Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Water Main Break Rates In The Usa And Canada: A Comprehensive Study, Steven L. Barfuss

Reports

Deteriorating Infrastructure

Municipalities and the people they serve depend on pipe networks that provide safe drinking water. This piping is underground, out of sight, and often neglected.

Overall assessment of water infrastructure condition is not good. Using the US as an example:

• In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issued a US report card and gave a D- to drinking water infrastructure.
• In 2017, the grade improved to a D.
• In 2021, the grade was raised to a C-, better but still not good.
• Utilities are currently losing 11% of their water to leakage.
• Pipe life estimates of …

Multi-Objective Water Management In Idaho's Henrys Fork Watershed: Leveraging Reservoir Operation And Groundwater Pathways To Benefit Aquatic Habitat, Christina N. Morrisett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Multi-user water management is a challenging arena further complicated by climate change. This research is based in the Henrys Fork, Snake River, Idaho—an agricultural watershed that exemplifies those throughout the semi-arid American West. This dissertation uses an integrated approach that considers groundwater-river relationships, farm-scale decisions and basin-scale outcomes, upstream reservoir operation for downstream aquatic habitat, water rights, and collaborative stakeholder management to identify drought adaptation strategies accordingly.

Chapter 2 uses an interdisciplinary approach to quantify how improvements to irrigation efficiency at the farm-scale (i.e., converting from flood to sprinkler irrigation) can add up to affect hydrology at the landscape-scale and …

Inundated Vegetation Response To Ongoing Restoration And Its Impacts On Fish Community Structure, Emmanuel J. May

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Shallow lake ecosystems and their associated wetland habitats globally are subject to non-native species introductions, nutrient loading, and water level fluctuations, each of which can decrease vegetated habitat availability, exposing vulnerable native aquatic species to predation. Managers are frequently tasked with mitigating native species declines by restoring vegetation considered crucial for their survival. However, restoring vegetation can be challenging in the presence of multiple stressors, requiring managers to assess the relative importance of the different stressors limiting vegetation recovery.

Utah Lake is a large shallow lake subject to multiple stressors and has shifted from a mesotrophic lake with abundant aquatic …

Prospects And Constraints For A Recreational Fishery On East Canyon Creek At The 910 Ranch, S. Bishop, A. Garner, G. Mclaughlin, T. Oman, N. Omer, C. Stewart

Watershed Sciences Student Research

Summit County Lands and Natural Resources has retained students from Utah State University’s Management and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems program to evaluate current conditions of East Canyon Creek (ECC) in the 910 Ranch and propose prospects, constraints, and potential actions to establish a recreational trout fishery.

Analyzing The Impacts Of Beaver Dam And Beaver Dam Analog Complexes To Stream Ecology Within The Intermountain West, J. Marshall Wolf

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Streams, rivers, and their floodplains throughout the world are impaired due to human modifications. Recent research has demonstrated that restoration projects prioritizing the proper functioning of ecosystems have better restoration outcomes than projects which focus on restoring form alone. Throughout North America, beaver-mediated restoration is becoming a leading method for improving the functioning of stream ecosystems that are in a degraded state. In areas where beaver are absent or the habitat is too degraded to currently permit their dam building, man-made beaver dam analogs (BDAs) are being used to restore stream habitat with an eye to future beaver recolonization. However, …

Controls On Sediment Connectivity In Fluvial Networks Impacted By Wildfire Across Utah, Alec Arditti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Flooding and sedimentation caused by wildfire are among the greatest threats to watersheds, fish populations and reservoirs in the western US. Burned landscapes are at risk for increased runoff and erosion and have the potential to transport sediment that may put downstream resources at risk. The ability of the channel to transport sediment downstream, known as the connectivity, is important for determining where impacts may occur. Sediment bottlenecks are locations within the watershed where local conditions produce a persistent decrease in downstream connectivity of sediment, resulting in increased sediment deposition and potentially a substantial modification of the local channel and …

