California Water Science Center
Home
The California Water Science Center has adjusted activities in response to guidance concerning the global COVID-19 pandemic. We will carry on the work of the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on direction from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting to a virtual mode.
For assistance, please contact us through our Connect page.
Water Research Projects
Over 100 research projects addressing California's key water issues including: long-term water supply and availability, water quality, droughts and floods, climate change, aquatic ecology, the Delta, management of watersheds and groundwater.
Explore ProjectsPartnering with Us
The USGS partners with local, state, and other federal agencies to provide scientific information needed by water-resources managers across the Nation.
Find out howCalifornia Water Data
Basic hydrologic data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving are major parts of the California Water Science Center program.
National Water Information System Mapper
Current California Streamflow Conditions
California Post-Fire Debris-Flow Maps
California Water-Quality Mapper
Get CA Water DataNews
California Waters - Spring 2021 - Vol. I | Issue II
Welcome to the USGS California Water Science Center newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep its readers updated with current research projects, the latest publications, and other work the center is doing.
Eric Reichard, Director of the California Water Science Center
This newsletter is also available on the web.
USGS Participates in 2021 Orange County Youth Environmental Summit
From April 19th through the 23rd, 2021, the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) participated in the first virtual Orange County Youth Environmental Summit (YES). The award-winning program, formerly known as the Children's Water Education Festival, offers 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders opportunities for learning and engagement.
Bay-Delta Science Conference Goes Virtual
From April 6-9, 2021, more than 1,000 scientists, managers, and policymakers gathered virtually for the 11th Biennial Bay-Delta Science Conference. This year’s conference "Building Resilience Through Diversity in Science" featured a plenary talk by California Water Science Center (CAWSC) Director Eric Reichard who is presently serving as Acting USGS Southwest Regional Director.
Publications
Amplified impact of climate change on fine-sediment delivery to a subsiding coast, Humboldt Bay, California
In Humboldt Bay, tectonic subsidence exacerbates sea-level rise (SLR). To build surface elevations and to keep pace with SLR, the sediment demand created by subsidence and SLR must be balanced by an adequate sediment supply. This study used an ensemble of plausible future scenarios to predict potential climate change impacts on suspended-sediment...
Curtis, Jennifer; Flint, Lorraine E.; Stern, Michelle A.; Lewis, Jack; Klein, Randy D. Use of the smeltCam as an efficient fish sampling alternative within the San Francisco Estuary
Resource managers often rely on long-term monitoring surveys to detect trends in biological data. However, no survey gear is 100% efficient, and many sources of bias can be responsible for detecting or not detecting biological trends. The SmeltCam is an imaging apparatus developed as a potential sampling alternative to long-term trawling gear...
Huntsman, Brock; Feyrer, Frederick; Young, Matthew
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills domestic-supply aquifer study units, 2015–17—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills region of California was investigated as part of California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring Assessment Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP). The region was divided into two study units: the Yuba-Bear watersheds (YBW) study unit and the American-...
Levy, Zeno F.; Fram, Miranda S.