California Water Science Center

The San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary provides water to more than 25 million California residents, farmlands, and key fish and wildlife habitats. Continuing to meet these demands requires science that informs decision-making for long-term solutions. 

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the release of new science and planning tools to support California’s continued leadership on actions to address climate change and safeguard the state’s people, economy and resources.

With the development of the Central Valley (CVP) and State Water (SWP) projects, the natural flow of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been reengineered to provide water for California’s growing population and agricultural needs. These changes have drastically reduced natural...

The Cosumnes River watershed has seasonal, non-point source hotspots for total mercury and methylmercury production, which discharge to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in north-central California. To reduce mercury loads to the Delta, researchers created open-water deep cells at the downstream end of wetlands.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the California Water and Environmental Modeling Forum (CWEMF), presented a series of free webinars on mercury in reservoirs. Seven webinars were given from February 14 through May 2, 2018.

California's landscape is prone to drought and warmer climates. The recent drought lasted five years (2011 – early 2017), bringing with it many environmental issues including the increased prevalence, severity, and duration of wildfires. While there used to be a distinct "wildfire season" in California, the threat of wildfire is no longer restricted to a single season.

Lake Tahoe currently attracts almost 3 million visitors a year. After the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, it became a major tourist attraction, which resulted in increased development and an influx of motorized watercraft to the lake. Damage to the lake became noticeable with a reduction in lake clarity. This catalyzed a movement to use science and regional planning to reduce human...

A new U.S. Geological Survey-led study suggests that earthquake-related deformation just below the Earth's surface can be quite different from how it is expressed at the surface.

Electromagnectic surveying is helping the California Water Science Center to study geology and groundwater throught California.

USGS scientists collect samples to test for a range of water-quality constituents, especially mercury levels, in the Cache Creek Settling Basin.

May marks the annual observance of American Wetlands Month, a month dedicated to celebrating one of nature’s most productive ecosystems.