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Beginning in 2022, SEI has been working with UC Davis researchers and the California State Water Resources Control Board to help implement the Drought Emergency Regulation in the Scott River watershed. Enacted in 2021 following one of the watershed’s most severe droughts on record, the regulations call for in-stream flows to protect Chinook and coho salmon habitat.
2022
SEI staff will be developing the Scott River Watershed Allocation Model to help evaluate management responses to the current drought, as well as future droughts, using SEI’s WEAP software.
WEAP is ideally suited to studying the impact of in-stream flow requirements on agriculture, rural communities, aquatic habitat and other beneficial uses in a watershed. The model will be built using inputs from the existing Scott Valley Integrated Hydrology Model (SVIHM) developed by UC Davis, as well as from water rights documentation. SEI will take advantage of its eWRIMS Analyzer tool to extract water right allocation data based on the state’s eWRIMS water rights database.
Application of the model will help inform the drought response by the California State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect native salmon habitat. The Scott River contains vital habitat for the federally and state-designated threatened coho salmon, containing one of the last self-sustaining wild runs in California with over half of the state’s wild population.
Feature / The eWRIMS Analyzer transforms California’s water rights data into accessible reports on monthly water use in each watershed.
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Project / SEI researchers work throughout California to model complex water systems and explore sustainable management options.
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Tool / The Water Evaluation and Planning tool (WEAP) provides a comprehensive, flexible and user-friendly framework for policy analysis in water resources planning.
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Project / SEI is designing water allocation models that explicitly represent every water right and assess the impact of in-stream flow requirements on water users.
2017 / About Planning and modelling and Water resources
Project / SEI is developing the Shasta River Water Allocation Model to help evaluate potential management actions in the watershed under the California Water Action Plan.
2017 / About Food and agriculture, Planning and modelling, Public policy and Water resources
Project / SEI is building a water allocation and hydrology model in the Upper Klamath River basin.
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Project / SEI is building the Ventura Water Allocation Model (VWAM) using SEI’s flagship WEAP software for the Ventura River watershed in California.
2017 / About Food and agriculture, Planning and modelling, Public policy and Water resources
Feature / SEI experts break down complex topics, from water management in California to how fires affect Bolivia's water balance, in this podcast series.
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Project / The Sacramento Water Allocation Model enables policy-makers to weigh difficult trade-offs in water use, by simulating a complex water system in the US.
2014 / About Planning and modelling and Water resources
Initiative / Our work aims to transform current decision making around access to water, the greatest risk to global prosperity, and addressing the SDGs.
2020 - 2025 / About Participation, Sustainable Development Goals and Water resources
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