Sacramento River

Two major rivers in California influenced by a Mediterranean climate are the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. The Sacramento River drains 72,132 km with a relief of 4,317 m. Mean discharge is 650 m /s with peak flows in the winter and early spring and with minimum flows in the late summer and early fall. The San Joaquin River drains 83,409 km with a relief of 4,418 m. Mean discharge is 130 m /s with peak flows in spring and low flows in late summer and fall. Population density is 24 people/km in the Sacramento River basin and 29 people/km in the San Joaquin basin. Agriculture in the Central Valley of California that encompasses parts of both basins is the primary user of water in both basins [1]. 

Fig. 1 Map of the Delta in central California, USA with the California state map inset to show location within the state. The Delta is formed at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. Export of water from the Delta occurs mainly from the State Water Project pumping plant and the Central Valley Project pumping plant in the south Delta...

The water supply to the Delta comes predominantly from the Sacramento River ( 80%) with lesser amounts from the San Joaquin River ( 15%) and rivers on the east side of the Delta ( 5%). Year-to-year variability in water supply is large. Combined average annual unimpaired runoff (an estimate of flows without upstream dams or diversions) for the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers for the past century ranges from 6.2 km in 1977 to 68 km in 1983 [2]. The percentage of freshwater flows that go to San Francisco Bay are estimated to be 87% in wet years, 69% in average years, and 51% in dry years. Climate variability associated with the Mediterranean chmate of the region is an essential component of the Delta ecosystem. 

Another manifestation of climate warming can be seen in the timing and volume of spring runoff from the Sacramento River [4, 33]. River flows are peaking earlier in the year compared to the early twentieth century (about 3 weeks earlier on... 

Wright SA, Schoellhamer DH (2004) Trends in the sediment yield of the Sacramento River, California, 1957-2001. San Francisco Estuary Watershed Sci 2(2) Article 2. http // repositories.cdlib.org/Jmie/sfews... 

Domagalski J. 1998. Occurrence and transport of total mercury and methyl mercury in the Sacramento River Basin, California. J Geochem Explor 64 277-291. 

San Joaquin River whole 1984-85 5 species 1986 5 species 1986-87 7 species whole Sacramento River San Francisco Bay San Joaquin River... 

Soil with elevated content of these elements occurs along the Sacramento River in both levee and adjacent flood basin settings. We interpret that transport of sediment impacted by large metal sulfide mines located in the Klamath Mountains at the north end of the Valley has caused this pattern. 

Our results demonstrate significant spatial differentiation in the geochemistry of Sacramento Valley soil between the eastern and western sides of the valley that is related to the geomorphic separation of the valley by a levee along the Sacramento River. The western valley contains an elevated component of material derived from ultramafic rocks compared to the eastern side. 

Dasgupta S, Cheplick JM, Denton DL, Troyan JJ, Williams WM (2008) Predicted runoff loads of permethrin to the Sacramento river and its tributaries. In Gan J, Spurlock F, Hendley P, Weston DP (eds) Synthetic pyrethroids. Occurrence and behavior in aquatic environments, Chap 11. ACS Symposium Series 991, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, pp 223-237... 

Mackay and Wolkoff (1973) estimated an evaporation half-life of 10.1 d from a surface water body that is 25 °C and 1 m deep. Singmaster (1975) studied the rate of volatilization of aldrin (1 ng/L) in a flask filled with 0.9 L water obtained from California. The flask was gently stirred and an air stream was passed over the air-water interface. He reported volatilization half-lives of 0.38, 0.59, and 0.60 h from San Francisco Bay, American River, and Sacramento River, respectively. 

State of California (1962). Sacramento River Water Pollution Survey Bill No. Ill, Department of Water Resources, Sacramento. 

The sea water used in these experiments was San Francisco Bay water collected at the laboratory s salt water supply intake on the pier at the Richmond Field Station. Because of the diluting and polluting effect of the Sacramento River as well as other effluents dumped into the bay, the salinity of bay water at Richmond varies widely during the tide cycle. In order to obtain water of maximum salinity, the intake pump is controlled by float switches and permits the pump to operate only at or near high tide for approximately 3 hours in 24. Even with this limited pumping schedule the... 

