Trash is a term used in water quality control, synonymous with litter, debris, rubbish and refuse. Trash in urban waterways of coastal areas can become “marine debris,” known to harm fish and wildlife and cause adverse economic impacts (Moore and Allen, 2000). Trash is a regulated water pollutant that has a large range of characteristics of concern to water quality. It accumulates in streams, rivers, bays, and ocean beaches throughout the San Francisco Bay Region of California, particularly in urban areas. Absent numeric guidelines or standard assessment methodologies, assessing trash levels and prioritizing water bodies for trash management remain a challenge for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region (Water Board). This report documents a pilot effort to systematically assess trash levels in streams, which are in turn sources of marine debris to the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. Results from year-round surveys of 26 sites around the San Francisco Bay Region are presented and discussed. A map of surveyed sites is included as Figure 1.
The goal of this report is to provide a regional scale of assessment of trash deposition in fresh waters of the San Francisco Bay Region, documenting dry and wet weather deposition rates, longitudinal variability in a watershed, and variability across watersheds in representative urban and rural residential settings. The site scores, number of pieces per 100-feet, and types of trash are summarized and likely sources of trash analyzed and potential management measures discussed. At each survey the trash was removed, and subsequent surveys documented the deposition rate of trash in pieces per 100-feet per day. Sites with the highest trash deposition rates in dry and wet weather conditions are discussed in more detail to identify sources of trash pollution and potential management actions.
