Freshwater quality monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area: Biennial report on water years 2015 and 2016

Wallitner, Katie; Pincetich, Angela

The National Park Service (NPS) San Francisco Bay Area Network (SFAN) Inventory and Monitoring Program monitors freshwater streams in John Muir National Historic Site (JOMU), Muir Woods National Monument (MUWO), Pinnacles National Park (PINN), Point Reyes National Seashore (PORE), and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GOGA). SFAN vital signs, or indicators of ecosystem health, represent a suite of ecological phenomena operating at a range of temporal and spatial scales. SFAN managers and specialists ranked freshwater quality as one of the most important vital signs. SFAN units support highly-valued aquatic resources that are significant in an ecological and economic context, including many federally protected species. Water years (WYs) run from October 1st to September 30th of each year. This report summarizes water quality data from 30 SFAN sites monitored during WYs 2015 and 2016 (10/1/2014 – 9/30/2016), including nine sites in PORE, eight in PINN, seven in GOGA, and six in JOMU. During WYs 2015-2016, NPS staff made a total of 593 site visits; visits occurred monthly and additionally during storm events. During these visits staff collected data for select water quality parameters, employing the methods set forth in the peer-reviewed SFAN Freshwater Quality Monitoring Protocol (Cooprider and Carson 2006). Core parameters measured in the field included temperature (air and water), dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and turbidity. Samples collected in the field were tested for pathogenic indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli [E. coli] and total coliform) and nutrient parameters (nitrate as nitrogen and total Kjeldahl nitrogen [TKN]). Staff conducted fecal coliform sampling at the Olema Creek watershed sites as well, following a schedule set by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (RWQCB) Tomales Bay Pathogen Total Maximum Daily Load program. Only half of the SFAN freshwater quality parameters have established objectives put in place by the RWQCBs or the United States Environmental Protection Agency; other parameters (temperature, specific conductance, turbidity, and nitrate) do not have established water quality objectives, and are compared to ecological objectives drawn from scientific literature. In this report, the percentage of results that fail to meet any type of objective will be referred to as the failure rate. Monitoring during WYs 2015 and 2016 produced a snapshot of water quality conditions in eight watersheds (in four NPS units). Due to the two-year rotating basin design of the SFAN Freshwater Quality Monitoring Protocol, this specific set of 30 sites will not be monitored again until WYs 2019-2020 (Cooprider and Carson 2006). The only exception to the rotating basin design is the set of six Olema Creek watershed sites, which require year-round monitoring under the Tomales Bay Pathogen TMDL Program. During WYs 2017-2018, this freshwater quality monitoring program will continue at 25 sites within PORE, MUWO, and GOGA.

Freshwater quality monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area: Biennial report on water years 2015 and 2016

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