Bioaccumulation Oversight Group

Quick Links Membership | Meetings | Monitoring Programs & Reports | Documents | More Information Announcements May 24, 2012 - The State Water Resources Control Board’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) released the final report and fact sheet on a two-year survey of contaminants in fish on the California coast. The complete set of documents related to this report is available here. August 30, 2011 - The State Water Resources Control Board’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) released the Monitoring Plan and the Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) for a statewide screening survey of contaminants in sport fish from California Rivers and Streams. To view these files go to California River and Stream Contamination Study in Sport Fish Background The Water Boards' Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) formed a subcommittee, the Bioaccumulation Oversight Group (BOG), to develop plans for and guide implementation of SWAMP bioaccumulation monitoring. The California Water Quality Monitoring Council designated the BOG as its work group for assessing "Is it safe to eat fish and shellfish from our waters?" and directed this work group to develop an Internet portal devoted to this theme. The BOG is currently collecting and analyzing fish tissue for methylmercury, PCBs, and other bioaccumulated pollutants and assessing these data to evaluate the impact of contaminants on the use of California waters for fishing. The BOG also assessed data from historic Toxic Substance Monitoring (TSM) and State Mussel Watch (SMW) programs, as part of a thorough review of past bioaccumulation monitoring in California. In 2012 the BOG began a study of methylmercury bioaccumulation in birds on California lakes and reservoirs. Other BOG activities include development of an overarching strategy for bioaccumulation monitoring in California and development of a plan for screening for biotoxins. The BOG has convened a Bioaccumulation Peer Review Panel to provide evaluation and peer review of the bioaccumulation program. The members of the Panel are internationally-recognized authorities on bioaccumulation monitoring. Workgroup Charter

Membership

Chair

• Jay Davis - San Francisco Estuary Institute

Participating State Agencies

• Rich Fadness, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Karen Taberski, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Karen Worcester, Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Michael Lyons - Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Chris Foe - Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Tom Suk - Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Lilian Busse, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Lori Webber, State Water Resources Control Board
• Jennifer Salisbury - State Water Resources Control Board
• Jon Marshack - State Water Resources Control Board (Monitoring Council Coordinator)
• Bob Brodberg - Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
• Dave Crane - California Department of Fish and Game
• Gail Cho - California Department of Fish and Game
• Gary Ichikawa - California Department of Fish and Game

Participating Federal Agencies

• Terry Fleming - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Tom Maurer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Other Participating Organizations

• Autumn Bonnema - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
• Cassandra Lamerdin - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
• Marco Sigala - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
• Eric von der Geest - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
• Ken Schiff - Southern California Coastal Water Research Project

SWAMP Bioaccumulation Peer Review Panel

• Jim Wiener - Distinguished Professor, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
• Chris Schmitt - USGS, Columbia, Missouri
• Harry Ohlendorf - CH2M Hill, Sacramento, California

Meetings

• Agendas and Support Material |  2011  |  2010  |  2009  |  2008 

Monitoring Programs & Reports

• Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) of the California Water Boards
  Fish tissue contaminant monitoring by SWAMP occurs on a five-year cycle rotating between lakes, coastal waters, and streams. The following reports are currently available:
  • Coastal Waters: Screening Study of Bioaccumulation in California, 2009 (May 2011)
  • Lakes and Reservoirs: Screening Study of Contaminants in Fish from California Lakes and Reservoirs, 2007-2008 (June 2010)
  • Bioaccumulation of Pollutants in California Waters: A Review of Historic Data and Assessment of Impacts on Fishing and Aquatic Life (1978-2003)
  • Regional Monitoring Program for the San Francisco Estuary: Chemical Concentrations in Fish Tissues from Selected Reservoirs and Coastal Areas in the San Francisco Bay Region
• Historic SWAMP Monitoring Efforts
  • State Mussel Watch (SMW) and Toxic Substances Monitoring (TSM) Program
    A statewide program of the State Water Resources Control Board that monitored pollutants in fish and invertebrates in freshwater and estuarine habitats from 1976 to 2003. The TSMP primarily targeted water bodies with known or suspected water quality impairments, and identified and documented many hotspots of contamination.
  • Coastal Fish Contamination Program (CFCP)
    A statewide bioaccumulation monitoring program from 1998 to 2003 that was developed to assess the health risks of consumption of sport fish and shellfish from nearshore waters along the entire California coast. The CFCP was considered to be a critical component of a comprehensive coastal water quality protection program, and an important opportunity to build a long-term coastal monitoring database for water quality and contaminants in fish
    
• Other Related Monitoring Efforts
  • San Francisco Estuary Regional Monitoring Program
    A long-term monitoring program that has measured contaminants in many species of sport fish from San Francisco Bay from 1994 to the present. Sampling is performed every three years.
  • The Fish Mercury Project
    A three-year project funded by CALFED that sampled many species in many water bodies throughout the Central Valley from 2005 to 2007 in support of advisory development.
  • Coastal Fish Contamination Program
    A statewide bioaccumulation monitoring program of the State Water Resources Control Board that assessed the health risks of consumption of sport fish and shellfish from nearshore waters along the entire California coast from 1998 to 2003.
  • Palos Verdes Shelf - Fish Contamination in Southern California
    A long-term federal monitoring program of the Environmental Protection Agency that includes monitoring, public outreach and clean-up off of the Palos Verdes Shelf in Southern California.

Documents

• California Rivers and Streams
• California Coast (May 2011)
• California Lakes and Reservoirs (June 2010)

More Information

• For additional information on the Bioaccumulation Oversight Group, please email Jennifer Salisbury or phone (916) 341-5553.

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( Updated 5/22/12 )