Interagency Ecological Program: Zooplankton catch and water quality data from the Sacramento River floodplain and tidal slough, collected by the Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program, 1998-2018.

Largely supported by the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP), the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has operated a fisheries and invertebrate monitoring program in the Yolo Bypass since 1998. The main objectives of the Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program (YBFMP) are to collect baseline data on lower trophic levels (phytoplankton, zooplankton and insect drift), juvenile and adult fish, hydrology, and water quality parameters. As the Yolo Bypass has been identified as a high restoration priority by numerous regulatory agencies, these baseline data are critical for evaluating success of future restoration projects. In addition, the data have already served to increase our understanding of the role of the Yolo Bypass in the life history of native fishes, and its ecological function in the San Francisco Estuary. Zooplankton are an important component in the diet of larval, juvenile, and small adult fishes within the San Francisco Estuary, including Delta Smelt, juvenile Chinook Salmon, Striped Bass, and Sacramento Splittail. The YBFMP collects zooplankton year-round from two sites. Since 2011, samples have been collected biweekly (every other week) to weekly (during floodplain inundation) using 150- and 50- micrometer mesh plankton nets. Zooplankton are identified and enumerated by contractors (currently BSA Environmental Services). The goals of the zooplankton monitoring program are to compare the seasonal variation in species densities and trends between (1) the Sacramento River channel, and (2) the Yolo Bypass, the river’s seasonal floodplain. Data on zooplankton catch and associated water quality parameters are presented in this dataset.