Abstract
Flow–ecology relationships are critical for developing and adaptively managing environmental flows. However, uncertainty often arises from data limitations and an incomplete understanding of the spatial and temporal attributes inherent to each relationship. Accounting for sources of uncertainty is critical given the mounting interest in implementing environmental flows at large scales, often with limited information. We used the South Fork Eel River watershed in northern California as a case study to demonstrate how data gaps and uncertainty in flow–ecology relationships may be better quantified. A rigorous literature review revealed that few flow–ecology relationships related directly to the flow regime, and none spanned the full range of hydrologic or geomorphic variability exhibited across the watershed. Identified data gaps informed several sensitivity analyses within a Bayesian network model which showed that the modeled ecological outcome differed by as much as 50% depending on the type and magnitude of uncertainty. This study presents a general regional framework for quantifying spatial and temporal data gaps that can be applied to other watersheds and information types to improve representation of uncertainty in flow–ecology relationships and to inform environmental flow design.
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Data Availability Statement
The data and code to reproduce the results in this study are compiled in a Hydroshare resource and can be accessed at https://www.hydroshare.org/resource/a731d9971eb44518898ea21e163544be/.
Reproducible Results
Haley Canham (Utah State University) and an anonymous reproducibility reviewer downloaded all data and code and reproduced the results in the figures of this study.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the California State Water Resources Control Board, the Utah Water Research Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation under the Climate Adaptation Science Fellowship, Grant No. 1633756. The authors gratefully acknowledge David Rosenberg for his contributions to the conception and methods of this project, and Sarah Null for her contributions to the text that greatly improved this work. The authors also wish to thank the referees and the reproducibility reviewer for their insightful comments and suggestions that improved the clarity of this work.
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148 • Issue 4 • April 2022
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Received: Mar 16, 2021
Accepted: Dec 9, 2021
Published online: Feb 15, 2022
Published in print: Apr 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 15, 2022
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