Bond Freeze Projects Restarted!

We’re pleased to announce the July 1 restart of most Science Program research grants and contracts that were stopped by the December 2008 bond freeze. We expect our allotment from the recent bond sales to keep our projects going for 6 to 12 months.









State-mandated Suspension Freezes CALFED Science Research

As required by the state of California, CALFED issued suspensions on December 19, 2008, to recipients of 56 research grants and fellowships totaling $22 million. Scientific research is critical for expanding and improving our understanding of the Bay-Delta ecosystem, which is crucial to inform and support water and ecosystem management actions. An extended break in this research could have tremendous impacts on our ability to continue this learning process and support decision-making.



Details of impact on Science Program Research

Research has been suspended for management-relevant Bay-Delta priorities such as Chinook salmon and delta smelt population modeling, ammonium effects on Delta food webs, climate change modeling, mercury effects and the impacts of invasive species. Thirty-two postdoctoral and doctoral students have had their funding suspended. Research teams and groups have had to disband and young scientists are seeking alternative employment. Link here to see a comprehensive list of the projects affected including a short project description and some repercussions of the freeze on the projects.


All Science Program Research Projects Affected by Bond Freeze

P.I. Last Name Project Title PSP/Fellow Year
Science Program Research Grants
Brandes Estimating Juvenile Chinook Salmon Spring and Winter Run Abundance at Chipps Island 2006 PSP
Castillo Pilot Mark-Recapture Study to Estimate Delta Smelt Pre-screen Loss and Salvage Efficiency 2006 PSP
Castillo Pilot Mark-Recapture Study II: transgenerational marking of cultured fish N/A
Drexler Peat Accretion (RePeat) 2007 PSP
Dugdale Do Low Phytoplankton Growth Rates Signal the "Bad" Habitat Conditions in Suisun Bay Driving the Pelagic Organism Decline? 2006 and 2007 PSP's
Dunne How Abiotic Processes, Biotic Processes, and Their Interactions Sustain Habitat Characteristics and Functions in River Channels and Their Floodplains: An Investigation of the Response of A Gravel-Bed Reach of the Merced River to Restoration. 2004 and 2007 PSP's
Guerin The Consequences of Operational Decisions on Water Quality: Reconciling Delta Smelt, Salmon, and Human Needs 2006 PSP
Hendrix A Statistical Model of Central Valley Chinook Incorporating Uncertainty 2004 PSP
Ingram Salmon Rearing in the SF Bay-Delta System: Identification of Geochemical Markers to Determine Delta Use 2004 and 2007 PSP's
Kimmerer Modeling the Delta Smelt Population of the San Francisco Estuary 2004 PSP
Kimmerer Foodweb Support for the Delta Smelt 2004 and 2007 PSP's
Klimley Survival and Migratory Pattern of Central Valley Juvenile Salmonids 2004 and 2007 PSP's
Kueltz Quantitative Indicators and Life History Implications of Environmental Stress on Sturgeon (2006 PSP) 2006 PSP
Lehman Biomass and Toxicology of a Newly Established Bloom of the Cyanobacteria Microcystis Aeruginosa and its Potential Impact on Beneficial Use in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 2004 PSP
Lehman Using FlowCam Technology to Measure High Frequency Spatial and Temporal Variation in Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Monitoring Programs 2006 PSP
Mangel Life History Variation in Steelhead Trout and the Implications for Water Management 2004 and 2007 PSP's
May Predicting the Effects of Invasive Hydrozoa (Jellyfish) on Pelagic Organisms Under Changing Salinity and Temperature Regimes 2006 PSP
Messer Spatial and Temporal Quantification of Pesticide Loadings to the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River, and Bay-Delta to Guide Risk Assessment for Sensitive Species 2006 PSP
Messer Analysis of Archived Samples to Assess Patterns of Historic Invasive Bivalve Biomass 2006 PSP
Mueller-Solger Phytoplankton communities in the San Francisco Estuary: monitoring and management using a submersible spectrofluorometer 2004 PSP
Parker Climate Change Impacts to San Francisco Bay-Delta Wetlands: Links to Pelagic Food Webs and Predictive Responses Based on Landscape Modeling 2006 PSP
Sedlak Identifying the Causes of Feminization of Chinook Salmon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Systems 2004 PSP
Stacey A Calibration-Free Approach to Modeling Delta Flows and Transport 2006 PSP
Stacey The Transport and Dispersion of Rafting Vegetation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 2006 PSP
