California Water Warning as 'Critical' Tech Has 'Concerning Gaps'

California's water supply could be in trouble, as a new study has found that the state's rivers and streams are severely under monitored, posing serious risks to effective water management.

The study, published in Nature Sustainability, stresses that while the state relies heavily on its rivers and streams for water supply, flood control, biodiversity conservation and hydropower generation, only 8 percent of California's rivers and streams are monitored by stream gauges, devices used to measure water flow.

The lack of monitoring not only makes it difficult to manage water resources efficiently but also hinders the ability to understand the effects of climate change and conserve freshwater biodiversity.

"As climate change progresses and the demands on California's water resources and water infrastructure grow, it is critical to have reliable, timely, and comprehensive information about water in rivers and streams," lead author Lucy Andrews, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley said in a statement. "Our work highlights concerning gaps in California's water monitoring capabilities and proposes tools for addressing those gaps."

Andrews and co-author Ted Grantham, an associate professor of cooperative extension, assessed how well stream gauges support various water management objectives, such as dam operations, biodiversity conservation and scientific research.

The study found that only 9 percent of California's large dams had stream gauges upstream or downstream to measure water flow. The lack of monitoring hampers the ability to manage water supply and control floods effectively, the researchers said.

"Measuring streamflow near dams is critical for handling water supply and controlling floods, but our research determined that only 9 percent of California's large dams are covered by a gauge upstream and/or downstream," Grantham said in the statement.

The research also indicated that 30 percent of watersheds supporting the highest diversity of freshwater species are monitored. While California is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, its freshwater species are among the most imperiled globally.

"California is a biodiversity hotspot, but its freshwater species are also among the most imperiled in the world. More monitoring of these critical streams is needed to protect these vulnerable species," Andrews said.

The study also examined streams that are minimally affected by human activities to understand the effects of climate change on hydrology. It found that less than 1 percent of these unimpaired streams are monitored. This lack of data makes it difficult for researchers to gain insights into natural water flow patterns and how they are altered by climate change.

"We hope that this study paints a hopeful picture—that even though streamflow monitoring in California is currently inadequate, with appropriate investment, it's possible to design and build better networks using the simple computational tools we propose," Grantham said. "Having more information about how much water is in our rivers and streams will help us to better manage rivers and streams into the future."

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced and the state's population grows, the demand for water resources will only increase, making studies like this important. The findings of this study highlight the urgent need for investment in better monitoring infrastructure to ensure the state's water resources are managed effectively and sustainably.

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