Harmful cyanobacteria blooms and their toxins in Clear Lake and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (California) 10-058-150 Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) Prepared for: Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200 Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 Prepared by: Cécile Mioni (Project Director) & Raphael Kudela (Project co-Director) University of California, Santa Cruz - Institute of Marine Sciences Dolores Baxa (Project co-Director) University of California, Davis – School of Veterinary Medicine Contract manager: Meghan Sullivan Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board _________________ With technical contributions by: Kendra Hayashi (Project manager), UCSC Thomas Smythe (Field Officer) and Chris White, Lake County Water Resources Scott Waller (Field Officer) and Brianne Sakata, EMP/DWR Tomo Kurobe (Molecular Biologist), UCD David Crane (Toxicology), DFG-WPCL Kim Ward, SWRCB/DWQ Lenny Grimaldo (Assistance for Statistic Analyses), Bureau of Reclamation Peter Raimondi (Assistance for Statistic Analyses), UCSC Karen Tait, Lake County Health Office Abstract Harmful cyanobacteria and their toxins are growing contaminants of concern. Noxious toxins produced by HC, collectively referred as cyanotoxins, reduce the water quality and may impact the supply of clean water for drinking as well as the water quality which directly impacts the livelihood of other species including several endangered species. USEPA recently (May 29, 2008) made the decision to add microcystin toxins as an additional cause of impairment for the Klamath River, CA. However, harmful cyanobacteria are some of the less studied causes of impairment in California water bodies and their distribution, abundance and dynamics, as well as the conditions promoting their proliferation and toxin production are not well characterized. The goal of the work presented here was to monitor the distribution of Microcystis aeruginosa as well as other harmful cyanobacteria of concern and their associated toxins in the surface waters of two California water bodies listed in the 303(d) and that have been impacted by recurrent harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs): the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Clear Lake. We used a multidisciplinary approach combining traditional microscopy and toxicology analyses with molecular analyses. Using this approach, we successfully identified key cyanobacteria species that could not be identified using traditional microscopy-based techniques alone. This combined approach allowed us to accurately determine the cyanoHABs composition and toxicity as well as to gather critical information from the literature to interpret the correlations between individual cyanoHABs taxa and their environmental controls. Results from this study indicate that several environmental drivers rather than one single stressor act in conjunction to control cyanoHABs and toxicity in Clear Lake and the Delta. Surface water temperature, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations appear to be key drivers of cyanoHABs composition and toxicity but additional environmental stressors specific to each system and to each individual taxa may also play a significant role. Based on our findings, suggestions for the implementation of future research programs as well as future management plans are also provided in this report. i List of abbreviations and acronyms Abbreviation Definition Comments ALG-sp. Algoriphagus sp. Either Algoriphagus yeomjeoni or A. ratkowskyi ANA-LM Anabaena lemmermannii Taxonomic synonym of Dolichospermum lemmermannii ANA-sp Anabaena spp. APHA-FL Aphanizomenon flos-aquae aPR Alpha proteobacterium Sequences of alpha proteobacterium in the data base are limited precluding identification at species level BCL-PM Bacillus pumilus CyanoHABS Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms DIN Dissolved inorganic nitrogen DO Dissolved oxygen DOC Dissolved Organic Carbon DWR Department of Water Resources EC Electrical conductivity EMP Environmental Monitoring Program FLV-TF Fluviicola taffensis IEP Interagency Ecological Program LYNG-HIE Lyngbya hieronymusii f. robusta Planktothrix cryptovaginata has identical sequences in GenBank database but microscopic observations validated L. hieronymusii as the taxonomic ID LYNG-sp Lyngbya spp. MSAE Microcystis aeruginosa NH4 Ammonium NO3 Nitrate NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Unit PNB-AL Paenibacillus alvei PNB-sp. Paenibacillus sp. PO4 Phosphate POD Pelagic Organism Decline QA Quality Assurance QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC Quality Control RHD-SPH Rhodobacter sphaeroides RHD-sp. Rhodobacter sp. SOP Standard Operating Procedures SYN Synechococcus sp. WHO World Health Organization ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page: Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Report purpose ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Study Goal and Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 1 Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 Description of Study Areas ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ....................................................................................................................... 5 Clear Lake ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 9 Data Quality Assurance and Quality Controls ................................................................................................ 9 Summary of QC samples ................................................................................................................................. 9 Sampling and Field Water Quality Measurements ........................................................................................ 10 Sample Preparation and Processing ............................................................................................................. 11 Microscopy preparation and analysis ........................................................................................................... 12 Molecular analysis for species identification ................................................................................................ 12 Analytical chemistry procedures ................................................................................................................... 14 Toxicology analyses ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Statistics ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Predictive modeling ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Results and discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 19 1. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ................................................................................................................................ 19 Physico-chemical conditions ......................................................................................................................... 19 Biological conditions ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Molecular analyses ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Toxicology analyses ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Correlations .................................................................................................................................................. 22 Modeling ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 2. Clear Lake ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 Physico-chemical conditions ......................................................................................................................... 23 Biological conditions ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Molecular analyses ....................................................................................................................................... 26 Toxicology analyses .....................................................................................................................................