Torres A Non-Point Source of Contaminants to the Estuarine Food Web 2006 PSP
Science Program Fellows
Barnett-Johnson Linking Freshwater Sources of California Chinook Salmon to Their Ocean Distribution Using Physical and Natural Tags of Origin 2009 Fellow
Brander Endocrine Disruption in the Delta: Confirming Sites' Known Estrogenicity with Outplants, Histology and Choriogenin Level Measurements 2008 Fellow
Buck Copper-binding Organic Ligands in the San Francisco Bay Estuary: Evaluating Current and Future Likelihood of Copper Toxicity Events in a Perturbed Ecosystem 2009 Fellow
Chang Effects of Freshwater Flow and Population Connectivity on Benthic Community Dynamics in the San Francisco Estuary 2009 Fellow
Clemento Validation of a New Method for Population Assessment of Pacific Salmonids Using Genetic Markers 2006 Fellow
Das Investigating the Frequency and Magnitude of Floods in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valleys Under Changing Climate 2009 Fellow
Feinstein Frequency, Distribution, and Ecological Impact of Cryptic Hybrid Invaders: Management Tools for Eradication of Invasive Spartina 2009 Fellow
Fremier Modeling Physical Drivers and Age Structure of Cottonwood Forest Habitat: An Integrated System Approach 2008 Fellow
Ger Trophic Impacts of Microcystis on Crustacean Zooplankton Community of the Delta 2009 Fellow
Harrison Modeling Nutrient and Organic Carbon Loads and Sources in Central Valley Watersheds: Taking Existing Monitoring Data to the Next Stage 2005 Fellow
Heady Effects of Water Temperature, Streamflow and Flood Availability on the Growth, Survival and Movement of Central Valley Juvenile Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss )with Implications for Water Management 2005 Fellow
Hughes Environmental Water: Developing Indicators and Identifying Opportunities 2008 Fellow
Kiparsky Climate Change and In-Stream Flows: Methods for Application of Risk Analysis to Modeling of Environmental Water Supplies 2009 Fellow
Lang Investigating the Lower Trophic Levels of the Suisun Bay Food Web: a Biomarker-Specific Isotope Approach 2008 Fellow
Langridge Addressing Stakeholder Concerns: Pests and Pest Control in the Sacramento River Conservation Area 2005 Fellow
Luengen Mercury Interactions With Algae: Effects On Mercury Bioavailability in the San Francisco Bay Delta 2006 Fellow
Matella Scenarios for Restoring Ecologically Functional Floodplains and Providing Flood Control Services in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 2009 Fellow
Mioni Environmental Controls on the Distribution of Harmful Algae and Their Toxins in San Francisco Bay, California 2009 Fellow
Parker Heterotrophic bacteria and the foodweb of the low salinity zone and salt marsh habitats of the San Francisco estuary 2006 Fellow
Perry Estimating Route-Specific Survival and Distribution of Juvenile Salmonids Migrating Through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta 2006 Fellow
Sandstrom Sacramento River Steelhead Trout: An Assessment of Behavioral Differences and Contributions of Hatchery and Wild Stocks 2009 Fellow
Schile Tidal Wetland Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the SF Bay Delta 2008 Fellow
Schroeter Temporal and Spatial Patterns in Abundance and Production in Pelagic Organisms in the Low Salinity Zone (Suisan Marsh, Bay and Delta) of the San Francisco Estuary with Insight into Trophic Position and Impacts of Alien Invasive Species 2006 Fellow
Seavy Measuring and Predicting the Success of Riparian Restoration for Wildlife Populations: Accommodating Uncertainty and Complexity 2006 Fellow
Stella Restoring Non-Equilibrium Riparian Communities in Disturbance-Altered Ecosystems: Implications for River Management and Climate Change 2005 Fellow
Street Reconstructing Climate Variability, Acidity, and Water Availability in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Watershed Based on Isotopic Evidence in Sediments from Swamp Lake Yosemite 2009 Fellow
Sullivan Prey Selection of Larval and Juvenile Planktivorous Fish in the San Francisco Estuary 2006 Fellow
Ulrich Pilot-Scale Evaluation of an Iron Sediment Amendment for Control of Mercury Methylation in Tidal Wetlands 2009 Fellow
Weiskel Nutrients and Benthic Invasion Dynamics in SF Bay 2008 Fellow
Whitcraft Role of Exotics as Ecosystem Engineers Affecting Estuarine Food Webs in Suisun Marsh 2006 Fellow
Winder Plankton Dynamics in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Long-term Trends and Trophic Interactions 2009 Fellow
Woodley The Impacts of Global Climate Change on Delta Fishes: Predicting Fish Abundance, Distribution and Community Changes 2006 Fellow