Groundwater Scientist
Freshwater
[email protected]
Melissa provides scientific leadership to the Groundwater Program of The Nature Conservancy’s California Chapter using her expertise in biology, hydrology, and water policy to advance sustainable groundwater management. Her research focuses on understanding how Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems function and what conditions are necessary to maintain ecosystem health. Her research is being used to advise policy and management of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014.
Prior to working at the Conservancy, Melissa conducted research with the Water in the West program at Stanford University on the costs and benefits associated with groundwater recharge and storage projects in California. She has more than 15 years of international research experience ranging across the fields of paleoclimatology, biogeochemistry, and hydrogeology. She holds an M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University and an M.S. in Water Science, Policy and Management from Oxford University. In addition to her research, Melissa is an avid educator, having led research expeditions in the Himalayas, Arctic and rural India. You can follow Melissa’s musings on water, climate change, and the environment on her blog: www.reflectionsonwater.org.
What Melissa is working on now:
I’m currently providing guidance to local and state agencies on how to protect groundwater dependent ecosystems under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. In addition, I am researching how practitioners can monitor the health of groundwater dependent ecosystems so that appropriate thresholds and management actions can be established.
Melissa M. Rohde, Tanushree Biswas, Ian W. Housman, Leah S. Campbell, Kirk R. Klausmeyer, Jeanette Howard
Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are increasingly threatened worldwide, but the shallow groundwater resources that they are reliant upon are seldom monitored. In this study, the researchers used satellite-based remote sensing, climate data, and machine learning to predict groundwater levels over a 35 year period (1985…
Melissa M. Rohde, Tanushree Biswas, Ian W. Housman, Leah S. Campbell, Kirk R. Klausmeyer, Jeanette Howard
Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are critical habitats throughout California that rely on shallow groundwater. Unfortunately, only a small subset of wells provide monitoring data for shallow groundwater. This tool, developed for a publication in Frontiers in Earth Science, uses satellite data and machine learning tools to…
Melissa M. Rohde, John C. Stella, Dar A. Roberts, Michael Bliss Singer
This study combines satellite, groundwater, and streamflow data over a 5 year period (2015-2020) to understand the impacts of groundwater depth and streamflow alteration on groundwater-dependent vegetation across California. The study shows that deeper groundwater levels resulted in poor vegetation health, but that current water management…
Barton H. Thompson, Jr., Melissa M. Rohde, Jeanette K. Howard, Sandi Matsumoto
In 2014, California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) promised comprehensive management of California’s groundwater. This report, Mind the Gaps: The Case for Truly Comprehensive Sustainable Groundwater Management, based on joint analysis by Water in the West at Stanford University and The Nature Conservancy, finds…
Kirk Klausmeyer, Jeanette Howard, Melissa Rohde, Charlotte Stanley
The first step to sustainably manage groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) is to identify where they are. The Nature Conservancy developed a statewide spatial database that provides locations of seeps and springs, wetlands, and vegetation likely to depend on groundwater. This database (version 2.0) is an…
Laurel Saito, Bill Christian, Jennifer Diffley, Holly Richter, Melissa M. Rohde, Scott A. Morrison
In this paper, we describe minimum provisions for planning, managing, and monitoring groundwater in a manner that collectively can lower the risk of harm to groundwater-dependent ecosystems and species, as well as providing sustainable groundwater resources for communities. The paper has a special emphasis on…
Mary Kang, Debra Perrone, Ziming Wang, Scott Jasechko, Melissa M. Rohde
To ensure that California’s groundwater is sustainably managed in the future and over the long-term, current state definitions of what constitutes groundwater may need to be revised, according to this research published in PNAS. A research collaboration between McGill University, University of California Santa…
Melissa M. Rohde, Laurel Saito, Ryan Smith
In addition to benefiting humans, groundwater is a critical water supply to many ecosystems, providing a buffer during dry periods and critical habitat for rare and endemic species. Increasing groundwater use to meet human water demands can outcompete these ecosystem water needs, causing irreversible damage to…
