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The United States Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) serves the Nation as an independent fact-finding agency that collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.
Mission
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to
- describe and understand the Earth;
- minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters;
- manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and
- enhance and protect our quality of life.
The USGS has been mapping and studying California's natural resources and hazards for more than 100 years. Population growth, combined with development in arid and semiarid regions of the State, has stressed California's water resources. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay system is a vital hydrologic link in California's water supply, and it has been one of the most productive estuarine wetland systems on the West Coast. The USGS provides an improved understanding of the circulation and mixing of fresh and saline waters that affect water quality and fish reproduction and growth in the Bay-Delta system. Additional USGS studies evaluate Delta island subsidence, measure suspended sediment and contaminant movements and pesticide transport through the Bay-Delta, and investigate wetland functioning and dredge spoil suitability for wetland restoration.
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