The San Francisco Estuary Institute is a nonprofit specializing in aquatics and ecosystems support. SFEI provides scientific data and tools for decision-making and communication through collaborative efforts. They advise federal, state, and regional agencies as well as business and NGO leaders.
SFEI started in 1986 as the Aquatic Habitat Institute (AHI). Substantial dispute existed at the beginning among water quality regulatory agencies, dischargers, and environmental advocates over the condition of the estuary and the importance of contamination in the decline of aquatic resources. AHI helped synthesize existing information about pollution and pollution effects for the State Water Resources Control Board D.1485 Bay Delta Hearings and for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, established through the Clean Water Act. AHI was transformed into the SFEI 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1993 in correlation with the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan developed in the San Francisco Estuary Partnership for a comprehensive, coordinated Regional Monitoring and Research Strategy to assess the chemical, physical and biological health of the Estuary.
SFEI’s Clean Water Program anticipates and meets the water quality data needs of policy-makers, resource managers, and the public. It helps the public, regulators, and those who discharge into our waters create more effective policies to ensure the health of our waters. The Clean Water Program consists of several programs and initiatives:
The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay
The Delta RMP to inform better policy-making for Delta water quality
Nutrient Numeric Endpoints (NNE), San Francisco Bay Water Board staff has embarked on an effort working with the Southern California Water Research Program and SFEI to develop nutrient numeric endpoints for the estuary. This effort is part of a statewide initiative, supported by the U.S. EPA Region IX and the State Water Board, to address nutrient over-enrichment (eutrophication) in State waters, specifically to develop the NNE framework for streams and lakes and for California's coastal estuaries.
Green Chemistry research in efforts to prevent pollution by advising manufacturers about safer options
The Watershed Project
Emerging Contaminants
Resilient Landscapes
SFEI develops innovative ecosystem restoration, management and green infrastructure strategies that balance the priorities of healthy ecosystems and healthy communities. SFEI’s Historical Ecology studies determine the original function of landscapes, helping to guide future wise management decisions. The Program has several focus areas:
SEFI’s Historical Ecology studies provide a new foundation for understand the inherent potential in local landscapes, helping identify and prioritize land-scape restoration and management options.
Integrative Geomorphology investigates geomorphic processes in watersheds and tidal environments
Flood Control 2.0, a planning partnership of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, SFEI, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The Flood Control 2.0’s science and design team will collaborate with the flood control district and the community at large on a new plan.
Through Landscape Ecology, advanced spatial analysis incorporates ecological patterns and processes to landscape designs at multiple scales
SFEI’s Center for Resilient Landscape is turning the San Francisco Bay Are into a world leader in utilization of landscape data to help restore and sustain natural ecosystem benefits.
The SFEI Environmental Informatics Program utilizes the latest technology and design concepts to deliver scientific information to a wide range of stakeholders. Web-based tools, such as EcoAtlas, California Rapid Assessment Method, and Contaminant Data Display and Download, form a lynchpin of SFEI's success as a communicator of timely and salient scientific information. SFEI's available tools/teams include:
Geographic Information Systems teams
Data Services team, forming the core of SFEI's Regional Data Center
Application Development team, who produce integration disparate data sources to serve the needs of decision-makers
Design and Communication team who provide a bridge between science and its intended audience through creative and thoughtful methods
Systems Team ensures the institute's computing infrastructure is up to standards and is accessible.
Published Scientific Articles 2013-2015
Schoellhamer DH, Wright SA, Drexler JZ. Adjustment of the San Francisco estuary and watershed to decreasing sediment supply in the 20th century. Marine Geology [Internet]. 2013 ;345:63-71.
Thompson B, Ranasinghe JA, Lowe S, Melwani A, Weisberg SB. Benthic macrofaunal assemblages of the San Francisco Estuary and Delta, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 2013 ; 185(3):2281-95.
Rattner BA, Hale RC, Schultz SL, Lazarus RS, Heinz GH, Karouna-Renier NK. Comparative embryotoxicity of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture to common terns (Sterna hirundo) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius). Chemosphere [Internet]. 2013 ;93(2):441-447.
