How does USGS science support Bay-Delta surface water management?
How is USGS working to understand natural hazards in the Delta?
San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary
The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the largest estuaries in the United States. It provides water to more than 25 million California residents, farmlands, and key fish and wildlife habitats. To help ensure the health of this crucial estuary, the U.S. Geological Survey provides science essential to address issues of importance to our partners and the public.
San Francisco Bay and Delta Overview Video
San Francisco Bay and Delta Overview Video
Learn about the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem, current management issues, and some of the monitoring and research the USGS is conducting in coordination with others.
USGS Science at Work
USGS Science at Work
This fact sheet provides an overview of USGS research in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region.
State of the Network
State of the Network
Long-Term, High-Frequency Flow and Water Quality Data in the San Francisco Estuary, California
New article provides examples of the work being done to measure water flow and quality in the San Francisco Estuary.
News
Expanded Harmful Algae Monitoring in the San Francisco Estuary
Expanded Harmful Algae Monitoring in the San Francisco Estuary
Biofilm is on the Kids’ Menu, and Other Lessons from the Western Sandpipers of San Francisco Bay
Biofilm is on the Kids’ Menu, and Other Lessons from the Western Sandpipers of San Francisco Bay
Research Spotlight: Dabbling Ducks Prefer Managed Wetlands and Pond-Like Features in Suisun Marsh
Research Spotlight: Dabbling Ducks Prefer Managed Wetlands and Pond-Like Features in Suisun Marsh
Publications
Quantifying the effects of tides, river flow, and barriers on movements of Chinook Salmon smolts at junctions in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta using multistate models
Successful migration of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts seaward in the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter, Delta) requires navigating a network of numerous branching channels. Within the Delta, several key junctions route smolts either towards more direct paths to the ocean or towards the interior Delta, an area associated with decreased survival. Movements...
Influence of invasive submerged aquatic vegetation (E. densa) on currents and sediment transport in a freshwater tidal system
We present a field study combining measurements of vegetation density, vegetative drag, and reduction of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) within patches of the invasive submerged aquatic plant Egeria densa. Our study was motivated by concern that sediment trapping by E. densa, which has proliferated in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, is impacting marsh accretion and reducing...
Effects of tidally varying river flow on entrainment of juvenile salmon into Sutter and Steamboat Sloughs
Survival of juvenile salmonids in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) varies by migration route, and thus the proportion of fish that use each route affects overall survival through the Delta. Understanding factors that drive routing at channel junctions along the Sacramento River is therefore critical to devising management strategies that maximize survival. Here, we examine...
Science
Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments
Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to natural...
Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
We investigate mechanisms of sediment transport, resuspension dynamics in shoals, wave evolution in the shallows, wave attenuation in marshes, and transport of sediment between mudflats and marshes. We produce data sets for calibration of and comparison with sediment transport models, including wave parameters, suspended sediment concentration, and sediment flux.
Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport.