Built for Doing Science — Every Step of It

In early 2023, the Projects Office moved into a new larger facility built specifically for its needs. The West Sacramento facility was designed to be an end-to-end science hub for fostering collaboration, innovation, and interdisciplinary science. 

As hydrologic technician Lawrence Fujiwara explains:

The biggest asset of the facility is the capability of planning, creating, testing, conducting, and analyzing science. Basically, we are able to do every step of the scientific method in-house.

With storage capacity for more than a dozen 20-foot boats, multiple unmanned surface vehicles, “tons of scientific gear and tools,” the facility includes a wet lab for processing biological samples, a water quality prep lab, an electronics testing lab, a machine shop, office space for analytical and research activities, and meeting rooms fully equipped with electronics and large white boards. The site is scaled for large, multi-year field operations in challenging environments including San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta). 

At and from this facility, teams fabricate innovative tools and infrastructure for complex estuarine gaging stations, install and maintain cutting-edge continuous monitoring systems, calibrate water-quality sensors, collect sediment samples, and process LiDAR and bathymetry data. These datasets are then used by a team of hydrologists, biologists and others to conduct research that covers all aspects of water quality and quantity within the Bay-Delta and other systems, including examining aquatic ecology with a focus on freshwater, estuarine and marine fishes and environments.  

Collaboration and training happen constantly — from in-house training opportunities to informal science talks and discussions.

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Who Works Here

A diverse set of specialists call the facility home, including Hydrologic Technicians, Hydrologists, Physical Scientists, Biologists, IT Specialists, as well as administrative and operations staff. 

A Resource for Partners Across California

This state-of-the-art facility is primed for cutting edge collaborative science that extends across every major component of modern water science: water quantity and flows, water quality, sediment and biological monitoring, modeling and research, mapping and spatial analysis, datalogger programming, telemetry, data processing and analysis, instrument design and testing and equipment manufacturing using 3D printing and other modern manufacturing tools.  All of this work is done with the goal to better track and understand how the Bay-Delta system and other important hydrologic systems work.

The teams based here work closely with numerous partners to support monitoring networks and scientific studies across the Bay-Delta, Central Valley, and beyond — producing innovative science tools and reliable, defensible data and interpretative science that local, state, federal, and Tribal partners depend on.

Anchored in collaboration and powered by innovation, the West Sacramento Projects Office remains a driving force in advancing water science for the entire state and nation.