Interagency Ecological Program

IEP News

Breaking News!
- The IEP Data Utilization Work Group (DUWG) has completed a new document titled IEP Fish Data Quality Control Best Practices (PDF). This best practices document outlines general considerations and recommended procedures applicable to data review and quality control of fish data. The report can also be found on the IEP DUWG page under the Templates and Guidelines section.
- A Call for Articles for the Spring Volume 42, Issue 2, 2023 IEP Newsletter is now open! Submission deadline is June 15, 2023. Send articles to iep@wildlife.ca.gov.
- The Drought Synthesis Team has released IEP Technical Report #100 - Ecological Impacts of Drought on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (PDF).
  - In this report the authors integrated long-term data from the Interagency Ecological Program's long-term monitoring, as well as other data sources to assess the impacts of droughts on the upper San Francisco Estuary (Suisun Bay, Suisun Marsh, and the Delta). The report describes certain key changes that occur during droughts.
- Congratulations to our Annual IEP Workshop Early Career Award winners for Best Presentation and Best Poster. Don't forget to visit the IEP Poster Forum to check out the posters from the workshop!
Featured Survey
- Smelt Larva Survey – Many native fish use cooler temperatures in winter and early spring to time their spawning activities. Heat stress may be at a minimum this time of year, and seasonally higher stream flows can help disperse pelagic larvae. The Smelt Larva Survey, initiated in January 2009, provides near real-time distribution data for longfin smelt larvae in the Delta, Suisun Bay and Suisun Marsh. These data are used by agency managers to assess vulnerability of longfin smelt larvae to entrainment in south Delta export pumps.
Featured Publications
- The Delta Science Program would like to share that the 2022 edition of the State of Bay-Delta Science (SBDS) is now online in the latest issue of San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science. Seven articles comprise the issue, summarizing the scientific understanding, or “the state of the science,” of plants and algae in the Bay-Delta. Individual articles explore important ecosystem services and disservices, including primary production, the ecology and management of aquatic vegetation, remote sensing methods, harmful algal blooms, and carbon sequestration and subsidence reversal.
  
