On behalf of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), cbec worked as a subcontractor to Ascent Environmental, Inc., and teamed with AECOM and Stillwater Sciences to inform the impact of contaminated sediment cleanup and shoreline restructuring to local aquatic wildlife.

The project was located in Carquinez Strait, a complex area of the San Francisco Bay where a large amount of fluvial input is layered and mixed with ocean waters. To better understand hydraulics in the system, sediment movement and hydrologic changes due to shoreline and in water construction cbec was hired to run a 3D hydrodynamic numerical model with sediment transport capabilities.

The 3-D hydrodynamic and sediment transport model was run using the Deltares Delft3D modeling platform. Due to the complex nature of the system both cohesive and non-cohesive sediment types were modeled to more accurately predict impacts. cbec used the model data to provide habitat suitability indices for both during construction and future
time periods. These data were used effectively to contribute to an EIR/EIS for the project.