Republished February 2, 2026, from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Ryan Johnson is a One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative faculty fellow.

Alaska: Famed for its dramatic landscapes, stunning glaciers, colossal mountains, and abundant wildlife. Yet equally striking is the sheer scale of its river systems. With more than 365,000 miles of rivers, Alaska is home to over 40% of the nation’s surface water.

These rivers do far more than move water—they sustain entire ecosystems. From salmon that nourish forests and wildlife to communities that depend on predictable seasonal flows, Alaska’s rivers shape life far beyond their banks. Yet despite their importance, they remain some of the least monitored and modeled waterways in the United States.

Thanks to a new research grant, University of Utah faculty member Ryan Johnson and his students are helping change that.

The ~$700K grant awarded from the National Water Prediction Service will support a hands-on research effort in Southcentral and Southeastern Alaska, where Johnson and his team will work directly with local communities, fisheries managers, and federal partners to develop next-generation tools for predicting streamflow and water temperature in data-scarce regions.

The work aims to improve ecosystem health, fisheries management, infrastructure protection, and emergency response planning—helping decision-makers anticipate change rather than react to it.

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