Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Slides: Oil, Gas And Water: Addressing Water Quantity And Quality Concerns, Laura Belanger

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Laura Belanger, P.E., Water Resources Engineer, Western Resource Advocates

14 slides

Slides: Produced Water – Beneficial Reuse, Cabell Hodge

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Cabell Hodge, Policy, Regulation, and Emerging Markets Manager, Colorado Energy Office

12 slides

2014 Martz Summer Conference Poster Session, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. Airwatergas Sustainability Research Network

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

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This Conference is presented by the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, in conjunction with the Air-Water-Gas Sustainability Research Network. Technological advances for extracting oil and gas from shale deposits have ushered in a new era of energy development in key resource-rich pockets throughout the US. In this event, we review the ongoing efforts of governments and industry to develop the regulatory and management practices necessary to protect water and air resources, drawing on the latest scientific research to tackle areas of uncertainty and to inform future action.

Agenda: Water And Air Quality Issues In Oil And Gas Development: The Evolving Framework Of Regulation And Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. Airwatergas Sustainability Research Network

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

This Conference is presented by the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, in conjunction with the Air-Water-Gas Sustainability Research Network. Technological advances for extracting oil and gas from shale deposits have ushered in a new era of energy development in key resource-rich pockets throughout the US. In this event, we review the ongoing efforts of governments and industry to develop the regulatory and management practices necessary to protect water and air resources, drawing on the latest scientific research to tackle areas of uncertainty and to inform future action.

Slides: Framing The Discussion: Issues Of Uncertainty, Terminology, And Sensitivity, Patty Limerick

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Patty Limerick, University of Colorado

22 slides

Slides: Propublica Coverage Pavillion, Wy, Abrahm Lustgarten

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

19 slides

Slides: Experience On The Ground, Part Two: Water Use In The Marcellus, Susan Packard Legros

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Susan Packard LeGros, President & Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)

16 slides

Slides: Groundwater Protection Council, Steven P. Musick

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Steven P. Musick, P.G., Groundwater Protection Council

11 slides

Slides: Session 2, Water Supply And Quality: The Regulatory Framework, Richard E. Schwartz

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Richard E. Schwartz, Crowell & Moring LLP

38 slides

Toward A Reliable Prediction Of Seasonal Forecast Uncertainty: Addressing Model And Initial Condition Uncertainty With Ensemble Data Assimilation And Sequential Bayesian Combination, Caleb Matthew Dechant, Hamid Moradkhani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Uncertainties are an unfortunate yet inevitable part of any forecasting system. Within the context of seasonal hydrologic predictions, these uncertainties can be attributed to three causes: imperfect characterization of initial conditions, an incomplete knowledge of future climate and errors within computational models. This study proposes a method to account for all threes sources of uncertainty, providing a framework to reduce uncertainty and accurately convey persistent predictive uncertainty. In currently available forecast products, only a partial accounting of uncertainty is performed, with the focus primarily on meteorological forcing. For example, the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP) technique uses meteorological climatology to estimate …

An Integral Framework For Sustainable Building Design, Bushra Asfari

Masters Theses

Selection of materials for building design is a delicate process hinged of a number of factors which can be cost or environmental related, depending on the objectives of the design. This process becomes more difficult when designers are faced with several material options for each building component. This thesis presents the design and development of a framework that enables designers understand the trade-off between cost and environmental related factors when selecting materials for building design. The framework is based on the integration of Autodesk Revit, Microsoft access, and modeling modified Harmony search multi-objective optimization tool adapted to account for material …

Reduction Of Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions To Mitigate Climate Change Impacts, Mary Snow, Richard Snow

Publications

Weather affects almost all modes of transportation in a modern society, and likewise, transportation has an enormous impact on the weather. Transportation greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) impact climate change, which impacts transportation in return. Reduction of transportation impacts on climate change can mitigate the reverse climate change impacts on transportation. This paper examines the relationship between transportation and climate change and establishes prospective solutions to reduce transportation greenhouse gas emission impacts on climate change and mitigate the reverse climate change impacts on transportation.

