Engineering Commons^™

Tracking Perfluoroalkyl Substances From Wastewater Influent To Its Accumulation In Vegetables And Forage Grass, Simon Kozik

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Per and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that are persistent in the environment. PFAS was found in wastewater, which can be used after wastewater treatment for irrigation water, and in the biosolids that can be mixed with soils to provide nutrients and generally improve soil quality. This study found when wastewater was used it increases the level of PFAS in vegetables and forage grass. PFAS concentrations were tracked from the influent of the wastewater treatment plant to the effluent, to the irrigation water, to the soil, and finally into the vegetable and forage grass grown on …

Estimating Seasonal Crop Water Consumption In Irrigated Lands Using Soil Moisture And Reference Evapotranspiration, Oliver Henry Hargreaves

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The increase in population and the megadrought that the American west has been experiencing for the past two decades and for the foreseeable future are the cause of great stress on the region’s water resources. In an effort to mitigate the worst effects of water shortages many public and private agencies have been pursuing ways to reduce water use while maintaining the current status quo of living standards, industrial productivity, and agricultural yield. This project aims to study water use in irrigated lands dedicated to agriculture with the objective of quantifying crop water use, often referred to as evapotranspiration (ET), …

Factors Affecting United States Geological Survey Irrigation Freshwater Withdrawal Estimates In Utah, J. Levi Manley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah is, on average, one of the driest states in the United States, second only to Nevada, and drier conditions are projected. Irrigation is the largest water user in the state, representing about 80% of the total freshwater withdrawn each year. Withdrawals are obtained from sources like reservoirs or streams, or underground water from wells and springs, and supplied for use. The United States Geological Survey, a reputable federal science agency, has provided irrigation freshwater withdrawal estimates every five years since 1950. Understanding what factors affect irrigation withdrawals can better inform water resource planning to reduce withdrawals and conserve surface …

Analyzing Irrigation District Water Productivity By Benchmarking Current Operations Using Remote Sensing And Simulation Of Alternative Water Delivery Scenarios, Jonna D. Van Opstal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The competition for fresh water is vastly increasing particularly in semi-arid areas. Agricultural irrigation areas are urged to decrease their water use, being the largest consumer of fresh water in these areas. Improvements in irrigation management aim at increasing crop production whilst maintaining or decreasing water use. The analysis of water productivity at the irrigation district scale is challenging due to spatial heterogeneity between fields and temporal variability between growing seasons.

This dissertation makes use of satellite-based remote sensing imagery and an irrigation system simulation model to determine the water management at different spatial scales from field scale to the …

Evapotranspiration Modeling And Forecasting For Efficient Management Of Irrigation Command Areas, Roula Bachour

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It has become very crucial to manage water resources to meet the needs of the growing population. In irrigation command areas, and in order to build a better plan to manage service delivery from canals and reservoirs, it is important to build appropriate knowledge of water needs on a field basis. There is often a lag between the order and delivery of water to the field. Knowledge of the crop water requirement at the field level helps the decision maker to make the right choices leading to more efficient handling of the available water. The purpose of this study was …

Nutrient Contribution Of The Shallow Unconfined Aquifer To Pineview Reservoir, Thomas Nyanda Reuben

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pineview Reservoir, near Utah’s populous Wasatch Front, could play an important role in modulating water supply as water demands and water uses change in response to increasing population densities. The reservoir’s water quality may decline if nitrogen and phosphorus additions to the reservoir are not controlled. Most of the water flowing into the reservoir in summer and fall is contributed by the shallow ground water. The quantity and quality of the shallow ground water to Pineview Reservoir were studied from February 2010 through November 2011. The objectives were to: 1) increase understanding of nitrogen and phosphorus transport from ground water …

Analysis Of Irrigation Decision Behavior And Forecasting Future Irrigation Decisions, Sanyogita Andriyas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Farmers play a pivotal role in food production. To be economically successful, farmers must make many decisions during the course of a growing season about the allocation of inputs to production. For farmers in arid regions, one of these decisions on any given day is whether to irrigate. This research is the first of its kind to investigate the probable reasons that lead a farmer to make irrigation decisions and use those reasons/factors to forecast future irrigation decisions. This study can help water managers and canal operators to estimate short-term irrigation demands, thereby gaining information that might be useful to …

Estimation Of Field Alfalfa Evapotranspiration In A Windy, Arid Environment, J. Burdette Barker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Evapotranspiration (ET) of center pivot irrigated alfalfa was studied in the windy, arid, Curlew Valley, Northern Box Elder County, Utah, during the summers of 2009 and 2010. ET was estimated using eddy covariance (EC) and surface renewal (SR) techniques. ET estimates from the EC and SR analyses were compared with estimates using ASCE Standardized Reference ET Equation, with both dual and mean crop coefficients.