Figure 8.13 Flow diagram and photograph of a 12 MMscfd membrane nitrogen removal plant installed on a high-nitrogen gas well in the Sacramento River Delta region of California. Reproduced with permission from Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47 (7), 2109-2121. Copyright 2008 American Chemical Society [17].

C. Heavy metal discharges into Shasta Lake and Keswick Reservoirs on the Upper Sacramento River, California a reconnaissance during low flow. U. S. Geol. Survey Open-File Report 76-49, 25 p. (1977). 

Domagalski J. (2001) Mercury and methylmercuiy in water and sediment of the Sacramento river basin, California. Appl. Geochem. 16, 1677-1691. 

On July 14, 1991, a train derailment resulted in the spill of approximately 13,000 gal of the soil fumigant sodium metham (Vapam) to the Sacramento River, 70 km upstream from Shasta Lake, California s largest reservoir. The spill killed almost all aquatic life in the river. 

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board urgently needs your advice, both as to the maximum concentrations of metham that will be encountered at different points along the Sacramento River, and as to the total load that will enter Shasta Lake. 

Consider some useful information the Sacramento River has a discharge of 75,000 liter/min, a mean depth of 0.3 m, a pH of 7.8, a mean width of 1.2 m, and a dispersion coefficient 1.6 X 102 m2/min. Sodium metham has a commercial formulation of 33% by weight sodium salt of metham, a density of commercial formulation = 1 g/ml, and a molecular weight of 129.2 g/mol for sodium salt of metham. 

We view this series of studies as an essential prototype for the entire development and validation process. For example, we have also completed a similar study for molinate using an improved format to analyze low concentration samples obtained from the Sacramento River and associated drainage canals. We are also using this prototype in the development and validation of our assays for triazines (22) Our experience in the validation of the molinate assay, especially our understanding of the quality control problems, has been crucial to our successful transfer of the triazine assays to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and other laboratories for routine application to environmental samples. 

Molinate. The thiolcarbamate molinate also appeared to be a good target for ELISA but for different reasons than existed for paraquat. The herbicide is used extensively on rice in the Sacramento Valley and each year is detected as a contaminant in drainwaters from the field and in the Sacramento River. There are many water samples taken each year for molinate analysis and some other chemicals used for pest control on rice. Thus, an ELISA could be put to immediate use supplementing or perhaps replacing entirely the conventional method based upon extraction of water, followed by GC analysis of the extract. 

As an example of the application of the equations proposed herein, consider the phytoplankton and zooplankton population observed at Mossdale Bridge on the San Joaquin River in California during the two years 1966-1967. Mossdale is located approximately 40 miles from the confluence of the San Joaquin and the Sacramento Rivers. The data presented below have been supplied to the authors by the Department of Water Resources, State of California (64), as part of an ongoing project to assess the effects of proposed nutrient loads and flow diversions on the water quality of the San Francisco Bay Delta. A more complete report of this investigation is forthcoming (62). 

Holden C Love Canal residents under stress. Science 208 1242-1244,1980 Hopwood DG, Guidotti TL Recall bias in exposed subjects following a toxic exposure incident. Arch Environ Health 43 234-237,1988 Kreutzer RA, Hewitt DJ, Sun R, et al A community-based epidemiologic study of acute health effects from a metam-sodium spill on California s Sacramento River. Toxicol Ind Health 12 267-275, 1996... 

Angeles, for example, spent 220 million dollars to bring Colorado River water more than 300 miles from Parker Dam. Ohio, with some 400 reservoirs already, plans more. Texas has more than 40 major surface storage facilities with a total capacity of over 13 million acre-ft. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation now proposes its 3 billion dollar basin development plan for California s Central Valley applying the multiple-purpose philosophy to the entire basin, the bureau envisions 38 reservoirs, plus dams, power plants, transmission lines, pumping stations, and hundreds of miles of transfer canals. This plan would conserve the water resources of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers and of the Central Valley Basin as a whole. 

Byard, 1. L. (1999). The impact of rice pe.sticides on the aquatic ecosystems of the Sacramento River and Delta (California). Rev. Envirrm. Cowrani. Toxicol. IS9, 95-110. 

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