 | The RMP is developing a strategy for assessing atmospheric loads of contaminants to the Estuary. | |
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 | The RMP conducts triennial monitoring of cormorant and tern eggs for mercury, selenium, and trace organics. | |
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| Recent studies on emerging contaminants in San Francisco Bay will be released in 2011, and may influence the management of CECs in San Francisco Bay and the entire state. A summary document that synthesizes these data will be prepared, to guide future monitoring efforts. | |
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 | The Estuary is listed as impaired for many contaminants as a result of elevated concentrations observed in biota. This project will develop a conceptual model of contaminant uptake by biota. | |
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| Sportfish Monitoring informs management and restrictions on sportfish consumption from the Bay. | |
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| A high priority for the modeling strategy and the Contaminant Fate workgroup is the development of a numerical flexible grid model of the Estuary. | |
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| San Francisco Bay waters are listed as impaired as a result of elevated concentrations of dioxins and furans in fish, and studies in sport fish have found dioxin concentrations relatively unchanged since 1994. Improving our understanding of dioxin through sediment and water sampling is a necessary first step in reducing concentrations in Bay fish. | |
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 | The San Francisco Bay was listed in 1998 as an impaired water body for dioxin as a result of elevated fish dioxin concentrations. | |
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| Since 1993, USGS has been monitoring suspended sediment dynamics in the Estuary as part of the Status and Trends Element of the Regional Monitoring Program. | |
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| High levels of PCBs and mercury have been detected in the Guadalupe River. The RWQCB, SFEI and other agencies have developed an extensive database of concentrations of contaminants in water, sediment, and fish tissues in the Guadalupe River watershed. | |
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| During the 2010 - 2011 wet season, the RMP, in response to guidance from the Small Tributaries Loading Strategy team, will monitor stormwater loads at 16 watersheds around the Bay Area. | |
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| The RMP conducts periodic monitoring of water quality, sediment quality, and bivalves throughout the Bay for the detection of long-term trends. | |
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 | Small tributaries form a major pathway for loads of contaminants to the Bay. | |
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| The project focuses on determining which processes, sources, and pathways contribute disproportionately to food web accumulation of mercury by comparing the isotopic signatures of sediments with small fish samples from around the Bay. | |
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| A large body of information on the various aspects of mercury science has been generated in the Estuary
in the past few years. In 2011, the RMP will evaluate and synthesize all of the information acquired in the last several years and to use this synthesis as the basis for a plan for the next few years of mercury studies. | |
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| Exposure to dissolved copper has been shown to cause olfactory impairment at relatively low concentrations in freshwater fish, resulting in an impaired avoidance respond to predators, however the levels in saltwater required to cause adverse effects are still unknown. | |
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| A significant new body of information on PCBs has been generated since the PCBs TMDL staff report was prepared. In 2011, the RMP will review and synthesize recent work, and update the conceptual model of PCB cycling in the Bay. | |
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 | This project will analyze PCBs in small fish that will be collected at 33 nearshore sites around the bay. Small fish are an ideal indicator of short term uptake of contaminants into the food web. | |
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 | The Small Tributary Loading Strategy (STLS) team is currently stratifying watersheds in broad categories in which one or two of the watersheds could be sampled to categorize the loads from the watershed type. | |
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 | San Francisco Bay is critical habitat for many birds including several rare and endangered species such as the Least Tern. This egg injection study will develop thresholds for hatching, pipping and survival for the east coast common tern, a surrogate for the San Francisco Bay area Least, Caspian and Forster’s terns. | |
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| The National Water Quality Monitoring Council draft National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries: Results of Pilot Studies report is now available. This report summarizes the results and conclusions of three Pilot Studies undertaken during 2007 to test the concepts of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries. Further information about the Network, its design, and the three pilot efforts can be found here. | |
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| Significant advances in analytical instrument techniques present a great opportunity for the RMP to conduct broad non-targeted scans of San Francisco Bay biota to potentially identify chemicals of emerging concern. | |
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| This study determined ages and pollutant chemical concentrations in sediment cores from San Francisco Bay. | |
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| In 2010, we will complete the mesohaline index for the San Francisco Estuary, and develop a chemical score index for the Bay. This will enable better interpretation of the triad of evidence of sediment quality collected by the Status and Trends cruise: sediment chemistry, sediment toxicity, and benthos. | |
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| Small Fish are analyzed for use as indicators of biological uptake of contaminants, particularly mercury. | |
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 | The Small Tributary Loading Strategy team is currently developing a list of priority questions and monitoring needs. It is anticipated that a small tributary loading study will be developed upon completion of the strategy. | |
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 | This project will begin to answer this question by using a model to estimate the mass loadings from Bay Area watersheds. | |
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