Digital Commons Network^™

Errata: Water Main Break Rates In The Usa And Canada: A Comprehensive Study, Steven Barfuss

Reports

Page 5 – Major Finding 6 (change also made in text on Page 18):

Added “in the reported pipe inventory” to better clarify the percentage reduction

Page 6 – Major Finding 14 (change also made in text on Page 31):

Changed “six” to “five” years to explain the time elapsed between the 2018 and 2023 studies

Page 7 – Major Finding 28 (change also made in text on Page 46):

Added “percentage” to better clarify the percentage of acceptance

Page 8 – Section 1.1:

Updated “(WRF, 2017)” to “(Grigg, 2007)” and “(US Conference of Mayors, 2018)” to “(Anderson, 2018)”

Page …

Water Main Break Rates In The Usa And Canada: A Comprehensive Study, Steven L. Barfuss

Reports

Deteriorating Infrastructure

Municipalities and the people they serve depend on pipe networks that provide safe drinking water. This piping is underground, out of sight, and often neglected.

Overall assessment of water infrastructure condition is not good. Using the US as an example:

• In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issued a US report card and gave a D- to drinking water infrastructure.
• In 2017, the grade improved to a D.
• In 2021, the grade was raised to a C-, better but still not good.
• Utilities are currently losing 11% of their water to leakage.
• Pipe life estimates of …

Increasing The Impact Of Utah State University’S Extension Water Check Program With 5-Second Metering, Mahmud Aveek, David E. Rosenberg, Camilo Bastidas, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Belize A. Lane, Kelly Kopp, Peter Mayer, Joe Fazio

Reports

Study Goal – Increase the volume of water saved by the Utah State University (USU) Extension landscape Water Check program because outdoor water use is the largest component of residential use with the largest opportunity to reduce use. We used 5-second water use data collected with Flume Smart Home Water Monitoring devices (Figure 1) at residential homes before and after a Water Check (Box 1; Figure 2) to answer four questions:

1. How much water did households save?

2. Which Water Check recommendations did participants implement?

3. Why did participants implement some recommendations and not others?

4. How to further reduce landscape water use?

Increasing The Impact Of Utah State University's Extension Water Check Program With 5-Second Metering, Mahmud Aveek, David E. Rosenberg, Camilo Bastidas, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Belize A. Lane, Kelly Kopp, Peter Mayer, Joe Fazio

Reports

Study Goal – Increase the volume of water saved by the Utah State University (USU) Extension landscape Water Check program because outdoor water use is the largest component of residential use with the largest opportunity to reduce use. We used 5-second water use data collected with Flume Smart Home Water Monitoring devices (Figure 1) at residential homes before and after a Water Check (Box 1; Figure 2) to answer four questions:

1. How much water did households save?
2. Which Water Check recommendations did participants implement?
3. Why did participants implement some recommendations and not others?
4. How to further reduce landscape water use?

Future Of Great Salt Lake Survey, Lisa W. Welsh, Joanna Endter-Wada, Karin M. Kettenring, Anna Mcentire

Reports

The Future of Great Salt Lake Survey was conducted in fall 2022 when state and global attention on Great Salt Lake was ramping up, following record lows of the elevation of lake water levels. In the survey, we asked Utahns their opinions on securing water for Great Salt Lake and focused on strategies that individuals, local communities, and the state of Utah could pursue. When it comes to how water is used and managed in Utah, there are multiple actors and institutions who all make decisions and have authority or ability to take different actions. While the state of …

2022 Report To The Governor: Utah's Land, Water, And Air, Janet Quinney Lawson Institute For Land, Water, And Air

Reports

This report serves as a 2022 snapshot of key issues and concerns with Utah's shared resources. It highlights gathered data that is available to provide context to these issues, as well as identifies areas where more study is needed. Addressing these challenges will enable Utah policymakers and other statewide leaders to make informed decisions for the future. Under the authorship of 37 researchers and experts and the general guidance of 38 advisory committee members, the report outlines 26 issues and trends to pay attention to in the coming months and years.

