Technical Support and Regulatory Assistance
EPA provides technical support and regulatory assistance for priority activities designed to address water quality and aquatic life protection in the Delta. Recent documents and products are provided below along with technical products that supported setting water quality standards in the mid 1990s.
2016 Chinook Salmon Thermal Tolerance Investigation
EPA funded temperature experiments with fall run Chinook salmon to improve the state of knowledge about thermal performance and thermal tolerance of Central Valley Chinook salmon. Results are available in the final report, Thermal Performance in Juvenile Hatchery Oncorhynchus tshawytscha: Aerobic Scope Tests Over a Range of Environmental Temperatures.
2015 Salinity Gradient and Fish Abundance & Distribution Maps
EPA created maps for six fish species that show changes in abundance and distribution as they relate to seasonal changes in the salinity gradient over a 33-year time period. The maps visualize established salinity-abundance relationships and show how distribution has changed over time in the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary. View the maps
2011 EPA Low Salinity Zone Workshop
EPA convened a technical workshop to evaluate the relationship between the low salinity zone (where marine and freshwater mix) and aquatic life populations including fish, zooplankton, and phytoplankton. Workshop products were provided to the State Water Resources Control Board to use as they consider updates to water quality standards intended to protect aquatic life.
Read the workshop products.
2010 Flow Criteria for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Ecosystem
- Delta Flow Criteria at California State Water Resources Control Board Exit
- Delta Flow Criteria Presentation: Presentation by Dr. Bruce Herbold, EPA R9 Fisheries Biologist, to the State Water Resources Control Board at the March 22 - 24 Delta Flow Criteria hearing.
- Delta Flow Criteria Written Comments: Written comments by Dr. Bruce Herbold, EPA R9 Fisheries Biologist, to the State Water Resources Control Board following the March 22 - 24 Delta Flow Criteria hearing.
2008 California State Water Resources Control Board Strategic Workplan for the Bay-Delta
- Strategic Workplan at California State Water Resources Control Board Exit
- EPA written comments on Bay Delta Strategic Workplan - EPA Comments
- EPA comments at SWRCB March 19, 2008 public workshop on development of San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Strategic Workplan