Engineering Commons^™

Development And Application Of A Decision Framework To Support Improved River Basin Water Management, Leah Meeks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water management decisions made at local levels may have effects throughout an entire river basin. Water managers need better ways to help identify which decisions have broader implications and to quantify those effects to inform decision making. This dissertation presents a framework providing a basin-wide approach to water management using three studies. The first study developed a software tool to quantify how local changes within a water resources network affect the entire network. A case study was conducted on the Lower Bear River in Utah. The second study quantified the basin-wide effects of reducing return flows from irrigation areas to …

Water Resources International Development: What On Earth Are We Doing?, Patrick Ray

All ECSTATIC Materials

Large agencies such as the World Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the United Nations, regional development banks (such as the Asian Development Bank), and philanthropic organizations (such as the Rockefeller Foundation) are actively engaged in water resources development in low-income countries. Why? And what metrics do they use to decide if the investments of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in water infrastructure projects are justified? And what accommodations do they tend to make for risks such as climate change? And what attention do they tend to give to questions of equity? I probably have no idea. But I’ve …

Advancing Water Resources Systems Modeling Cyberinfrastructure To Enable Systematic Data Analysis, Modeling, And Comparisons, Adel Mohammad Kheir Abdallah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water resources systems models aid in managing water resources holistically considering water, economic, energy, and environmental needs, among others. Developing such models require data that represent a water system’s physical and operational characteristics such as inflows, demands, reservoir storage, and release rules. However, such data is stored and described in different formats, metadata, and terminology. Therefore, Existing tools to store, query, and visualize modeling data are model, location, and dataset-specific, and developing such tools is time-consuming and requires programming experience. This dissertation presents an architecture and three software tools to enable researchers to more readily and consistently prepare and reuse …

Extending Water Resources Performance Metrics To River Ecosystems, Belize A. Lane, J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A persistent challenge in integrated water management is the ability to accurately evaluate human and ecological tradeoffs. Two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic models are frequently used to evaluate water management alternatives concerning aquatic species physical habitat needs or preferences. Recent studies have assessed the timing or duration of suitable habitat conditions, but no standardized approach exists to integrate and interpret ecohydraulic model outputs within a water management framework. Such an approach is needed to maximize the information obtained from model outputs and to facilitate communication between river scientists and water managers. This study presents a general framework to aggregate and summarize 2D …

Assessing Data Availability And Research Reproducibility In Hydrology And Water Resources, James H. Stagge, David E. Rosenberg, Adel M. Abdallah, Hadia Akbar, Nour A. Atallah, Ryan James

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is broad interest to improve the reproducibility of published research. We developed a survey tool to assess the availability of digital research artifacts published alongside peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g. data, models, code, directions for use) and reproducibility of article results. We used the tool to assess 360 of the 1,989 articles published by six hydrology and water resources journals in 2017. Like studies from other fields, we reproduced results for only a small fraction of articles (1.6% of tested articles) using their available artifacts. We estimated, with 95% confidence, that results might be reproduced for only 0.6% to 6.8% …

A Data Model To Manage Data For Water Resources Systems Modeling, Adel M. Abdallah, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Current practices to identify, organize, analyze, and serve data to water resources systems models are typically model and dataset-specific. Data are stored in different formats, described with different vocabularies, and require manual, model-specific, and time-intensive manipulations to find, organize, compare, and then serve to models. This paper presents the Water Management Data Model (WaMDaM) implemented in a relational database. WaMDaM uses contextual metadata, controlled vocabularies, and supporting software tools to organize and store water management data from multiple sources and models and allow users to more easily interact with its database. Five use cases use thirteen datasets and models focused …

Water Resource Systems Analysis - University Of Kentucky, Lexington, Lindell Ormsbee

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in water resource systems analysis offered at University of Kentucky, Lexington in Fall 2015.

Water Resources Systems Analysis - University Of Texas San Antonio, Marcio Giacomoni

All ECSTATIC Materials

Systems Analysis methods use algorithmic and mathematical approaches for problem-solving. These are powerful methods that can be applied to solve complex design and management problems for water resources systems and other engineering areas. This class will focus on optimization methods, such as linear programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, genetic algorithms, and dynamic programming, and their application to water resources systems. Advanced Systems Analysis methods, including sensitivity analysis, alternatives generation, and multi-objective optimization will be introduced to address the complexities associated with public sector decision-making. Course taught at University of Texas San Antonio.

