Videos

Created on September 17, 2026, this video features a compilation of photographs taken at different times, highlighting USGS scientific work in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Bay-Delta. The images show researchers conducting fieldwork aboard boats, offering a glimpse into the on-the-water activities that support scientific understanding of the region.

Mercury contamination from historic gold mining represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. There is a lack of public awareness of the history mercury use in gold mining and how it contributed to this situation, and also what the present concerns are. Specifically, the public is not aware of locations and levels of contamination.

Heterosigma akashiwo collected from Seaplane Lagoon in San Francisco Bay on August 9, 2022. Video was taken with an ioLight 1mm microscope.

High flows at streamgage 11172945 (Alameda Creek above Div Dam near Sunol, California) were captured by USGS hydrologic technician Louis Cannarozzi on 12/31/2022. Heavy precipitation caused higher-than-normal streamflow in many areas as an atmospheric river moved through northern California.

This video explains how streamgages are used to measure the height and flow, or speed, of streams. By monitoring the height and flow of streams, the people who manage water infrastructure can have advanced noted of when the water is rising and how fast it’s coming.

USGS scientists collect water quality samples in the San Francisco Bay. The samples have been collected at the same locations for >50 years and are part of one of the longest running datasets of its kind in the United States.

SF Bay-Delta shoreline at sunset from the point of view of a USGS research vessel. This video has no audio. 

Slow moving footage of the San Francisco Bay-Delta shoreline taken from a USGS research vessel. The clip shows vegetation and hills in the background. This video has no audio. 

This video describes how to use the SAC conversion spreadsheet to convert data from a conventional level in angles and distances (polar coordinates) to Cartesian coordinates (northings and eastings). 
 

Title: Land Subsidence: The Lowdown on the Draw-down

The link between groundwater use and sinking landscapes

Title: Iron Mountain, California: An Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Environment

To help visualize the Yucaipa groundwater basin geometry, this animation of the elevation of the top of the basement rocks was created.