Address Climate-Caused Water Scarcity
Developed an AI-powered tool to improve the reliability of snowmelt forecasting, and help the state of California better prepare for floods and droughts
Our Impact
One of the biggest challenges in snow science right now is that scientists do not have accessible methods for measuring the volume of water in snow in real-time, which is a challenge for making efficient and informed water management decisions. This is particularly critical as snowmelt and fresh water are increasingly threatened by climate change. Our new tool helps increase transparency and promote collaboration within the state’s irrigation districts, leverages freely-available global satellite datasets, and is accessible via a web-based platform. We recently handed off our tool and research to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for real-time use.
Approach
We synthesized findings from months of interviews with the DWR, local water managers, academics, and private companies in California’s Sierra Nevada region to inform tool development. A significant portion of the state's snowpack originates in the Sierra Nevada, making this a critical region for study. Based on data collected in stakeholder interviews we developed recommendations for how to synthesize decision pipelines. We created a visualization tool to communicate the steps and resources utilized.
Key Findings
- Although local irrigation districts have access to advanced technology and copious amounts of hydrological data, how these resources are applied varies greatly.
- Some districts rely on the institutional memory of seasoned hydrologists with decades of knowledge, but this knowledge is frequently undocumented and lacks standard operating procedures.
- This puts districts at serious risk of losing important operational knowledge when these professionals retire or take on new responsibilities.
To help close these communication and knowledge gaps we created a centralized platform that enables experts and community stakeholders to access complex hydrological information (see example below). The platform enables technical collaboration, offers analytical tools, and provides educational resources so that the data is accessible to non-technical audiences. It allows for side-by-side comparisons of the strategies, tactics, and results of various irrigation districts to promote openness and the exchange of best practices between various regions.
Future Vision
We are grateful to our partners at DWR for their collaboration. As a next step, we are exploring opportunities to build on this research in California with FlowWest and COEQWAL.