Water Resources Systems Analysis - Colorado State University, Darrell Fontane

All ECSTATIC Materials

Applications of systems analysis, simulation and optimization techniques in water resources planning and management. Course taught at Colorado State University.

Water Resources Systems Engineering - University Of California, Los Angeles, William Yeh

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in water resources systems engineering offered at University of California, Los Angeles in Spring 2014.

Water Resources Planning And Management - University Of Florida, Jim Heaney

All ECSTATIC Materials

This course is designed to (1) acquaint students with the role of analytical methods in water resources planning processes; (2) differentiate the roles of professionals and decision makers; and (3) present methods for evaluating multi-purpose water resource systems. Course taught at University of Florida.

Water Resources Systems Engineering - Technion, Avi Ostfeld

All ECSTATIC Materials

Course taught at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Resources And Corresponding Adaptation Strategies Of The Nam Ngum River Basin, Laos, Dumindu Lasitha Jayasekera

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Nam Ngum River Basin (NNRB) in Laos has received attention of foreign investors due to high hydropower development potential and low per capita electricity consumption. The NNRB is rapidly developing due to its hydropower generation potentials while water demands will increase for agricultural and domestic purposes due to population increase and land-use changes. Water availability conditions will be affected with the increasing water demand and climate change may worsen the water availability conditions. Climate is often defined as the weather averaged over time whereas weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular place and time in terms of air temperature, …

Climate Change Impacts On Water Resources Of The Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia, U. Kim, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi, V. U. Smakhtin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Climate change affects water resources availability of international river basins that are vulnerable to runoff variability of upstream countries especially with increasing water demands. The upper Blue Nile River Basin is a good example because its downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt, depend solely on Nile waters for their economic development. In this study, the impacts of climate change on both hydrology and water resources operations were analyzed using the outcomes of six different general circulation models (GCMs) for the 2050s. The outcomes of these six GCMs were weighted to provide average future changes. Hydrologic sensitivity, flow statistics, a drought index, …

Assessment Of Climate Change Impacts On Water Resources Of The Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia, U. Kim, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Climate change affects water resources availability of international river basins that are vulnerable to runoff variability of upstream countries especially with increasing water demands. The upper Blue Nile River Basin is a good example because its downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt, depend solely on Nile waters for their economic development. In this study, the impacts of climate change on both hydrology and water resources operations were analyzed using the outcomes of six different general circulation models (GCMs) for the 2050s. The outcomes of these six GCMs were weighted to provide average future changes. Hydrologic sensitivity, flow statistics, a drought index, …

Optimizing Integrated Water Resources Management: Data, Tools, And Examples, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Best utilizing water resources requires coordinating their availability and use in time and space. Required can be: spatially and temporally distributed data; simulators to predict system response to stimuli; procedures for defining management goals, constraints, and scenarios; optimizers to compute optimal management strategies; and appropriate strategy implementation techniques. Here, a strategy is a set of controllable groundwater extraction and injection rates and surface water diversions. Simulation/optimization (S/O) models couple simulators and optimizers to compute optimal strategies for posed management problems. S/O models are becoming more commonly used for policy, planning, system design, and management. For example, water planners and managers …

Software For Optimizing International Water Resources Management, Richard C. Peralta, S. Wu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The Simulation/Optimization MOdeling System (SOMOS) has modules adapted for a range of international water resource management needs. The SOMOA module is best for field groundwater and conjunctive water management situations. It employs several analytical simulation models and several optimization methods to give appropriate optimal guidance for situations having sparse data. SOMOA requires understanding of the limitations of common analytical equations. It does not require experience in finite difference or element numerical modeling. SOMOS also has modules ideal for situations in which there is sufficient data for numerical modeling or aquifer and stream-aquifer systems. Emphasized here are SOMOA and its applications …

Research Project Summaries (July 1989-December 1990), Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