Fire And Flow: Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfires And Impact Of High Flow Events On Phosphorus Concentrations In Mountain Streams, Rachel Watts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Climate change has led to significant shifts in the Earth’s weather patterns, often leading to longer, more intense droughts, irregular but extreme storms, and more severe wildfires with longer burn durations. These weather pattern changes have frequently led to shifts in ecosystem dynamics, impacting aspects such as nutrient flux, species diversity, and overall habitat health. Regarding nutrient flux specifically, changes in phosphorus (P) concentrations can negatively impact stream systems as elevated levels can lead to toxic algal blooms, which can cause habitat degradation, loss of usable recreational areas, and large fish kills. A common trigger of these P spikes is …

Ecology And Management Of Dyer's Woad (Isatis Tinctoria) In Northern Utah, Erin Marie Hettinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a non-native forb that continues to threaten natural areas throughout Northern Utah and much of the Intermountain West. Once introduced, dyer’s woad can become extremely invasive, decreasing forage quality, and displacing native species. While dyer’s woad is found throughout much of Northern Utah, its range in other states remains limited. If promptly managed, control success in these areas will be much higher and populations may be kept at bay before ecological damage becomes severe.

This project tested the ability of dyer’s woad seedlings to compete with common rangeland grasslands at varied densities as …

Movement Patterns Of A Federally Endangered Minnow In A Fragmented Desert River, Martinique J. Chavez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fishes are unified in their need to move within the systems they occupy, and their movement patterns can be fundamental to their ecology and survival. Many large rivers in North America are fragmented by dams that modify natural flow regimes, compromise connectivity, and imperil freshwater fishes dependent on unrestricted movement in order to complete their life history. Coincident with widespread river fragmentation, are the declines of numerous endemic desert fishes in the American southwest. The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (Hybognathus amarus, RGSM), has experienced a 95% reduction in its historical range and is now restricted to a highly …

Climate Change-Driven Cumulative Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Whitebark Pine Mortality In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, William W. Macfarlane, Brian Howell, Jesse A. Logan, Ally L. Smith, Cashe C. Rasmussen, Robert E. Spangler

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

An aerial survey method called the Landscape Assessment System (LAS) was used to assess mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)-caused mortality of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (59,000 km²; GYE). This consisted of 11,942 km of flightlines, along which 4434 geo-tagged, oblique aerial photos were captured and processed. A mortality rating of none to severe (0–4.0 recent attack or 5.0–5.4 old attack) was assigned to each photo based on the amount of red (recent attack) and gray (old attack) trees visible. The method produced a photo inventory of 74 percent of …

Data From: Climate Change-Driven Cumulative Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Whitebark Pine Mortality In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, William W. Macfarlane

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In 2018-2019 the Landscape Assessment System (LAS), an aerial survey method was used to assess mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) - caused mortality of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (59000 km2; GYE). This consisted of 11,942 km of flightlines, along which 4,434 geo-tagged, oblique aerial photos were captured and processed. A mortality rating of none to severe (0 to 4 nt attack or 5.0 5.4 old attack) was assigned to each photo based on the amount of red (recent attack) and gray (old attack) trees visible. The method produced a photo inventory of 74 percent …

Data From: Root Distributions Predict Shrub-Steppe Responses To Precipitation Intensity, Andrew Kulmatiski, Karen H. Beard

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Precipitation events are becoming more intense around the world, changing the way water moves through soils and plants. Plant rooting strategies that sustain water uptake under these conditions are likely to become more abundant (e.g., shrub encroachment). Yet, it remains difficult to predict species responses to climate change because we typically do not know where active roots are located or how much water they absorb. Here, we applied a water tracer experiment to describe forb, grass, and shrub root distributions. These measurements were made in 8 m by 8 m field shelters with low or high precipitation intensity. We used …

Utahns' Perceptions Of Climate Change And Disaster Vulnerabilities, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Jennifer E. Givens, Peter D. Howe, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, making people more vulnerable in a variety of ways^1-2. It is essential to determine if individuals believe they are susceptible to the effects of climate change in order to develop effective adaptation strategies.

