Tamara Kraus is a Research Soil Scientist at the California Water Science Center.
Tamara Kraus received a master's degree in Agronomy and a doctoral degree in Soils and Biogeochemistry from the University of California, Davis. She has been working at the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) in Sacramento since 2004, where she does research on the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and the linkages between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Her projects span a range of topics from identifying sources of dissolved organic carbon and to inform drinking water quality management, to using constructed wetlands to reverse subsidence, to the application of in situ coagulation to remove mercury from surface waters, to understanding the links between nutrients and phytoplankton.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
From the second half of the 19th century, land reclamation has transformed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The landscape of the Delta has gone from a network of shifting waterways and tidal marshland to channels and islands fixed in position by hardened levees.
Biogeochemistry Group
The Biogeochemistry (BGC) Group uses an interdisciplinary approach to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Sediments represent an important pool of nutrients in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthos impacts water quality and effects phytoplankton, harmful algal blooms, aquatic vegetation, and drinking water quality. To date, there is very limited information about nutrient pools in Delta sediments, nor how these nutrients are...
Evaluating the effects of wastewater-derived nutrients on phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the San Francisco Estuary and Delta
Planned upgrades to the Sacramento Regional wastewater treatment plant (SRWTP) will substantially reduce nutrient discharge and also alter the types and amounts of nutrients being distributed across the San Francisco Delta and Estuary (Delta). One highly anticipated outcome of lower nutrients is improved productivity in the phytoplankton communities that supply aquatic food webs, which should...
Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Research and Monitoring Project
Since 1969, the U.S. Geological Survey has maintained a research project in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system to measure and understand how estuarine systems and tidal river deltas function and change in response to hydro-climatic variability and human activities.
Modeling Nitrogen Reduction Benefit to Invasive Aquatic Vegetation vs. Native Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton comprise the bottom of the aquatic food web and the abundance of phytoplankton serves as an indicator of healthy aquatic habitats. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), competing with phytoplankton for required nitrogen, invasive aquatic vegetation (IAV) has increased exponentially in recent years. Once established, IAV can negatively impact local ecosystems and...
Monitoring Cyanotoxins in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Fixed Stations and High-Resolution Mapping Surveys
California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) provides drinking water to about 30 million people and irrigation water to the agriculturally rich Central Valley. The Delta is also home to numerous threatened and endangered native species. The health of the Delta's aquatic ecosystems, and fish in particular, have long been in a state of decline. This is associated with decreasing...
Trends in Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta contains high concentrations of disinfection byproduct-forming (DBP-forming) materials when treated for potable use. DBPs form when dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in water react with disinfectants such as chlorine and ozone during the water treatment process. The amount of DBPs that form is a function of both the amount and source of the DOC, both of...
Subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is part of the San Francisco Estuary, home to a diverse flora and fauna, including several threatened and endangered species, has a large area of prime farmland, and serves as the hub of California's freshwater-delivery system that moves water from the wet north to the dry southern part of the State.
High-Speed Mapping of Nutrient Distributions and Water Quality Survey - Lower South San Francisco Bay
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.
Nitrogen Dynamics Along the Sacramento River and Links to Phytoplankton Dynamics: Resolving Spatial and Temporal Variability Using In-Situ, High-Frequency Measurements and Other Tools
The overall project objective is to further our understanding of the link between nitrogen and phytoplankton dynamics in the Sacramento River and to elucidate effects of wastewater treatment plant effluent on food web dynamics.
Causes and Relevance of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Phytoplankton are an important part of aquatic food webs and ecosystems. These single-celled plants grow faster in the stronger light of spring or summer, resulting in population explosions called phytoplankton blooms. These blooms in turn feed zooplankton (free-floating aquatic microorganisms), providing food for many aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, crabs, and other invertebrates.
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 15
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
From the second half of the 19th century, land reclamation has transformed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The landscape of the Delta has gone from a network of shifting waterways and tidal marshland to channels and islands fixed in position by hardened levees.Biogeochemistry Group
The Biogeochemistry (BGC) Group uses an interdisciplinary approach to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Sediments represent an important pool of nutrients in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The exchange of nutrients between the water column and the benthos impacts water quality and effects phytoplankton, harmful algal blooms, aquatic vegetation, and drinking water quality. To date, there is very limited information about nutrient pools in Delta sediments, nor how these nutrients are...Evaluating the effects of wastewater-derived nutrients on phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the San Francisco Estuary and Delta
Planned upgrades to the Sacramento Regional wastewater treatment plant (SRWTP) will substantially reduce nutrient discharge and also alter the types and amounts of nutrients being distributed across the San Francisco Delta and Estuary (Delta). One highly anticipated outcome of lower nutrients is improved productivity in the phytoplankton communities that supply aquatic food webs, which should...Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Research and Monitoring Project
Since 1969, the U.S. Geological Survey has maintained a research project in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system to measure and understand how estuarine systems and tidal river deltas function and change in response to hydro-climatic variability and human activities.Modeling Nitrogen Reduction Benefit to Invasive Aquatic Vegetation vs. Native Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton comprise the bottom of the aquatic food web and the abundance of phytoplankton serves as an indicator of healthy aquatic habitats. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), competing with phytoplankton for required nitrogen, invasive aquatic vegetation (IAV) has increased exponentially in recent years. Once established, IAV can negatively impact local ecosystems and...Monitoring Cyanotoxins in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Fixed Stations and High-Resolution Mapping Surveys
California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) provides drinking water to about 30 million people and irrigation water to the agriculturally rich Central Valley. The Delta is also home to numerous threatened and endangered native species. The health of the Delta's aquatic ecosystems, and fish in particular, have long been in a state of decline. This is associated with decreasing...Trends in Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta contains high concentrations of disinfection byproduct-forming (DBP-forming) materials when treated for potable use. DBPs form when dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in water react with disinfectants such as chlorine and ozone during the water treatment process. The amount of DBPs that form is a function of both the amount and source of the DOC, both of...Subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is part of the San Francisco Estuary, home to a diverse flora and fauna, including several threatened and endangered species, has a large area of prime farmland, and serves as the hub of California's freshwater-delivery system that moves water from the wet north to the dry southern part of the State.High-Speed Mapping of Nutrient Distributions and Water Quality Survey - Lower South San Francisco Bay
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.Nitrogen Dynamics Along the Sacramento River and Links to Phytoplankton Dynamics: Resolving Spatial and Temporal Variability Using In-Situ, High-Frequency Measurements and Other Tools
The overall project objective is to further our understanding of the link between nitrogen and phytoplankton dynamics in the Sacramento River and to elucidate effects of wastewater treatment plant effluent on food web dynamics.Causes and Relevance of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Phytoplankton are an important part of aquatic food webs and ecosystems. These single-celled plants grow faster in the stronger light of spring or summer, resulting in population explosions called phytoplankton blooms. These blooms in turn feed zooplankton (free-floating aquatic microorganisms), providing food for many aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, crabs, and other invertebrates. - Data
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