California flows framework helping British Columbia shape future of environmental flows management

SCCWRP has begun advising water resources managers in British Columbia, Canada, on how to determine the environmental flow needs of streams using a standardized scientific framework developed in California – insights that could help the province develop its own approach for managing limited flow resources.

During a Canadian environmental flows workshop in October, SCCWRP’s Dr. Eric Stein and Dr. Kris Taniguchi-Quan shared how the California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) – which was co-developed by SCCWRP and unveiled in 2021 – is helping California to balance both human and ecosystem needs for flowing water. The framework has been used in a range of different management contexts across California, including dam-regulated rivers, flow diversions to support cannabis cultivation, and urbanized watersheds.

For SCCWRP, the collaboration offers an opportunity to learn how to engage tribal communities in the process of applying an approach like CEFF to balance the many competing demands on limited flow resources.

Just as California a decade ago lacked a rigorous, standardized method for determining the environmental flow needs of streams, British Columbia is presently grappling with how to balance multiple competing requests for new water uses and diversions.