https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bmb

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Streamflow and stage monitoring data along the lower Pajaro River, Central Coastal California

AUTHORS:
Ethan J. Yan (1*), Emmanuel Rojas (1), Siena Oswald (1), Casey Meusel (2), Isabel Magana (2), and Andrew T. Fisher (1)

1. Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz
2. Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
   *. Corresponding author (etjyan@ucsc.edu)
   Institutional affiliations reflect those at the time of data collection

Created 28 October 2025

OVERVIEW:
This repository contains streamflow and stage records from multiple monitoring locations along the lower Pajaro River, located in Central Coastal California. Data contributions were provided by UCSC Hydrogeology, the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

SITE LOCATIONS:
Below are the monitoring location names and GPS coordinates reported in UTM Zone 10S:

MC = Murphy Crossing (617889m E, 4085233m N)
KT = Kelly Thompson (615542m E, 4086111m N)
FH = Fishhead (613105m E, 4085699m N)

km_.__ values are kilometer distances upstream of the confluence of the main stem of the Pajaro River and its tributary, Salsipuedes Creek (see attached site map), i.e. site km8.03 is 3.29 km upstream of site km4.74.

Below is a table depicting the periods for which there are data for each site. Stream gauging data for MC, prior to WY24, was collected by the USGS, and therefore has the longest records. UCSC began collecting additional discharge data at MC and others in Water Year 2024 (WY24). WY24 began on 1 October 2023 and ended on 30 September 2024.

FILE STRUCTURE:
Below is a description of the general file structure of this repository, where XX is the water year and YY is the site ID:

PR-StreamflowData/
├── README.txt
├── PR-SiteMap.pdf\
└── PR-WYXX/
├── PR_WYXX_RatingCurves/\
    │   ├── PR_WYXX_YY_RatingCurve.png		# Rating curve and equations
    │   └── PR_WYXX_YY_RatingCurve.csv		# Stream gauging data
    └── PR_WYXX_Discharge/\
        ├── PR_WYXX_YY_Discharge_MeanDaily.xlsx	# Mean daily discharge and stage records
        └── PR_WYXX_YY_Discharge_Interval.xlsx	# Interval (15 or 20 min) discharge and stage records

RATING CURVE NOTES:
Because of the empirical relationship between stage and discharge, in a given water year, not all discharge measurements are used in every rating curve, and some water years are split up due to a change in channel geometry that changes the stage-discharge relationship, requiring a new curve. For each rating curve plot, the stage and discharge measurements are also tabulated.

COLUMN DESCRIPTIONS:
Below are descriptions of the columns of the rating curve, stage, and discharge outputs

PR_WYXX_YY_RatingCurve.csv (Note: not all columns appear in each file)

• Agency: The agency who made the discharge/stage measurement (UCSC or USGS)
• WY: Water year of the given measurement
• Datetime: Date-time of the measurement in Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8)
• YYMMDD: Date of measurement in Year-Month-Date format
• Time: Time of measurement in Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8)
• WD: Water day of measurement in water year XX (accounts for partial days)
• Sobs_ft: Observed stage measurement (ft)
• Qobs_cfs: Observed discharge measurement (cfs)

PR_WYXX_YY_Discharge_Interval.xlsx

• Datetime: Datetime of the data point in Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8)
• WD: Water day of the data point in water year XX (accounts for partial days)
• Scalc_ft: Calculated stage (ft), instantaneous
• Qcalc_cfs: Calculated discharge (ft), instantaneous

PR_WYXX_YY_Discharge_MeanDaily.xlsx

• YYYYMMDD: YearMonthDay of the data point
• WD: Water day of the data point in water year XX
• SMEAN: Mean daily stage (ft)
• SSD: Mean daily stage standard deviation (ft)
• QMEAN: Mean daily discharge (cfs)
• QSD: Mean daily discharge standard deviation (cfs)
• NDD: Number of data points aggregated in that day to calculate means

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We thank current and former UCSC graduate and undergraduate students and researchers who have contributed to data collection, including R. Akiba, J. Carlson, J. Chan, W. Chapman, A. Dunlavey, R. Hess, C. Lewis, A. Lindroos, and M. Kunkel.

In addition, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of the USGS for their stream gauging efforts at MC.

This research has been supported mainly by a CA Climate Action Seed Grant (#R02CP7145), administered through the University of California, Office of the President. Additional support was provided by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation (#9964), The U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA award #2021-67019-33595), the UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, and The Recharge Initiative.

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