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Reports
Quick Links
The Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) has focused its statewide efforts on two critical assessment needs: fish consumption safety in fishable waters (Bioaccumulation Monitoring Program) and aquatic ecosystem health in streams and rivers (Bioassessment Monitoring Program and Stream Pollution Trends [SPoT] Monitoring Program). The matrix below identifies beneficial use and waterbody type(s) currently assessed by the SWAMP statewide programs. The SWAMP is collaborating with partners that measure other waterbody types and beneficial uses through the California Water Quality Monitoring Council (CWQMC). The CWQMC has implemented a single point of access to organized monitoring data, assessment products, and useful background information through theme-based portals on the My Water Quality web page.
| Beneficial Uses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterbody Type | "Aquatic Ecosystem Health" | “Fishable” | “Swimmable” | “Drinkable” |
| Wadeable Streams | Bioassessment (PSA/RCMP) Toxicity (water) |
Bacteria Monitoring | ||
| Large Rivers | SPoT (sediment) | Bacteria Monitoring | ||
| Lakes & Reservoirs | Toxicity (water) | Bioaccumulation (BOG) | Bacteria Monitoring | |
| Estuaries | Bioaccumulation (BOG) | |||
| Ocean, Coastal, Bays | Toxicity (water) | Bioaccumulation (BOG) | ||
| Wetlands | ||||
Acronyms: BOG - Bioaccumulation Oversight Group, PSA - Perennial Streams Assessment, RCMP - Reference Condition Management Plan, SPoT - Stream Pollution Trends Monitoring
Achievements
The Achievements Report highlights recent accomplishments of the SWAMP and its partners, framing the many projects SWAMP is a part of in the context of their value to the State of California and the public at large. The Achievements Report also describes how monitoring data have been used to answer critical water quality questions pertaining to California’s surface waters and how this information has been conveyed to resource managers and the public. Program activities are organized under the following categories: Monitoring, Assessments, Communication, Comparability, Coordination, and Management Decisions.
Bioaccumulation Monitoring Program
The goal of the Bioaccumulation Monitoring Program is to address the “Fishable” beneficial use through surveys of contaminant concentrations in fish tissue throughout waters of the state. The Bioaccumulation Oversight Group (BOG) serves as the advising body for SWAMP’s fish tissue monitoring program. Sampling occurs on a five-year cycle, rotating between lakes and reservoirs, coastal waters, and rivers and streams. The following reports are currently available:
- Lakes & Reservoirs
- Coastal Waters
- Streams & Rivers
- Is It Safe to Eat Fish and Shellfish from our Waters? - On My Water Quality Website
- Bioaccumulation of Pollutants in California Waters
A Review of Historic Data and Assessment of Impacts on Fishing and Aquatic Life – October 2007 - State Mussel Watch (SMW) and Toxic Substances Monitoring (TSM) Program Publications
Information about “historic” tissue monitoring, 1976 – 2003
Bioassessment Monitoring Program
PSA | RCMP | External Review | CABW & Other Bioassessment Links
Perennial Streams Assessment (PSA)
The PSA is an ongoing, long-term statewide survey of the ecological condition of wadeable perennial streams and rivers throughout California. The PSA is funded by SWAMP and other partners, including the USEPA and the Water Boards’ Nonpoint Source program. The PSA collects samples for biological indicators (benthic macroinvertebrates, algae) and chemical constituents (nutrients, major ions, etc.), and conducts habitat assessments (both for in-stream and riparian corridor conditions). The PSA has produced numerous reports and other products, including:
- 8-Year PSA Report: Ecological Condition Assessments of California's Perennial Wadeable Streams (2000 through 2007): Novel use
of probability surveys to assess the condition of streams draining agricultural, urban, and forested landscapes.
