June 2020 Delta Outflow – New State Standard Needed

I recommended a new June Delta outflow standard of 10,000 cfs in a post on June 23 2020. This increase from the current standard of 7000 cfs would keep salt and Delta smelt out of the Central Delta and better maintain adequate water temperatures for emigrating Central Valley salmon smolts.

In this post, I consider the recommended 10,000 cfs value in the context of how the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) estimate Delta outflow as they manage Delta hydrology and federal and state exports from the south Delta. This should further explain why an increase in the June Delta outflow standard is necessary.

It helps to recall my description in a September 2019 post how DWR and Reclamation estimate Delta outflow: “Delta Total Outflow is a daily-average algorithm calculated in cubic feet per second (cfs) for Station DTO, a hypothetical location near Chipps Island in Suisun Bay.“ This is different from the US Geological Service’s (USGS) method of calculating real-time outflow. As an example, I overlaid the DWR and USGS for the summer of 2018 (Figure 1).

The State’s D-1641 June water quality standard is: the monthly average of the average outflow for each day must meet or exceed 7000 cfs (monthly average of daily averages). DWR and Reclamation comply with this standard using their own estimation method, not real-time outflow. Figures 2 and 3 below show the differences in the DWR and USGS methods in May-June 2020.

In May-June 2020, DWR and Reclamation maintained Delta outflow (using their own estimation method) near 7000 cfs, except during a mid-May storm when estimated outflow reached a peak of 15,300 cfs (Figure 2). But viewed from a different perspective, there were significant dips in the USGS estimation of outflow during spring tides around June 5 and June 19. The DWR method of estimating didn’t pick up these dips at all. These periods where USGS showed negative net outflow showed up in the monitoring of salinity as well (Figures 4-6). Periods of low or negative outflow were also periods of high salinity at key Delta monitoring stations.

Although net daily Delta flows are relatively small compared to real-time tidal flows (Figures 7 and 8), net flows affect water quality and fish habitat conditions on a daily basis. The salinity data for May-June 2020 at False River (Figure 5) is particularly significant. (Note the spikes in salinity during spring tides around June 5 and June 19). False River is the gateway to Franks Tract. As salinity increases in False River, smelt will move upstream (towards lower salinity conditions) in Franks Tract. As I described in an April 28, 2020 post, Franks Tract is a “smelt trap” where smelt that enter almost invariably perish.

Increasing the standard for June Delta outflow so that the required monthly average of the average outflow for each day is 10,000 cfs, not 7,000 cfs, would not fully offset the effects of spring tides and the use of averaging in DWR’s method of calculating compliance. But it would help protect Delta habitat from salt intrusions during spring tides and keep the low salinity zone and young Delta smelt out of the Delta. Although DWR and Reclamation did a good job in May-June 2020 of staying above 7000 cfs each day using their calculated outflow method, adding an explicit minimum daily flow standard to the monthly flow standard could also help. This would likely have the result of reducing exports during periods of the spring tides in the monthly lunar tidal cycle.

Figure 1: Daily outflow estimated by DWR and USGS in summer 2018.

Figure 2.  DWR’s calculated Delta outflow in May-June 2020.  Note switch to July standard of 5000 cfs

Figure 2. DWR’s calculated Delta outflow in May-June 2020. Note switch to July standard of 5000 cfs outflow on July 1. Source: CDEC.

Figure 3. USGS’s estimate of tidally filtered Delta outflow as estimated in May-June 2020. Spring-tides occurred May 9, May 23 (not measured because of storm inflows), and also on June 5 and June 19. Note dips in outflow on June 5 and 19; these dips do not appear in DWR’s estimate in Figure 2.

Figure 4. Salinity (conductivity) in eastern Suisun Bay at Collinsville in May-June 2020. Note peaks in salinity during net negative outflow with spring tides on June 5 and 19 (see Figure 3).

Figure 5. Salinity (conductivity) in False River in west Delta in May-June 2020. Note peaks in salinity during net negative outflow with spring tides on June 5 and 19 (see Figure 3).

Figure 6. Salinity (conductivity) in eastern Suisun Bay at Pittsburg in May-June 2020. Note peaks in salinity during net negative outflow with spring tides on June 5 and 19 (see Figure 3).

Figure 7. Hourly river flow and tidally filtered flow in lower San Joaquin River channel in western Delta at Jersey Point in June 2020. Note highly negative peak flows with spring tides on June 5 and June 19.

Figure 8. Hourly river flow and tidally filtered flow in lower Sacramento River channel in western Delta at Rio Vista in June 2020. Note spring tides on June 5 and June 19.

Delta Smelt Sanctuary – Deepwater Ship Channel

In a March 2020 post, I described where the remnants of the endangered Delta smelt population spawn and rear in the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel (Ship Channel) in the north Delta (Figure 1). In this post, I describe how the rearing conditions in the Ship Channel are poor. This can be seen by comparing habitat conditions in the Ship Channel with those in the lower Sacramento River channel at Freeport several miles to the east in late spring 2020.

Net Flow

Net flow (cfs) in the Ship Channel remains near zero, since the gate at the north end of the channel near Sacramento remains stuck in the closed position as it has been for several decades (Figure 2).

Water Temperature

Water temperature (oC) is significantly higher in the stagnant flows of the Ship Channel than at Freeport, often reaching into the lethal range 23-25°C for Delta smelt (Figure 3).

Salinity

Salinity (conductivity) is much higher in the Ship Channel because of discharges from urban sewage treatment plants and agricultural operations (Figure 4).

Turbidity

Turbidity is much higher in the Ship Channel due to higher plankton production and port-bound ship traffic in the relatively shallow and narrow Ship Channel (Figure 5).

Dissolved Oxygen

Dissolved oxygen levels are much lower in the Ship Channel because of warmer water, high concentrations of suspended organic sediments, and higher plankton production (Figure 6).

Interpretations and Conclusions

Delta smelt are attracted to the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel in winter and early spring to spawn in the relatively warm, low salinity, turbid, and more productive water. The adult smelt can also easily tidal-surf up the ship channel without having to content with strong downstream currents of the Sacramento River channel. Their eggs hatch early to an awaiting abundant plankton food supply. However, in spring the Ship Channel lacks net downstream flows to carry the young smelt to the Bay. By late spring, water temperatures in the Ship Channel reach lethal levels for the young smelt.

Opening the gate at the north end of the Ship Channel would help to alleviate the problems by providing net flow with cooler water temperatures, and by flushing and diluting the stagnant waste waters in the Ship Channel. An operable gate at the head of the Ship Channel would allow adaptive management of the habitat conditions for smelt.

Figure 1. Locations where Delta smelt young were captured in EDSM surveys in July 2019. Circles represent regions. Numbers are total July catch in region. The 94 represents the young smelt captured in the Deepwater Ship Channel.

Figure 2. Net daily flow (cfs) in the Ship Channel and in the Sacramento River at Freeport in June 2020. The green line shows flow in the Ship Channel.

Figure 3. Water temperature in the Ship Channel and Sacramento River at Freeport in June 2020. The blue/purple line shows the water temperature in the Ship Channel.

Figure 4. Conductivity (salinity) in the Ship Channel and Sacramento River at Freeport in June 2020. The green line shows salinity in the Ship Channel.

Figure 5. Turbidity in the Ship Channel and Sacramento River at Freeport in June 2020. The blue/purple line shows turbidity in the Ship Channel.

Figure 6. Dissolved oxygen in the Ship Channel and Sacramento River at Freeport in June 2020. The green line shows dissolved oxygen in the Ship Channel.