Hydrologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 6% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 66% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 24% of the time, stays with people.
Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, movement through the earth, and return to the ocean and atmosphere.
5,850 people do this job in the US. $96,600 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on2 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet28 h
- Stays with people10 h
Hydrologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 2 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 28 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 10 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Prepare reports or presentations describing research results, using illustrations, maps, appendices, and other information (under an hour); Evaluate research data in terms of its impact on issues such as soil and water conservation, flood control planning, and water supply forecasting (under an hour); Conduct research and communicate information to promote the conservation and preservation of water resources (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 76%
- 3%
- 20%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 6%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 25 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.099% to 0.15% (released February and March 2025); 0.054% to 0.046% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.099% | 170 of 708 | 6 of 25 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.15% | 115 of 703 | 6 of 25 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.054% | 234 of 655 | 5 of 25 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.047% | 245 of 672 | 5 of 25 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.046% | 259 of 677 | 4 of 25 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 25 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 25 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 14% of this job's working time as physical work. For 9% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 4% in a purpose-built cell, 5% in a structured facility. 0.14 of 3, the 486th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 86%
- No robot shown 5%
- In a purpose-built cell 4%
- In a structured facility 5%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research and communicate information to promote the conservation and preservation of water resources.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Apply research findings to help minimize the environmental impacts of pollution, waterborne diseases, erosion, and sedimentation.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Study public water supply issues, including flood and drought risks, water quality, wastewater, and impacts on wetland habitats.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 work weeks1.7 work days to 3.5 work weeks | 3%Half by Mar 2028 | |
| Study and analyze the physical aspects of the earth in terms of hydrological components, including atmosphere, hydrosphere, and interior structure.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 work weeks1.7 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 3%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Prepare hydrogeologic evaluations of known or suspected hazardous waste sites and land treatment and feedlot facilities.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 work weeks2.1 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 3%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Study and document quantities, distribution, disposition, and development of underground and surface waters.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.5 work weeks | 1%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Develop computer models for hydrologic predictions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 3.3 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.3 work months | 0%Half by Dec 2028 | |
| Design and conduct scientific hydrogeological investigations to ensure that accurate and appropriate information is available for use in water resource management decisions.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 3.5 work weeks4.2 work days to 1.9 work months | Stays with people | |
| Measure and graph phenomena such as lake levels, stream flows, and changes in water volumes.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, USGS streamgage network (stage recorders with satellite telemetry) (U.S. Geological Survey) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Conduct short- and long-term climate assessments and study storm occurrences.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 3.5 work weeks | 1%Half by May 2028 | |
| Evaluate data and provide recommendations regarding the feasibility of municipal projects, such as hydroelectric power plants, irrigation systems, flood warning systems, and waste treatment facilities.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 5%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Evaluate research data in terms of its impact on issues such as soil and water conservation, flood control planning, and water supply forecasting.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 18%Half by Jun 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Hydrologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 6% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 66% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (34% to 76% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Hydrologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Prepare reports or presentations describing research results, using illustrations, maps, appendices, and other information (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Evaluate research data in terms of its impact on issues such as soil and water conservation, flood control planning, and water supply forecasting (18% of the task's time now, 99% by the end of 2028); and Conduct research and communicate information to promote the conservation and preservation of water resources (10% of the task's time now, 98% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Hydrologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Design and conduct scientific hydrogeological investigations to ensure that accurate and appropriate information is available for use in water resource management decisions; Measure and graph phenomena such as lake levels, stream flows, and changes in water volumes; and Coordinate and supervise the work of professional and technical staff, including research assistants, technologists, and technicians. Together such tasks are about 24% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Hydrologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 7%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Hydrologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 14% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 9% of the working time, 5% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.14 of 3. One example: USGS streamgage network (stage recorders with satellite telemetry) for "measure and graph phenomena such as lake levels, stream flows, and changes in water volumes". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 25 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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