Quantifying The Impacts Of Initial Condition And Model Uncertainty On Hydrological Forecasts, Caleb Matthew Dechant

Dissertations and Theses

Forecasts of hydrological information are vital for many of society's functions. Availability of water is a requirement for any civilization, and this necessitates quantitative estimates of water for effective resource management. The research in this dissertation will focus on the forecasting of hydrological quantities, with emphasis on times of anomalously low water availability, commonly referred to as droughts. Of particular focus is the quantification of uncertainty in hydrological forecasts, and the factors that affect that uncertainty. With this focus, Bayesian methods, including ensemble data assimilation and multi-model combinations, are utilized to develop a probabilistic forecasting system. This system is applied …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2014, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Estimating Unsaturated Flow Properties In Coarse Conglomeratic Sediment, Michael James Thoma Jr.

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I address the lack of knowledge of unsaturated flow in coarse, conglomeratic sediment by determining if functional θ-ψ-K relationships, specifically van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) relationships, developed to predict unsaturated flow in relatively fine-grained sediment can be directly applied to coarse, conglomeratic sediment. In the summer of 2011, a field-scale infiltration test was conducted at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site to determine if functional ψ-θ-K relationships could be applied to infiltration in coarse, conglomeratic sediment, and to estimate parameter values for the VGM relationships. Vertically and laterally distributed ψ(t) and θ( …

Water Use On The Las Vegas Strip: Assessment And Suggestions For Conservation, Suzanne H. Trabia

Honors College Theses

Due to stresses on the water supply in southern Nevada, which include an average of three million tourists per month and an ongoing drought since the year 2000, water conservation is imperative in order to sustain the growing urban area of Las Vegas. The purpose of this study is to assess water use in fourteen casinos on and off the Las Vegas Strip (the main boulevard of the largest casinos in Las Vegas) in order to suggest approaches for water conservation, such as reducing, reusing, and modifying the current system. Since data on water consumption is not publicly available, five …

Adsorption Of Synthetic Organic Chemicals: A Comparison Of Superfine Powdered Activated Carbon With Powdered Activated Carbon, Semra Bakkaloglu

All Theses

In literature, manufacturer-supplied powdered activated carbon has been ground to produce submicron particles with mean diameter lower than 1µm for use as an adsorbent during water treatment. Superfine powdered activated carbon (SPAC) can be used for removal of natural organic matter as well as synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs) from water. It has been suggested that SPAC has higher adsorption capacity than powdered activated carbon (PAC) due to larger external surface area and mesopore volume. Another advantage of SPAC over PAC is the faster uptake rate for both NOM and SOC during adsorption owing to small particle size. Therefore, understanding SPAC …

Isolated And Ephemeral Wetlands Of Southern Appalachia: Biotic Communities And Environmental Drivers Across Multiple Temporal And Spatial Scales, Joanna Hawley

All Dissertations

Throughout the world, wetlands are known to support a wide variety of taxa as well as high levels of biodiversity and species richness. Although the ecological significance of wetlands is well documented in the scientific literature, efforts to map and assess wetlands on regional or national scales (e.g., National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)) often overlook wetlands which are either very small (< 1 ha) or have ephemeral hydroperiods. While the vast majority of wetland research in the southeastern United States has focused on wetlands distributed across the coastal plain ecoregion, very little information exists on small and/or ephemeral wetlands in areas of southern Appalachia, although there are several notable exceptions. Despite the paucity of small wetland data in this region, the southeastern US is known as a hotspot for both aquatic biodiversity and species endemism. My goal with this project was to examine the biotic communities inhabiting small, ephemeral and geographically-isolated wetlands to identify the major environmental drivers that contribute to observed community patterns and species' distributions. I studied a set of small, mostly-ephemeral, mostly-isolated wetlands (N = 41) in the upper Piedmont and lower Blue Ridge ecoregions of South Carolina from January-June of 2010 and 2011 and focused my efforts on describing the structure, biotic communities and surrounding habitat characteristics of my study wetlands. I observed high levels of species richness and biodiversity in this previously-undocumented wetland system, despite the small size and ephemeral nature of study wetlands. My results indicated that the amphibian and benthic invertebrate communities of small, ephemeral wetlands responded to different environmental drivers (e.g., wetland depth, area, hydroperiod, canopy cover, surrounding land use types) occurring across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Additionally, the amphibian community was significantly influenced by a number of environmental variables occurring at both the within-pond scale and larger spatial scales (250 m, 500 m and 1 km surrounding land cover variables). By contrast, the benthic invertebrate community was significantly influenced primarily by variables occurring at the within-pond scale. This wetland system also served as both breeding and overwintering habitat for a variety of species such as wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica), spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeiana), cricket frogs (Acris crepitans). This study highlights the ecological importance of small, ephemeral aquatic habitats in a region where little research exists regarding such systems; these often-unnoticed ecosystems are likely the result of a combination of historical anthropogenic and natural environmental process. These legacy wetlands (i.e., wetlands that are the unintended result of some human-induced environmental change in either the recent or long-term past) are found ubiquitously across the landscape and are often missed by coarse-filter mapping approaches (e.g., National Wetlands Inventory). I observed many study wetlands to be extremely small in size (< 0.05 ha) and that many wetlands were habitats of circumstance and opportunity rather than of permanence and predictability. The ephemerality of the majority of study wetlands demonstrates the biological significance of small, temporary habitats for many species requiring these habitats for breeding activity. Despite the small size and ephemeral nature of my study wetlands, I found that these wetlands represented a large proportion of amphibian biodiversity in the regional species pool and thus, are an important conservation feature at the local, landscape and regional scales. My study demonstrates that small, semi-isolated, mostly-ephemeral wetlands in southern Appalachia support high levels of biodiversity and are an important asset deserving of further study and conservation recognition.

