Wind-wave and suspended-sediment data from Liberty Island and Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California (ver. 2.0, September 2019)

Data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center to investigate the influence of wind waves on sediment dynamics in two flooded agricultural tracts in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island. This effort is part of a large interdisciplinary study led by the USGS California Water Science Center and funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to investigate how shallow-water habitats in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta function and whether they provide good habitat for native fish species, including the Delta smelt. Elevated turbidity is a requirement for Delta smelt habitat, and turbidity is largely comprised of suspended sediment. Wind waves develop in large open-water regions with large fetch, and can increase turbidity by mobilizing bottom sediments.