ABSTRACT
San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta form the largest estuarine system on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. The bay itself covers an area of ~1125 km
, and the delta covers an area of ~2985 km
. The bay is subdivided into several distinct segments based on hydrographic and geographic characteristics: Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay (Figure 5.1, Table 5.1). The northern and southern parts of San Francisco Bay are informally referred to as the Central Bay and South Bay, respectively. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta appears as a complex triangular-shaped region of land and water consisting of interconnected embayments, sloughs, marshes, channels, and streams. It consists of three main segments: the northern delta (dominated by waters of the Sacramento River), southern delta (dominated by waters of the San Joaquin River), and eastern delta (dominated by waters of the Cosumnes and Mokelumne Rivers). The delta is a valuable agricultural area, although it once supported an enormous tidal freshwater marsh.
