Overview
The Multidisciplinary Water Training and Operations Program is a cooperative effort between the US Bureau of Reclamation and UC Davis under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit program. Under the program, UC Davis runs a comprehensive training program to train a job-ready workforce for our nation and the Bureau of Reclamation. As part of the training program, trainees develop science-based tools to provide actionable information on high-priority questions in water operations, fisheries, and aquatic ecosystem management. Trainees also work closely with managers at the Bureau of Reclamation to ensure that their science is directly transferable to decision-makers. Tools developed through this project improve water management and fish and wildlife conservation in the California Bay-Delta watershed, promote effective use of water within the system, help prevent species extinctions, and provide scientific information to support recovery efforts. The project furthers the UC Davis mission by training the next generation of scientists to improve scientific understanding and science-based management of public resources.
Active Projects
The effect of estuarine flow and physical habitat features on juvenile salmon predation risk in the Sacramento San-Joaquin Delta
This project is improving our understanding of the ecology of juvenile salmon in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta, a vital hub for California’s agro-economy and municipal water supply.
Team: David Ayers, Jon Walter, and Andrea Hamilton.
Drivers of zooplankton abundance across a brackish to freshwater gradient in the Bay-Delta
This project is advancing our understanding of the food web dynamics driving zooplankton population fluctuations in the San Francisco Bay–Delta, a critically managed system that supplies water to 30 million Californians, and sustains populations of state and federally listed fish species.
Team: Alyse Lacey, Jon Walter, John Durand, Josh Israel, and Andrea Hamilton.
Evaluating Hydrologic Forecast Inputs for the CalSim3 Reservoir Operations Model
This project will improve our understanding of seasonal hydrologic forecasts across California and their influence on reservoir operation decisions in the CalSim3 water resources model.
Team: Krystle Catamura, Jon Herman, Ryan Lucas, Randi Field.
Background
Fostering innovative solutions to water problems, as well as the next generation of problem solvers, is critical for sustainable management of natural resources across the arid West. The Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California Davis has a track record for multidisciplinary training of students with strong expertise in environmental engineering, ecology, water science, and natural resource and water management. The Center for Watershed Sciences has become a pipeline of talent for both state agencies and federal agencies like the Bureau of Reclamation. This comprehensive multidisciplinary training and collaboration program with Reclamation has a dual focus: developing a job-ready workforce with experience in using leading-edge science, and building quantitative models or using other approaches to solve challenging water problems in California and the West.
Trainees choose either an ecology track or an engineering track, but they collaborate between tracks in a structured way to enhance intellectual cross-pollination. Trainees work with their advisors at the Center for Watershed Science to address a research project selected in collaboration with Reclamation. Each trainee also completes a summer internship at Reclamation, where they work in-person at a Reclamation office during the summer, receiving hands-on job experience while continuing work on their project. This experience allows for professional networking opportunities, a chance to directly apply the results of their research project within the context of the existing management system, and allows each trainee to gain a sense of the work environment at Reclamation.
Objective 1: Implement a training program for multidisciplinary trainees.
- Each recruited trainee becomes a member of a traditional lab and graduate group (GGE "Ecology", CEE, "Civil and Environmental Engineering", and "Hydrologic Sciences") at UC Davis, with one of the affiliated faculty serving as a major advisor.
- Each summer, trainees intern in-person at Reclamation. The goal of this experiential learning opportunity is to network with Reclamation colleagues, understand the work culture at Reclamation, and gain experience applying their science within the context of the existing management system.
Objective 2: Develop actionable science products in collaboration with other trainees and Reclamation managers.
- Each trainee conducts an independent multidisciplinary research project in collaboration with Reclamation collaborators and their major advisor.
Collaborators
Karrigan Börk, Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences
Jon Herman, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Alvar Escriva-Bou, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jon Walter, Center for Watershed Sciences
John Durand, Center for Watershed Sciences
Carson Jeffres, Center for Watershed Sciences
Sarah Yarnell, Center for Watershed Sciences
Josh Israel, Bureau of Reclamation
Andrea Hamilton, Bureau of Reclamation
Ryan Lucas, Bureau of Reclamation
Randi Field, Bureau of Reclamation
Image credits: Daphnia, juvenile salmon, and reservoir illustrations were generated using OpenAI ChatGPT (2026).