Hydrology Commons^™

Environmental Fate Of Sulfur In Sulphur Creek, Valles Caldera, Nm: Implications For Metal Transport And Water Quality, Daniel Lavery

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The 1.2 Ma Valles Caldera in north-central New Mexico hosts a young igneous volcanic hydrothermal system after the model proposed in Goff and Janik (2000). The Sulphur Springs area within Valles Caldera is an acid-sulfate area typical of this model, discharging acidic waters (pH 1.5-3) formed by oxidation of magmatic H₂S at the surface. We report on samples obtained from springs and streams collected between October 2021 and May 2023 in the Sulphur Creek and Alamo watersheds. Sulphur Creek receives input from Sulphur Springs and exhibits low pH (2-4) and high concentrations of Al (≤110 mg/L), Fe (≤60 …

The Tidal Prism, Viable Eelgrass Habitat, And The Effects Of Sea Level Rise In Morro Bay, Kaden A. Caliendo

Master's Theses

The tidal prism, or the volume of water exchanged from the sea to an estuary from mean low to mean high tide, influences system hydrodynamics and ecological functioning. Since 1884, the tidal prism in Morro Bay, California has been estimated to be decreasing over time due to sedimentation from upstream practices. What is the current tidal prism in Morro Bay and how will that change with sea level rise? How will eelgrass respond to rising sea levels?

For this study, inexpensive tidal gauges were deployed at four locations in Morro Bay from March to August 2023 to measure spatially varying …

Post-Wildfire Effects On A Headwater Stream In The San Bernardino National Forest, Kelley Giron

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Southern California has experienced prolonged drought conditions that have supported frequent wildfires that adversely impact ecosystems, natural resources, and human development. A primary consequence of these events is the impact on water quality and quantity. Of equal concern is evaluating how diverse land use configurations within a watershed can alter the physio-chemical properties of headwater reaches where drought and wildfire conditions are prevalent. To better understand the extent to which wildfires impact water quality and quantity across a headwater watershed, this study investigates wildfire impacts from the 2021 South Fire to Lytle Creek, a headwater stream of the Santa Ana …

Heat Flow In The Southern Margin Of Salar De Atacama: Deep Groundwater Temperature Distributions And The Implications For Subsurface Flow And Land Surface Energy Budgets, Graham Thomas

Masters Theses

Salar de Atacama (SdA) located in Northern Chile is home to one of the planet’s largest salar systems and lithium resources. Managing groundwater resources in salars is not obvious due to the lack of scientific understanding on the connectivity between the freshwater and brine systems. Using heat as a tracer in SdA provides a cost-effective method to further investigate groundwater flow in salars. This study employs 372 temperature-depth profiles from 90 boreholes between 2013-18 to understand the distinct thermal zones and flow between them in SdA. Three thermal zones exist within the southern margin of SdA’s thermal regime, at higher …

Evaluation Of Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Of San Joaquin, Tulare, And Mojave Aquifers, Southern California, Maedeh Hassanvand

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Before making attempts to enhance and manage the quality of water, a thorough understanding of these processes is necessary since the chemical quality of groundwater is impacted by a number of linked processes. This would be more important in arid and semiarid regions like the southern part of California where more rely on groundwater for agriculture and drinking water uses than the other states. As a result, fundamental knowledge of the governing processes of groundwater chemistry is required for effective water resource management. Thus, this study is primarily concerned with three aspects in Mojave, Tulare, and San Joaquin aquifers: The …

Modeling Spatial Distributions Of Tidal Marsh Blue Carbon Using Morphometric Parameters From Lidar, Bonnie Turek

Masters Theses

Tidal marshes serve as important “blue carbon” ecosystems that accrete large amounts of carbon with limited area. While much attention has been paid to the spatial variability of sedimentation within salt marshes, less work has been done to characterize spatial variability in marsh carbon density. Driven by tidal inundation, surface topography, and sediment supply, soil properties in marshes vary spatially with several parameters, including marsh platform elevation and proximity to the marsh edge and tidal creek network. We used lidar to extract these morphometric parameters from tidal marshes to map soil organic carbon (SOC) at the meter scale. Fixed volume …

Evaluating Benthic Macroinvertebrate Populations In Response To Scouring Events In The Trinity River, Ca, Liam Hay, Michael W. O'Neil, Chloe Pieper-Wasem

Environmental Science & Management Senior Capstones

River systems across California have been impacted by appurtenant structures such as dams and diversions. These structures have had an adverse impact on Benthic invertebrate (BMI) communities by regulating river systems and changing the natural hydraulic pulses that follow seasonal precipitation. Benthic invertebrates are a critical food resource for salmonids and serve as an indicator of ecosystem health. Our study was interested in seeing the effects of scouring events on BMI in the Trinity River of Trinity County, C.A. Following a large precipitation event that occurred in the region in December 2022, an influx of water entered the river through …

