Hydrologic Technicians

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.2), with simple added tooling (β 0.5), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.8). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Tasks

All 16 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Analyze ecological data about the impact of pollution, erosion, floods, and other environmental problems on bodies of water.
• Answer technical questions from hydrologists, policymakers, or other customers developing water conservation plans.
• Apply research findings to minimize the environmental impacts of pollution, waterborne diseases, erosion, or sedimentation.
• Assist in designing programs to ensure the proper sealing of abandoned wells.
• Collect water and soil samples to test for physical, chemical, or biological properties, such as pH, oxygen level, temperature, and pollution.
• Develop computer models for hydrologic predictions.
• Estimate the costs and benefits of municipal projects, such as hydroelectric power plants, irrigation systems, and wastewater treatment facilities.
• Investigate complaints or conflicts related to the alteration of public waters by gathering information, recommending alternatives, or preparing legal documents.
• Investigate the properties, origins, or activities of glaciers, ice, snow, or permafrost.
• Locate and deliver information or data as requested by customers, such as contractors, government entities, and members of the public.
• Measure the properties of bodies of water, such as water levels, volume, and flow.
• Perform quality control checks on data to be used by hydrologists.
• Prepare, install, maintain, or repair equipment used for hydrologic study, such as water level recorders, stream flow gauges, and water analyzers.
• Provide real time data to emergency management and weather service personnel during flood events.
• Write groundwater contamination reports on known, suspected, or potential hazardous waste sites.
• Write materials for research publications, such as maps, tables, and reports, to disseminate findings.

Work activities

• Analyze environmental data.
• Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
• Apply knowledge or research findings to address environmental problems.
• Assist skilled construction or extraction personnel.
• Collect environmental data or samples.
• Develop mathematical models of environmental conditions.
• Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.
• Compile environmental or climatological data.
• Research hydrologic features or processes.
• Search files, databases or reference materials to obtain needed information.
• Communicate with the public on environmental issues.
• Measure the level or depth of water or other liquids.
• Evaluate data quality.
• Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order.
• Install gauges or controls.
• Advise others on management of emergencies or hazardous situations or materials.
• Write reports or evaluations.
• Prepare graphics or other visual representations of information.

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• Microsoft Word Common Skill
• Microsoft Windows Common Skill
• Microsoft PowerPoint Common Skill
• Microsoft Outlook Common Skill
• Microsoft Excel Common Skill
• Microsoft Access Specialized Skill
• Adobe Acrobat Specialized Skill
• Email Software Specialized Skill
• Presentation Software Specialized Skill

Tools & technology

How to get in

Job zone

Zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Education

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Typical entry-level education

Associate's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement

Related experience

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Preparation level

SVP (6.0 to < 7.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

What to study: Physical Sciences , Science Technologies/Technicians . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Interest areas

Work styles

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Related occupations

Part of the Agriculture and Energy & Natural Resources career clusters.

• Hydrologists · 19-2043.00 Compare →
• Water/Wastewater Engineers · 17-2051.02 Compare →
• Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians · 19-4043.00 Compare →
• Water Resource Specialists · 11-9121.02 Compare →
• Conservation Scientists · 19-1031.00 Compare →
• Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health · 19-2041.00 Compare →
• Surveying and Mapping Technicians · 17-3031.00 Compare →
• Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health · 19-4042.00 Compare →
• Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians · 17-3025.00 Compare →
• Environmental Engineers · 17-2081.00 Compare →
• Geodetic Surveyors · 17-1022.01 Compare →
• Industrial Ecologists · 19-2041.03 Compare →

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Hydrologic Technicians — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-role-19-4044-00,
  title  = {Hydrologic Technicians},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-4044-00}
}