California Water Plan Update 2013: Pilot Statewide Assessment

Area of Focus
Special Assessments

This project uses indicators to measure progress toward meeting stakeholder and Water Plan goals and objectives. These indicators capture many aspects of the social, economic, and natural systems that are influenced by water use and management. The Sustainability Indicators Framework (SIF) was developed as a process for using indicators to measure progress toward water sustainability. There are >120 proposed indicators that could be used to measure progress. Over 20 of these were used at the state and regional (Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority) scales as a pilot test of implementation of the SIF.

Indicators

  • Aquatic Fragmentation
    Aquatic fragmentation in a watershed or hydrologic region. When streams are crossed by roads or dams, the portions above and below the potential barrier are separated from each other in a process called fragmentation. This can interfere with physical processes and movement of aquatic organisms.
  • Baseline Water Stress (WRI)
    Baseline water stress measures total annual water withdrawals (municipal, industrial, and agricultural) expressed as a percent of the total annual available flow. Higher values indicate more competition among users. This indicator was used by the World Resources Institute in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Groundwater Nitrate
    Groundwater describes water in soil and sub-soil substrates (e.g., aquifers) that is replenished across various time-frames by surface water that percolates to these underground reservoirs. For this water to be useable to meet human needs (e.g., drinking, irrigation) it must meet the same kinds of water quality requirements as surface water. One indicator of groundwater quality is nitrate concentration.
  • Groundwater: CalEnviroScreen
    California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool ("CalEnviroScreen") is intended to support assessments of the potential environmental pollution effects on communities, including disadvantaged communities, in order to support reduction in disparities and threats to health. The groundwater component of CalEnviroScreen provides a relative ranking of communities' groundwater condition and so should not be considered an absolute indication of health risk or cumulative effects.
  • Historical Drought Severity (WRI)
    Drought severity measures the average length of droughts times the dryness of the droughts from 1901 to 2008. The indicator was used by the World Resources Institute in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Historical Flooding Occurrence (WRI)
    Flood occurrence is the number of floods recorded from 1985 to 2011. The indicator was used by the World Resources Institute in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Impervious Surface: Geomorphic Condition
    Proportion of watershed covered by impenetrable materials such as roads, parking lots, and buildings preventing water from leaching directly into the soil. The greater the proportion of watershed with impervious surfaces, the greater the likelihood of geomorphic processes and conditions being degraded due primarily to modifications of stormwater runoff dynamics.
  • Impervious Surface: Water Quality Index
    Proportion of watershed covered by impenetrable materials such as roads, parking lots, and buildings preventing water from leaching directly into the soil. Water quality is affected by impervious surface development in watersheds. The more impervious surfaces are developed, the greater the chance that water quality will be degraded.
  • Inter-annual Variability (WRI)
    Inter-annual variability measures the variation in water supply between years. This indicator was used by the World Resources Institute in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Native Fish Community
    Ratio of observed to expected native fish species in a waterbody or watershed. Fish indicators have been widely used and recognized as important tools to evaluate watershed and stream ecosystem health.
  • Return Flows (WRI)
    Return flow ratio measures the percent of available water previously used and discharged upstream as wastewater. This indicator was used by the World Resources Institute in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Stream Condition Index
    This is a biological index, composed of indicators & metrics representing the condition of the benthic invertebrate communities living in streams and rivers. The presence and abundance of aquatic plants and animals can provide an indication of waterway and landscape disturbance, geomorphic conditions, appropriate water availability, and water quality. Comparing the measured presence (observed) of native species or groups to the expected presence of these species or groups is one way of measuring watershed and waterway conditions.
  • Threats to Amphibians (WRI)
    Threatened amphibians measures the percentage of amphibian species classified by IUCN as threatened. The World Resources Institute used this indicator in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Upstream Protected Lands (WRI)
    Upstream protected land measures the percentage of total water supply that originates from protected ecosystems. Modified land use can affect the health of freshwater ecosystems and have severe downstream impacts on both water quality and quantity. The World Resources Institute used this indicator in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.
  • Upstream Storage (WRI)
    Upstream storage measures the water storage capacity available upstream of a location relative to the total water supply at that location. The World Resources Institute used this indicator in the Aqueduct 2.0 project.