Citizen scientists can help advance the science and management of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams.

The article focuses on the use of citizen science and smartphone applications, particularly the DRYRivERS app, to monitor intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which constitute over 50% of the global river network and are increasingly prevalent due to global change. It presents evidence from crowdsourced data collected across multiple countries that citizen science can enhance hydrological modeling, improve mapping of IRES, and support water management decisions, as demonstrated through three case studies involving regulatory monitoring, landscape mapping, and hydrological modeling. The DRYRivERS app facilitates widespread, multilingual participation by both laypeople and professionals, providing valuable spatially dense observations that complement traditional gauging data. The study highlights the potential of integrating citizen-generated data into environmental monitoring to better inform policy and raise public awareness about the ecological and societal importance of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams.