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All RMP Publications

A Record of Groundbreaking Science

Below is a running list of all RMP publications, with the most recent publications at the top. The Pulse, the RMP Update, and Status and Trends publications are included among others.

In addition to RMP-produced publications, the Bay RMP contributed to the production of Estuary News magazine, and many articles feature Bay RMP findings. Estuary News, a former publication of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, reported San Francisco Bay, Delta, and watershed news from 1992 to 2023, and won an award for excellence in 2011. Read more about Estuary News.

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Assessment of Nutrient Status and Trends in the Delta in 2001–2016: Effects of drought on ambient concentrations and trends

Author(s): Thomas Jabusch | Phil Trowbridge | Adam Wong | Matthew Heberger

2018

Nutrients and the effects of nutrients on water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a priority focus area for the Delta Regional Monitoring Program (Delta RMP). The Program’s first assessment question regarding nutrients is: “How do concentrations of nutrients (and…

Influence of Nutrient Forms and Ratios on Phytoplankton Production and Community Composition

Author(s): David Senn | Richard Dugdale | Frances Wilderson | Alexander Parker | Patricia Gilbert | Mine Berg | Eric Spotswood | Anthony Malkassian | James Cloern | Raphael Kudela | Emily Novick | Melissa Peacock | Tara Schraga

2017

This report (dubbed ‘Suisun Synthesis II’) was prepared to serve as a background resource for a November 2016 workshop, co-convened by the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Boards, that focused on the potential influence of excess…

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Passage of fiproles and imidacloprid from urban pest control uses through wastewater treatment plants in northern California, USA

Author(s): Akash Sadaria | Rebecca Sutton | Kelly Moran | Jennifer Teerlink | Jackson Brown V | Rolf Halden

2017

Urban pest control insecticides, specifically fipronil and its four major degradates (fipronil sulfone, sulfide, desulfinyl, and amide) and imidacloprid, were monitored during drought conditions in eight San Francisco Bay wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In influent and…

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From Sediment to Top Predators: Broad Exposure of Polyhalogenated Carbazoles in San Francisco Bay (U.S.A.)

Author(s): Yan Wu | Hongli Tan | Rebecca Sutton | Da Chen

2017

The present study provides the first comprehensive investigation of polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZ) contamination in an aquatic ecosystem. PHCZs have been found in soil and aquatic sediment from several different regions, but knowledge of their bioaccumulation and…

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San Francisco Bay Triennial Bird Egg Monitoring Program for Contaminants - 2016 Data Summary

Author(s): Joshua Ackerman | A. Hartman | M.P. Herzog | M. Toney

2016

As part of the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) and the USGS’s long-term Wildlife Contaminants Program, the USGS samples double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) and Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri) eggs throughout the San Francisco Bay Estuary…

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Effects of salinity on olfactory toxicity and behavioral responses of juvenile salmonids from copper

Author(s): F. Sommers | E. Mudrock | J. Labenia | D. Baldwin

2016

Dissolved copper is one of the more pervasive and toxic constituents of stormwater runoff and is commonly found in stream, estuary, and coastal marine habitats of juvenile salmon. While stormwater runoff does not usually carry copper concentrations high enough to result in…

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The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay, California, USA: Science in support of managing water quality

Author(s): Phil Trowbridge | Jay Davis | Tom Mumley | K. Taberski | N. Feger | L. Valiela | J. Ervin | N. Arsem | A. Olivieri | P. Carroll | J. Coleman | P. Salop | Rebecca Sutton | Donald Yee | Lester McKee | M. Sedlak | Cristina Grosso | J. Kelly

2016

The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) is a novel partnership between regulatory agencies and the regulated community to provide the scientific foundation to manage water quality in the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas. The RMP…

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Regional monitoring programs in the United States: Synthesis of four case studies from Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf Coasts

Author(s): K. Schiff | Phil Trowbridge | E.T. Sherwood | P. Tango | R.A. Batiuk

2016

Water quality monitoring is a cornerstone of environmental protection and ambient monitoring provides managers with the critical data they need to take informed action. Unlike site-specific monitoring that is at the heart of regulatory permit compliance, regional monitoring…

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Increases in Anthropogenic Gadolinium Anomalies and Rare Earth Element Concentrations in San Francisco Bay over a 20 Year Record

Author(s): Vanessa Hatje | Kenneth Bruland | Russell Flegal

2016

We evaluated both the spatial distribution of gadolinium (Gd) and other rare earth elements (REE) in surface waters collected in a transect of San Francisco Bay (SFB) and their temporal variations within the Bay over two decades. The REE were preconcentrated using the NOBIAS…

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Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in wastewater: Significance of unknown precursors, manufacturing shifts, and likely AFFF impacts

Author(s): Erika Houtz | Rebecca Sutton | June-Soo Park | Meg Sedlak

2016

In late 2014, wastewater effluent samples were collected from eight treatment plants that discharge to San Francisco (SF) Bay in order to assess poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) currently released from municipal and industrial sources. In addition to direct…

Microplastic Contamination in San Francisco Bay - Fact Sheet

Author(s): Rebecca Sutton

2016

This factsheet compiles the findings for microplastics, as they are found in San Francisco Bay. The factsheet defines the different forms of contamination, the studies that have been performed as of 2016, and the findings of those studies.

The RMP Emerging Contaminants Program - Fact Sheet

Author(s): Rebecca Sutton | Jackson Brown V

2016

RMP stakeholders are pursuing cost-effective solutions to contamination of the SF Bay through measures that prevent, rather than clean up contamination. Early identification of problem CECs and quick action to prevent their spread is the best way to protect water quality in…

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Microplastic contamination in the San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Author(s): Rebecca Sutton | Sherri Mason | Shavonne Stanek | Ellen Willis-Norton | Ian Wren | Carolynn Box

2016

Despite widespread detection of microplastic pollution in marine environments, data describing microplastic abundance in urban estuaries and microplastic discharge via treated municipal wastewater are limited. This study presents information on abundance, distribution, and…