Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanisms Behind The Control Of Floor Failure In Deep Coal Mines By Hydraulic Fracturing Based On Power-Law Fracture Networks, Duan Hongfei, Ye Dayu, Zhao Lijuan, Zeng Yifan, Zou Junpeng, Yu Guofeng, Meng Xiang

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective Hydraulic fracturing of coal seam floors represents an important technical approach to mitigating damage to the floor rock masses through proactive pressure relief and to improving seepage pathways. However, there is a lack of systematic, quantitative insights into the evolutionary characteristics of floor fracture networks, as well as their impacts on the stress redistribution and rock stability of coal seam floors, during hydraulic fracturing.Methods This study aims to address the challenge that is prone to cause severe damage to the floor rock masses. First, a coal seam floor was considered a saturated porous medium containing multi-scale fractures based …

Comparison Of Models For Predicting The Floor Failure Depths Of Coal Seams With Moderate Thicknesses And Above Under Fully Mechanized Mining, Xu Bin, Zhong Cen, Dong Shuning, Yin Shangxian, Wang Hao, Li Shuxia, Du Yongwei, Zhang Kebin

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective The failure depth of a coal seam floor represents a critical parameter for assessing the risk of floor water inrushes. With the widespread application of fully mechanized mining with a large mining height, existing empirical equations suffer from insufficient accuracy when used to calculate the mining-induced floor failure depths of coal seams with moderate thicknesses and above.Methods Based on the compressive strength of coal seam floors (i.e., hard, moderately hard, and weak floors), 107 sets of data samples of the measured floor failure depths of coal seams with moderate thicknesses and above under fully mechanized mining were classified. …

Post-Grouting Subsidence Of The Overburden In Goaves At Major Engineering Sites: Fiber Optic Monitoring And Deformation Mechanisms, Cao Xiaoyi, Liu Xiaoping, Liu Haoqi

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background The characteristics and mechanisms of residual deformations in goaves after engineering reinforcement (i.e., grouting filling) concern the design, construction, and long-term safety of major engineering projects. Furthermore, they are identified as the key to the efficient development of abandoned land in goaves within old mining areas. Therefore, it is necessary to explore methods and techniques for monitoring post-grouting subsidence of the entire strata in goaves. This will help acquire high-quality, long-term monitoring data on deformation in the field and reveal the mechanisms behind deformation associated with post-grouting subsidence in goaves.Methods This study investigated the Xiaohegou Bridge site (including …

Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (Sbcca) – Revised 95% Programmatic Technical Specifications Submittal, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Diggings East Final 95% Remedial Design Package Submittal, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Drone Based Operational Cloud Seeding, Jared Smith

Spring Runoff Conference

Cloud Seeding: Next Generation Operations and Validation

What is Winter Cloud Seeding? 

• The act of introducing favorable dust particles into a cloud to promote ice crystal nucleation 
• Requires naturally occurring clouds and cold temperatures 
• Aimed at enhancing winter snowpack

Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan – Longterm Actions, Jake M. Serago

Spring Runoff Conference

GSL’s water level is in long-term decline. Water users face shortages and challenges. Increased temperatures, greater precipitation extremes and population changes are stressing water supplies in the basin. 84% of Utah residents think the Government is accountable for resolving issues facing GSL.

Agricultural Water Leasing Opportunities & Updates, Hannah Freeze

Spring Runoff Conference

The framework for this leasing program is based on depletion savings from conservation practices not surplus or tailwater

Pheasant Forever Loan Program, Will Benkelman

Spring Runoff Conference

Bear River Watershed Community Conservation Program

Our Mission: Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever’s (QF) mission is to conserve pheasants, quail, and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public access, education, and conservation advocacy.

Logan River Watershed Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Zan Murray

Spring Runoff Conference

Agenda:

Program Overview: PL-566 & NEPA

Project Need and Purpose

Project Alternatives

Preferred Alternative Costs and Benefits

NEPA Timeline/Current Schedule

Questions

Cache Water District Conservation Program, Autumn Matthews

Spring Runoff Conference

Conservation and Education Programs.

Conservation Goals:

Increase community awareness through outreach, workshops, and community programs that support water conservation.

Expand and improve programs that encourage water savings and more efficient water use across the community.

Help residents save money by promoting water efficiency and reducing unnecessary water use.

