Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Utah Operational Weather Modification Program, Geoffrey E. Hill

Reports

This study is an evaluation of a winter orographic cloud seeding project in Utah. The evaluation is based upon both intensive field measurements and historic~l records. For the field measurements, ground and airborne data were collected during February and March, 1981 in the vicinity of the Tushar Mountains. In evaluating the physical data three aspects are emphasized: the dispersal of artificial ice nuclei, the distribution of supercooled liquid water, and the growth and trajectories of precipitation. Ground based measurements were made by K and X band radars, a dual frequency microwave radiometer, a network of precipitation gauges, an ice nucleus …

Evaluation Of Selected Mulches And Specialty Erosion Control Products Under Simulated Rain, C. Earl Israelsen, Eugene K. Israelsen, William N. Mcneill

Reports

Introduction: Utilizing a rainfall simulator, a sunlight simulator, and a wind generator, the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL), Utah State University (USU), completed in 1979 and 1981 a series of evaluations of erosion control products for CONWED Corporation. Increasingly more commercial products for controlling erosion are being produced nationally and there remains a need to evaluate the effectiveness of these, one against another, in order that potential users may make cost-effective decisions in their use. CONWED recognizes this need and has funded the comparative testing of its own products and some of those of leading competitors throughout the country. The …

Consumptive Use And Water Requirements For Utah, A. Leon Huber, Frank W. Haws, Trevor C. Hughes, Jay M. Bagley

Reports

Foreword: Studies on the meteorological determinants of evapotranspiration were initiated at least as long ago as the 1920s and by the late 1940s had produced the Blaney-Criddle method for estimating crop consumptive use. The resulting ability to estimate water requirements by both location and crop added a new scientific dimension to water rights administration that was first introduced into the courts of Utah during adjudication of water rights in the Escalante Valley in 1949. Application of the consumptive use concept to water rights administration and water resources planning, however, required a wirtten reference. Technical Publication No. 8 entitled "Consumptive Use …

Organizational Alternatives To Achieve Greater Uniformity In State-Wide Water Rights Management In Utah, Daniel H. Hoggan, Kirk R. Kimball, Jay M. Bagley, Frank W. Haws

Reports

In the distribution of water among users in the state of Utah there is lack of organizational uniformity. On some rivers, the state engineer is assisted by river sommissioners who have been appointed to measure and monitor water deliveries. On other rivers there are no comissioners; problems and disputes must be settled on a case by case basis by the state engineer. The responsibilities, arrangements, salaries, and methods of payment for commissioners vary from basin to basin. A more unifed distribution organization composed of state-employed water sommissioners would have several advantages over the existing system of commissioners employed by local …

Defining Stream Fish Microhabitat Requirements For Water Project Planning, William T. Helm

Reports

Brown trout daily activities were divided into two braod categories, resting and feeding, and the population was divided into three size groups (one of which is reported on here), based on the timing and location of these activities. Microhabitat components, measured previously in four rivers at sites occupied by fish, were utilized to develop usable componenet ranges for each size group and activity to illustrate the breadth of component values utilized out of the total range available. Microhabitat is thus described as a range of numerical values for each componenet of a specific set of components. A 90 meter section …

Removal Of Nitrogen From Secondary Wastewater Effluent Through No 3-N Reduction Using Sulfur Dioxide (So2), Javid Ghorashian, V. Dean Adams, Dennis B. George

Reports

The overall purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to remove nitrate-nigrogen (i.e., reduction to a gaseous form) from the secondary wastewater effluent. To accomplish th above task, a jar test procedure was established and the concentration of NO3-N along with the concentration of NH3-N present in the secondary wastewater, treated with SO2, were measured initially and after 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, and 24 hr. Then, the percent NO3-N removal was calculated, comparing the NO3-H concentrations measured in each treatment with the initial values. The above procedures were conducted for …

Evaluation Of Microcosms For Determining The Fate And Effect Of Benz(A)Anthracene In Aquatic Systems, Judith G. Dickson, V. Dean Adams, Dennis B. George

Reports

Small scale, three-phase microcosms were used to study the aquatic fate and effect of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benz(a)anthracene. This compound was chosen as a model for carcinogenic PAH because it is a typical constituent of petro-chemical effluents and has middle-of-the-range physical and chamical characteristics. In a series of experiments, techniques were established for monitoring the behavior and for assessing the biological response to the pollutant. Results indicate taht benz(a)anthracene has no acute effect on aquatic organisms as indicated by the parameters used to measure community structure and function (gas productivity, nutrient utilization, biomass accumulation, and species composition). Gas …

The Water Requirements And Pollutant Potential In The Gasification Of Carbonaceous Shales, Jeffery A. Cissell, V. Dean Adams, Joel E. Fletcher, Daniel S. Filip, Dennis B. George

