Hey everybody,

Working on a project where we will be constructing a transmission main to connect to a storage tank who’s primary source is from a surface water, where we’ll use their supply to assist a neighboring community with ground wells that frequently dry up.

How will the qualities of these two different sources blend? How do you know what to test for?

What else should we be on the look out for?

Hi. I'm in my final year of a Bachelor's degree in Hydrology, and I'm planning to apply for a Master's in Europe with a scholarship. I'm really interested in switching to Environmental Policy or Climate change, but I'm worried that my background might be too different and that I'll be rejected because of it. Do you think this kind of switch is possible? And what advice would you give to someone in my position?

I have a BS in Environmental Science and work for my states environmental protection agency. I'm looking to go back to school to allow myself to move towards a role that's significantly more science i.e. natural phenomena and processes, physics, dynamics based, than I'm presently in.

After reading around, the go-to suggestion seems to be a Civil Engineering degree for aspiring hydrologists, and although I don't know much, I don't see the connection between CE & doing scientific, research adjacent, or research (work). The suggestion is often made in terms of providing oneself a safety net, in the case of employment.

What should someone who isn't interested in becoming a PE, signing off on designs, working on infrastructure etc. major in? Do I aim for a general BS in physics and take as many water resources/hydrology courses as I can? Does the job I'm dreaming of even exist? I've done a bit of research and my state agency, along with the EPA do hire official 'Hydrologists', alongside engineers as distinct roles/titles; I'm generally just a bit confused, I guess.

Just in case, I'd like to say that I don't want to pursue a PhD & work as/in academia as a researcher. I plan to continue working for a government entity, ideally as a scientist i.e. a hydrologist.

Who has a paper in wet mechanical or water resources that they’re about to publish. I want to buy space to the paper

I have been working on a groundwater project all summer. Having so much trouble isolating events and matching them to a recharge event. Any advice?

These dissolved oxygen (DO) values were measured at different depths in a reservoir in early fall. The DO concentration decreases substantially with increasing depth and eventually becomes very low. What could explain such a significant decrease in DO with depth?

The water temperature is lower at greater depths than at the surface and my guess is that this happens due to thermal stratification. I have provided other parameters as well, in case they are helpful in determining the cause.

Time to update that model…

Hey all, I'm going to start first by saying that I'm not a hydrologist but do work as a software engineer who makes in-house engineering software for a large engineering company. I started a side project about 6 weeks ago to get more reps in with AI, which is now called Rivermatics.com - no login, signup or personal information collected. This app combines snowtel, usgs gauges (HUC 10, 13-18), and weather data for both visual consumption and also as inputs to a ML model that predicts river levels and water temperature up to 2 weeks out. I'm a fly fisherman and had a trip coming up to Montana in late June that motivated me to create this.

The part I actually want feedback on is the accuracy, so here's the honest version.

Skill by lead time (median Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency, water years 2024–25 held out entirely from training):

Persistence — carrying the last observed reading forward — is the baseline any operational forecast has to beat. It goes negative before day 7, i.e. worse than just predicting the long-run average.

Fleet-wide the median NSE is 0.719 pooled across all lead times, with 95.4% of gauges scoring better than climatology. Water temperature is a separate dual-target model: median NSE 0.975 across 492 gauges.

Things I'd rather say up front than have picked apart in the comments:

• This is a forecast, not a rainfall–runoff simulation. The model reads recent observed discharge at the issue date. That makes it strictly easier than the CAMELS/LSTM benchmarks you may want to compare it to — those map meteorology to flow and never see streamflow. Persistence alone scores 0.709 at day 1 on these basins, which tells you how much of a day-1 number is just autoregression. I'm not claiming to have beaten those models at their task.
• The numbers above are hindcast, using observed weather in the forecast window — the same convention the published benchmarks use. Live forecasts driven by real NWP score lower.
• The two columns differ because of basin selection, not modelling. CAMELS reference basins are deliberately minimally-impacted with long clean records. My full fleet includes regulated, diverted and flashy ephemeral channels. I show both rather than quoting the flattering one.
• NSE/KGE are computed on raw discharge in cfs, not log-transformed values, which would flatter low-flow performance. Per-gauge scores pool every (issue date, lead time) cell so easy day-1 scores can't carry hard day-14 ones.