Climate change has contributed to extreme weather occurrences in Utah in recent years. For instance, in the summer of 2022, there was a severe or extreme drought in all of Utah's counties³. Health effects of drought vary with intensity⁴ and can cause climate related deaths directly and indirectly, such as by …

Are Plant–Soil Feedbacks Caused By Many Weak Microbial Interactions?, Julia K. Aaronson, Andrew Kulmatiski, Leslie E. Forero, Josephine Grenzer, Jeanette M. Norton

Wildland Resources Student Research

We used high-throughput sequencing and multivariate analyses to describe soil microbial community composition in two four-year field plant–soil feedback (PSF) experiments in Minnesota, USA and Jena, Germany. In descending order of variation explained, microbial community composition differed between the two study sites, among years, between bulk and rhizosphere soils, and among rhizosphere soils cultivated by different plant species. To try to identify soil organisms or communities that may cause PSF, we correlated plant growth responses with the microbial community composition associated with different plants. We found that plant biomass was correlated with values on two multivariate axes. These multivariate axes …

Utahns Strongly Support Renewable Energy Sources Such As Solar And Wind, Elizabeth Brunner, Stacia Ryder

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Utah was the fastest-growing state in the nation by population between 2010 and 2020.¹ This growing population is bringing increased demand for energy. The build out of Utah's electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, with the state aiming to site electric vehicle charging stations at least every 50 miles along its interstate highway system by the end of 2025, will also increase energy demand. This growth will equate to increased carbon emissions if Utah does not change its electricity mix, which is currently composed of primarily carbon-emitting sources. As of 2022 (see Figure 1), 53% of Utah's total electricity net generation …

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 …

A Neural-Network-Based Landscape Search Engine: Lse Wisconsin, Matthew Haffner, Matthew Dewitte, Papia F. Rozario, Gustavo A. Ovando-Montejo

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The task of image retrieval is common in the world of data science and deep learning, but it has received less attention in the field of remote sensing. The authors seek to fill this gap in research through the presentation of a web-based landscape search engine for the US state of Wisconsin. The application allows users to select a location on the map and to find similar locations based on terrain and vegetation characteristics. It utilizes three neural network models—VGG16, ResNet-50, and NasNet—on digital elevation model data, and uses the NDVI mean and standard deviation for comparing vegetation data. The …

Opening The Black Box: Soil Microbial Communities In Field-Based Plant-Soil Feedback Experiments, Julia Kate Aaronson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plant-soil feedback is a process through which plants modify the properties of their associated soils, affecting their growth. PSF can play a key role in regulating plant growth and communities including altering plant invasion, rarity, and abundance. However, our understanding of the soil organisms that drive these plant growth responses is limited. Most studies treat soils as a ‘black box’ and do little to reveal which specific microbes or microbial communities may be responsible. This chapter examines two recent large PSF field experiments conducted in Minnesota, USA, and Jena, Germany. These experiments revealed that plants altered their soils, changing subsequent …

Overcoming Barriers To Aquatic Plant Restoration: Addressing Gaps In Species Identification And Planting Techniques In The Intermountain West, Kate A. Sinnott

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aquatic ecosystems provide many critical and economically valuable benefits, including drinking water, food, recreational opportunities, and water supply for irrigation and agriculture. However, the health of these systems has been severely impacted by human activities such as pollution, land conversion, and introductions of harmful species. Restoring native aquatic plants can help reverse this damage and reestablish benefits, though it is not a common practice. With an objective to increase capacity for aquatic plant restoration in the Intermountain West, I identified and addressed two major barriers: 1) a lack of confidence in aquatic species identification among wetland professionals, and 2) underdeveloped …