Reports

A laboratory-scale, batch operated gasifier was used to evaluate the heating value, process and cooling water requirements, and water pollution potential of gasification of carbonaceous shales. These potentially valuable fossil fuels are found over large areas of Southern and Eastern Utah and vary widely in quality depending on the amount of intermixed inorganic material. The results indicate that a synthesis gas, consisting primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, can be produced from carbonaceous shales. The total heating values of the synthesis gas from the carbon shales examined ranged from 4 to 62 percent of that of coal. The process water …

Salt Loading From Efflorescence And Suspended Sediments In The Price River Basin, David S. Bowles, Hooshang Nezafati, Rao K. Bhasker, J. Paul Riley, R. J. Wagenet

Reports

Salinity control is a major component of water management in arid climates and irrigated areas and one of particular concern in the Colorado River Basin. The alts enter the water as it flows over land or moves through the soil or geologic formations. The principal salt collection processes are 1) dissolution from the soil surface during runoff events, 2) transpiration of soil water leaving salt residuals, 3) efflorescence left by evaporating seepage and then dissolved by subsequent runoff, 4) dissolution with weathering of fixed bed channels, 5) salts released by sediments entering the channel from sheet, gulley, and bank erosion, …

Energy Impacts Of Water Based Recreation, J. Clair Batty, David A. Bell, E. Bruce Godfrey, Craig Howell, J. Paul Riley, Thomas C. Stoddard

Reports

The overall objective of the study reported here was to determine to what extent energy accounting could supplement and/or complement economic benfit/cost analyses of water management projects and to specifically examine the energy impacts of water based recreation. The energy accounting literature was carefully reviewed and an energy accounting methodology applicable to water management was devised. Data pertaining to receation at five reservoirs in Utah were assembled from visitation recoreds and on-site surveys. Energy requirements for site construction, travel to and from the recreation site, and recreation at the site were estimated. It was determined that energy devoted to water …

An Evaluation Of The Performance Of A Modified Overland Flow Wastewater Treatment System: Sloped Rock-Grass Filtration, Daria Wightman, Dennis B. George, John H. Zirschky, Daniel S. Filip, Judith Sims

Reports

The effectiveness of a sloped rock-grass filtration system in treating municipal wastewater was tested on a 24 m by 36 m (80 ft by 120 ft) slope on a 2.5 percent grade sown with a mixture of rye grass, fescue grass, and bluegrass. The field was divided into six plots, each approximately 3.5 m wide and 36 m long. Three of the plots (slope-rock) were constructed with 9 m of gravel, 7.6 cm deep, on the upper reaches of the slope. Raw (screened, degritted) municipal wastewater from Hyrum, Utah, was applied to the slope-rock sections at application rates of 13 …

Potential Of Water And Salt Yields From Surface Runoff On Public Lands In The Price River Basin, J. Paul Riley, Eugene K. Israelsen, William N. Mcneill, Brian Peckins

Reports

The report examines possible sources of dissolved salts in the Price River basin. Ephemeral and intermittent streams contributed dissolved salts and are the focus of the study. Seven subwatersheds and the Price River at Heiner are investigated to examine the effects of existing watershed characteristics on runoff and dissolved salts production. Alternatley, the report examines the effects of specific land treatments on surface runoff quantity and quality. Various instrumentation techniques are evalauted to help improve future data collected capabilities in intermittent channels. The examination of the data reveals various trends that might be considered for further investigation in subsequent studies.

An Evaluation Of Water Conservation Techniques In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Rangesan Narayanan, Douglas R. Franklin

Reports

The Upper Colorado River Basin states contain large deposits of oil shale, tar sands, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, which are or could be used to produce refined petroleum products, natural and synthetic gas, and eletrical power. Agriculture is the predominant water consuming industry of the basin, accounting for 90 percent of the total depletions. Future energy development in the Upper Colorado River Basin will compete with agriculture for the limited supply of water by bidding up the price of water. The study attempts to identify the need for government-sponsored water conservation measures in conjunction with other water saving …

Potential For Acid Snowmelt In The Wasatch Mountains, Jay J. Messer, Lloyd Slezak, Charles I. Liff

Reports

Snowmelt collected from snow cores taken from the 1982 spring snowpack in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah lacked mineral acidity and retained enough buffering capacity in the form of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates to titrate additional inputs of strong acid equivalent to the amount apparently already neutralized. While acid anion concentrations were higher than those found in pristine areas, they were much lower than those reported for winter precipitation in other western areas experiencing acidification of precipitation. Snowmelt pH ranged from 5.62 to 6.88 (mean = 6.17), and sulfate was relatively more important than nitrate, showing an average equivalent …

Impacts Of Western Coal, Oil Shale, And Tar Sands Development On Aquatic Environmental Quality: A Technical Information Matrix; Volume 1 Introduction And Instructions, Jay J. Messer, Charles I. Liff, Kurt Gernerd, Frederick J. Post