  Visit the SBDS website to learn more about this ongoing synthesis effort. Included in the SBDS edition are the following articles with IEP data, scientists, and/or authors:
  - Ecosystem Services and Disservices of Bay-Delta Primary Producers: How Plants and Algae Affect Ecosystems and Respond to Management of the Estuary and Its Watershed
    Laurel G. Larsen, Samuel M. Bashevkin, Mairgareth A. Christman, J. Louise Conrad, Clifford N. Dahm, Janet Thompson
  - Landscape Transformation and Variation in Invasive Species Abundance Drive Change in Primary Production of Aquatic Vegetation in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
    Katharyn E. Boyer, Samuel M. Safran, Shruti Khanna, Melissa V. Patten
  - Ecology and Ecosystem Impacts of Submerged and Floating Aquatic Vegetation in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
    Mairgareth A. Christman, Shruti Khanna, Judith Z. Drexler, Matthew J. Young
  - Invasive Aquatic Vegetation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh: The History and Science of Control Efforts and Recommendations for the Path Forward
    J. Louise Conrad, Madison Thomas, Karen Jetter, John Madsen, Paul Pratt, Patrick Moran, John Takekawa, Gina Skurka Darin, Lydia Kenison
  - Remote Sensing of Primary Producers in the Bay–Delta
    Erin Hestir, Iryna Dronova
  - Status, Trends, and Drivers of Harmful Algal Blooms Along the Freshwater-to-Marine Gradient in the San Francisco Bay–Delta System
    Raphael M. Kudela, Meredith D. A. Howard, Stephen Monismith, Hans W. Paerl
  - Carbon Sequestration Subsidence Reversal in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Bay: Management Opportunities for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
    Lisamarie Windham–Myers, Patty Oikawa, Steve Deverel, Dylan Chapple, Judith Z. Drexler, Dylan Stern
Featured Dataset Publications
- The Environmental Monitoring Program at DWR has published their Discrete Water Quality and Phytoplankton Dataset online with the Environmental Data Initiative.
  Here’s the citation:
  - Interagency Ecological Program (IEP), J. Adams, and C. Pien. 2023. Interagency Ecological Program: Discrete water quality and phytoplankton data from the Sacramento River floodplain and Yolo Bypass tidal slough, collected by the Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program, 1998 - 2022 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative.
  - Abstract: The Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program (YBFMP) operates a rotary screw trap and fyke trap and conducts biweekly beach seine and lower trophic surveys in addition to maintaining water quality instrumentation in the bypass. The YBFMP serves to fill information gaps regarding environmental conditions in the bypass that trigger migrations and enhanced survival and growth of native fishes, as well as provide data for IEP synthesis efforts. YBFMP staff also conduct analyses of YBFMP monitoring data to address pertinent management related questions as identified by IEP. The Yolo Bypass has been identified as a high restoration priority by the National Marine Fisheries Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinions for Delta Smelt, Winter and Spring-run Chinook salmon and by California EcoRestore. The YBFMP informs the restoration actions that are mandated or recommended in these plans and provides critical baseline data on the ecology of the bypass and how it interacts with the broader San Francisco Estuary. Program objectives include: Collecting baseline data on water quality, chlorophyll, lower trophic level biota, and fish in the Yolo Bypass to monitor spatial and temporal changes in trends and abundance; Analyzing and communicating Yolo Bypass data with stakeholders and the scientific and management communities to address pertinent management related questions; Providing technical expertise on Yolo Bypass aquatic ecology and monitoring and sampling methods. We collect discrete water quality data using a YSI ProDSS and sample phytoplankton, chlorophyll and nutrients as discrete water grabs taken biweekly (or weekly during Yolo Bypass inundation) along with lower trophic tows. Water is sampled at three sites along the Yolo Bypass and Sacramento River, then processed and analyzed by an internal DWR laboratory.
- Welcome deltafish, which provides easy access to the integrated San Francisco estuary Delta fish dataset. For non-R users, you can find the Deltafish shiny app on the Delta Stewardship Council shiny app page.
- IEP Seasonal Monitoring Report has been updated with 2021 data.
Check out the IEP Calendar for upcoming Project Work Team, Stakeholder Group meetings and other IEP related events!
- May 23 Tidal Wetlands Monitoring PWT Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- June 01 Aquatic Vegetation PWT Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- June 08 FLoAT PWT Meeting 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- June 28 Resident Fishes PWT Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Other Events or News
- Dylan Stompe (CDFW Project Lead on Sturgen Study) was highlighted in an episode of Angler West TV (Video) to discuss sturgeon in the San Francisco Estuary and CDFW's sturgeon tagging program. Questions regarding sturgeon reward tags can be directed to Dylan.Stompe@wildlife.ca.gov.
- Ribbon Weed (Vallisneria australis) is new weed identified in the Delta. A Ribbon Weed Fact Sheet (PDF) provides more information on how to recognize it and report it. Report sightings to Trish Gilbert (Patricia.Gilbert@parks.ca.gov) at the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways.
Frontiers for Young Minds is a platform where kids engage with leading scientists in reviewing cutting-edge research.
- Read the collection of stories written by IEP scientists Where the river meets the ocean - Stories from San Francisco Estuary
IEP Blogs - Make sure to subscribe to receive the latest posts!
- The View from Here - A blog by the IEP Lead Scientist, Steve Culberson
- Views from the Water - A blog by our IEP survey field crew members
- Science Stories: Adventures in Bay-Delta Data - A blog by Rosemary Hartman (DWR), one of IEP's Synthesis Team members
IEP Playlist on YouTube - collection of videos related to various IEP activities
- Follow presentations from the annual IEP Workshops: 2022 Harmful Algal Blooms (Video)
- Follow workshop from our IEP partner agencies: Delta Smelt Individual Based Model Workshop (Video)
- Follow presentations on our IEP Monitoring & Synthesis efforts
IEP on Twitter
- Follow posts from our IEP Lead Scientist, Steve Culberson(opens in new tab)
- Follow posts from our IEP Monitoring Programs(opens in new tab)