Using Modflow To Assess Groundwater Storage Enhancement Via A Floodplain Infiltration Basin, Lindsay Henning

All Master's Theses

Delaying groundwater discharge into rivers until it is critically needed during baseflow conditions provides promise for lowering elevated stream temperatures and improving habitat for aquatic species. Increasing groundwater storage may accomplish this in locations where excess spring runoff can be captured and allowed to infiltrate into the subsurface for later beneficial use, a process known as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). Here, MAR via an infiltration basin is considered at a site along the Teanaway River in central Washington State. The effects of simulated ephemeral ponds of sizes varying from 554 m³ to 2430 m³ (0.449 acre-feet to 1.97 …

Estimating Evapotranspiration And Analyzing Soil Moisture And Heat Flux Parameters At Taneum Creek, Central Washington, Edward Vlasenko

All Master's Theses

In the past two decades, stream restoration work, primarily in the form of wood emplacement, has been undertaken in the Taneum Creek watershed, resulting in increased channel-floodplain connectivity. One of the goals of stream restoration was to boost dry season groundwater storage in the shallow floodplain aquifer. However, any gains in groundwater due to increased connectivity may be nullified by increased evapotranspiration (ET) losses because of denser floodplain vegetation. Within the floodplain aquifer budget, ET is a major flow of water out of the system and is not well quantified.

In order to quantify ET, a monitoring site was established …

Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson

Scripps Senior Theses

We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …

Impact Of Climate Oscillations/Indices On Hydrological Variables In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer., Meena Raju

Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA) is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States. The main objectives of this research are to identify long term trends and change points in hydrological variables (streamflow and rainfall), to assess the relationship between hydrological variables, and to evaluate the influence of global climate indices on hydrological variables. Non-parametric tests, MMK and Pettitt’s tests were used to analyze trend and change points. PCC and Streamflow elasticity analysis were used to analyze the relationship between streamflow and rainfall and the sensitivity of streamflow to rainfall changes. PCC and MLR analysis …

Temporal Changes In Surface Water Availability: Patterns Of Seasonal Shift On Water Stress In The Conterminous Us Under A Changing Climate, Quinn Montana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The argument could be made that there is nothing more valuable on the planet than water. Our lives depend upon it. Climate change is already having an impact on the United States (US) and water stress will be one of the problems we increasingly face in coming decades. Regional research has shown that one or another part of the conterminous US (CONUS) is expected to experience an annual deficit or a surplus in runoff. Further studies have looked at changing patterns over the CONUS as a whole. Other research has focused on a particular season. This work addresses a gap …

Perceptions Of Historical Climate Change And Park Policy: The Impact On The Fremont Cottonwood In Zion National Park, Kathleen Kavarra Corr

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite its “natural” appearance and the Organic Act 1916 mandate for preservation of the natural environment in National Parks, the Virgin River as it flows through Zion National Park’s Zion Canyon was transformed through massive flood control re-engineering projects in the 1930s. The armoring of the river has had significant impacts on riparian vegetation, particularly on the stands of native Fremont Cottonwood trees that once filled the narrow valley. What was the motivation for this massive flood control project carried out in an arid region with less than 15 inches of rain per year? This dissertation explores the motivations which …

Quantifying Water Security In West Virginia And The Potomac River Basin, Eric Carl Edvard Sinius Sjostedt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

All healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies are founded on access to clean, adequate water sources to support ecosystem services, provide clean drinking water, and allow the production of water-intensive goods and services. The state of available water resources must be analyzed through the lens of water security, defined as the capability to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for people, the economy, and ecosystems. Mountain regions are sources of freshwater resources for downstream regions, which produce disproportionately higher runoff than downstream regions. As a result, mountain regions are often referred to as natural water towers …

Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling

MSU Graduate Theses

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) supports ecologically and economically important commercial and recreational fisheries. One recreational fishery in the UMR is the Largemouth Bass fishery. Recreational fisheries can be effectively managed using information on population dynamics, though little is known about Largemouth Bass population dynamics in large river ecosystems. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate recruitment, growth, and mortality of three Largemouth Bass populations in the UMR, specifically within Pools 4, 8, and 13, and 2) to use those estimates of recruitment, growth and mortality to inform exploitation models to evaluate best management practices for each …

Floodplain Forests Vegetation Dynamics Driven By Water Deficits Across Scales, Nga Thanh Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Restoration of floodplain ecosystems relies on identifying the most crucial hydrologic process which has been altered by human and climate. Flooding is a well-known dominant hydrologic process for floodplain ecosystems, but surprisingly little is known about drought's role in structuring ecosystems. In addition, several issues remained uncertain, such as the nature of drought within floodplains and the sensitivity of floodplain species-specific growth to climate. These gaps of understanding have in common in missing observations of mechanistic pathways of vegetation response to water deficits at multiple scales in time and space.Generally, this research contributed to floodplain management by expanding our understanding …