Reports

Introduction: The Upper Colorado River Basin contains vast deposits of coal, oil shale, and tar sands, which could undergo extensive development should oil prices rise or an international situation restrict oil imports. Naturally, the prospect of development of these alternative fossil fuels resources has led to concern over how extraction and conversion activities will impact environmental quality. A thorough understanding of the nature and magnitude of the resulting envionemental impacts is a necessary prerequisite, if the costs and risks of such activites are to be weighed against the economic benefits. When we set out to evaluated these costs and risks, …

A Chance-Constrained Programming Model Of Water Allocations In Utah, John E. Keith, Gustavo A. Martinez Gerstl, Rangesan Narayanan, Donald L. Snyder

Reports

A chance-constrained separable programming model of water allocations between agriculture and energy production was developed in order to examine the effect of the variability of water supplies in Utah. Using an incomplete gamma function, based on method of moments estimation of parameters, the water flows at 85, 90, and 95 percent probabilities of occurence were generated. These flows were then used as constraints in the allocation model. Results indicate that water quality could be a more significant constraint on irrigated agriculture than water quantity in the face of large scale energy development, and the variability of water availability alone is …

Bioassays- Procedures And Results, A. F. Maciorowski, L. W. Little, Ronald C. Sims, J. L. Sims

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Bioassay procedures to describe, evaluate, and predict potential hazard of toxic materials to organisms, ecosystems, and health-related aspects of polluted waters continue to receive widespread attention. However, synthesizing these diverse theoretical, methodological, and procedural entities into an integrated multidisciplinary approach to evaluate environ mental hazards of toxic substances remains difficult. Symposia proceedings pertinent to the toxic substances management in ecosystems have appeared¹ and provide an overview of major problems and emerging solutions, including chapters on new bioassay protocols development, and multiple exposure toxicity paradigms. Conclusions and recommendations resulting from a toxicity testing workshop² discussed current state-of-the-art, identified needed …

A Multivariate Water Quality Index For Use In Management Of A Wildland Watershed, Ramzi Mahmood, Jay J. Messer, Frank J. Nemanich, Charles I. Liff, Dennis B. George

Reports

Executive Summary: Summary: Multivariate statistical techniques were used to define a method for establishing a water quality index (WQI) for use in protecting the stream environment in a high mountain watershed. The purpose of the WQI was to aggregate water quality parameters in such a way that the effects of low level increments in mining, grazing, logging and other activities could be related to a change in the value of a single entity, aquatic environmental aquality, in a linear programming (LP) management model. Several data aggregation methods were explored, using water quality data collected over 5 years (1975-1979) by the …

Predicted Limnology Of The Proposed Ridges Basin Reservoir, Lawrence A. Baker, V. Dean Adams

Reports

A limnological evaluation was conducted for the offstream Ridges Basin Reservoir proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation in southwest Colorado. The study required the determination of existing water quality in the source river and use of the information to predict the algal standing crop, hypolimnetic oxygen deficity, Secchi disk transparency, and retention of metals in the proposed reservoir. A water quality study was conducted between May 1977 and August 1978. Samplse were collected from the Animas River, which will provide the inflow to the proposed reservoir, and from the La Plata River, which will receive discharge from the reservoir. Samples …

Salt Uptake In Natural Channels Traversing Mancos Shales In The Price River Basin, Utah, J. Paul Riley, D. George Chadwick, Lester S. Dixon, L. Douglas James, William J. Grenney, Eugene K. Israelsen

Reports

Field and laboratory measurements of process rates for runoff and salt movement were used to develop and calibrate a hydrosalinity model of outlfows from the Price River Basin at Woodside, Utah. The field measurements were specifically used to formulate a model for estimating surface flow (both overland and from small ephemeral channels) in the Coal Creek Basin on the valley floor of the Price River Basin. The basin simulation assessment model (BSAM) was used to combine local flows and model total outflow from the Price River. The results must be regarded as a first generation model that, while giving ostensibly …

Hydrologic Series Generation From The Spectral Density Function, Ronand V. Canfield

Reports

Computer simulation of hydrologic processes has become an effective analytical tool for analysis of complicated water resource systems. Present methods of generating sequences place practical limits on the ability of the methods to preserve an observed autocorrelation structure. This report explores the use of spectral characteristics in the generation of time series. Because of the correspondence between the spectral density function and the autocorrelation function of a time series, the spectrum can be used to fit any of the empirical autocorrelation structures observed in hydrologic sequences. The problem of maintaining an observed correlation structure in a generated sequence is reduced …

Development Of Contingency Plans And Scientific Background Studies For Applying Weather Modification During Drought Periods In Utah, David S. Bowles, Marjorie Frantz, Terry Glover, E. Arlo Richardson, Joe L. Sutherland

Reports

A multi-disciplinary study of drought in utah was conducted as a part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Southwest Drought Research Program. The study was administered by the Utah Division of Water Resources. Utah drought was investigated from a variety of viewpoints, including drought climatology, drought meteorology, hydrologic effects of drought, and economic effects of drought. A stand-by wintertime cloud seeding program was designed for all sections of the state. An economics model was then used to determine benfits to the state as a result of the seeding program.