Algae: Opportunities For Biomass Feedstock Production, Wastewater Treatment And Educational Outreach, Trina Cassandra Halfhide

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Algae are a diverse group of simple organisms that lack roots, stems or leaves and are able to use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to produce complex compounds, such as carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. These compounds, especially lipids, are highly sought-after by agricultural, nutraceutical and energy interests. Although there is great potential for algae derived biofuels, there are technical and economic challenges associated with their cultivation. Relevant to this dissertation, the environmental impacts associated with algae cultivation can be reduced by using municipal and agricultural wastewaters as a water and nutrient source. This research was divided into three sections to …

Assessing The Impacts Of Unrestricted Pesticide Use In Small-Scale Agriculture On Water Quality And Associated Human Health And Ecological Implications In An Indigenous Village In Rural Panam[Aacute], Sarah Louise Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2014, the global pesticide industry's projected worth is $52 billion and by 2020, the developing world will make up one-third of the world's chemical production and consumption. Pesticides can have unintended negative consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the developing world where regulations are loose or nonexistent. One country with unrestricted use of pesticides is Panam[aacute], especially in Santa Rosa de Cucunatí. In this indigenous village, small-scale farmers and ranchers spray paraquat, glyphosate, picloram, and 2,4-D at higher elevations than the spring water source of a gravity-fed water system, the river, and the village. The objective …

Finite Difference Modeling Of Surface-~Wave Scattering For Shallow Cavity Detection, Heston Travis Norcott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Data collection and analysis of scattering of Rayleigh-type surface waves are investigated for locating shallowly buried cavities. Surface-based seismic experiments conducted by others at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Engineering Geophysics Test Site (EGTS) demonstrate scattering of Rayleigh waves caused by buried empty barrels (essentially air-filled cavities). The interpretation of the data is complicated by factors such as the presence of a high-velocity geologic layer just below the cavity.

This research uses a finite-difference seismic wave propagation code to compute time histories for a model that represents the Engineering Geophysics Test Site. By adding cavities to a background …

Drinking Water In The Developing World: Sources Of Fecal Contamination In Pitcher Pump Systems And Measurement Alternatives, Meghan Wahlstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that globally we have achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target 7C, to halve the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water; however, there is a major flaw with this statement. While Target 7C calls for access to `safe' drinking water, what is actually being measured and reported is access to an `improved' water source. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that they must use this proxy measure because the methods for water quality testing are too expensive and logistically complicated, but by doing so, they may be over reporting safe water coverage.

