Researchers outline method to design daily functional-flow regimes for Central Valley rivers

Summary

UC Berkeley-led team described a method that converts unimpaired flow records and CalSim model outputs into daily, water-year–specific functional flow regimes; presenters said the approach will let analysts evaluate trade-offs across water users, ecosystems and climate futures and provide monthly water budgets for planners.

Ted Grantham, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told the California Environmental Flows Technical Work Group that his team developed a method to create daily "functional flow regimes" for Central Valley rivers by linking unimpaired-flow estimates with operations modeling and rule sets that scale flows by water-year percentile.

Grantham said the work, part of a project called CoEqual (the Collaboratory for Equity in Water Allocations), was funded through a state climate action initiative and was designed as a two‑year, actionable research effort. "What is our water future? How do we how do we decide, what what our water future is and who decides?" Grantham asked, describing the project’s equity emphasis.

The presentation explained the technical approach: use historical unimpaired flows to derive relationships among five functional-flow…

Researchers outline method to design daily functional-flow regimes for Central Valley rivers

Summary

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