Water Supply Update, Jordan Clayton

Spring Runoff Conference

Snowpack and Water Supply Conditions.

>95% of the water we use in Northern Utah comes from snow. Therefore, it’s critically important to quantify how much water is stored in our snowpack.

Legislative Summary Panel, Brian Steed, Scott Sandall, Jill Koford, Joel Ferry

Spring Runoff Conference

Legislative updates provided at the Spring Runoff Conference 2026.

Water In 2026, Spencer Cox

Spring Runoff Conference

Presentation by Utah Governor Cox.

Beyond The Survey: Performance Assessments For Higher-Order Sustainability Literacy In Higher Education, Gregory Vincent Massara, Courtney B. Ryan, Mary Ellen Mallia

Educational Policy & Leadership Other Graduate Student Scholarship

Purpose This study explores how a performance-based assessment measures students’ higher-order sustainability competencies in ways that multiple-choice or scaled-survey tools, common ways to assess sustainability literacy, may not.

Design/Methodology/Approach This exploratory case study created a performance task for a first-year honors writing and critical inquiry course. Students (n=9) analyzed a scenario across environmental, social, and economic domains. A rubric measured students’ abilities to address all three domains and articulate a feasible and balanced solution supported by credible evidence.

Findings Students demonstrated proficiency in defining the three sustainability domains but tended to struggle to balance them. Choosing scenarios in familiar local …

2025 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative is a network for public agencies that serves the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning. By partnering with academia, nonprofits, and businesses, the SDRCC also works to leverage the profile of regional leadership. This is the 2025 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report.

Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Bres No. 30 – Atlantic 1 Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Revised Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Josephine Shaft (Bres No. 37) Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Final Rock Creek Cattle Company Borrow Submittal #2 (Dated February 4, 2026), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Final Butte Hill Revegetation Specifications, Mike Mcanulty

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Quantifying Global Internal Displacement Risk At The Hazard-Vulnerability-Conflict Nexus, Wenzhao Li, Surendra Maharjan, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham Morgan, Ali Elgendy, Susan Mikhail, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study introduces a novel, diagnostic hazard-specific displacement risk index that integrates high-resolution hazard data with social vulnerability metrics and historical displacement records, uncovering overlooked compound risks in conflict areas and links between environmental stress and instability. Our methodology combines historical displacement records with environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic indicators to identify high-risk regions and quantify interactions between hazards and conflict across six major hazard types. Results reveal floods as the primary displacement driver, particularly in South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ethiopia), where dense populations in flood-prone areas intersect with low socioeconomic resilience. Droughts disproportionately impact arid …

How Do Water Utilities Meet Growing Demand And Maintain Resilience Through Water Reuse? A Systems Thinking Approach, Elizabeth F. Vicario

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water and wastewater utility management is becoming increasingly complex due to factors like urbanization, climate change, new regulations, and rising costs. Utility leaders must balance competing political and financial pressures while managing aging infrastructure, rising demand, climate resilience planning, and customer concerns about affordability. Reuse of treated wastewater has emerged as a promising solution to address scarcity, declining source water quality, and new regulations on wastewater discharge in the United States. However, water reuse is not one-size-fits-all, and bespoke solutions are needed to optimize economic, environmental, and social returns from this finite resource. Despite growing interest, little is known about …

Housing Affordability Analysis Of Hillsborough County, Fl, Usa – Quantitative And Geographical Analysis Using Spatiotemporal Data, Bomin Koh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Housing affordability assessments rely on the 30 percent income method and generalized linear regression (GLR)-based hedonic price modeling. Both provide broad insights but fail to capture spatial heterogeneity in affordability challenges. This study upgrades housing affordability assessment approaches by incorporating the residual income method and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). The primary objective of this study is to determine whether methodological improvements, residual income method and GWR, yield significantly different results and provide a more accurate and spatially adaptive understanding of affordability dynamics in Hillsborough County, Florida.