Sprinkler Application Of So2 - Treated Groundwater At The Sandarosa Farm, Snowville, Utah, V. Dean Adams, Craig S. Criddle

Reports

Sulfur is recognized as one of the essential elements for plant growth. It has also been used in agriculture for reclamation of saline and sodic soils. During the reclamation process there is the potential benefit of increased availability of phosphorus and certain micro-nutrients for plant uptake. There is also potential for increased infiltration thus increasing water utilization efficiency.

Sulfur has been applied to soils in a flake or nodule form, by the addition of sulfuric acid and most recently by the application of sulfurous acid. The raw sulfur addition technique is accomplished by spreading raw sulfur on the soil and …

Further Studies Of A Cache Valley Residence Having A Groundwater Heat Pump, Michael L. Henrie

Reports

The thermal behavior of a 5-ton groundwater heat pump and the wood-frame house in which it is installed (located in Logan, Utah, latitude 44°49’; elevation 4775 ft.) were investigated during two 30 day peak use periods, the first in late summer and the second in mid-winter. Continuous measurements were taken of indoor and outdoor temperatures, groundwater temperatures, supply and return air temperatures, gallons of groundwater cycled, and Btu rejected or absorbed. These measurements were used for 1) determining the instantaneous heat gains and/or heat losses of the house by conduction and infiltration of both periods studied and 2) computing the …

Guidelines For Minimizing Salinity Buildup In Groundwaters Of Utah, Edward P. Fisk, Calvin G. Clyde

Reports

In arid Utah practically all of the replenishable surface water supplies are nearly fully developed. At least some groundwater resources are being used in every basin. Groundwater use is expanding throughout the state and in some areas the draft is nearly equal to the sustained yield. Irrigated agriculture is the major water user. Multiple reuse of water is common in many areas, but as salinity increases with each cycle of usage, salinity also is usually the limiting factor for usefulness. Effective control of salinity buildup will permit more efficient and more extensive use of the state’s waters with potentially large …

Reverse Osmosis In The Treatment Of Drinking Water, R. Ryan Dupont, Talbert N. Eisenberg, E. Joe Middlebrooks

Reports

An extensive review of the literature was conducted and results were evaluated for the use of the reverse osmosis process in the treatment of drinking water supplies. All aspects of reverse osmosis technology, including pretreatment requirements; membrane type and configuration; membrane cleaning and maintenance; and reverse osmosis removal of organics, inorganics, and microbial contaminants were incorporated inot the literature evaluation. A survey (Appendix E) of existing full scale reverse osmosis installations was also carried out and results of the survey are discussed. In light of data presented in the literature and results of the survey conducted, the following recommendations were …

Hydraulics And Numerical Solutions Of Steady-State But Spatially Varied Debris Flow, Alfredo A. Deleon, Roland W. Jeppson

Reports

Debris flow is a natural phenomenon triggered by special conditions that combine: high intensity rainfall, material available for transport, slopes steep enough to induce flowage, and insufficient protection of the ground by vegetation and/or other erosion control means. These conditions are very common in semiarid and arid regions in Utah, other Western states and many other parts of the globe. Previously, the two models proposed to solve debris flow are the Bingham plastic model and the dilatants model. Both these models depend upon coefficients that are not easy to obtain. Therefore, they are not very useful in practice. According to …

Catalytic Oxidation Of Sulfur Dioxide In Wastewater, Ernest J. Upton, V. Dean Adams

Reports

Sulfur dioxide has been shown to be an effective wastewater disinfectant. The aqueous sulfur dioxide creates and oxygen demand in the effulent which must be removed prior to discharge. Oxidation to sulfate is one means of accomplishing this task. Experiments were carried out to determine the effectiveness of transition metals and activated carbon as catalysts for the oxidation of S+IV species in wastewater. Both the metals and carbon are known catalysis, but what inhibitory effect the wastewater might have was unknown. Effectiveness was defined as a combination of catalyst life, effluent quality, and cost. Tradition metals were eliminated as potential …

Coordinating Hydrologic And Legal Systems For Groundwater Management, Richard C. Peralta, Ann W. Peralta, Les E. Mack

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A procedure is presented for developing a hydrologically and legally feasible groundwater management strategy for an area in a "reasonable use" state. Characteristics of the strategy are: Sustained yield, and drought and litigation protection.