A Karst Feature Prediction Model For Prince Of Wales Island, Alaska Based On High Resolution Lidar Imagery, Alexander Lyles

Master's Theses

Investigation into surface karst formation is significant to hazard prediction, hydrogeologic drainage, and land management. Southeast Alaska contains over 600,000 acres of mapped carbonate bedrock, and some of the fastest recorded karst dissolution in the world. The objectives of this study are to develop and compare multiple semi-automated models to map and delineate karst features from bare-earth LiDAR imagery using ArcGIS Desktop 10.7, and to apply a preliminary geostatistical analysis of sinkhole morphometric parameters to highlight potential spatial patterns of karst evolution on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. A semi-automated approach of mapping karst features provides a dataset that minimizes …

Assessing Grassed Waterway Implementation Using Acpf And Swat Models, Kirsten Schaefer

MSU Graduate Theses

Agriculture is the most significant contributor of nonpoint source pollutants in US waterways, with sediment being the most prevalent cause of impairments. Sediment loss mitigation occurs through Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as grassed waterways. Federal and state agencies incentivize the implementation of BMPs through cost-share programs for farmers. The investment of public funds has increased pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of individual projects, necessitating the development of strategies for prioritizing projects based on the sensitivity of sites to sediment erosion and optimal locations for implementation. This study has three primary objectives: (i) document existing locations of grassed …

Applications Of Continuous Snowpack Temperature Monitoring, Peter J. Youngblood

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Predicting metamorphism within seasonal snowpacks is critical for avalanche forecasting and runoff timing as it relates to water supply management. Snowpack temperature gradients play a key role in snow metamorphism, and their magnitude controls how snow strength changes; therefore, they are of interest to avalanche forecasters. Before major melt, the snowpack must warm to isothermal conditions at 0°C. Measuring this transition from warming to the ripening phase could help improve our current models for runoff timing. Measuring snowpack temperature gradients is currently a non-automated process that requires disturbance of the snow profile, and only gives a snapshot in time of …

Characterization Of Shallow Subsurface Hydrology In Large Fine-Grained Floodplains, Mary Grace Lemon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Floodplains are hydrologically dynamic, receiving water from overbank events, hyporheic flows, local precipitation, and regional groundwater sources. These sources are variously important contributors to the heterogeneous floodplain water pool that includes matrix water in soil micropores, mobile water in soil macropores, groundwater below the rooting zone, ephemeral to seasonal surface storage, and permanent surface water features such as oxbow lakes, sloughs, and other secondary channels. All sources may be ecologically relevant for floodplain vegetation, but the exact roles of each source in both controlling soil water and shallow groundwater recharge and in controlling floodplain water drainage are not well understood, …

A Comparison Of Fuel Reduction Methods For Wildfire Risk Management And Climate Change Resiliency In Mixed Conifer Forests In The Sierra Nevada, Heather Navle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wildfires in the mixed conifer forests of California’s Sierra Nevada have been a common and natural disturbance for thousands of years, historically occurring every 3 to 30 years. The flora and fauna of the mixed conifer forest have evolved to depend on low to moderate severity wildfires for reproduction, foraging, and habitat. However, the Sierra Nevada has experienced dramatic environmental changes over the past ~150 years as a result of three main factors: wildfire suppression, climate change, and habitat loss. Because of the threat wildfires pose to human lives, property and timber harvest, they have been suppressed to an extent …

Paleofloods And Landform Development Influence Carbon Storage In A Humid-Subtropical River Valley, Christopher Lance Stewart

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Floodplains can store large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) despite covering a small fraction of the global land area. Since these valley-bottom landforms build through the action of flooding, the century to millennial-scale record of overbank deposition could be important in understanding controls on deep (>30 cm) SOC storage. Yet, the influence of flood history and landform development on carbon content is surprisingly not well known. I use a combined geological and pedological approach to characterize the sedimentation, soil development, and SOC of fluvial terraces along an impounded reach of the humid-subtropical Tennessee River valley, U.S.A. The standardized …

Defining And Addressing Interconnected Goals In Groundwater Management Planning Across The Usa, Allison Gage

Masters Theses

Groundwater accounts for approximately 99% of the available freshwater on Earth, and is an important resource for irrigation, potable water, and domestic use in the United States. However, the overuse of groundwater has led to aquifer depletion in several basins across the USA, resulting in storage reduction, contamination, salt water intrusion, and depletion of surface waters. To properly manage groundwater for the future, there is a need for well-informed Groundwater Management Plans (GWMPs) in order to prevent further depletion and erosion of the resource. Previous studies have focused on groundwater management relative to groundwater laws, regulations, and institutional arrangements. This …

