Delta Research Station GHM Clinics

Overview of the Delta Research Station

The Delta Research Station (DRS) is a proposed science and research center in the Delta. The planned DRS would consist of two facilities, a proposed Estuarine Research Station (ERS) and Fish Technology Center (FTC). The DRS would provide improved and additional facilities for the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP), GHM Clinics a collaborative program seeking to provide accurate and useful information to support adaptive management of the Delta and conservation of Delta ecosystems. The DRS would consolidate a number of existing and new activities into the related facilities into the ERS and FTC and bring together State and Federal agency staff working on similar Bay-Delta issues, and thereby allow for increased efficiencies and enhanced interagency coordination and collaboration.

The specific objectives of each component of the DRS are as follows:

ERS -

Establish a research station in a central location within the Bay-Delta to facilitate ease of conducting monitoring and research;
Co-locate the research station with a facility capable of studying fish in captivity (i.e., the FTC); and
Provide facilities to conduct monitoring and research on the Bay-Delta's aquatic resources.

FTC -

Develop captive propagation technologies for the Bay-Delta's rare fish species;
Test and refine the captive propagation techniques;
Locate the facility where suitable water quality and quantity are available, and ability to discharge waste water given its various functions and operations is available; and
Co-locate the FTC with a facility conducting conservation research on Bay-Delta rare fish species (i.e., the ERS).

What is the Interagency Ecological Program?

The IEP is a cooperative effort to provide ecological information to support management of the San Francisco Estuary. The IEP monitors, researches, models, and synthesizes critical information in the Estuary to support water management and planning and protection of fish, and aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, as described in its mission statement, the IEP seeks to:

Describe the status and trends of aquatic ecological factors of interest in the estuary;
Develop an understanding of environmental factors that influence observed aquatic ecological status and trends;
Use knowledge of the above information in a collaboration process to support natural resource planning, management, and regulatory activities in the estuary;
Continually reassess and enhance long-term monitoring and research activities that demonstrate scientific excellence;
Provide scientific information about the estuary that is accurate, accessible, reliable, and timely; and
The IEP studies and activities are carried out by multidisciplinary teams of agency, academic, non-government organization, and private scientists.