About

Dr. Erfan Goharian is a water resources engineer and program manager specializing in integrated water resources planning, Hydroinformatics, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, stormwater management, and climate resilience. He leads RESPEC’s California Water Program, based in San Diego, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at San Diego State University, where he focuses on advancing innovative solutions for reservoir operations, and flood risk management across California. Erfan holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Utah and has over a two decades of experience in academia, consulting, and research, leading multiple NOAA- and NSF-funded projects on climate adaptation, hydrologic modeling, and decision-support systems. His expertise spans a wide range of technical areas, including rainfall-runoff modeling, SWMM development, GoldSim-based reservoir operations, FIRO, Flood-MAR, and AI-driven flood forecasting. He has published extensively in top-tier journals, including Nature, and has contributed to national and regional initiatives on water sustainability and hazard mitigation. As an active member of the water resources community, Dr. Goharian collaborates with local agencies, research institutions, and industry partners to develop data-driven, actionable strategies that enhance resilience and optimize water management under changing climate conditions.

Career Type:

Scientist/Researcher/Academic

Organization Type:

Universities and Academia

Expertise Fields/Interests:

Water Resources Systems; Flood Resilience; Artificial Intelligence; Hydroinformatics

Major Achievements:

⬧ 2023: Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), National Science Foundation (NSF) ⬧ 2023: Best Research-Oriented Paper Award, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ⬧ 2023: Early Career Applied Research Award, Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) ⬧ 2022: South Carolina Technical Merit Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ⬧ 2021: South Carolina Young Civil Engineer of the Year, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ⬧ 2018: Member of South Carolina Floodwater Commission appointed by Governor H. McMaster ⬧ May 2018 and 2021: Outstanding American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Reviewer, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management ⬧ June 2020: Advanced Support for Innovative Research Excellence Award, University of South Carolina ⬧ Mar 2018: Roland Schlich Early Career Scientist's Support (ECSTS), European Geosciences Union (EGU) ⬧ 2018: Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education (JCWRE) Paper of the Year, Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) ⬧ May 2016: Best Speaker Award, awarded at the UC Davis Postdoctoral Research Symposium. ⬧ Jan 2015: Eva Nieminski Honorary Graduate Science and Engineering Scholarship, Intermountain section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) ⬧ Apr 2014: Best American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Students’ Paper Award, (Awarded at the 9th Annual AWRA-Utah Student Conference, Logan, UT, J. Paul Riley AWRA Utah Section). ⬧ Oct 2012: Best National Master Thesis in Engineering (Awarded at the 15th national festival of the best student thesis, Tehran, Iran)