A flood map can tell you that water may reach your neighborhood, but it rarely tells you what that experience will actually look like. A blue-shaded area on a screen cannot easily show how quickly water could enter a home, which roads might become impassable, or how a levee project could change the flow. UC Berkeley researchers are trying to close that gap by creating a highly detailed digital twin of California’s Lower Pajaro River Valley. The virtual model could allow residents and policymakers to watch flood scenarios unfold while accounting for climate change, ecosystems, infrastructure and social equity.
The project focuses on Watsonville and Pajaro, two communities located on opposite sides of the Lower Pajaro River in Central California. The region has experienced five major floods since the Pajaro River levee system was completed in 1949. One of the worst came in March 2023, when the river broke through its levees after weeks of heavy rainfall and flooded the community of Pajaro. The disaster caused an estimated $300 million in damage and exposed how difficult it can be to protect vulnerable communities using conventional approaches to flood planning.
