California Water Science Center
SmeltCam Underwater Camera - Identifies Fish Passing Through a Net
Innovative technology to understand processes influencing Delta Smelt distribution and movements
Find out MoreAquatic Ecosystems
Aquatic ecosystems information and data is neccessary for many California water management decisions including preservation of California's natural resources. The California Water Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research from aquatic species behavioral, population and community ecology, to the effects hydrologic extremes and climage change on ecosystems.
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Aquatic Ecology Group
The California Water Science Center's Aquatic Ecology Group is making great strides in research and reporting.
State of the Network: Long-Term, High-Frequency Flow and Water Quality Data in the San Francisco Estuary, California
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...
Longfin Smelt Distribution in the Coastal Pacific Ocean
Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) is a pelagic fish species found in waters along the Pacific coast, from Alaska to central California. Its complex life cycle makes it vulnerable to threats in both freshwater and at sea. Longfin Smelt is listed as a threatened species by the state of California.
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...
Ecosystem Engineering Impacts of Water Primrose in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Many non-native fish, invertebrates, and plants have colonized the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), the landward most region of the San Francisco Estuary. Included among these invasive species is the water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora ssp. hexapetala and Ludwigia peploides), an aggressive floating aquatic plant that is native to South and Central America and parts of the US, but...
Selenium Hazard in the Salton Sea Environment, Summary of Current Knowledge to Inform Future Science
The effect of selenium (Se) toxicity on wildlife has been known for more than 50 years. The threat of Se contamination gained greater attention from federal agencies in the 1980s due to the observation of embryo deformity and mortality in birds at a National Wildlife Refuge in California. Harmful effects from Se were determined to be connected to irrigation drainage water.
As a result,...
Evaluating the effects of wastewater-derived nutrients on phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the San Francisco Estuary and Delta
Planned upgrades to the Sacramento Regional wastewater treatment plant (SRWTP) will substantially reduce nutrient discharge and also alter the types and amounts of nutrients being distributed across the San Francisco Delta and Estuary (Delta).
One highly anticipated outcome of lower nutrients is improved productivity in the phytoplankton communities that supply aquatic food webs, which...
Modeling Nitrogen Reduction Benefit to Invasive Aquatic Vegetation vs. Native Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton comprise the bottom of the aquatic food web and the abundance of phytoplankton serves as an indicator of healthy aquatic habitats. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), competing with phytoplankton for required nitrogen, invasive aquatic vegetation (IAV) has increased exponentially in recent years. Once established, IAV can negatively impact local ecosystems and...
Monitoring Cyanotoxins in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Fixed Stations and High-Resolution Mapping Surveys
California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) provides drinking water to about 30 million people and irrigation water to the agriculturally rich Central Valley. The Delta is also home to numerous threatened and endangered native species. The health of the Delta's aquatic ecosystems, and fish in particular, have long been in a state of decline. This is associated with decreasing...
Mercury studies at Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine and Clear Lake, California
The abandoned Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine on the shores of Clear Lake in Northern California has been designated as a "Superfund Site" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This means that the EPA has determined that the area is contaminated by hazardous waste and requires cleanup...
Organic Matter Research Laboratory
The USGS California Water Science Center's Organic Matter Research Laboratory provides laboratory services and support to regional and national projects in the analysis of organic matter using the latest methods in absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy along with standard measurement of total dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen concentration.
USGS Participates in Earth Day Festivities on Alcatraz Island
On April 20th, the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) participated in annual Earth Day festivities on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Involvement in the event included science presentations on the island, demonstrating the ongoing research of the USGS Estuarine Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport team based in Sacramento.
Neonicotinoid Seed Treatment Study
Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. Like nicotine, they act on receptors in the nerves and are generally much more toxic to insects, than they are to mammals and other higher organisms. Their use has increased rapidly over the last decade, driven in large part by their use for seed coating. Seed coating is when a seed is treated with an insecticide...