A case study of canal seepage quantification using gain/loss method and electrical resistivity tomography in an intensively managed water resource system in the Treasure Valley, Idaho, United States

Elsevier | November 12th, 2024

Monitoring groundwater-surface water (GW-SW) interactions is essential for effectively managing the available water resources in semi-arid and arid environments. The focu

Monitoring groundwater-surface water (GW-SW) interactions is essential for effectively managing the available water resources in semi-arid and arid environments. The focus of this study was to quantify how much SW is being exchanged with the shallow GW aquifer in the Treasure Valley (TV), Idaho, USA. Previous water budgets estimated regional canal seepage without incorporating canal variability and flow measurement uncertainty. To address this, we applied both direct (gain/loss) and indirect (electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)) techniques. Direct seepage measurements were taken on canals capturing a range of different characteristics in the TV. The discrete measurements were then used to estimate the total seepage anticipated to be lost from these canals during the irrigation season. Our findings showed high seepage variability across the canals. The ERT inversion approach was utilized before and after the irrigation season by applying an advanced inversion scheme to better constrain the canal seepage spatial variability and uncertainty by quantifying changes in the saturated zone with 2D-ERT results. Temporal changes in the subsurface resistivity were observed due to the lateral flow from the nearby surface canal during the irrigation season. The combination of these approaches improves our understanding of SW-GW interactions in intensively managed irrigation systems.

A changing framework for urban water systems

American Chemical Society (ACS) | May 8th, 2013

Urban water infrastructure and the institutions responsible for its management have gradually evolved over the past two centuries. Today, they are under increas

Urban water infrastructure and the institutions responsible for its management have gradually evolved over the past two centuries. Today, they are under increasing stress as water scarcity and a growing recognition of the importance of factors other than the cost of service provision are forcing a reexamination of long-held ideas. Research and development that supports new technological approaches and more effective management strategies are needed to ensure that the emerging framework for urban water systems will meet future societal needs

A Climatology of Narrow Cold-Frontal Rainbands in Southern California

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | January 27th, 2022

Narrow cold-frontal rainbands produce short-duration (<1-hr), high-intensity precipitation associated with flash floods and debris flows in Southern California, inclu

Narrow cold-frontal rainbands produce short-duration (<1-hr), high-intensity precipitation associated with flash floods and debris flows in Southern California, including the extremely destructive 2018 Montecito event. Prior research describes development, predictability, and associated hazards of these bands, though no known long-term record of their occurrence and climatological characteristics exists within the United States. This study provides the first known catalog of narrow coldfrontal rainbands during the winter seasons of 1995–2020 in Southern California, and explores characteristics of these features such as frequency, movement, and the large-scale meteorology that drives them. Events were documented manually using rain gauge observations, radar data, and output from atmospheric models. In total, 94 rainbands were documented during the study period, with an average of three landfalling events occurring in Southern California per water year. The intensity and impacts across the recorded events varied, though common weather patterns, including strengthening cyclones near the California coast, were associated with the documented events. This catalog supports weather-forecasting efforts as well as the future development of an automated detection algorithm.

A Commitment to Action: Advancing Integrated Water Management in California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 11th, 2013

This document highlights the key perspectives and recommendations that emerged during the Integrated Water Management Summit held in Sacramento on April 3, 2013.  The Ca

