Stream vulnerability study launched to aid in risk evaluation in San Diego region

SCCWRP has initiated a three-year study examining how future expected changes in stream flow patterns across the San Diego region will impact sensitive aquatic species and habitats, with a goal to build a risk evaluation framework that can help watershed managers prioritize which streams to protect and restore over the long term.

The stream vulnerability study, launched in October, involves evaluating the degree to which environmental flows already have been altered from their natural state, as well as how these flow patterns are expected to be altered further in response to climate change, future land-use changes and changing water management practices.

The San Diego-area work will build off a similar environmental flows analysis in the Los Angeles region focusing on climate change impacts.

Researchers hope the study will help move California closer toward developing statewide stream vulnerability analysis tools; the risk decision framework is expected to be applicable in other regions of California.