From every side we hear of new threats to our water supply. Carcinogens, droughts, dam failures, global warming, hazardous wastes, deforestation, overpopulation, liability, and an aging infrastructure become household fears; this list grows longer and more foreboding to the average citizen. Some of these threats are real, while others are imaginary. Some we know how to overcome and others we can find ways to overcome, yet, for some, we are still helpless. The strength of a university lies in its success in stimulating inquisitive minds in critical examination of the problems of the world. People sense hope as experts find …

Water Resources Development Alternatives For The Mississippi Alluvial Plain In Eastern Arkansas, Gary L. Mahon, John E. Terry, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Effective management of the water resources of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain in eastern Arkansas involves understanding the nature of existing problems, estimating total water demands, predicting how much of the total demand can be provided by the underlying aquifer and available surface-water sources, and deducing how much water must come from alternate sources. Various Federal and State agencies have cooperatively provided hydrologic information for the area to evaluate water-resources development alternatives ensuring that (1) the use of water from the aquifer be maximized while maintaining a minimum of 20 feet of saturated thickness, (2) the use of surface water be …

Interactive Modification Of Quadratic Multiobjective Water Resources Planning Strategies, Paul J. Killian, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

An interactive method is presented for modifying a mtltiobjective water resources planning strategy by changing constraining conditions on regional objectives and local variables. The method is illustrated by modifying a conjunctive use. sustained groundwater withdrawal strategy for minimizing the cost of meeting regional water demand on the Arkansas Grand Prairie. The strategy was developed using a model in which the finite difference form of the two-dimensional groundwater flow equation is embedded in an optimization process. The quadratic optimization is accomplished by utilizing the General Differential Algorithm to obtain values of drawdown. pumping. and recharge in each finite difference cell. Results …

Potential Conjunctive Water Resources Use Plan For The Grand Prairie Region Of Eastern Arkansas, Ahmad Y. Ranjha, Richard C. Peralta, Amin Yazdanian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The main objective of this study is to develop two conjunctive water use strategies that can satisfy maximum potential irrigation water demand in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas. for climatically average growing seasons. To accomplish this. the potential irrigation demand in each 3 mile x 3 mile cell of the study area is first determined on a monthly and seasonal basis for average climatic conditions. The potential demand is also calculated for dry climatic conditions. although these latter demand figures are not used in developing the potential conjunctive water use strategies.

New Directions In Western Water Law Proceedings Of The Sixth Annual Conference Of The Utah Section Of The American Water Resources Assoc., Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

No abstract provided.

Social, Economic, Environmental, And Technical Factors Influencing Water Reuse, A. Bruce Bishop, Suravuth Pratishthananda, John Keith, Craig Colton, A. Berry Crawford

Reports

A growing population together with rising per capita income has resulted in increased demand for water for virtually all uses. At the same time there has been increased public concern for maintaining the quality of streams for recreation, sight-seeing, and other social uses, and to conserve environmental values. A partial answer to these conflicts in water use and management is more extensive waste water reclamation and reuse. Heretofore, water salvage and reuse has been mainly practiced in specific operational cases, such as recycling industrial process water, or on an ad hoc basis, such as a series of diversions and subsequent …

Hydrologic Inventory Of The Great Salt Lake Desert Area, Gary L. Foote

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Utah, located in the arid southwest, is a state that experience s chronic water shortages. The pattern of valleys and high mountain ranges that exists in the state produces sharply contrasting differences in climatic conditions . Desert valleys in the western portion may receive as few a s 4 inches of precipitation in a year while headwater areas in the Wasatch Mountains receive 60 inches or more. Wide cyclic as well a s geographical variations of precipitation added to uneven seasonal distribution makes development and efficient utilization of water resource s vital though difficult.

In order to make the most …

Developing A State Water Plan Utah's Water Resources--Problems And Needs--A Challenge, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

Of all the natural resources with which Utah has been endowed none is more vital to the social and economic well-being of the people than it water resource. We cannot manufacture water. We have found no acceptable substitute. Not one more drop of water is available for our use today than was available to the pioneers. Yet water uses and water demands have multiplied over the years. Since we can do little to change nature's water allotment to Utah we must learn how to utilize our existing supplies more judiciously. This means devoting increasingly more attention to problems of water …