California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) has commissioned a new state-of-the-art research vessel, the Sentinel, as a replacement for the 40-year-old San Carlos. The Sentinel is described as a floating laboratory whose mission is to protect water quality. The Sentinel will take over the San Carlos’s responsibility to monitor water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and upper San Francisco Estuary.
As the flagship of DWR’s Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP), Sentinel will enable staff to conduct water quality, nutrient and lower trophic (phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthos) monitoring of the Delta. The research vessel plays a critical role in helping to meet water quality objectives and the mandated requirements of biological opinions issued by the courts to guide water quality issues in the Delta.
The Sentinel’s commissioning took place aboard the historic Delta King on the Sacramento River in the Old Sacramento Historic District. Design and construction of the Sentinel was accomplished with funding from the State Water Project’s (SWP) 29 contractors. The construction project began in February 2015, and the vessel was launched by builder Vigor Industrial of Seattle, WA, in October 2016. Sea trials have been occurring since the launch.
According to DWR Director Mark Cowin, it was time for a “new guardian of the Delta waters to greet new challenges. We are experiencing a period of great change – climate change, political change and changes in water management,” he said. “I think we can agree that the Sentinel is a welcome change.”
The Sentinel boasts some impressive characteristics including:
• Length – 60 feet
• Beam – 24 feet
• Draft – 3 feet 6 inches
• Weight – 36 tons
• Engines – twin Cummins QSB 6.7 conventional propulsion – 419 HP
• Speed – 20 knots
• 14-foot work skiff with 30 HP motor
• Overnight accommodations for five people
• Meets U.S. Coast Guard’s safety regulations for passenger vessels
• Lab Area – 266 square feet
o Aft deck work area – 337 square feet
o Air Conditioned
o Lab Raw water manifold with remote value operations
o 30 Local Area Network (LAN) connections
o 4G wireless connectivity
o Three 3,300-pound-capacity cranes, one with direct connection to the lab
The Sentinel was named by Cowin, who is retiring at month’s end after a 36-year career at the DWR. Cowin named the vessel in honor of the late Laura King Moon, DWR’s former Chief Deputy Director who passed away in 2015.
“Laura King Moon worked tirelessly as a guardian of California’s water supply and its environment,”
Cowin said. “This new research vessel is dedicated in her memory.” Moon was an environmental champion who dedicated her 38-year career to resource and water policy.
