> California’s water board doesn’t have the staff it would need to monitor river levels statewide<p>Isn't water flow rate automatically collected, at least for larger rivers and creeks? Can't low flow be flagged automatically?<p>> Even if the state water board had learned of the Merced’s withered conditions earlier that summer, it might still have taken months to enact new regulations to protect the river<p>This seems like something that shouldn't require enacting new regulations. Enact the regulation once, and enforce the regulation always.