbers have been
in decline for two decades, says UC Davis fish biologist Andrea
Schreier. “Changes to the Bay-Delta system and changes to
our climate are happening too quickly for them,” Schreier says.
Another fish native to the San Francisco Bay estuary may be
joining the queue filing toward extinction. That’s the fear of
a coalition of environmental groups that have petitioned the
California Fish and Game Commission to list the white sturgeon,
one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world, as a
threatened species under California’s Endangered Species Act.
At its June 19th meeting in Mammoth Lakes, the commission
responded to the petition by calling for a full status review
of the species, which could lead to a formal listing. The
decision gives the white sturgeon full protected status while
the review is underway. This will mean a pause on recreational
sturgeon fishing—popular in the Bay and Delta—and more careful
operation of water pumping stations in the south Delta. Water
supply proponents have publicly opposed the review and feel the
impacts it will have on water supply operations are unfair when
the species is merely a candidate for listing.
Head down towards the waterways of Discovery Bay in East Contra
Costa County, and you’ll be greeted with a somewhat unpleasant
site. “People who come in, the first thing they’ll do is come
into the bay and see this green goo,” says Tony George. The
California State Water Resources Control Board has issued a
warning to stay out of the water after the discovery of algae
blooms. George is the vice president of the town’s chamber of
commerce. He says while the algae bloom has happened every
summer for the past few years, the recent heat waves have made
it occur earlier than normal. “This year, especially with the
temperatures we’ve had out here up to 112, 113 degrees, it’s
been worse than it has been in a while,” George said. An issue,
George believes, impacts the town not just environmentally but
also economically.
… Today, Carquinez Strait is where the coast meets the
valley, but the line of engagement between fresh and salt water
is always moving, and it even varies vertically in the water
column. Bigger freshwater outflows push the salt line westward;
humans regulate these flows from January to June. X2, as
scientists call the salt line’s daily (and vertical) average,
is defined as a distance from the Golden Gate Bridge. Its
location is a subject of intense political interest, because it
is influenced by the amount of water we Californians use.
That’s been true ever since we started damming the rivers and
plowing the Delta.
Bay Area cities and counties will soon have to make major
upgrades to their aging wastewater facilities to comply with
new regulations that aim to protect the San Francisco Bay from
harmful algal blooms. The upgrades are estimated to cost $11
billion across the region — an average increase for
ratepayers of $200 per year per household. The new
regulations are expected to be finalized at Wednesday’s meeting
of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.
… The need for the upgrades became clear, regulators say,
after major algal blooms in the bay over the past two summers
turned the water rust red and killed tens of thousands of fish.
Nutrients found in wastewater — especially nitrogen which
comes from human urine and other types of waste — are
major contributors to algal blooms. And algal blooms are more
likely to happen as water temperatures and other conditions
change in the bay with global warming.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended
Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the
Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring
the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat
anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from
early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from
April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council
will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in
May.
Blasted by sun and beaten by waves,
plastic bottles and bags shed fibers and tiny flecks of
microplastic debris that litter the San Francisco Bay where they
can choke the marine life that inadvertently consumes it.
Estuaries are places where fresh and
salt water mix, usually at the point where a river enters the
ocean. They are the meeting point between riverine environments
and the sea, with a combination of tides, waves, salinity, fresh
water flow and sediment. The constant churning means there are
elevated levels of nutrients, making estuaries highly productive
natural habitats.
Understanding the importance of the Bay-Delta ecosystem and
working to restore it means grasping the scope of what it once
was.
That’s the takeaway message of a report released Nov. 14 by the
San Francisco Estuary Institute.
The report, “A
Delta Renewed,” is the latest in a series sponsored by the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). Written by
several authors, the report says there is “cause for hope” to
achieving large-scale Delta restoration in a way that supports
people, farms and the environment. SFEI calls itself “one of
California’s premier aquatic and ecosystem science institutes.”
Zooplankton, which are floating
aquatic microorganisms too small and weak to swim against
currents, are are important food sources for many fish species in
the Delta such as salmon, sturgeon and Delta smelt.
This 3-day, 2-night tour, which we do every year,
takes participants to the heart of California water policy – the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
The Pacific Flyway is one of four
major North American migration routes for birds, especially
waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through
California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow
ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual
north-south migration. Along the way, they need stopover sites
such as wetlands with suitable habitat and food supplies. In
California, 90 percent of historic wetlands have been lost.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
15-minute DVD that graphically portrays the potential disaster
should a major earthquake hit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“Delta Warning” depicts what would happen in the event of an
earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale: 30 levee breaks,
16 flooded islands and a 300 billion gallon intrusion of salt
water from the Bay – the “big gulp” – which would shut down the
State Water Project and Central Valley Project pumping plants.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive plants can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native plants and animals. “Space
Invaders” features photos and information on six non-native
plants that have caused widespread problems in the Bay-Delta
Estuary and elsewhere.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
Invasive species, also known as
exotics, are plants, animals, insects and aquatic species
introduced into non-native habitats.
Often, invasive species travel to non-native areas by ship,
either in ballast water released into harbors or attached to the
sides of boats. From there, introduced species can then spread
and significantly alter ecosystems and the natural food chain as
they go. Another example of non-native species introduction is
the dumping of aquarium fish into waterways.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
This printed issue of Western Water provides an overview of the
idea of a dual conveyance facility, including questions
surrounding its cost, operation and governance
This printed copy of Western Water examines the Delta through the
many ongoing activities focusing on it, most notably the Delta
Vision process. Many hours of testimony, research, legal
proceedings, public hearings and discussion have occurred and
will continue as the state seeks the ultimate solution to the
problems tied to the Delta.