Welcome to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region Welcome to the California Environmental Protection Agency
Governor Schwarzenegger
My Water Quality
Performance Report
RESOURCES

Delta Water Quality - Comprehensive Monitoring Plan

Delta Water Quality - Comprehensive Monitoring Program

Many agencies and groups monitor water quality, water flows, and ecological conditions in the Bay-Delta, but there is no comprehensive contaminants monitoring and assessment program. The Interagency Ecological Program (IEP), CALFED, and other organizations, including the Water Boards, conduct some of these analyses, but due to their specific mandates, information gaps may exist. Emerging concerns with contaminants related to the decline of pelagic organisms in the Delta, wastewater treatment plant discharges, agricultural discharges, pesticides, blue-green algae toxicity, and unknown toxicity events all highlight the need for well-coordinated contaminants monitoring. A system is needed for coordinating among monitoring programs and integrating contaminants monitoring into existing monitoring efforts whereby all data are synthesized and assessed on a regular basis. The Strategic Workplan for Activities in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary, which was adopted by the State Water Board, Central Valley Regional Water Board, and San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board, identifies the development of a comprehensive monitoring program for the Delta as a priority action.

The short-term (1-2 years) goal for this action is to establish a framework for regularly gathering, compiling, assessing, and reporting readily available data currently being collected under Water Board programs and external programs, such as the IEP and the Department of Water Resources’ Municipal Water Quality Investigations (MWQI) program. The long-term (3-5 years) goal is to develop a Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) for the Delta. Inherent in both the short and long term efforts is the need to develop a framework for coordinating monitoring and assessment efforts in and around the Delta.

Stakeholder Kick-off Meeting - 30 September 2008

Recognizing that stakeholder involvement and coordination will be critical to the success of the Delta RMP planning effort, Central Valley Regional Water Board staff scheduled a stakeholder kick-off meeting on 30 September 2008. During the initial session of the meeting, staff provided an overview of the impetus for the Delta RMP planning effort, elements of a successful RMP, existing delta monitoring programs, existing regional monitoring program models (e.g., San Francisco Bay RMP), and a facilitated discussion regarding potential constraints that may impede development of the RMP and potential benefits that could be realized should the RMP be successfully implemented. The second session consisted of a summary and further discussion of the key issues (as identified during the first session) that will need to be resolved as the RMP planning effort proceeds forward.

Stakeholder Working Groups

One outcome of the stakeholder kick-off meeting was the formation of stakeholder working groups to assist the Water Boards in addressing the following aspects of the RMP framework: governance, monitoring questions, coordination with other programs, data integration, and funding. In an effort to facilitate this process, the project planning team (comprised of Water Boards and Aquatic Science Center staff, and Dr. Brock Bernstein) will prepare straw-man proposals for each of these issues, which will be provided to the working groups and other interested parties for review and comment.

Governance

Monitoring Questions

Funding

Data Integration

Coordination with Other Programs

Contaminants Synthesis Report

The State Water Board executed a contract with the University of California, Davis to compile a contaminants synthesis report for the Delta, which will be completed in March 2009.

For more information, contact Adam Ballard at (916) 464-4649 or by email at aballard@waterboards.ca.gov.

--Web page last updated 12/08/2009

 
 

The Board is one of six boards, departments, and offices under
the umbrella of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Cal/EPA | ARB | DPR | DTSC | OEHHA | SWRCB