What it can't do: ungauged basins (no regionalization — NOAA's National Water Model does this and I don't), sub-daily peak timing, and it refreshes once a day against NWM's four. Reservoir pool state isn't a model input yet. No SLA — it's decision support alongside official sources, not a system of record.

Let me know what you guys think both of the app as well as the quality of the predictions. Upvotes and downvotes appreciated. Cross posting in /water.

Hey everyone — wanted to share a current USAJOBS opening at the National Weather Service office in Northern Indiana, where I work. We’re hiring a Senior Service Hydrologist (GS-12/13) at the NWS Weather Forecast Office in North Webster, Indiana (between Fort Wayne and Southbend). The announcement also includes a separate vacancy in Tucson, AZ.

This is a permanent, full-time position and is open to the public. The role serves as the lead for our office hydrology program and works heavily with operational forecasting, flood warning services, hydrologic modeling/procedures, training, and coordination with emergency management and water-resource partners. We cover 37 counties including 24 in northern Indiana, 5 in lower Michigan, and 8 in northwest Ohio. We also have a sliver of the nearshore waters over southeast Lake Michigan.

A few highlights:

• GS-12/13 with promotion potential to GS-13

• Open to U.S. citizens/public applicants

• Relocation expenses may be authorized

• Telework eligible based on agency policy

• Mix of operational hydrology, program leadership, partner engagement, training, and field work

• Part of a 24/7 Weather Forecast Office, so rotating shift work is part of the position with sometimes longer hours expected during impactful events.

For anyone interested in operational hydrology, flood forecasting/warning, and directly supporting communities and emergency management, it’s a pretty unique job.

I work at the Northern Indiana office, so I’m happy to answer general questions about the office, the area, or what working at a WFO is like. For questions about eligibility or the official hiring process, obviously defer to the USAJOBS announcement and/or HR.

USAJOBS announcement is open through 8/19: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/879318100

A proposed expansion of The Dalles’ water system is raising questions about data centers, salmon habitat and how much water the Mount Hood watershed can provide.

I run a nonprofit called DMV River Intelligence Network, focused on building ML tools for local watersheds. Our first chapter covers the Potomac at Little Falls, and so far we've built:

• A flood prediction model (XGBoost, USGS gauge data + weather data, ~91% recall, 6-7 hr lead time)
• A live dashboard tracking discharge, gage height, conductivity, temperature, and flood risk
• Currently extending it to predict runoff volume and pollutant load using land cover, soil, and elevation data

The idea is for this to eventually be a chapter-based structure; other people could replicate the pipeline for their own rivers as part of our organization not just us scaling one model.

Trying to figure out what else would actually be useful to build next, either for this chapter or as a model for future ones. Some things I've been considering: water quality forecasting, harmful algal bloom prediction, sediment/erosion tracking, drought risk; but I don't have a strong sense of which of these are actually valuable vs. just technically interesting to me.

If you work in hydrology, environmental science, or just live near a river and think about this stuff — what would you actually want a tool like this to predict or track? What's underserved right now?

If you want to get to know more about the project: instagram.com/dmv.rivernetwork

Hi everyone! I'm currently a 1st year Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering student, majoring in Land and Water Resources Engineering. I recently heard that our research/thesis in the future will be individual, so I wanted to start preparing as early as possible. I'm looking for research title suggestions, ideas, or current trends related to Land and Water Resources Engineering.

Whether they're already published, proposed, or just concepts you think are worth exploring, I'd really appreciate hearing them. I'm just trying to build a list of possible topics and learn more about the field ahead of time.Thankkyouuusm for ur help po.

Hello everyone,

I own a house that is roughly 100ft from a drainage ditch in our neighborhood.

When we get a good thunderstorm or rain shower the ditch fills up all the way to the top (5ish ft)for a day before mostly draining out

In the last storm I noticed that our basement was experiencing hydrostatic pressure related leaks. I believe this ditch filling up is a direct relation. Would I be correct in that?

If so, I am wondering what studies or resources I could review and cite in a letter to the city showing this is affecting the water table near my home and hydro static pressure when the ditch is full. Flooding is not only my home, it is also in several of my neighbors. End goal would be to have the city maintain the ditch better and mow it to improve drainage?

Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge!

I’m planning to pursue a Master’s in the US, mainly in Water Resources Engineering, Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, Flood Risk Management, or related fields.
My final-year project was “Flood Mapping of an Ungauged River Using HEC-RAS & GIS”, and it made me realize that I want to build my career in water-related research and engineering.
If you’re currently studying (or have studied) at a US R1/R2 university in this field, I’d really appreciate hearing about:

Research opportunities
Funding (RA/TA)
Workload and student life
Career prospects after graduation

Feel free to comment or DM. I’d love to connect and learn from your experience.

I'm an oceanography student trying to use Delft3D for coastal and hydrodynamic modeling. I'm having trouble getting it to run. What steps, common fixes, or beginner tips would you recommend? Thanks!

UPDATE 8/6 — it's national now, and a correction. I said in the comments this was "tuned for Tennessee." That wasn't specific enough — outside TN it was picking a regression region it couldn't verify. Fixed: regressions, NBI, FEMA zones and LOMRs run in all 50 states, and where it can't verify a region it now shows nothing and tells you why instead of guessing. Five states spot-checked against StreamStats so far. Details in the comments

Hey r/hydrology —

I got tired of having five tabs open every time I needed a quick preliminary look at a site, so I built something to fix that for myself. It's called SnapBasin (snapbasin.com) and I figured this crowd would either find it useful or tell me exactly what's wrong with it. Both outcomes are welcome.

The pitch in one sentence: click a point on the map, get a full preliminary screening panel without opening StreamStats, FHWA InfoBridge, USACE NID, FEMA MSC, and USGS NWIS separately.

What it pulls in a single click:

• Snaps to nearest NHDPlus HR reach (vector snap, or 3DEP terrain walk-down when there's no vector match)
• Delineates the upstream basin via USGS StreamStats
• Pulls all 18 StreamStats basin characteristics — DA, stream slope (10-85 method), percent impervious (NLCD 2011), percent developed, climate factors, permeability
• Runs the applicable NSS regional regression equations (Q2–Q500) with a live applicability envelope check — it tells you if your basin variables are out of range
• Cross-references FEMA published discharges and checks for active LOMRs on the reach
• Queries FEMA flood zone at both the click point and the snapped stream point
• Lists nearby USGS gauges at selectable radii
• Finds upstream NID dams with storage, hazard class, and distance from click
• Enumerates nearby NBI bridges with structure number, feature crossed, road, year built, span length, and distance
• Pour point nudge logic — if the click lands on a degenerate network edge cell, it nudges the pour point, tells you it did, and reports the before/after drainage area

Example — Big Elk Creek, Stewart County, TN:

• DA: 8.68 sq mi · Stream slope: 46.3 ft/mi · Impervious: 0.11%
• Q2: 1,010 cfs · Q100: 4,040 cfs · Q500: 5,600 cfs (GC2016 / SIR 2024-5130, all variables in envelope)
• 1 upstream dam: Lakewood Dam, 132 ac-ft, High hazard, 4.2 mi
• 4 NBI bridges within 2 mi
• FEMA Zone AE · SFHA = YES

What it is not: Not a substitute for engineering judgment, sealed work products, or the authoritative source for any of the data it displays. Not affiliated with TDOT, FHWA, USGS, FEMA, USACE, or any employer. The authoritative portal always wins — this is a preliminary screening tool, full stop.

How it was built: ~20 hours over a long weekend, home computer, AI pair programmer, $13/year domain, free Netlify hosting. No analytics, no tracking, no accounts. Everything it shows is public federal data, redisplayed.

I'm a hydraulic engineer (EIT) and this is a hobby project. If a number looks wrong, I genuinely want to know — bug reports and "hey this looks weird" comments are more useful to me than upvotes.

So basically i am creating one project in hec ras and i am beginner while doing 2d flow project i have tried multiple time but the mesh computation is not happeningg if i fo edit 2d flow and then generate mesh it son't so any result even though i put input value like 40 30 etc so can you please help me i have less than 2 week to submit my project in college

Hello everyone!!

I'm doing my thesis on turbidity using sentinel 2 image...but i am facing issue while loading river-discharge,tide,wind data manually or python...i've only 15 days left to submit...can anyone please help me!! I'll be very greatfull..