Predicting Flow Through The Causeway Of The Great Salt Lake Using Hydrodynamic Simulations And Artificial Neural Networks, Som Dutta, Brian Mark Crookston, Michael Rasmussen, Eric Larsen

Reports

At the Great Salt Lake, the northern and southern portions of the lake are divided by an east-to-west causeway that disrupts natural lake currents and significantly increases salt concentrations in the norther portion. To support management efforts to address rising environmental and economic concerns, the causeway was recently modified to include a new breach that typically exhibits a strong density-driven bidirectional flow pattern. To obtain much needed insights into the hydraulic performance of this hydraulic structure and the exchange between the two sections of the lake, a field campaign coupled with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and an artificial neural …

2021 Report To The Governor On Utah's Land, Water, And Air, Janet Quinney Lawson Institute For Land, Water, And Air

Reports

This report serves as a 2021 snapshot of key issues and concerns with Utah’s shared resources. It highlights gathered data that is available to provide context to these issues, as well as identifies areas where more study is needed. Addressing these challenges will enable Utah policymakers and other statewide leaders to make informed decisions for the future. Under the authorship of 43 researchers and experts and the general guidance of 32 advisory committee members, the report outlines 25 issues and trends to pay attention to in the coming months and years.

Vegetation, Ground Cover, Soil, Rainfall Simulation, And Overland Flow Experiments Before And After Tree Removal In Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Steppe: The Hydrology Component Of The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (Sagestep), C. Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Justin C. Johnson

Reports

Rainfall simulation and overland-flow experiments enhance understanding of surface hydrology and erosion processes, quantify runoff and erosion rates, and provide valuable data for developing and testing predictive models. We present a unique dataset (1021 experimental plots) of rainfall simulation (1300 plot runs) and overland flow (838 plot runs) experimental plot data paired with measures of vegetation, ground cover, and surface soil physical properties spanning point to hillslope scales. The experimental data were collected at three sloping sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) sites in the Great Basin, USA, each subjected to woodland-encroachment and with conditions representative of intact wooded-shrublands and 1–9 yr …

Fuels Guide For Sagebrush And Pinyon-Juniper Treatments: 10 Years Post-Treatment, Samuel S. Wozniak, Eva K. Strand

Reports

Increased woody plant dominance and degraded understory vegetation are important issues on rangelands in the Intermountain West. Land managers implement woody plant reduction treatments of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), juniper (Juniperus spp.), and pinyon pine (Pinus spp.) to increase understory diversity and cover, restore wildlife habitat, increase forage, improve ecosystem functions, and reduce or manipulate fuels to increase ecosystem resilience to fire and resistance to invasive annual grasses. Woody plant reduction treatments alter fuel orientation, continuity, and loading, and therefore have important implications for wildfire behavior, effects, and management. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge of the longer-term implications of …

Expanding Instream Flows To Protect Ecosystems In Overallocated River Basins, Belize A. Lane, David E. Rosenberg

Reports

Utahns are expressing a rapidly growing interest in protecting and enhancing instream flows for outdoor recreation and environmental benefits (Endter-Wada et al. 2015). However, many Utah rivers are already over-allocated for agricultural, municipal, hydropower and other water uses, making it difficult to procure additional water for instream flows. ‘Use it or lose it’ western water law and mentality encourages Utahns to use water rather than return it to rivers and ecosystems.

This briefing reviews existing instream flow practices allowed by the Utah water rights system and the challenges to implementation. We suggest key technical and legislative opportunities within and outside …

Restoration Handbook For Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems With Emphasis On Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat—Part 3. Site Level Restoration Decisions, David A. Pyke, Jeanne C. Chambers, Mike Pellant, Richard F. Miller, Jeffrey L. Beck, Paul S. Doescher, Bruce A. Roundy, Eugene W. Schupp, Steven T. Knick, Mark W. Brunson, James D. Mclver

