Estimates of suspended sediment entering San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, San Francisco Bay, California

McKee, Lester J .; Ganju, Neil K.; Schoellhamer, David H.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.09.006

Cited by 87 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Sediment budgets within the Bay suggest that it is becoming a net sediment exporting system due to anthropogenic changes in sediment delivery processes within the watershed (Geen & Luoma, 1999;Jafee et al, 1998;McKee et al, 2006). further offshore than the current study area, upwelling currents and lateral transport of fine-grained material is possible during disposal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Distribution of DDT and other persistent organic contaminants in Canyons and on the continental shelf off the central California coast

Hartwell

2008

Marine Environmental Research

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Distribution of DDT and other persistent organic contaminants in Canyons and on the continental shelf off the central California coast

Hartwell

2008

Marine Environmental Research

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“…Apart from the intrayearly seasonality, the Delta experiences inter-annual variability with wetter (e.g., 2011) and drier years (e.g., 2013). During the wet season, the Sacramento River pulse increases SSC and exports sediment towards the Bay, affecting biota behavior McKee et al 2006McKee et al , 2013. On average, the Delta stores roughly two-thirds of the sediment input for both wet and dry years (Wright and Schoellhamer 2005;Marineau and Wright 2014;Achete et al 2015).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

How can climate change and engineered water conveyance affect sediment dynamics in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system?

et al. 2017

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Suspended sediment concentration is an important estuarine health indicator. Estuarine ecosystems rely on the maintenance of habitat conditions, which are changing due to direct human impact and climate change. This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change relative to engineering measures on estuarine fine sediment dynamics and sediment budgets. We use the highly engineered San Francisco Bay-Delta system as a case study. We apply a process-based modeling approach (Delft3D-FM) to assess the changes in hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics resulting from climate change and engineering scenarios. The scenarios consider a direct human impact (shift in water pumping location), climate change (sea level rise and suspended sediment concentration decrease), and abrupt disasters (island flooding, possibly as the results of an earthquake). Levee failure has the largest impact on the hydrodynamics of the system. Reduction in sediment input from the watershed has the greatest impact on turbidity levels, which are key to primary production and define habitat conditions for endemic species. Sea level rise leads to more sediment suspension and a net sediment export if little room for accommodation is left in the system due to continuous engineering works. Mitigation measures like levee reinforcement are effective for addressing direct human impacts, but less effective for a persistent, widespread, and increasing threat like sea level rise. Progressive adaptive mitigation measures to the changes in sediment and flow dynamics Climatic Change (2017) resulting from sea level rise may be a more effective strategy. Our approach shows that a validated process-based model is a useful tool to address long-term (decades to centuries) changes in sediment dynamics in highly engineered estuarine systems. In addition, our modeling approach provides a useful basis for long-term, process-based studies addressing ecosystem dynamics and health.

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“…Previous studies have examined suspended sediment trends from the greater Sacramento River Basin [4,16,38], though none have examined trends between the Sacramento River below Keswick to Verona (Figure 1) due to a lack of measured data. Statistically significant decreasing trends of modeled sediment were found at the Sacramento River at the Butte City gage (reach 49, p = 0.01, 0.02 ρ and τ, respectively) and at the Sacramento River at the Colusa gage (reach 61, p = 0.03, 0.04, ρ and τ, respectively) for the lower 50% flow regime.…”

Section: Historical Trends In Streamflow and Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Changes in Streamflow and Sediment Supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, Using Hydrological Simulation Program—FORTRAN (HSPF)

Stern¹,

Flint²,

Minear³

et al. 2016

Water

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A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco Bay-Delta. To compensate for sparse data, a unique combination of model inputs was developed, including meteorological variables, potential evapotranspiration, and parameters defining hydraulic geometry. A slight decreasing trend of sediment loads and concentrations was statistically significant in the lowest 50% of flows, supporting the observed historical sediment decline. Historical changes in climate, including seasonality and decline of snowpack, contribute to changes in streamflow, and are a significant component describing the mechanisms responsible for the decline in sediment. Several wet and dry hypothetical climate change scenarios with temperature changes of 1.5 • C and 4.5 • C were applied to the base historical conditions to assess the model sensitivity of streamflow and sediment to changes in climate. Of the scenarios evaluated, sediment discharge for the Sacramento River Basin increased the most with increased storm magnitude and frequency and decreased the most with increases in air temperature, regardless of changes in precipitation. The model will be used to develop projections of potential hydrologic and sediment trends to the Bay-Delta in response to potential future climate scenarios, which will help assess the hydrological and ecological health of the Bay-Delta into the next century.

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Estimates of suspended sediment entering San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, San Francisco Bay, California

Cited by 87 publications

References 31 publications

Distribution of DDT and other persistent organic contaminants in Canyons and on the continental shelf off the central California coast

Distribution of DDT and other persistent organic contaminants in Canyons and on the continental shelf off the central California coast

How can climate change and engineered water conveyance affect sediment dynamics in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system?

Characterizing Changes in Streamflow and Sediment Supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, Using Hydrological Simulation Program—FORTRAN (HSPF)

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