Influence Of Hydrologic History On Nitrogen Cycling In Lake Sediments, Emily Jainarain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water quality is declining in freshwater lakes around the world due to environmental change and anthropogenic activities that threaten the physical, ecological, and geochemical integrity of freshwater ecosystems. Excess N and P in lakes can cause eutrophication, a major driver of water quality impairment that leads to excessive algal growth, or harmful algal blooms (HABs), and poses risks to recreation, fisheries, and public drinking water. Water level fluctuations in lakes are expected to become more frequent and intense as climate change increases periods of drought and alters precipitation patterns, and fluctuations may stimulate biogeochemical reactions in littoral sediments that add …

Effects Of Soil Amendments On Water Quality And Hydrologic Properties In Low Impact Development Systems, Lily Wetterlin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Low impact development (LID) systems are practices that use natural elements, such as soils and vegetation, to absorb and filter stormwater to protect water quality and aquatic habitats. Many LID designs use native soils; however, urban soils typically have a limited potential for infiltrating and treating stormwater. Incorporation of soil amendments, such as compost and biochar, into LID soils can improve the physical properties of soil. However, soil amendments may increase or decrease pollutants in the water leaving the site. A comparison of the effects of different types and application rates of amendments on water quality is necessary to determine …

A Statewide Evaluation Of Fuel Treatment Effectiveness In Altering Wildfire Outcomes On Public Lands In Utah, Jamela Charmaine Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fuel treatments are land management activities that reduce living and dead flammable materials on the landscape to mitigate undesirable wildfire behavior and effects. Common treatments in the western United States include mechanical methods such as thinning and mastication, prescribed burns, and chemical methods, such as herbicide application. Treatments usually have multiple objectives, including reducing fire intensity, protecting natural and cultural resources, slowing or disrupting a potential future fire’s path, supporting ecosystem health, and reestablishing low to mid severity fire cycles in ecosystems. Although treatments can potentially modify fire behavior and ecological health, they generally cannot prevent fires from igniting, eliminate …

A Mechanistic Examination Of Interspecific Competition Between Wild And Domestic Herbivores, Courtney Check

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Large herbivores, such as mule deer and cattle have similar life histories and likely compete for resources. However, quantifying the extent to which these species compete and the specific resources they compete for has proved challenging. My research examines if cattle influence deer abundance and behavior due to competition for forage, competition for shade, and/or by affecting the predation risk of deer. Using a grid of autonomous trail cameras, I was able to determine if cattle abundance influences local deer abundance in relation to specific resources and habitat features. Using GPS data from collared deer, I was also able to …

Comparing Commonly Used Aquatic Habitat Modeling Methods For Native Fishes, Eryn K. Turney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water resources are managed for a variety of human needs, including agriculture, industrial and municipal consumption, hydropower generation, and recreation. There has been a recent push to incorporate habitat needs of aquatic wildlife into water management models alongside these other uses, particularly as competition for limited water resources in a changing climate has reduced instream flow and contributed to declining native fish populations. Habitat models are used to estimate species distributions and differentiate between suitable and unsuitable habitat based on variables important to a given species, but are not usually incorporated into water management models. Because there are many ways …

Big Fish And More Of Them: Salmonid Habitat Availability, Quality, And Use Across Multiple Scales Within A River-Reservoir System, John S. Mclaren V

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reservoirs and their associated rivers provide water for agricultural and municipal uses, ecological benefits for fish and wildlife, and associated recreational activity. However, in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem climate change and population growth are putting pressure on water quality and supply, potentially damaging the unique and economically important coldwater trout habitat that these systems support. In this study, the author investigates the impact of changing water quality and supply on trout habitat quality, quantity, and selection to assist conservation goals in the Henry’s Fork Watershed in eastern Idaho. The study found that higher availability of cold-water refuge habitat in Island …

