Water Quality

The USGS has been collecting specific conductance (salinity) and water temperature data in San Francisco Bay (SF Bay) since 1990. Data are typically collected at 5-10 fixed locations throughout the bay, every fifteen minutes, every minute of the day.

This project aims to characterize spatial heterogeneity for key water quality parameters, and pilot the use of underway-flowthrough mapping of biogeochemical properties as a cost-effective approach to monitoring.

Monitoring habitat quality in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been limited to mostly monthly discrete measurements of biologically relevant parameters (e.g. phytoplankton, dissolved organic matter (DOM), nutrients) that cannot fully characterize the physical and biogeochemical variability.

This study will utilize the unique analytical capabilities of the USGS Pesticide Fate Research Group (PFRG), Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL) to assess the occurrence of a large suite of understudied, current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates in surface waters entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.

Our objective is to determine the effectiveness of coagulation and adsorption techniques in removing mercury from contaminated surface waters of the Cache Creek watershed.

Our purpose is to investigate what controls the distribution and abundance of fish prey within the Cache Slough Complex (CSC).

Our objective is to determine the relative propensity of sediment material formed under two different in situ coagulation treatments (iron sulfate, polyaluminum chloride) to release MeHg into surface waters under environmentally relevant conditions that may affect flocculant stability and MeHg production rates.

The objectives of this study are to quantify and characterize (1) phytoplankton production on Liberty Island, (2) utilization and transformation of nutrients, and (3) attenuation/loss of phytoplankton as the material is transported from Liberty Iisland into Cache Slough.

The USGS partners with local, state, and other federal agencies through cooperative agreements for a variety of reasons. The USGS and partners jointly plan the scientific work conducted under cooperative agreements resulting in science that has broad relevance to address current water issues. Partners choose to work with the USGS because of the agency's broad technical expertise, its long-standing...

The objective specific to work conducted by the CAWSC is to produce a continuous time-series of suspended-sediment flux at an existing site in Alviso Slough.

Over time, the flow of water into the San Antonio Reservoir has caused the build-up of sediment, decreasing storage capacity. Since water storage is a crucial issue in California, up-to-date information on the reservoir is needed. To accomplish this, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission approached the USGS California Water Science Center to conduct a bathymetric (depth) survey and other...

This study will provide an analysis tool for forecasting seasonal and longer term streamflow variations, and for evaluating climate and land cover variations in the Kings River Basin. This study will directly or indirectly address several water-resource issues identified in the USGS Science Strategy document (USGS, 2007): drinking water availability, the suitability of aquatic habitat for biota...