1. RMP BENTHIC ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm Elihu Harris State Building, Room 9, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, California

2. Workshop History Regional Monitoring Program-driven Exposure & Effects Pilot Study work group recommended investigating benthic assessment as part of a suite of biological indicators for the Bay RMPs Technical Review Committee recommended a workshop to discuss and select an appropriate benthic assessment methodology for the Bay

3. Todays Goals Workshop Goal: Exchange information on –SWRCBs upcoming Sediment Quality Objectives (SQO) for California Bays, –the benthos in San Francisco Estuary, –Other approaches (DWR, USGS) –how managers can use benthic assessment tools in improving the Bays ecological health. Desired outcome: ID info needed for –Benthic assessment strategies, –Benthic monitoring approaches, –Integration with other Estuary efforts, –Future research.

4. Agenda 9:30 Welcome and introductions 9:45 SWRCBs approach to Sediment Quality Objectives Chris Beegan, SWRCB 10:05Benthic assessment tools for use in SQOs Ananda Ranasinghe, SCCWRP 10:35 Challenges of using benthic assessments in the Estuary Bruce Thompson, SFEI 11:05 BREAK 11:15Benthic monitoring in the EMP Karen Gehrts, DWR 11:45 Long-term variations in benthos in Suisun Bay Heather Peterson, USGS 12:15 LUNCH (provided) 1:00 pm Perspective on benthic assessments Fred Nichols, USGS Emeritus 1:30 Discussion