Postdoctoral Researcher, Groundwater-Dependent Streams in Irrigated Agricultural Regions - Integrated Hydrologic Modeling for Sustainable Groundwater Management

Throughout mountain ranges and embedded as well as adjacent basins, streams are important sanctuaries for anadromous (near continental margins) and other fish populations. Their survival has been under threat due to combined effects of agricultural intensification and climate change, both of which have increased surface water and groundwater abstractions. Inadequate streamflow during drier years and exceptionally dry and hot seasons is largely attributable to groundwater extraction, direct surface water diversions, and historic anthropogenic alterations. Our work aims at better understanding linkages between land management, climate change, streams, groundwater, and ecosystems across scales. We are seeking a highly motivated individual that will focus on assessing potential benefits of groundwater and surface water management practices that lead to stream habitat improvements. Promising actions in irrigated agricultural basins include improved irrigation practices, crop changes, and land repurposing, managed aquifer recharge, stream diversion management, in-stream alterations, and curtailment practices. Our study region is the Scott Valley basin, an intermontane basin in semi-arid California that is also at the forefront of legal advances in evolving water rights. Reaches of both the Scott River and critical tributaries commonly lose connectivity and go dry, particularly during drought years. Conditions have reduced suitable juvenile coho salmon summer rearing habitat, and restricted access for adult coho and Chinook salmon to spawning habitat in the fall. Previous groundwater modeling research using the Scott Valley Integrated Hydrologic Model (SVIHM) has explored regional scale management actions to address streamflow depletion, in addition to developing hydrologic decision-support metrics. This research will build on previous work, improving the spatial and temporal discretization in SVIHM to evaluate sub-regional water resources management strategies and estimate local reach-scale/field-scale impacts on reversing streamflow depletion. The selected candidate is expected to develop high-resolution local groundwater-soil-landscape-surface water models from the existing integrated basin model to:

• Develop and model property-scale management scenarios, assessing local changes in surface water-groundwater interactions.

• Investigate stream-reach specific dynamics of surface water-groundwater interactions, including response thresholds to management actions and best management practice optimization, with respect to environmental flows and salmonid health.

• Build on previously proposed hydrologic decision-support metrics to determine future adaptive management impacts on –dry-season baseflow in high-habitat value tributaries of the Scott River the timing and magnitude of fall flow increases in the mainstem Scott River.

• Advance modeling capabilities of surface water-groundwater interactions using remote sensing methodologies to evaluate high-resolution connectivity dynamics.

Key deliverables include published scientific manuscripts detailing research findings, technical guidance documents focused on sub-regional management actions that can be employed by local stakeholders, and regular written and oral communications with a wide range of stakeholders.

There will also be opportunities for the successful candidate to explore independent research interests and to take advantage of the outstanding postdoctoral mentoring and development programs offered by the UC Davis Grad Pathways Institute for Professional Development, including, for example, the Professors for the Future program and other core competency development programs.

Roles and Responsibilities:
Lead and implement efforts pertaining to the collection, processing, statistical analysis, and assessment of field data, remote sensing data, and other data available through public resources.

Develop, integrate, and apply numerical models across the integrated hydrologic modeling spectrum, including watershed models, land use models, unsaturated zone flow models, and groundwater models, with a focus on the latter.
Prepare high quality, professional graphics, animations, and tables of a wide range of modeling outputs.

Produce high quality scientific and technical output including journal articles, conference papers and presentations, reports, and graphics.

Lead project management efforts including communication with funding agencies and stakeholders, scheduling and facilitating regular stakeholder and funder meetings, and managing team engagement.

Provide conference management support for the 3rd International Conference “Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture – Linking Science and Policy” in San Francisco, California, June 17-20, 2024.
Engage in the collaborative development of proposals to secure external funding for research.