Statewide Mercury Program
Mercury in California's Waters – Other Mercury Programs in California
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for Mercury in our Waters
The Water Boards adopt and implement comprehensive pollution control plans, known as “total maximum daily loads,” or TMDLs. A TMDL identifies the amount of a pollutant that a water body can hold and still be safe for uses by humans and wildlife.
Completed Mercury TMDLs (including date approved by U.S. EPA)
- Clear Lake Mercury TMDL (Central Valley Region, 2003)
- Guadalupe River Watershed Mercury TMDL (San Francisco Bay Region, 2010)
- Los Angeles Area Lakes TMDLs (Los Angeles Region, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
- Walker Creek Watershed Mercury TMDL (San Francisco Bay Region, 2008)
- Cache Creek, Bear Creek, and Harley Gulch Mercury TMDL (Central Valley Region, 2007)
- Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Methylmercury TMDL (Central Valley Region, 2011)
- San Francisco Bay Mercury TMDL (San Francisco Bay Region, 2008)
- Sulphur Creek Mercury TMDL (Central Valley Region, 2009
Mercury TMDLs in Development
- Big Bear Lake Mercury TMDL (Santa Ana Region)
Fish Consumption Advisories and Other State Efforts to Address Health Effects of Mercury
The California Department of Public Health and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment are educating people who eat local fish, about the types and amounts of fish that are safe and unsafe to eat.
Women of childbearing years and children are most at risk from mercury poisoning. For more information, see Safety Tips for Women and Children and General Health Advice for People Catching and Eating Sport Fish in California.
