Statewide framework to be used to inform flow management for south Orange County streams

Watershed managers working to restore more natural flow patterns to streams in southern Orange County have agreed to use a proposed statewide framework to pursue development of environmental flow targets that optimally protect stream health.

At a January meeting, stakeholders and technical advisors reached conceptual agreement on moving forward with the approach outlined by the California Environmental Flows Framework, a proposed, multi-tiered management framework for setting appropriate environmental flow targets for streams statewide.

The South Orange County Flow Ecology Study will serve as a key demonstration project supporting development of the statewide framework, which is ongoing.

Stakeholders and technical advisors in January reviewed technical analyses completed by SCCWRP and its partners that support the framework’s first two tiers: a screening-level analysis comparing the stream’s flows to reference flow patterns, followed by an evaluation of how the altered flows are impacting biological communities.