Access USGS - San Francisco Bay and Delta
||The vast San Francisco Bay and Delta region of California is located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. It is often referred to as the San Francisco Bay estuary. Since the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 1848, this region has undergone rapid, large-scale, and permanent changes driven by population migration attracted to the region's natural setting and economic opportunities. The consequent land use changes, particularly urbanization, have resulted in the loss of wetlands, alteration of freshwater inflows, contamination of water, sediments and biota, and declines of fish and wildlife species.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has maintained a broad program of multi-disciplinary research studies, both fundamental and applied, in the San Francisco Bay estuary and its watershed. The studies help us understand the extent and impact of these changes, as they also help decision-makers use science to help mitigate adverse effects. USGS studies often are conducted in cooperation with other Federal, State, and local agencies, and have been designed to increase our understanding of important issues. These issues include waste disposal, water flow management, harbor/channel dredging, wetland restoration, food web processes, exotic species impacts, natural hazards mitigation, and maintaining quality of life.
"Access USGS--San Francisco Bay & Delta" was created to help disseminate this information via the World Wide Web. Here you will find examples of USGS publications, posters, maps, and other information on the San Francisco Bay & Delta region from many disciplines.
Explore the San Francisco Bay Bathymetry web site, where we provide location-depth grids of the most recent bathymetry available for San Francisco Bay and some tools for examining those grids.