In an August 9 post, I described the effects on San Francisco Bay and its sturgeon from the August 1 Sturgeon Moon. I hypothesized that the draining of warm water from the Delta into the Bay over several days of the strong neap tide during the Sturgeon Moon caused an algae bloom and unseasonably warm water in the Bay (Figure 1) that was killing sturgeon, as it had in summer 2022. I blamed the warm water on low river flows and high water diversions in the Central Valley that caused the Delta to reach 75oF and the Bay to subsequently reach an unprecedented 72-73oF. The warm water, abundant sunshine, and generally high nutrients caused the bloom and the low dissolved oxygen levels that resulted in fish dying.
These events are about to reoccur with the August 30 Super Moon. Once again, warm water will drain from the Delta on several days of strong neap tides the week before the Super Moon (probably around August 24). The bloom should appear about August 28, about two days before the full moon.
The key question is how warm the Delta will be when it drains into the Bay. This depends on air temperatures, river flows, and Delta outflow (the product of reservoir releases, Delta inflow, and water diversions). With an expected general heat wave August 14-17, there is reason to be concerned that water draining from the Delta could be warm once again.
There have been several mitigating factors since the August 1 Super Moon. Reservoir releases have increased slightly over the past month (Figure 2). The strength of the spring and neap tides has decreased slightly following the August 1 full moon (Figure 2). Higher Delta inflows (Freeport) have reduced Delta water temperatures slightly (Figure 3).
To minimize the strength of the potential bloom, warming, and fish die-off in the Bay, it is essential to keep Delta water temperatures down before the August 25-26 neap tide. Several interdependent actions come to mind: (1) Increase lower Sacramento River flows over the next 10 days by several thousand cfs to get Wilkins Slough water temperatures down to about 68oF. (2) Ensure that the extra Wilkins flow reaches the Delta at Freeport to keep Delta inflow up several thousand cfs. (3) Increase Delta outflow during the August 22-24 spring tide by reducing south Delta exports, to minimize the build-up of warm water in the Delta prior to when the Delta drains to the Bay on the August 25-26 neap tide.
These actions will hopefully minimize the damage caused by Central Valley water management to the Bay ecosystem and specifically to the white sturgeon population during the next Super Moon cycle.
Figure 1. San Francisco Bay algae bloom on July 30, 2023. Source
Figure 2. Delta inflow (Freeport) and Delta outflow to Bay in week since the August 1 Super Moon. Note the spring tide has gotten slightly stronger and Delta inflows have increased (due to increased Folsom and Oroville reservoir releases)
Figure 3. Delta inflow (tidally filtered and hourly) from the Sacramento River and water temperature at Freeport July-August 2023.
Figure 4. Lower Sacramento River streamflow and water temperature at Wilkins Slough gage July-August 2023. Water temperature remains high (>20oC, 68oF) under low streamflow.