Hydrologic Structure And Function Of Vernal Pools In South Deerfield, Massachusetts, Charlotte Axthelm

Masters Theses

Vernal pools are small, ephemeral wetlands lacking an inlet or outlet. These wetlands, also known as seasonal pools, are found in a wide range of biomes, and their characteristics vary based on location. While the vegetation of western U.S. pools, and amphibians of eastern U.S. pools have been extensively studied, many aspects of vernal pools have not been fully characterized. In particular, although the general seasonal wetting and drying cycle is understood qualitatively, few studies have attempted to quantify the hydrological regime of vernal pools in New England. As water level variation drives many, if not all, of the characteristics …

Groundwater Hydrogeolgy And Hydrochemistry Of Karst Springs In The Eastern Peninsula Of Fort Hood Military Installation, William Scribner Welles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eastern peninsula of Fort Hood Military Installation is underlain by a complex karst spring network. These springs are a primary water source in a protected habitat for endangered songbirds, which has only recently begun to be fully investigated. These Fredericksburg Group springs express both epigenetic and hypogenetic karst signatures. The study area is part of a paleo reef trend, a hydraulically disconnected segment of the northern section of the Edwards Aquifer. This study utilized standard ion index values, repeated measures, and principal component analyses on the chemical profiles of six perennial springs to classify spring water sources and their …

Evaluation Of A Sequential Pond System For Detention And Treatment Of Runoff At Skypark, Santa's Village, Elizabeth Caporuscio

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Understanding the extent to which human activities impact surface water resources has become increasingly important as both human population growth and related landscape changes impact water quality and quantity across varying geographical scales. Skypark, Santa’s Village is a 233.76-acre tourism-based outdoor recreation area located in Skyforest, California residing within the San Bernardino National Forest. The park is situated at Hooks Creek, the headwaters of the Mojave River Watershed, and is characterized by a diverse landscape that includes forest cover and human development, including impervious surfaces, a restored meadow, and recreational trails. In 2016, Hencks Meadow was considered degraded by human …

Flow Regime Influences On Stream And Riparian Soil Carbon Dynamics In The Ozark Highlands And Boston Mountains Of Arkansas, Allyn Dodd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The natural flow regime exerts primacy over lotic ecosystem patterns and processes. However, little work has examined the influence of flow regime on instream and riparian carbon (C) dynamics in minimally-impacted, temperate forested systems. To date, most research efforts have focused on characterizing C movement and transformations across biomes and land use categories; however, flow regime represents an overlooked, finer level of detail that may drive differences in ecosystem function. My dissertation objective was to measure C fixation and movement within and across multiple environmental spheres (e.g. within stream channels, between stream surfaces and the atmosphere, and from riparian soils …

The Effects Of Fire On Snow Accumulation, Snowmelt And Ground Thaw On A Peat Plateau In Subarctic Canada, Elyse Mathieu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

During the past century, the highest rates of warming have occurred at latitudes above 60^oN, where air temperatures have risen at twice the rate of other regions. In northwestern Canada, this warming has coincided with an increase in the frequency, size and severity of wildfires. The influence of such fires on the trajectory of on-going permafrost thaw is not well understood. As a consequence, the combined impacts of climate warming induced permafrost thaw and possible feedbacks arising from wildfires cannot be properly assessed. This study examines the impact of a 2.7 ha low-severity wildfire (July 2014) on water …

Persistence Of Stream Restoration With Large Wood, Redwood National And State Parks, California, Diedra L. Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The conservation and recovery of anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus sp.) depend on stream restoration and protection of freshwater habitats. In-stream large wood dictates channel morphology, increases retention of terrestrial inputs such as organic matter, nutrients and sediment, and enhances the quality of fish habitat. Historic land use/land cover changes have resulted in aquatic systems devoid of large wood. Restoration by placement of large wood jams is intended to restore physical and biological processes. An important question for scientists and restoration managers, in addition to the initial effectiveness of restoration, is the persistence and fate of large wood installations. In this …

Using Mountain Snowpack To Predict Summer Water Availability In Semiarid Mountain Watersheds, Rebecca Dawn Garst

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In the mountainous landscapes of the western United States, water resources are dominated by snowpack. As temperatures rise in spring and summer, the melting snow produces an increase in river flow levels. Reservoirs are used during this increase to retain surplus water, which is released to supplement growing season water supply once the peak flows decrease to below water demands. Once there is no longer surplus natural flow of water, the water accounting changes – referred to as the day of allocation (DOA), and water previously retained within the reservoir is used to supplement the lower flow levels. The amount …