Monitoring Special Study

On December 12, 2018, the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) amended the Water Quality Control Plan (Resolution No. 2018-0059) for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan). The amendments include revised salinity objectives for the southern Delta and instruct the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to develop a Monitoring Special Study (MSS). 

 

Since early 2021, DWR and Reclamation have been soliciting input from participating agencies and working with Water Board staff to design four technical studies as part of the MSS. 

 

On September 19, 2022, consistent with Section B(1)(iv) of the Program of Implementation for the Bay-Delta Plan, DWR and Reclamation submitted to the Water Board its Monitoring Special Study Plan for the 2018 Bay-Delta Plan (MSS Plan), designed to accomplish the following goals: 

 

  1. Characterize the spatial and temporal distribution and associated dynamics of water level, flow, and salinity conditions in the southern Delta waterways. 
  2. Identify the extent of low or null flow conditions and any associated concentration of local salt discharges. 
  3. Inform the development of a Long-Term Monitoring and Reporting Plan that will:      
  • Assess attainment of the salinity objective in the interior southern Delta.
  • Include long-term monitoring and reporting protocols, including specific compliance monitoring locations in, or monitoring protocols for, the three river segments that comprise the interior southern delta salinity compliance locations.

The MSS Plan, linked in the ‘Documents’ section below, further specifies these goals, approaches to meeting them, a map showing the geographic scope of the MSS, and descriptions of the four technical studies. Descriptions of the four technical studies are also provided below.  Detailed information of each technical study is available in its corresponding work plan, found in Attachments 1 – 4 in the Documents section. 

 

Development of the MSS Plan has involved continuous outreach and feedback from participating organizations.  Appendices A and B of the MSS Plan capture some of the feedback and engagement received from participating organizations leading up to the September 2022 MSS Plan submittal.  The MSS Plan was conditionally approved by the Water Board on May 5, 2023.

 

Future public meetings are planned to continue through the duration of the MSS to share updates and solicit feedback on preliminary findings.  For more information on future public meetings and to be added to the participating organization contact list, please contact Bill McLaughlin at William.McLaughlin@water.ca.gov. 

 

Dye Tracer Study conducted at Paradise Cut on July 19, 2022 using rhodamine dye to measure mean transport and dispersion rates of water in upper Paradise Cut with the goal of understanding high salinity water exchange and downstream transport into Old River.

Dye Tracer Study conducted at Paradise Cut on July 19, 2022 using rhodamine dye to measure mean transport and dispersion rates of water in upper Paradise Cut with the goal of understanding high salinity water exchange and downstream transport into Old River.

Technical Studies

Available Data

  1. UAV/Drone Imagery from 2021-2024  
  2. UAV/Drone Videos 
  3. High-Speed Salinity Transects from 2021-2023
  4. Data Links to Point Source Electrical Conductivity (EC) Timeseries Data

Document List

  1. Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary
  2. Monitoring Special Study Plan for the 2018 Bay-Delta Plan 
  3. Attachment 1 - High Speed Salinity Transect Mapping Work Plan 
  4. Attachment 2 - Point Source and Ion Sampling Work Plan 
  5. Attachment 3 - SCHISM 3D Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Modeling Work Plan 
  6. Attachment 4 - Water Quality Data Assimilation Work Plan 
  7. Appendix A - Response to Comments on the April 2022 Draft Monitoring Special Study Plan 
  8. Appendix B - Outreach to Participating Organizations informing Development of the Draft Monitoring Special Study
  9. Conditional approval letter from the Water Board (May 5, 2023)

Public Coordination Meetings

Technical Workgroup Meetings

  • Technical Workgroup #1: June 14, 2021, Paradise Cut Flushing
  • Technical Workgroup #2: July 13, 2021, Water Quality Data Integration (Data Assimilation)
  • Technical Workgroup #3: July 19, 2021, Salinity Point Source and Ion Sampling
  • Technical Workgroup #4: January 13, 2022, SCHISM & Related Modeling
  • Technical Workgroup #5: March 17, 2022, Discussion of the 1980 Report
  • Technical Workgroup #6: September 15, 2022, High Speed Salinity Transect Mapping
  • Technical Workgroup #7: December 9, 2022, SCHISM and Data Assimilation
  • Technical Workgroup #8: June 30, 2023, MSS Modeling Assumptions Response to Comments
  • Technical Workgroup #9: December 12, 2023, MSS Data Assimilation: an Introduction 

Contact

For program related inquiries contact:

Bill McLaughlin 
Department of Water Resources

Division of Operations and Maintenance

Water Initiatives Planning and Management Branch 

Delta Water Infrastructure Management Section

Address:  1516 9th Street

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: (916) 873-5748
Email: William.McLaughlin@water.ca.gov

 

 

 

 

Tags

State Water Project ... Water Quality