McKee LJ ., Lewicki M, Schoellhamer DH, Ganju NK. Comparison of sediment supply to San Francisco Bay from watersheds draining the Bay Area and the Central Valley of California. Marine Geology Special Issue: A multi-discipline approach for understanding sediment transport and geomorphic evolution in an estuarine-coastal system [Internet]. 2013 .
Gilbreath AN, McKee LJ . Concentrations and loads of PCBs, dioxins, PAHs, PBDEs, OC pesticides and pyrethroids during storm and low flow conditions in a small urban semi-arid watershed. Science of the Total Environment [Internet]. 2015 ;526:251-261.
Sutton R, Sedlak M, Yee D, Davis JA, Crane D, Grace R, Arsem N. Declines in Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Contamination of San Francisco Bay following Production Phase-Outs and Bans. Environmental Science and Technology [Internet]. 2015 ;49(2):777-784.
McGann M, Erikson L, C. II P, Maddocks RF. Distribution of biologic, anthropogenic, and volcanic constituents as a proxy for sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System. Marine Geology [Internet]. 2013 ;345:113-142.
David N, Gluchowski DC, Leatherbarrow JE, Yee D, McKee LJ . Estimation of Contaminant Loads from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to San Francisco Bay. Water Environment Research. 2015 ;87(4):334-346.
Beller E, Askevold RA, Grossinger RM. Futures Past: Exploring California Landscapes with SFEI. Boom: A Journal of California [Internet]. 2014 ;4(3):24.
Klosterhaus S, Grace R, Hamilton MC, D Y. Method validation and reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and alkylphenols in surface waters, sediments, and mussels in an urban estuary. Environment International. 2013 ;54:92-99.
Sedlak M, Greig D. Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) in wildlife from an urban estuary. Journal of Environmental Monitoring [Internet]. 2012 ;14:146-154.
Klosterhaus S, Wong A, McKee LJ ., D Y, Kass J. Polychlorinated biphenyls in the exterior caulk of San Francisco Bay Area buildings, California, USA. Environment International. 2014 ;66:38-43.
Greenfield BK, Slotton DG, Harrold KH. Predictors of Mercury Spatial Patterns in San Francisco Bay Forage Fish. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 2013 ;32(12):2728-2737.
David N, Leatherbarrow JE, Yee D, McKee LJ . Removal efficiencies of a bioretention system for trace metals, PCBs, PAHs, and dioxins in a semiarid environment. Journal of Environmental Engineering. 2014 .
Grenier JLetitia, Greenfield BK, Jahn A, Ridolfi K, Harrold KH, Ayers S, Sandheinrich M, Melwani AR, Allen RM, Slotton DG. Seasonal and annual trends in forage fish mercury concentrations, San Francisco Bay. Science of the Total Environment. 2013 ;444:591-601.
Grenier JLetitia, Greenfield BK, Jahn A, Ridolfi K, Harrold KH, Sandheinrich M, Ayers SM, Melwani AR, Allen RM, Slotton DG. Seasonal and annual trends in forage fish mercury concentrations, San Francisco Bay. Science of the Total Environment. 2013 ;444:591-601.
Downing-Kunz M, Schoellhamer DH. Seasonal variations in suspended-sediment dynamics in the tidal reach of an estuarine tributary. Marine Geology. 2013 ;345:314-326.
Shellenbarger G, Wright SA, Schoellhamer DH. A sediment budget for the southern reach in San Francisco Bay, CA: Implications for habitat restoration. Marine Geology [Internet]. 2013 ;345:281-293.
Barnard PL, Schoellhamer DH, Jaffe BE, McKee LJ . Sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System: An overview.Marine Geology Special Issue: A multi-discipline approach for understanding sediment transport and geomorphic evolution in an estuarine-coastal system [Internet]. 2013 .
Schoellhamer DH, Erikson L, Largier J, Wright SA, Elias E, Hanes DM. The use of modeling and suspended sediment concentration measurements for quantifying net suspended sediment transport through a large tidally dominated inlet. Marine Geology [Internet]. 2013 ;345:96-112.