Reports

Sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the United States currently (2016) occur on only about one-half of their historical land area because of changes in land use, urban growth, and degradation of land, including invasions of non-native plants. The existence of many animal species depends on the existence of sagebrush steppe habitat. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) depends on large landscapes of intact habitat of sagebrush and perennial grasses for their existence. In addition, other sagebrush-obligate animals have similar requirements and restoration of landscapes for greater sage-grouse also will benefit these animals. Once sagebrush lands are degraded, they may require …

Ecohydrologic Impacts Of Rangeland Fire On Runoff And Erosion: A Literature Synthesis, Frederick B. Pierson, C. Jason Williams

Reports

Fire can dramatically influence rangeland hydrology and erosion by altering ecohydrologic relationships. This synthesis presents an ecohydrologic perspective on the effects of fire on rangeland runoff and erosion through a review of scientific literature spanning many decades. The objectives are: (1) to introduce rangeland hydrology and erosion concepts necessary for understanding hydrologic impacts of fire; (2) to describe how climate, vegetation, and soils affect rangeland hydrology and erosion; and (3) to use examples from literature to illustrate how fire interacts with key ecohydrologic relationships. The synthesis is intended to provide a useful reference and conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating …

Restoration Handbook For Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems With Emphasis On Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat—Part 2. Landscape Level Restoration Decisions, David A. Pyke, Steven T. Knick, Jeanne C. Chambers, Mike Pellant, Richard F. Miller, Jeffrey L. Beck, Paul S. Doescher, Eugene W. Schupp, Bruce A. Roundy, Mark W. Brunson, James D. Mclver

Reports

Sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the United States currently (2015) occur on only about one-half of their historical land area because of changes in land use, urban growth, and degradation of land, including invasions of non-native plants. The existence of many animal species depends on the existence of sagebrush steppe habitat. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a landscape-dependent bird that requires intact habitat and combinations of sagebrush and perennial grasses to exist. In addition, other sagebrush-obligate animals also have similar requirements and restoration of landscapes for greater sage-grouse also will benefit these animals. Once sagebrush lands are degraded, they may …

Predictive Formula For Electron Range Over A Large Span Of Energy, Anne C. Starley

Reports

A model developed by the Materials Research Group that calculates electron penetration range of some common materials, has been greatly expanded with the hope that such extensions will predict the range in other, perhaps, more interesting materials. Developments in this extended model aid in predicting the approximate penetration depth into diverse classes of materials for a broad range of energetic incident electrons (10 MeV, with better than 20% accuracy). The penetration depth—or range—of a material describes the maximum distance electrons can travel through a material, before losing all of its incident kinetic energy. This model has started to predict a …

Restoration Handbook For Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems With Emphasis On Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat—Part 1. Concepts For Understanding And Applying Restoration, David A. Pyke, Jeanne C. Chambers, Mike Pellant, Steven T. Knick, Richard F. Miller, Jeffrey L. Beck, Paul S. Doescher, Eugene W. Schupp, Bruce A. Roundy, Mark W. Brunson, James D. Mclver

Reports

Sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the United States currently occur on only about one-half of their historical land area because of changes in land use, urban growth, and degradation of land, including invasions of non-native plants. The existence of many animal species depends on the existence of sagebrush steppe habitat. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a landscape-dependent bird that requires intact habitat and combinations of sagebrush and perennial grasses to exist. In addition, other sagebrush-obligate animals also have similar requirements and restoration of landscapes for greater sage-grouse also will benefit these animals. Once sagebrush lands are degraded, they may require …

The Sky Is Falling Ii: Impact Of Deposition Produced During The Static Testing Of Solid Rocket Motors On Corn And Alfalfa, William J. Doucette, Scout Mendenhall, Laurie S. Mcneill, Justin Heavilin

Reports

Tests of horizontally restrained rocket motors at the ATK facility in Promontory, Utah,USA result in the deposition of an estimated 1.5 million kg of entrained soil and combustion products (mainly aluminum oxide, gaseous hydrogen chloride and water) on the surrounding area. The deposition is referred to as test fire soil (TFS). Farmers observing TFS deposited on their crops expressed concerns regarding the impact of this material. To address these concerns, we exposed corn and alfalfa to TFS collected during a September 2009 test. The impact was evaluated by comparing the growth and tissue composition of controls relative to the treatments. …

