Committee Passes Sen. Dodd’s Plan to Improve Stream Management

SACRAMENTO – Legislation advanced today from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would improve California’s ability to measure the flow of water through thousands of local streams, protecting this precious resource and assisting the state as it manages the cycle of drought and flooding in the era of climate change.

“Water is a precious resource in California and we must ensure it is managed correctly,” Sen. Dodd said. “Unfortunately, our stream monitoring systems need help. This bill would help upgrade our equipment, improving our ability to track where our water is going as we deal with the continuing effects of climate.”

California collects data on hundreds of waterways through a series of monitoring devices called stream gages. However, about 70% of the state’s streams are not equipped with these devices hundreds of others fail to provide key data including as temperature and sedimentation. In addition, many of the active gages do not provide real-time reporting.

To improve the information state water scientists receive and prepare for extreme conditions such as floods and drought, changes must be made. Sen. Dodd’s proposal, Senate Bill 361, directs the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources to reactivate, upgrade and install new stream gages, and develop plans to fund their long-term maintenance. The bill also requires DWR and the Water Board to identify gaps in the network of weather stations and other water data infrastructure to ensure accurate and comprehensive data collection.

SB 361 was approved by the Senate Natural Resources committee with bipartisan support. It is co-sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy.

“A comprehensive stream gage network is essential for water management in California,” Kirk Klausmeyer, director of data science for The Nature Conservancy, testified before the committee. “I’m asking you to vote aye and get our water managers out of the dark.” 

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Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. You can learn more about the district and Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.