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Ranking River basins for stream temperature research and monitoring in the contiguous United States

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: There is a need to prioritize research and data collection in river basins by integrating information from environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic datasets to maintain acceptable water quality for human uses and ecosystem health. Multiple anthropogenic and natural stressors are responsible for driving changes in stream temperatures that can alter ecosystems and degrade water quality. These stressors are variable spatially and temporally, which can create difficulty in assessing the relative importance of river basins and prioritizing monitoring. In this study, an evaluation of variables related to stream temperature was performed for 163 candidate basins of the contiguous United States to highlight potential focal areas for temperature monitoring and research. Thirty variables spanning six components of anthropogenic forcing, natural forcing, climate change, ecological sensitivity, socioeconomic sensitivity, and data availability were used in the basin ranking calculations. Three temperature-related themes were analyzed: (1) vulnerability of streams to thermal change, (2) vulnerability of ecosystems, and (3) vulnerability of underserved communities and human uses. Results of the national scale ranking indicated the Southern California coastal basin (within California-Nevada region) as the highest-ranking priority in vulnerability to changes in water temperature and vulnerability of ecosystems. The Missouri-Oahe basin (within the Northern High Plains region) was the highest-ranking priority for vulnerable communities and uses. Evaluating basins across a spectrum of resiliency identified optimal strategies for focused monitoring and modeling.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133163
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,030
OpenAlex ID: W4408749969
FWCI: 0.66
Cites: 83
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10