The 30 percent income method is widely used and classifies households as cost-burdened if …

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Chemical Education: Perspective From New Orleans’ Water And Air Quality Challenges, Ja’Lynn Keller, Sita Aggarwal, Rami A. Al-Horani, Morewell Gasseller, Navneet Goyal

Faculty and Staff Publications

New Orleans, Louisiana, faces profound environmental vulnerabilities arising from the convergence of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and climate change–driven weather events. This paper examines systemic challenges affecting water and air quality in the region, with particular focus on low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by environmental degradation. Drawing on educational and community-based monitoring initiatives at Xavier University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University, we highlight the integration of student learning with real-time data collection of contaminants such as fecal coliforms, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed significant fecal contamination in sediment layers, …

Bioclimatic Reorganization Of Carbon–Water–Energy Coupling Revealed By Eddy Covariance And Interpretable Machine Learning, Koong Yi, Margaret S. Torn, Gabriel B. Senay, Lixin Wang, Kosana Suvočarev, Joshua B. Fisher, Arman Ahmadi, Housen Chu, Gil Bohrer, Georgianne W. Moore, Stephen P. Good, Steven A. Kannenberg, Justine E. C. Missik, Kanishka Mallick, Kul Khand, Youngryel Ryu, Kuno Kasak, A. Christopher Oishi, David E. Reed, Xiangzhong Luo, Carl J. Bernacchi, Dennis Baldocchi

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Ecosystem exchanges of carbon, water, and energy are central to Earth system functioning, yet their sensitivities to environmental variability remain poorly constrained across biomes and climates. Here, we analyzed ≥ 5 years of eddy covariance data from 87 AmeriFlux sites (964 site-years) spanning six vegetation types and a broad range of climatic conditions to examine the controls and multi-year trends of gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), water-use efficiency (WUE), and the Bowen ratio. We trained boosted regression tree ensembles with environmental (air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, soil water content, atmospheric CO2, radiation, wind speed) and temporal (month, year) variables …

Combatting Desertification Scientifically: Where Feasible, Where Necessary, Bojie Fu, Yanxu Liu, Shuai Wang, Yijia Wang, Guipeng Cui, Yue Guo

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China has made remarkable achievements in combating desertification, achieving “zero net growth” in land degradation. With the goal of scientifically improving the relationship between humans and nature in drylands, the continuous exploration of new concepts, methods, and pathways for scientific desertification control will contribute to advancing the harmony between humans and nature in China’s drylands. Based on the definitions of desertification, ecological restoration baselines, and the contributions of nature to humans, we clarified the scientific implications of “controlling desertification where it is feasible and necessary”. We discussed the shift in China’s desertification prevention and control direction from “humans advancing while …

The International Decade Of Sciences For Sustainable Development: Global Progress And China’S Actions, Lin Wang, Shaofeng Hu, Fan Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD, 2024–2033) was officially launched by the United Nations in 2024, with the aim of strengthening and demonstrating the central role of science in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This study systematically reviews the development of IDSSD, its governance structure, mechanisms for project solicitation and endorsement, as well as the thematic and regional distribution of endorsed initiatives. On this basis, it assesses China’s current participation and potential opportunities. During the first call for initiatives, IDSSD received 221 proposals from 52 countries, with 109 …

Construction Of Emerging Contaminants Risk Governance System, Cheng Li, Mingcheng Wang, Chunlei Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Emerging contaminants pose considerable risks to the ecological environment, human health, and social safety. The establishment of an emerging contaminants risk governance system constitutes a crucial component of the national ecological security strategy and the ecological civilization framework in the new era. When examined through the lens of the holistic view of national security and guided by the ecological civilization philosophy of the new era, China’s current efforts in managing emerging contaminants reveal several shortcomings—including a fragmented and incomplete risk management system, as well as preliminary stages in chemical environmental management policies and related technologies. Therefore, grounded in national conditions …

Synergistic Strategies For Regional ‘Zero-Waste City’ Construction, Xiaolong Liu, Zongguo Wen, Yanyan Tang, Xiangwan Du

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

“Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” emphasizes deepening cross-administrative cooperation, and improving mechanisms for inter-regional planning coordination, industrial collaboration, and benefit sharing to promote regional linked development. While China’s “zero-waste city” initiative has achieved remarkable results, its long-term sustainability necessitates a shift towards coordinated regional synergy. This requires establishing enduring mechanisms for collaborative solid waste governance that transcend governmental, hierarchical, and departmental boundaries. The ultimate goal is to optimize the allocation of waste treatment resources between neighboring and even non-adjacent regions, foster a …

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft 2023 Stormwater Evaluation And Maintenance Report (Dated February 27, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.