Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Software For Analyzing Municipal Water Data To Design Water Conservation Strategies, Adrian Patton Welsh

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

Planning for drought and growth-induced water scarcity is a challenge confronting municipal water departments. When water shortages occur, demand management policies and programs are often implemented to encourage water conservation. Due to the nature of water resources and municipal water delivery systems, cities are concerned about meeting citizens’ water needs. A city can review water billing records to see how much water people use, but how do they know how much water people need? Standards and guidelines have been established for indoor water use (gallons/person/day), but the amount of water needed to irrigate outdoor landscapes is more variable, highly contextualized, …

Alternative Futures For The Upper Colorado River Ecosystem: Phase Ii, Temis G. Taylor

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

Wildlife habitat and biodiversity in the Upper Colorado River Ecosystem are threatened by growth of urban areas, subdivision of rural lands, and exploitation of natural resources. The White-Yampa, Colorado Headwaters, and Gunnison River Watersheds within the region were investigated to discover areas supporting high biodiversity that would be possible candidates for conservation efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Using an alternative futures planning process and principles of landscape ecology, development of energy of the resources in the region was found to be the primary driver for land use and impacts to wildlife habitat. Through application of geospatial modeling …

Do Fee-Access Hunting Programs Conserve Wildlife Habitat? A Case Study Of Utah's Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit Program, Adam L. Perschon

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

Landscapes in the American West are undergoing dramatic changes as land-use patterns shift to accommodate the region’s explosive population growth. Trends toward low-density settlement patterns, or exurban development, compound the problem by consuming a disproportionately large amount of land compared to the population they support. The result is the rapid conversion of the West’s most highly productive agricultural and range lands, many of which provide benefits to biodiversity that surpass those found in permanently protected areas. Ruralists, ranchers, and conservationists alike are seeking ways to protect these ecologically important private lands from future development. One method purported to mitigate rural …

The 3 Creeks Grazing Allotment: A Study Of Livestock Grazing Management Across Public And Privately Owned Land, Taylor M. Payne

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

Livestock ranching is the most common use of public rangeland in the western United States (Gates, personal communication). The newly formed 3 Creeks Grazing Allotment which consists of 136,000 acres and has 29 permittees serves as an example of scientifically based public land management using grazing livestock as a management tool. It is believed that livestock grazing is the most underutilized tool in natural resource management (Hopkin, personal communication). The newly formed allotment will consolidate nine separate allotments into one management unit. This unit is holistically developed to sustain grazing livestock and rural economies while benefitting the range resources including …

Great Salt Lake Watershed: Its Role In Maintaining The Wetlands Of The Great Salt Lake, Danny C. White Jr.

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

The following bioregional planning study is a direct result of the 2009- 2010 studio project initiated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The FWS contacted the study team and asked them to determine how the future growth and development of the Bear River Watershed would impact the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (BRMBR). The study looked at all of the physical and biophysical systems within the Bear River Watershed to identify the issues that had an effect on the BRMBR.

It became apparent from the original project that the future of the BRMBR and other Great Salt …