The Sky Is Falling: Chemical Characterization And Corrosion Evaluation Of Deposition Produced During The Static Testing Of Solid Rocket Motors, William J. Doucette, La S. Mcneill, Scout Mendenhall, Paul V. Hancock, Jason E. Wells, Kevin J. Thackeray, David P. Gosen

Reports

Static tests of horizontally restrained rocket motors at the ATK facility in Promontory UT, USA result in the deposition of entrained soil and fuel combustion products, referred to as Test Fire Soil (TFS), over areas as large as 30–50 mile2 (80–130 km2) and at distances up to 10–12 miles (16–20 km) from the test site. Chloride is the main combustion product generated from the ammonium perchlorate–aluminum based composite propellant. Deposition sampling/characterization and a 6-month field corrosivity study using mild steel coupons were conducted in conjunction with the February 25th 2010 FSM-17 static test. The TFS deposition rates at the three …

Hydrologic Efficiency In Water Conservation, L. Douglas James

Reports

Introduction: The hydrologic cycle can be subdivided into three phases: 1)Humidity is transported within the atmosphere and becomes precipitation, and 2) Water moves downhill until eventually reaching the sea while all the time 3) Evapotranspiration returns exposed moisture to the atmosphere. During its movement, flowing water transports suspended sediments and dissolved minerals to reshape landforms and redistribute the mineral composition of the earth's surface throughout geologic time. It is during the second phase that flowing water can be diverted for uses that generally add to evaportranspiration (through consumptive use) and transport (through waste disposal). The water resources development that serves …

Solving Problems In Water Quality, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

No abstract provided.

Cee & Uwrl Research In Action, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

Introduction: The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineer (CEE) and the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) have a symbiotic working relationship. The CEE Department provides the pricipal investigators with academic affiliation to the university while the UWRL provides faculty with a strong water research arena. Both the CEE department and the UWRL have been involved in research and problem solving for government agencies and private industry.

High Intensity Land Treatment (Hilt) Practices, John P. Martin, Ronald C. Sims

Reports

Land treatment is categorized in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) as one of the land disposal options for managing hazardous waste constituents within the defined treatment zone before such constituents can be transported to surface water, groundwater, or air. Under the authroity of Subtitle C of RCFA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated regulations governing the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes in land treatment units (40 CFR, Part 264, Subpart M, July 26, 1982). The objectives of this report were to identify land treatment facilities meeting the defined high intensity land treatment (HILT) criteria, …

Information For Operation Of Water Supply Systems, L. Douglas James, Glen E. Stringham, J. Clair Batty

Reports

Introduction: Water requirements increase as more people use more water for domestic purposes. The increase is augmented as technological advances add to the water needs of agriculture and industry. Additional urban landscaping adds further to the demand. Simultaneously, the same forces increase demands for flood control, hydrelectric power, and navigation; and a more urbanized population want more flows preserved for productive natural environments, recreational use, and aesthetic enjoyment. The response over the years to these growing demands on water resources has been to supply increasing amounts of water and greater levels of development for other purposes by building more projects, …

Guide For Quantifying Post-Treatment Fuels In The Sagebrush Steppe And Juniper Woodlands Of The Great Basin, Andrea Bourne, Stephen C. Bunting

Reports

Invasive species and woodland encroachment have caused extensive changes in the fire regimes of sagebrush steppe over the past 150 years. Land managers and resource specialists of the Great Basin are increasingly required to implement vegetation treatments to maintain habitat, reduce fire risk and restore landscapes to a more desirable state. Often it is difficult to measure treatment effectiveness because gathering pre- and post-treatment data is time-consuming and costly. In two years of post-treatment sampling across six Great Basin states, researchers from the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment and Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) measured the vegetation response to prescribed fire, tree mastication and …

Estimating Expected Fire Suppression Cost Savings Due To Vegetation Management On Pinyon Pine And Juniper Invaded Sagebrush Rangelands, Kimberly Rollins, Mimako (Mimi) Kobayashi