Collaborative Development Of Utah's Outdoor Recreation Strategic Plan: Process And Findings From 14 Regional Workshops, Jordan W. Smith, Jake Powell, Casey Trout, Nate Trauntvein, Rachel Hall, Wayne Freimund

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Outdoor recreation within Utah is managed and provided through a patchwork of federal and state agencies as well as county and municipal governments. Each of these entities manages outdoor recreation following different mandates and internal objectives. Rarely has there been an opportunity for representatives from federal, state, county, and local governments to sit down, discuss the long-standing and emerging challenges they face, and collectively develop ideas about how to work towards less-disparate and more aligned outdoor recreation management systems. In late 2022 and early 2023, we convened hundreds of land managers, outdoor recreation and tourism professionals, and elected officials across …

Insights Into The Characteristics Of Outdoor Recreationists In Utah From A Statewide Survey, Jordan W. Smith, Nate Trauntvein, Casey Trout

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Understanding the characteristics and preferences of outdoor recreationists in Utah can inform the administrative, funding, and management decisions of the many entities who provide outdoor recreation opportunities within the state. There is currently a lack of data on characteristics, preferences, and opinions of the state’s outdoor recreating public. As one component of the analysis supporting the development of the state’s outdoor recreation strategic plan, we launched a short online survey to begin to address this need. The survey was administered in spring of 2023 to an online panel of individuals who indicated that they are current residents of Utah and …

Evaluation Of Bio-Friendly Formulations From Siderophore-Producing Fluorescent Pseudomonas As Biocontrol Agents For The Management Of Soil-Borne Fungi, Fusarium Oxysporum And Rhizoctonia Solani, Gaber Attia Abo-Zaid, Ahmed Salah Abdullah, Nadia Abdel-Mohsen Soliman, Ebaa Ebrahim El-Sharouny, Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar, Yiming Su, Ahmed Abdelkhalek, Soraya Abdel-Fattah Sabry

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Secretion of siderophores by Pseudomonas aeruginosa F2 and P. fluorescens JY3 was evaluated on chrome azurol S (CAS) agar plates and their inhibitory effect was inspected against Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani. Production of siderophores as biocontrol agents from F2 and JY3 was accomplished in two optimized media. Afterward, cell-free supernatants of the bacterial cultures containing siderophores were used for the preparation of two bio-friendly formulations for the management of F. oxysporum and R. solani under greenhouse conditions. The investigated bacterial isolates, F2 and JY3, showed antagonistic activity in vitro against F. oxysporum and R. solani and produced siderophores …

Variability In Consumption And End Uses Of Water For Residential Users, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Jeffery S. Horsburg, Attallah A. Nour

Research Briefs

Research Objective/Summary: In most large urban water systems in the US, the residential sector consumes the majority of total supplied fresh water. In a world plagued with increasing water scarcity and climate change stresses, understanding individual home water end-uses is vital to water management and conservation. We studied the end uses of water in residential homes, both indoor and outdoor to find patterns and variations in consumption over time. Results indicate a need for more efficient water fixtures, particularly toilets, and provide an opportunity to promote conservation behavior.

Comparing Visitor Perceptions, Characteristics, And Support For Management Actions Before And During A Pilot Timed Entry System At Arches National Park, Zachary D. Miller, Amy Tendick, Caleb Meyer, David Pettebone, Bret Meldrum, Steve Lawson

Environment and Society Student Research

Over the past decade, many national park units in the United States broke visitation records. Arches National Park (UT, USA) is no exception. Between 2011 and 2021, visitation increased 74%. As part of considering management options to address the issues from sustained and concentrated visitation, Arches implemented a pilot timed entry system from 3 April to 3 October 2022. This article compares visitor perceptions, characteristics, and support for management actions before and during the pilot timed entry system using data from visitor intercept surveys. Findings suggest visitors experience quality improved across the park and on hiking trails during the pilot …