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Utah State University

Water Resource Management

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Idaho

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Irrigation Efficiency Trap: Rational Farm-Scale Decisions Can Lead To Poor Hydrologic Outcomes At The Basin Scale, Christina N. Morrisett, Robert W. Van Kirk, London O. Bernier, Andrea L. Holt, Chloe B. Perel, Sarah E. Null Aug 2023

The Irrigation Efficiency Trap: Rational Farm-Scale Decisions Can Lead To Poor Hydrologic Outcomes At The Basin Scale, Christina N. Morrisett, Robert W. Van Kirk, London O. Bernier, Andrea L. Holt, Chloe B. Perel, Sarah E. Null

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural irrigation practices have changed through time as technology has enabled more efficient conveyance and application. In some agricultural regions, irrigation can contribute to incidental aquifer recharge important for groundwater return flows to streams. The Henrys Fork Snake River, Idaho (United States) overlies a portion of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, where irrigated agriculture has occurred for over a century. Using irrigator interviews, aerial and satellite imagery, and statistical streamflow analysis, we document the impact of farm-scale decisions on basin-scale hydrology. Motivated to improve economic efficiency, irrigators began converting from surface to center-pivot sprinkler irrigation in the 1950s, with rapid …


Potential For Managed Aquifer Recharge To Enhance Fish Habitat In A Regulated River, Robert W. Van Kirk, Bryce A. Contor, Christina N. Morrisett, Sarah E. Null, Ashly S. Loibman Mar 2020

Potential For Managed Aquifer Recharge To Enhance Fish Habitat In A Regulated River, Robert W. Van Kirk, Bryce A. Contor, Christina N. Morrisett, Sarah E. Null, Ashly S. Loibman

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is typically used to enhance the agricultural water supply but may also be promising to maintain summer streamflows and temperatures for cold-water fish. An existing aquifer model, water temperature data, and analysis of water administration were used to assess potential benefits of MAR to cold-water fisheries in Idaho’s Snake River. This highly-regulated river supports irrigated agriculture worth US $10 billion and recreational trout fisheries worth $100 million. The assessment focused on the Henry’s Fork Snake River, which receives groundwater from recharge incidental to irrigation and from MAR operations 8 km from the river, addressing (1) the …


The Role Of Anadromous Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) In The Nutrient Loading And Productivity Of The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, H. P. Gross, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Chris Luecke Jan 1998

The Role Of Anadromous Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) In The Nutrient Loading And Productivity Of The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, H. P. Gross, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Chris Luecke

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We constructed a simulation model for Redfish Lake, Idaho, using water budget and nutrient loading measurements, to predict the dependence of lake production on nutrients from the watershed, precipitation, lake fertilization, and marine-derived nutrients from sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, which historically have reared in the lake. We also used the model to simulate different management scenarios to help restore the endangered Snake River sockeye salmon. The model and other empirical evidence indicated that even before hydropower dams were present in the migration corridor, marine-derived nutrients were not of major importance to lake production, contributing only about 3% of the annual …


Hydroacoustic Assessment Of Abundance And Diel Distribution Of Sockeye Salmon And Kokanee In The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, D. Beauchamp, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. G. Gross, Phaedra E. Budy, S. Spaulding, R. Dilenger, C. P. Gubala Jan 1997

Hydroacoustic Assessment Of Abundance And Diel Distribution Of Sockeye Salmon And Kokanee In The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, D. Beauchamp, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. G. Gross, Phaedra E. Budy, S. Spaulding, R. Dilenger, C. P. Gubala

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We used dual-beam hydroacoustics and echo integration techniques, combined with midwater trawling and gillnetting, to assess the abundance and distribution of the endangered Snake River juvenile sockeye salmon and resident kokanee (both Oncorhynchus nerka) in Sawtooth Valley lakes of Idaho during September 1991 and 1992. Abundance of O. nerka varied among the four lakes containing this species (12,500–257,000) and varied between years in Redfish Lake (86,400 in 1994 and 241,000 in 1992) and Alturas Lake (230,000 in 1991 and 257,000 in 1992). In Alturas Lake, where piscivore densities were high and zooplankton densities were low, small acoustic targets (≤18 cm …


Nutrient Limitation Of Oligotrophic Sockeye Salmon Lakes Of Idaho (Usa), Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. P. Gross, Chris Luecke, Phaedra E. Budy Jan 1997

Nutrient Limitation Of Oligotrophic Sockeye Salmon Lakes Of Idaho (Usa), Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. P. Gross, Chris Luecke, Phaedra E. Budy

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

"Phytoplankton production in lake ecosystems is frequently controlled by amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus (Smith 1982, Elser et al. 1990), as well as minor- and micro-nutrients (Wurtsbaugh & Horne 1983, Wurtsbaugh 1988, Lovstad & Bjorndalen 1990). Nutrient limitation is often studied to determine which nutrient(s) should be reduced to control lake eutrophication (Schindler 1974(. Conversely, nutrients have been used for decades to stimulate plankton and, subsequently, fish production in aquaculture (Bardach et al. 1972). More recently, lake fertilization has been used to augment salmon runs for commercial exploitation (Hyatt & Stockner 1985, lye et al. 1988), and it has been …