Groundwater Scientist
Freshwater
nicholas.murphy@tnc.org
As the Groundwater Scientist for the California Water Program, Nick provides technical and scientific leadership regarding the importance of the interconnection between surface water and groundwater resources. Nick works closely with staff and partners to inform policies, regulations, and on-the-ground projects that integrate groundwater and surface water management to support riverine and groundwater dependent ecosystems. He is also involved in projects investigating the relationship between groundwater pumping and streamflow depletion, and the implementation of multi-benefit groundwater recharge.
Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, he worked as a Water Resources Specialist at Santa Clara Valley Water District in the Groundwater Management Unit. In this role, he focused on a variety of projects, including groundwater dependent ecosystems, sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion, and managed aquifer recharge. Nick earned a Ph.D. in Hydrologic Sciences from University of California – Davis in 2021 and a B.A. in Earth Sciences from Boston University in 2015. His doctoral research investigated the applicability of Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge (Ag-MAR) as a tool for sustainable groundwater management.
What Nicholas is working on now:
Currently, he is working on projects in the North Coast of California investigating how groundwater management strategies can improve instream flows to protect river health and species survival, and on multi-benefit groundwater recharge projects in the Sacramento Valley.