No time to read the whole report? Below are four memoranda summarizing major findings from the SWAMP Perennial Streams Assessment: - Synthesis Report: Integrating probability and targeted survey designs in regional stream condition assessments with examples from southern coastal California – November 2009
- 6-Year PSA Report: Ecological Condition Assessments of California's Perennial Wadeable Streams (2000 through 2006) – October 2007
- Water Quality Assessment Report of the Condition of California Coastal Waters and Wadeable Streams (Clean Water Act, Section 305(b) Report) – October 2006
- 4-Year PSA Report: Probabilistic Assessment of the Biotic Condition of Perennial Streams and Rivers in California – August 2005
- Condition Assessment of Coastal Streams in Southern and Central California – Final Report – July 2004
- Assessing the Health of Southern California Streams
Reference Condition Management Program (RCMP)
The RCMP, funded primarily by SWAMP, is California’s program for establishing and maintaining a network of stream and river “reference sites,” and using this network to establish “reference conditions” for wadeable perennial streams and rivers throughout California. The RCMP plays a central role in developing assessment thresholds for biotic integrity and in establishing biological objectives, and is supplemented by reference programs of several partner agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, etc.
- Recommendations for the Development and Maintenance of a Reference Condition Management Program (RCMP) to support Biological Assessment of California's Wadeable Streams – March 2009
- Adaptation of a reference site selection methodology to creeks and sloughs of California’s Sacramento Valley and alternative strategies for developing a regional bioassessment framework – March 2005
External Reviews of California’s Freshwater Bioassessment Programs
- Evaluation of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Bioassessment Program – Final Report to USEPA, by C. Yoder, Center for Applied Bioassessment & Biocriteria, and R. Plotnikoff, Tetra Tech, Inc. – May 2009
- The Status and Future of Biological Assessment for California Streams – by M. Barbour and C. Hill, Tetra Tech, Inc. – January 2003
Tools for Assessing the Biological Integrity of Surface Waters
Methods for Conducting Bioassessments in Freshwater Streams and Rivers
Other Available Reports about Bioassessment
- Comparisons of Targeted-riffle and Reach-wide Benthic Macroinvertebrate Samples: implications for data sharing in stream-condition assessments, by A.C. Rehn, P.R. Ode, and C.P. Hawkins, JNABS 2007
- Comparison of the Performance of Bioassessment Methods: similar evaluations of biotic integrity from separate programs and procedures, by D.B. Herbst and E.L. Silldorff, JNABS 2006
- National Stream Report – link to USEPA’s nationwide Wadeable Streams Assessment
Useful Bioassessment Links and Resources
- Aquatic Ecosystem Health of Streams, Rivers & Lakes 'My Water Quality' Web Portal
- Biological Objectives webpage (standards for freshwater wadeable streams & rivers)
- California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (CABW) meetings & products:
- 2012 – 19th Annual Meeting – November 7-8, 2012, UC Davis
- 2011 – 18th Annual Meeting – November 9-10, 2011, UC Davis
- 2010 – 17th Annual Meeting – November 16-17, 2010, UC Davis
- 2009 – 16th Annual Meeting – October 28-29, 2009, UC Davis
- 2008 – 15th Annual Meeting – November 19-20, 2008, UC Davis
- 2007 – 14th Annual Meeting – November 29-30, 2007, UC Davis
- 2006 – 13th Annual Meeting – November 29-30, 2006, UC Davis
- 2005 – 12th Annual Meeting – November 1-2, 2005, UC Davis
- 2004 – 11th Annual Meeting – November 30 & December 1, 2004, UC Davis
- 2003 – 10th Annual Meeting – December 2-4, 2003, Sacramento
- Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists (SAFIT)
- Western Center for Monitoring & Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems – link to Utah State University’s biomonitoring Website
Stream Pollution Trends (SPoT) Monitoring Program
The SPoT project, funded primarily by SWAMP, monitors trends in sediment toxicity and sediment contaminant concentrations in selected large rivers throughout California, and relates contaminant concentrations to watershed land uses.
- Initial Trends in Chemical Contamination, Toxicity and Land Use in California Watersheds – Field Years 2009-2010
This report covers the second annual survey and identifies trends of toxicity and chemical contamination, and the watershed land uses associated with their presence in California streams. The report also covers Regional trends for the same study period. - From the Water Boards' Performance Report 2011 - Are our Aquatic Ecosystems Healthy? - Toxicity in some of our streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas summarized in a map presentation.
