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Program Information

Program Overview:

SFEI’s Contaminant Monitoring and Research Program (CMR) includes all contaminant-related activities of the Institute. A variety of monitoring and research projects are coordinated by CMR staff to produce an overall understanding of contamination sources, fate, and effects in the Estuary. Monitoring data stimulates the formulation of hypotheses about processes and identifies gaps in understanding that may be addressed by research. Research may provide better interpretations of monitoring data or may produce better monitoring methods and indicators. The CMR Program is composed of three components:

  • The RMP for trace substances. The RMP is SFEI’s largest program, which focuses on annual monitoring of contamination, bioaccumulation, and toxicity in the Estuary. It provides the Regional Board with important information about water quality and the status of beneficial uses related to chemical contamination. The RMP is an innovative collaborative effort between SFEI, the Regional Board, and the regulated discharger community.
  • Contaminant loading and fate. Knowledge about contaminant loading into the Estuary may be used to target management actions, evaluate the effectiveness of management actions, and to understand response times of contaminant concentrations in the Estuary. TMDL development and implementation will benefit from information produced from focused empirical field measurement and modeling studies in the Estuary.
  • Contaminant exposure and effects. Human, aquatic organism, and wildlife exposures to contaminants, especially persistent bioaccumulative toxicants (PBTs), are important issues in the region. Concerns over human exposure through sport fish consumption have resulted in fish consumption advisories and beneficial use impairment. Studies of contamination effects are commonly used to develop bioassessments of Estuary condition. Bioassessments commonly use combinations of several indicators in a weight-of-evidence approach to evaluate the condition of a resource or habitat, and can be used to assess beneficial use attainment.


Program Objectives:

Conduct a multifaceted program of monitoring and research that contributes to the understanding of contaminant loadings, fate, and effects in the Estuary. That information will be used, along with other pertinent information, in syntheses and assessments of the condition of the Estuary.

Loading and Fate Component Objectives: Quantify loadings of priority contaminants into the Estuary from a variety of sources and pathways, and contribute to the understanding of the fate of contaminants.

Exposure and Effects Component Objective: Contribute knowledge and understanding about the exposure, bioaccumulation, and effects of contamination in the Estuary. This understanding will be used in the development of indicators and assessments of the condition of key ecosystem components.


Program History:

The precursor to SFEI, the Aquatic Habitat Institute, focused on synthesizing information about pollution and pollution effects for the State Water Resources Control Board D1485 Bay-Delta Hearings, and for the San Francisco Estuary Project (SFEP). Beginning in 1992, AHI helped draft the SFEP Regional Monitoring Strategy (RMS), and was one of the organizations charged in the SFEP Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) with overseeing the implementation of comprehensive regional monitoring. In 1994, AHI was transformed into SFEI, in response to the call in the CCMP for comprehensive, coordinated regional monitoring and research. In that same year the Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances was begun through permit conditions from the SFBRWQCB. SFEI’s success in contaminant monitoring, research, and data management developed through the RMP has helped attract funding for a variety of similar or related projects that are not part of the RMP. Thus, it became necessary to organize and manage those projects that addressed contamination in the Estuary, and the CMR Program (previously named the Estuary Monitoring and Research Program, EMR) was formed in 1998 to conduct a broad array of contaminant-related studies, from various funding sources.