EC energy balance closure was 0.80, on average, in 2009 and 0.76 in 2010. The SR weighting parameter (α) was calculated through linear regression of EC and SR sensible heat flux estimates. Alpha was found to …

Multivariate Bayesian Machine Learning Regression For Operation And Management Of Multiple Reservoir, Irrigation Canal, And River Systems, Andres M. Ticlavilca

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The principal objective of this dissertation is to develop Bayesian machine learning models for multiple reservoir, irrigation canal, and river system operation and management. These types of models are derived from the emerging area of machine learning theory; they are characterized by their ability to capture the underlying physics of the system simply by examination of the measured system inputs and outputs. They can be used to provide probabilistic predictions of system behavior using only historical data. The models were developed in the form of a multivariate relevance vector machine (MVRVM) that is based on a sparse Bayesian learning machine …

Systematic Framework For Evaluating Treated Wastewater Usage In Agricultural Irrigation, Yasser Kamal Nazzal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A general systematic framework with several sub-frameworks was developed to help managers make informed decisions related to the reuse of treated wastewater in agricultural irrigation. The framework involves the identification and evaluation of the short- and long-term effects of using treated wastewater with some common constituents of concern (e.g. salts and some specific ions, nutrients, heavy metals, organic compounds, and microorganisms) on the environmental elements (crop, soils, surface water, and groundwater), and on the public health. Local and/ or international standards, criteria, and guidelines related to agricultural reuse are applied to the evaluation of the effects. Based on the evaluation …

Design And Field Layout Of Irrigation Flow Measuring Devices In The River-Lab At Utah State University, Abelardo M. Arriaran

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

The purpose of this report was to develop a design and field layout of irrigation flow measuring devices in a design channel in teh River-Laboratory at Utah State University. This study was conducted considering a maximum discharge of 3.5 cfs and the profile of the channel in the selected area. Four kinds of flow measuring devices to be installed in series one after another were considered: a Parshall flume, a broad-creasted weir, a cutthroat flume, and the rectangular sharp-crested weir. The locations given are based on the hydraulic conditions for each device, the available head, the head loss that each …

Improvement Of Deep Tubewell Irrigation Project Performance In Bangladesh, Md. Mirjahan Miah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A computer model for use in predicting the impact of various improvement options on command area expansion of a deep tubewell irrigation system has been developed. A field study was conducted on 11 selected deep tubewells located at two sites, namely Dhamrai and Thakurgaon, in Bangladesh to collect necessary physical data to provide irrigation engineering insight and a basis for testing and application of the model. The results of the investigation revealed that the actual discharge of most of the deep tubewells was lower than the design or rated capacity. The duration of pump operation in the majority of the …

Irrigation Demand In The Utah Lake Drainage Area The Role Of Irrigation Efficiency, Hiro Mizue

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of irrigation efficiency upon the water demand for agricultural purposes in the Utah Lake drainage area has been evaluated in this study . Irrigation demand is the quantity of water at the supply source necessary to satisfy crop water requirements, taking into account irrigation efficiency.

The Utah Lake drainage area was divided into hydrologic subareas and districts to facilitate analysis. The demand, surplus, and deficit quantities for each area was determined. The computations were made using constant mean quantities. Within a given area, the diverted water was assumed to be applied uniformly to satisfy agricultural crop demands, and …

Utah State University Stilling Basin Pipe Flow To Open Channels, Hameed Rasheed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Energy dissipation problems are often encountered where pipelines discharge into open channels. Normal pipe flow velocities most often result in super-critical velocities in canals. These high velocities may cause scour, overtopping, and unstable flow in the channel.

The principal objective of the study was to find an efficient and economical design of a stilling basin transition from pipe flow to open channels. Pertinent variables were selected and their effects determined by extensive experimentation.

An efficient stilling basin was developed utilizing a short dissipator pipe on the wall opposite the inflow pipe. The optimum diameter, length, and differential elevation between center …

A Critical Analysis Of Methods Of Securing Basic Irrigation Data Used In Water Right Determinations, A. Alvin Bishop

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agriculture in the Western United States is almost entirely dependent upon irrigation. Irrigation has transformed the desert lands into fertile, producing valleys. It has made possible communities and settlement areas which would otherwise be impossible. Although the achievements of irrigation have been great, there still remains millions of acres of fertile land that will never be reclaimed because there is not available water.

A Study To Determine The Feasibility Of Irrigating The Lands Included In The Cache Valley Water Conservation District No. 1, I. Donald Jerman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this report is to investigate the feasibility of irrigating the lands of the Cache Valley Water Conservation District No. 1. The district, as it now stands, is very much in need of many improvements. The Main canals are now in use and are in a good condition to serve all the lands with the required amount of water, but the few laterals that are now constructed, are in a poor condition, with the remaining laterals yet to be finished.

Before successful irrigation can be practiced, a large portion of the land will require leveling and small areas …