- Statewide Perspective on Chemicals of Concern and Connections between Stream Water Quality and Land Use - Field Year 2008
This report covers the first annual survey and identifies chemicals of concern and the watershed land uses associated with their presence in California streams. The data collected can be used in a space-for-time-swap approach to estimate the effect that further land use change (such as increasing urbanization) would have on stream water quality in California. - SWAMP Statewide Stream Contaminant Trend Monitoring at Integrator Sites – July 2008
- SPoT Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) – July 2012
Special Studies
Coastal Studies
- Characterization of the rocky intertidal ecological communities associated with southern California Areas of Special Biological Significance - May 2012
- Assessing water quality in Marine Protected Areas from Southern California, USA - 2011
- Status of California’s Marine Water Quality Protected Areas - September 2010
- Water Boards' Performance Report 2011 - Are our Aquatic Ecosystems Healthy?
This section includes information about toxicity in some of our coastal areas. - Watershed-scale Evaluation of Agricultural BMP Effectiveness in Protecting Critical Coastal Habitats - April 2010
- Pilot Study Areas of Special Biological Significance - Winter 2007–2008
- National Coastal Condition Report III (2008) (USEPA Link)
Constituents of Emerging Concern
Specific Stressors
- Co-occurrence of Pesticides and Aquatic Species, 2012; Breuer, R., D. Denton, W.M. Williams, C.G. Hoogeweg and M. Zhang. Prioritizing Research Needs for Threatened and Endangered Species in California Watersheds, Chapter 22; American Chemical Society (ACS) Symposium Series 1111
- Bacteria Monitoring Inventory of California's Freshwater Beaches – March 2008
- Screening California Surface Waters for Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EEDC) with a Juvenile Rainbow Trout Liver Vitellogenin mRNA Procedure - October 2006
- From the Water Boards' Performance Report 2011 - Are our Aquatic Ecosystems Healthy?
Toxicity in some of our streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas summarized in a map presentation. - Toxicity in California Waters - Complete report of nine years of toxicity testing data collected by SWAMP and partner programs - October 2011
- Toxicity in California Waters, Regional Toxicity Reports - August 2012
- Statewide Investigation of the Role of Pyrethroid Pesticide in Sediment Toxicity in California's Urban Waterways - August 2008
- Toxicity Testing and Toxicity Identification Evaluation Final Report - April 2007
Wetland Studies
- The Status of Perennial Estuarine Wetlands in the State of California, Sept 2008 (Full Report) | Fact Sheet
- California Wetlands Portal - On My Water Quality Website
SWAMP Statewide Planning Documents
- 2010 SWAMP Strategy: Update to the SWAMP’s Comprehensive Monitoring and Assessment Strategy to Protect and Restore California’s Water Quality – December 2010
- 2010 SWAMP Strategy (full report with appendices)
- 2010 SWAMP Strategy (report only)
- Appendices
- 2005 SWAMP Strategy: This was SWAMP’s 5-7 year “business plan” – October 2005
- Review of California’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program: Final report from the external Scientific Planning and Review Committee (SPARC) – May 2006
- Science Support for the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program by R. Hoenicke, S. Lowe, and J. Davis of the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) – April 2008
- State Water Board's 2000 Report to the Legislature proposing a ‘Comprehensive Ambient Surface Water Quality Monitoring Program’
SWAMP Newsletters, Brochure, Statewide Fact Sheets, and Posters
- SWAMP Monitor Newsletters
- SWAMP Brochure
- Statewide Fact Sheets
- Regional Fact Sheets
- SWAMP Posters
- California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN) Summary Poster
- Program Goals and Vision
- Improving Quality Assurance Programs with an Expert System (SWAMP Advisor)
- California Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP) for Perennial Streams
- (SWAMP) San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) 2004
- San Francisco Bay RWQCB Seasonal Water Temperature Study (Summer 2005)
- A Rapid Trash Assessment Applied to Waters for the San Francisco Bay Region: Trash Measurement in Streams (2004)
Webinars and Powerpoint Presentations
Regional Reports and Documents