This document highlights the key perspectives and recommendations that emerged during the Integrated Water Management Summit held in Sacramento on April 3, 2013.  The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) hosted the event in partnership with the Water Education Foundation and the California Water Commission, and would like to thank the 200+ attendees and guest speakers who participated in the Summit. The goal of the Summit was to bring together water leaders from myriad agencies and organizations to share experiences and ideas on how we can effectively align to provide sustainable water resources services in the State, in the face of an uncertain future. Most agree that the water management approaches we have been relying on for several decades are no longer sustainable given today’s economic climate, our changing environment and the need to supply safe drinking water, agricultural water and flood protection for a growing population, while also protecting and enhancing valuable environmental resources.  The thoughtful presentations and informative discussions at the Summit served as an important milestone in the movement to shape a more cooperative and effective approach to water management in California. The Summit launched a new campaign called “Water 360” to help refocus and strengthen the collective efforts of California’s water management community by advancing integrated water management. Integrated water management is a framework for planning and implementation that melds the objectives of improving public safety, fostering environmental stewardship and supporting economic stability to lead to sustainable water resource management. Integrated water management is not a new concept in California, and great strides have been made in the last decade to utilize the approach, particularly at the regional level. The Water 360 Campaign builds on these early successes and calls for broader application across the entire state. DWR is prepared and committed to lead this effort in close partnership with other water leaders, particularly State, federal, and local agencies; and in collaboration with all stakeholders.

A Common Vision for the Colorado River System: Toward a Framework for Sustainability

Water and Tribes Initiative | October 5th, 2020

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand

Pacific Institute | August 31st, 2016

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand provides communities, environmental groups, ratepayer advocates, and anyone interested in sustainable water sup

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand provides communities, environmental groups, ratepayer advocates, and anyone interested in sustainable water supply planning with the knowledge and tools they need to understand water demand forecasts. Communities across the U.S. are faced with decisions about how to meet the needs of a growing population. To help make these decisions, water utilities often rely on forecasts that project water use 20 or 30 years into the future, consistent with the amount of time it takes to develop new supply infrastructure, such as desalination plants or reservoirs. For much of the 20th century, water use in American cities grew in proportion to population and the economy. Since the 1980s, however, water use in communities across the United States has remained steady or declined despite continued population and economic growth, due to improved water conservation and efficiency and structural changes in the American economy. While the water sector has undergone a fundamental transformation, the practice of water demand forecasting has been slow to keep pace. Water suppliers routinely overestimate future water demand based on often overstated estimates of population and economic growth and underestimates of the effects of water conservation and efficiency improvements. These inflated estimates of future water needs can result in unneeded water supply and treatment infrastructure, higher costs to ratepayers, and unnecessary environmental impacts. The guidebook explains how water utilities forecast long-term water demand and reviews some of the approaches and methods commonly used by utilities and consultants. It also provides a set of best practices that can be used to create more accurate and robust long-range water demand forecasts. Some of these best practices include accounting for water conservation and efficiency improvements and land use changes, as well as ensuring transparency and meaningful stakeholder engagement.

A Comparative Study for Estimating Crop Evapotranspiration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | April 23rd, 2018

Consumptive water use by crops, often referred to as evapotranspiration (ET), is frequently the largest component of an agricultural region’s water balance. This study

Consumptive water use by crops, often referred to as evapotranspiration (ET), is frequently the largest component of an agricultural region’s water balance. This study investigates crop consumptive use in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (“Delta”) of California using a comparative approach with several prominent methods for estimating crop ET, including estimates based on crop coefficients, water balances, energy balance using remote sensing, and field measurements. Click here to download full report and links to appendices

A comparison of the taxonomic and trait structure of macroinvertebrate communities between the riffles and pools of montane headwater streams

Hydrobiologia (Springer) | May 30th, 2018

Macroinvertebrate community taxonomic and trait structure showed consistent differences between riffles and pools across 12 headwater streams in the Sierra Nevada (Cali

Macroinvertebrate community taxonomic and trait structure showed consistent differences between riffles and pools across 12 headwater streams in the Sierra Nevada (California) even as flows varied from wet to dry years and between seasons. Densities of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Elmidae, Orthocladiinae and Diamesinae midges, and mites were greater in riffles, whereas Tanypodinae, Chironominae, Sialis, and Pisidium were more abundant in pools. Pools had higher densities but estimated biomass was greater in riffles. Collector-gatherer and micropredator abundances were greater in pools whereas grazers, collector-filterers, and macropredators were more abundant in riffles. Stonefly shredders were most abundant in riffles but some caddis shredders were more abundant in pools. Trait state patterns were related to food resource and physical habitat differences between riffles and pools. Of the distinct pool–riffle differences we found among taxa, only about half conformed to expectations from the literature. Pool and riffle assemblages were most dissimilar at intermediate discharge and converged at low and high flows when one or the other habitat dominated. Bioassessment sampling will need to account for these flow-related differences. Benthic invertebrate communities in these mountain streams clearly differ between pools and riffles, but the relative extent of habitats and biological similarity shift with flow regime.