This …

An Assessment Of The Emas Pump And Its Potential For Use In Household Water Systems In Uganda, Jacob Daniel Carpenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rural improved water supply coverage in Uganda has stagnated around 64% for a number of years and at this point more than 10 million rural people do not have access to an improved drinking water source. It has been recognized that progress toward improved water supply coverage and increased service levels may be gained through Government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) support of private investment in household and shared water supplies, commonly known as Self-supply. Self-supply can be promoted by introducing and building local capacity in appropriate and affordable water supply technologies such as hand-dug wells, manually drilled boreholes, low-cost pumps, …

Effects Of Stratospheric Ozone Recovery On Photochemistry And Ozone Air Quality In The Troposphere, H. Zhang, Shiliang Wu, Y. Huang, Y. Wang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

There has been significant stratospheric ozone depletion since the late 1970s due to ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). With the implementation of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments and adjustments, stratospheric ozone is expected to recover towards its pre-1980 level in the coming decades. In this study, we examine the implications of stratospheric ozone recovery for the tropospheric chemistry and ozone air quality with a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). With a full recovery of the stratospheric ozone, the projected increases in ozone column range from 1% over the low latitudes to more than 10% over the polar regions. The sensitivity factor …

Determining The Dynamics Of Agricultural Water Use: Cases From Asia And Africa, Lisa-Maria Rebelo, Robyn Johnston, Poolad Karimi, Peter G. Mccornick

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Across Africa and Asia, water resources are being affected by a complex mixture of social, economic, and environmental factors. These include climate change and population growth, food prices, oil prices, financial disruptions, and political fluctuations. The need to produce more food will have one of the largest impacts on water and will continue to reshape the patterns of agricultural water use in major food-growing regions. With this increasing demand on water for agriculture, from large-scale irrigation to intensification of rainfed systems, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that water resources decision-making has access to information that captures the spectrum …

Effect Of Multivalent Ions On The Swelling And Mechanical Behavior Of Superabsorbent Polymers (Saps) For Mitigation Of Mortar Autogenous Shrinkage, Qian Zhu

Open Access Theses

The chemical and physical structure-property relationships of model superabsorbent polymer (SAP) hydrogels were characterized with respect to swelling behavior and mechanical properties in different ionic solutions (Na+ , Ca2+ , and Al3+ ). The model hydrogels were composed of poly(sodium acrylate-acrylamide) (PANa-PAM) copolymer with varying concentrations of PANa (0, 17, 33, 67, and 83 wt.%) and covalent crosslinking densities of 1, 1.5, and 2 wt.%. By synthesizing the hydrogels in-house, systems with independently tunable amounts of covalent crosslinking and anionic functional groups were created, allowing for the relative effects of covalent and ionic crosslinking on the properties of the hydrogels …

Floodplain Mapping Using Soil Survey Geographic (Ssurgo) Database, Nikhil Sangwan

Open Access Theses

Floods are the most damaging of all natural disasters, adversely affecting millions of lives and causing financial losses worth billions of dollars every year across the globe. Flood inundation maps play a key role in assessment and mitigation of the potential flood hazards. However, there are several communities in the United States for which the flood risk maps have not been published yet, as the current flood inundation mapping methods are typically very expensive and time consuming. The objective of this study is to develop and examine an economical alternative approach to floodplain mapping using widely available soil survey data. …

Retrofiting Lid Practices Into Existing Neighborhoods: Is It Worth It?, Timothy Wright

Open Access Theses

Low impact development (LID) practices are gaining popularity as a way to manage stormwater close to the source. This reduces infrastructure requirements and helps to maintain hydrologic processes close to predevelopment conditions. Studies have shown LID practices to be effective in reducing runoff and improving water quality. However, little has been done to aid decision makers in selecting the most effective practices for their needs and budgets.

To this end, the L-THIA LID model has been applied. Using readily available data sources, multiple scenarios can quickly be examined, and then analyzed to determine the cost of implementation and the approximate …

Modelling Rainwater-Harvesting System Reliability Based On Historical Precipitation Data For Portland, Mrinali Mathur

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Rainwater harvesting can ease the water availability problems for many parts of the world where water is not easily available. It is also a solution for minimizing stormwater runoff and better managing sewers by preventing combined sewers to overflow. The goal of this project is to calculate the reliability of rainwater harvesting systems and provide optimum size of the storage tank using historical records for Portland specific rain pattern. A simple water balance approach for historical data is used to calculate the reliability by which rainwater harvesting system can be used as a means of irrigating gardens in Portland. The …