Surface Water Quality
Surface Water Quality
California's rivers and streams are a priceless resource. To understand the value of water quality, and to more effectively manage and protect the state's water resources, it's critical that we know the current status of water-quality conditions, and how and why those conditions have been changing over time. At the California Water Science Center, measuring the quality of surface water is one of the chief aims of its hydrological monitoring efforts.
Filter Total Items: 73
Water-Quality Monitoring in the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin of the Los Angeles River Watershed
As part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP), this project will enhance water-quality monitoring on a reach of the Los Angeles River slated for revitalization. The UWFP reconnects urban communities—particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed—with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies.
Selenium Cycling in Salton Sea Wetlands
The effect of selenium toxicity on wildlife has been known for more than 50 years. This issue drew particular attention in the 1980s when embryo deformity and mortality was observed in birds at a wildlife refuge in California. Harmful effects from selenium were determined to be connected to irrigation drainage water. As a result, an effort began to monitor levels of selenium in irrigation drainage...
Emergency Drought Barrier’s Impacts on cyanoHABs and Water Quality
Drought is making the Delta Saltier. Less freshwater coming from watershed runoff and reservoir releases means that more salty water flows into the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta (Delta) from the Pacific Ocean. Changes in Delta salinity have far-reaching impacts, affecting the water supply for agriculture, drinking, wildlife, and Delta ecosystems.
Hydrologic and Aquatic Ecology Studies at Clear Lake, California
The USGS California Water Science Center conducts a variety of research activities at Clear Lake, California, including surface-water monitoring and water quality and aquatic habitat studies.
Studying Threatened Fish Species in Clear Lake, CA
The Clear Lake Hitch ( Lavinia exilicauda chi ) population, which once flourished in great abundance, has been decimated by loss of spawning habitat, nursery areas, and the encroachment of non-native species. In order to make an informed decision, the California Water Science Center has been asked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct studies into the fish’s habitat, specifically...
Delta Wetlands and Resilience: Blue Carbon and Marsh Accretion
Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are coastal ecosystems, such as tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes. The tidal marshes and scrub-shrub wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) of California are examples of BCEs. The Delta is a 2,400 square kilometer tidal freshwater region located at the landward end of the...
Identifying the Source and Taxa That are Producing Microcystins Detected in San Francisco Bay
Microcystins are toxins produced by cyanobacteria (previously known as blue-green algae ) that are harmful to humans and other animals. In 2012, microcystins began to be detected in San Francisco Bay (SFB). This was unexpected because most microcystin producing cyanobacteria live in freshwater. On-going microcystin-related work has focused on monitoring the presence of microcystins in water and...
Evaluation of Hydrodynamic Mixing in Keswick Reservoir, California
Keswick Reservoir, on the Sacramento River, receives both water and contaminants from the Spring Creek Debris Dam. The term contaminants refers here to different kinds of chemicals that are in some instances delivered to lakes and rivers. These chemicals can have a detrimental effect on drinking water supplies and the health of humans, fish, and other aquatic species.
Biogeochemistry Group
The Biogeochemistry (BGC) Group uses an interdisciplinary approach to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Flow and Water Quality Data in the San Francisco Estuary
The San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta form one of the largest estuaries in the United States. Water flow and water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary are important to the economies of both California and the nation. The Bay-Delta system provides water to more than 25 million California residents and vast farmlands, as well as key habitat for birds, fish, and other...
Scotts Creek Nutrient Erosion Study, Lake County, California
Clear Lake, the largest natural lake entirely within California, has a severe problem with harmful algal blooms which can be detrimental to aquatic life by depriving it of oxygen when the algae dies, sinks, and decays. A driving factor of these conditions are the nutrient loads being carried into the lake by soil erosion and the transport of sediment from the lake’s tributaries. Recently, an...
Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Sediments represent an important pool of nutrients in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthos impacts water quality and effects phytoplankton, harmful algal blooms, aquatic vegetation, and drinking water quality. To date, there is very limited information about nutrient pools in Delta sediments, nor how these nutrients are...