A Compilation of Water Quality Goals

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | January 1st, 2016

This State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) staff report, A Compilation of Water Quality Goals, supersedes the April 2011 edition and all prior editions

This State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) staff report, A Compilation of Water Quality Goals, supersedes the April 2011 edition and all prior editions and updates published by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Earlier editions and updates should be discarded, as they contain outdated information. The text of this edition has been updated mainly to reflect the transfer of California’s Drinking Water Program from the Department of Public Health (CDPH) to the Division of Drinking Water (DDW) at the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). Information about this transfer is online at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/programs/DW_PreJuly2014.shtml. Cited examples and hyperlinks to reference materials have also been updated. Water Quality Goals includes an online searchable database of water quality based numeric thresholds available at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/water_quality_goals/. The database contains up-to-date numeric thresholds from a variety of sources for over 860 chemical constituents and water quality parameters, including: California and Federal drinking water standards (MCLs) California Public Health Goals (PHGs) California State Notification and Response Levels for drinking water Health Advisories, Water Quality Advisories, and Drinking Water Advisories Cancer Risk Estimates Health-based criteria from USEPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) California Proposition 65 Safe Harbor Levels California Toxics Rule Criteria to protect human health and aquatic life California Ocean Plan Water Quality Objectives U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Recommended Water Quality Criteria to Protect Human Health and Aquatic Life Agricultural use protective thresholds Taste and odor based criteria The narrative Selecting Water Quality Goals contains information to help users to understand California’s water quality standards adopted to protect the beneficial uses of surface water and groundwater resources, available criteria and guidance for evaluating water quality, and to help users select defensible numeric assessment thresholds based on applicable water quality standards. To use this information correctly, it is necessary to read Selecting Water Quality Goals carefully before using numeric thresholds from the database. Water Quality Goals is a technical report prepared by staff of the State Water Board. It is intended to help identify and assess potential water quality concerns. This report is an informational tool only and does not establish State Water Board policy or regulation. The information presented in this report is not binding on any person or entity, nor does it represent final action of the State Water Board or any Regional Water Board. This report is not intended, nor can it be relied upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation in the State of California. The overseeing regulatory authority may decide to use the information provided herein, or to act at a variance with the information, based on analysis of site and case-specific circumstances.

A Comprehensive Dataset of Surface Water Quality Spanning 1940-2023 for Empirical and ML Adopted Research

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | March 6th, 2025

Assessment and monitoring of surface water quality are essential for food security, public health, and ecosystem protection. Although water quality monitoring is a known

Assessment and monitoring of surface water quality are essential for food security, public health, and ecosystem protection. Although water quality monitoring is a known phenomenon, little effort has been made to offer a comprehensive and harmonized dataset for surface water at the global scale. This study presents a comprehensive surface water quality dataset that preserves spatio-temporal variability, integrity, consistency, and depth of the data to facilitate empirical and data-driven evaluation, prediction, and forecasting. The dataset is assembled from a range of sources, including regional and global water quality databases, water management organizations, and individual research projects from five prominent countries in the world, e.g., the USA, Canada, Ireland, England, and China. The resulting dataset consists of 2.82 million measurements of eight water quality parameters that span 1940 - 2023. This dataset can support meta-analysis of water quality models and can facilitate Machine Learning (ML) based data and model-driven investigation of the spatial and temporal drivers and patterns of surface water quality at a cross-regional to global scale.