Effort launched to expand, enhance statewide framework for establishing stream flow targets

SCCWRP and its partners have launched a three-year effort to expand and enhance the California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) – a standardized statewide approach that watershed managers use to establish flow targets for streams that are intended to protect ecosystem health.

The project, which kicked off in June, will focus on improving understanding of the intersection between stream flow patterns, groundwater extraction practices and water-quality changes. The existing tools that support CEFF do not adequately account for the influence of groundwater extraction – which can reduce surface stream flows – nor the ways that changes in stream flows can affect key water-quality parameters, including stream temperatures and specific conductance.

Researchers’ goal for this project, which is titled “From Framework to Flows (F2F)”, is to extend the management utility of CEFF, paving the way for CEFF to answer more integrated management questions.

CEFF, which was co-developed by SCCWRP, provides a rigorous, standardized approach for determining how to allocate limited surface flows that balance both human and ecosystem needs for flowing water.