Water Resource Specialists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 24% 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 93% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 5% of the time, stays with people.
Design or implement programs and strategies related to water resource issues such as supply, quality, and regulatory compliance issues.
$167,220 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on10 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet28 h
- Stays with people2 h
Water Resource Specialists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 10 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 28 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 2 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Write proposals, project reports, informational brochures, or other documents on wastewater purification, water supply and demand, or other water resource subjects (about 1 h); Analyze storm water systems to identify opportunities for water resource improvements (about 1 h); Compile water resource data, using geographic information systems (GIS) or global position systems (GPS) software (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.
- 95%
- 4%
- 1%
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, 1%. Today's estimate: 24%.
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 21 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.013% to 0.011% (released February and March 2025); 0.0035% to 0.0028% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.013% | 503 of 708 | 3 of 21 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.011% | 494 of 703 | 3 of 21 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0035% | 572 of 655 | 1 of 21 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0078% | 516 of 672 | 3 of 21 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0028% | 621 of 677 | 1 of 21 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
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 7% of this job's working time as physical work. For 7% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 7% in a structured facility. 0.13 of 3, the 492nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 93%
- In a structured facility 7%
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 . 21 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct, or oversee the conduct of, investigations on matters such as water storage, wastewater discharge, pollutants, permits, or other compliance and regulatory issues.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.1 work days5 h to 1.3 work weeks | 23%Half by May 2027 | |
| Perform hydrologic, hydraulic, or water quality modeling.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1 work week | 23%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop strategies for watershed operations to meet water supply and conservation goals or to ensure regulatory compliance with clean water laws or regulations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 18%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Conduct cost-benefit studies for watershed improvement projects or water management alternatives.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Develop plans to protect watershed health or rehabilitate watersheds.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 1.3 work weeks1.7 work days to 3.3 work weeks | 3%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Write proposals, project reports, informational brochures, or other documents on wastewater purification, water supply and demand, or other water resource subjects.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Provide technical expertise to assist communities in the development or implementation of storm water monitoring or other water programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Recommend new or revised policies, procedures, or regulations to support water resource or conservation goals.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Conduct technical studies for water resources on topics such as pollutants and water treatment options.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 6% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Analyze storm water systems to identify opportunities for water resource improvements.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | 52%Half by now | |
| Review or evaluate designs for water detention facilities, storm drains, flood control facilities, or other hydraulic structures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop or implement standardized water monitoring and assessment methods.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 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). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Water Resource Specialists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 24% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 93% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (75% to 95% 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 Water Resource Specialists 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: Write proposals, project reports, informational brochures, or other documents on wastewater purification, water supply and demand, or other water resource subjects (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Analyze storm water systems to identify opportunities for water resource improvements (52% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Compile water resource data, using geographic information systems (GIS) or global position systems (GPS) software (69% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Water Resource Specialists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Present water resource proposals to government, public interest groups, or community groups; Negotiate for water rights with communities or water facilities to meet water supply demands; and Conduct, or oversee the conduct of, chemical, physical, and biological water quality monitoring or sampling to ensure compliance with water quality standards. Together such tasks are about 5% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Water Resource Specialists?
- 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 6%. 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 Water Resource Specialists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 7% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 7% of the working time, 7% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.13 of 3. One example: OceanAlpha ESM30 autonomous water sampling and monitoring USV for "conduct, or oversee the conduct of, chemical, physical, and biological water quality monitoring or sampling to ensure compliance with water quality standards". 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 21 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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