Melissa M. Rohde, Mark Reynolds, Jeanette Howard
In this article, the authors provide an example of how dynamic multi-benefit solutions used to provide “pop-up” wetland habitat for migratory birds also replenishing depleted aquifers to create environmental and water supply benefits and broadens it to the global scale. Additionally, this article outlines six…
Samuel C. Zipper, Jennifer K. Carah, Christopher Dillis, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Melissa M. Rohde, Jeanette K. Howard, Julie K.H. Zimmerman
Using a newly developed tool for estimating streamflow depletion from groundwater pumping, this study examined the impacts of ongoing groundwater pumping on streamflow and aquatic ecosystems in the Navarro watershed in rural, coastal California. The study found that common uses of groundwater in the watershed,…
Melissa M. Rohde, Sara B. Sweet, Craig Ulrich, Jeanette Howard
Groundwater plays an essential role in supporting freshwater species, riparian habitats, and migratory birds. These ecological communities, commonly referred to as groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), can suffer undesirable impacts from unsustainable pumping practices. This study assessed whether ecosystem health varied with groundwater availability in riparian forests in California’s…
Sandi Matsumoto, Melissa M. Rohde, Sarah Heard
Groundwater is a critical water supply around the world and is increasingly under threat from pumping that exceeds natural replenishment. Successful implementation of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) depends local agencies working with stakeholders to develop plans and implement projects that reduce groundwater use,…
Rohde MM, Seapy B, Rogers R, Castañeda X, editors
Plant and animal species can rely on groundwater directly or indirectly for water, nutrients, and stable temperatures. The Critical Species LookBook is a compendium of 84 state and federally listed species likely to rely on groundwater in California. This document provides groundwater-relevant information for each…
Samuel C. Zipper, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Jeanette K. Howard, Melissa M. Rohde, Jennifer Carah, Julie Zimmerman
Reductions in streamflow from groundwater pumping can negatively impact water users and aquatic ecosystems but are challenging to estimate due to the time and expertise required to develop numerical models often used in water management. This paper develops a new approach – a combination of…
Kirk Klausmeyer, Falk Schuetzenmeister, Nathaniel Rindlaub, Tanushree Biswas, Melissa M. Rohde, Jeanette Howard
94,333 unique ecosystems depend on groundwater in California. GDE Pulse lets you see how they have changed over the last 30 years. Groundwater managers and environmental stakeholders often lack information about the health of critical groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs). To fill this information gap, we…
Sandi Matsumoto, Gregg Werner, Melissa Rohde, Kirk Klausmeyer
Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are plant and animal communities that require groundwater to meet some or all of their water needs. GDEs provide important benefits to California including habitat for animals, water supply, water purification, flood mitigation, erosion control, recreational opportunities and enjoyment of California’s…
Rohde, M.M., S. Matsumoto, J. Howard, S. Liu, L. Riege, E.J. Remson
California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014 is landmark legislation that empowers local agencies, known as groundwater sustainability agencies, to sustainably manage groundwater resources for social, economic and environmental benefits. SGMA also includes specific requirements to identify and consider impacts to groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs).…
Melissa M. Rohde, Ray Froend, Jeanette Howard
Groundwater is a vital water supply worldwide for people and nature. However, species and ecosystems that depend on groundwater for some or all of their water needs, known as groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), are increasingly becoming threatened worldwide. This paper provides an overview of how…
Debra Perrone, Melissa M. Rohde
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects can play an important role in ensuring California manages its groundwater sustainably. This study, the first to investigate the benefits and economic costs of MAR projects in the state, found California MAR projects to be a cost-effective storage strategy, exhibit a…
Kirk Klausmeyer, Jeanette Howard, Sandi Matsumoto, Sally Liu, Melissa Rohde
Groundwater is essential to the health and viability of plants, animals and ecosystems. Many tree species, like willows and cottonwoods, rely on groundwater to survive seasonal and annual dry spells. Fish and other aquatic life need groundwater to keep rivers flowing. When unsustainable management causes groundwater levels…