Nutrient Management
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Why is this a San Francisco Bay Program Priority?
San Francisco Bay is historically a nutrient-rich estuary with winds, currents, and cloud/fog cover that keep the waters turbid (cloudy with floating sediment particles). Along with lower water temperatures, and historically high populations of clams that filter nutrients for food, San Francisco Bay has been buffeted from the negative effects of eutrophicationThe process by which a body of water or ecosystem acquires a high concentration of organic matter with potentially damaging consequences. and harmful algal blooms (HABs). Sources of nutrients to the Bay include urban stormwater, wastewater discharges from municipal sewage systems, and agricultural run-off from the Delta.
To address physical and chemical changes becoming evident in the Bay, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board introduced the Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS) to improve understanding of current nutrient loads, effects on water quality and the ecosystem, and how to mitigate potential risks of HABs. HABs are a rapid growth of harmful algae species that feed on these nutrients and depletes oxygen levels in waterways making water toxic for aquatic life as well as animals and humans that may come in contact with it.
With increased data collection and analysis under the NMS, water managers can make more informed decisions in response to nutrient overloads in the Bay.