Reports

Wildfire suppression costs in the United States have increased steadily over the last decades (Stephens and Ruth 2005, Calkin et al. 2005, Gebert et al 2007, Westerling et al. 2006, GAO 2007), with related expenditures by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management exceeding a billion dollars per year in four out of the seven years leading up to 2006 (Gebert et al 2008). Pre-­fire vegetation management on public lands is recognized as an important tool for reducing expected wildfire suppression costs (GAO 2007).Using data from wildfire suppression costs across the US, Lankoande and Yoder (2006) estimate that …

The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (Sagestep): A Test Of State-And-Transition Theory, James Mciver, Mark W. Brunson, Steve Bunting, Jeanne C. Chambers, Nora Devoe, Paul Doescher, James Grace, Dale Johnson, Steve Knick, Richard F. Miller, Mike Pellant, Fred Pierson, David Pyke, Kim Rollins, Bruce Roundy, Eugene W. Schupp, Robin Tausch, David Turner

Reports

The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) is a comprehensive, integrated, long-term study that evaluates the ecological effects of fire and fire surrogate treatments designed to reduce fuel and to restore sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities of the Great Basin and surrounding areas. SageSTEP has several features that make it ideal for testing hypotheses from state-and-transition theory: it is long-term, experimental, multisite, and multivariate, and treatments are applied across condition gradients, allowing for potential identification of biotic thresholds. The project will determine the conditions under which sagebrush steppe ecological communities recover on their own following fuel treatment versus the communities crossing …

Willingness To Pay Estimation When Protest Beliefs Are Not Separable From The Public Good Definition, Kimberly Rollins, M.D.R. Evans, Mimako Kobayashi, Anita Castledine

Reports

Public good attributes that are correlated with protest beliefs but not separable from the good's value, would affect stated preference estimates of the WTP for the public good. Survey data collected to value a program to prevent ecosystem losses on Nevada rangelands, where the majority of land is publicly owned and managed, reveal more than half of the respondents exhibiting some protest belief. Of these, about 60% voted 'yes' to some nonzero bid amount. By treating protest beliefs and opposition to the proposed program as separate concepts, we systematically analyze their determinants and impacts on WTP. In this framework, people …

Guide To Stakeholder Groups For Great Basin Sagebrush Steppe Restoration, Scott Hoffmann, Mark W. Brunson, Summer Olsen

Reports

This guide is intended to provide information on active stakeholder interest groups focused on restoration of sagebrush ecosystems in the Great Basin region. It is based on a comprehensive search of internet websites, recently filed litigation records, previous interviews, and discussions with land managers in the region. The information contained in the guide is representative of the general environment in which restoration activities are conducted in the six states comprising the SageSTEP project, and is not meant to be an all-inclusive listing of groups. All efforts were made to identify groups most active and thus most pertinent to land managers …

Pocket Guide To Sagebrush Birds, Melissa Pitkin, Laura Quattrini

Reports

This guide was written for anyone interested in learning about the most common bird species in sagebrush habitats, and it contains some general information about what people can do to help them survive. We focus on 40 of the most common species and organize them according to their relationships to each other. For example, hawks are grouped together, sparrows are grouped together, et cetera.

In the first few pages of the guide we present descriptions of some of the main types of plant communities found within the sagebrush region of the Intermountain West (the area of North America stretching from …

Temperature Trends And Episodic Changes Of The Middle Atmosphere Over Logan Utah With Consideration To Model Specification, Troy A. Wynn, Vincent B. Wickwar

Reports

A summary of the linear trends estimated from the USU Rayleigh Lidar (41.74o N, 118oW) temperature data set. The data set covers a time span from September, 1993 to August, 2003 and an altitude range of 45 to 80 km. The data set includes 584 data points at 45 km to 580 data points at 80 km. Cooling trend profiles are calculated and compared to results from other researchers. Collinearity and bias are also considered as issues that could affect the regression results. Also considered is the possibility that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption has influenced temperature trend estimates. This is …