Hydraulic Engineering Commons^™

A Simulation Of The Mississippi River Salt Wedge Estuary Using A Three-Dimensional Cartesian Z Coordinate Model, Steven K. Ayres

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The stratified flow of the lower Mississippi River due to density gradients is a well documented phenomenon. This stratification of fresh and saline water manifests itself as a heavier wedge of saline water that extends upriver and a buoyant fresh water plume extending into the Gulf of Mexico past the Southwest Pass jetties. The maximum absolute distance of saltwater intrusion observed anywhere in the world occurred on the Mississippi River in 1939 and 1940 when saltwater was observed approximately 225 km upstream from the mouth of Southwest Pass. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers now prevents the wedge from …

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Of Cmip5 Gcms For Climate Change Impact Analysis, Ali Ahmadalipour, Arun Rana, Hamid Moradkhani, Ashish Sharma

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is expected to have severe impacts on global hydrological cycle along with food-water-energy nexus. Currently, there are many climate models used in predicting important climatic variables. Though there have been advances in the field, there are still many problems to be resolved related to reliability, uncertainty, and computing needs, among many others. In the present work, we have analyzed performance of 20 different global climate models (GCMs) from Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) dataset over the Columbia River Basin (CRB) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We demonstrate a statistical multicriteria approach, using univariate and multivariate techniques, …

Study On The Critical Velocity Of Groundwater To Form Subsidence Sinkholes In Karst Area, Fuwei Jiang

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Subsidence sinkholes in karst area are a common geological hazard causing disaster accidents. However, the critical hydraulic conditions of forming subsidence sinkholes have not been well understood. Based on the theories of pipe flow, this paper derives expressions of a critical hydraulic condition for assessing whether it leads to subsidence sinkholes. A case study with samples of the cohesive soils taken from the Wuxuan county, Guangxi province, China, was conducted to evaluate the derived critical value. Combining the derived critical value and the monitoring data of hydraulic conditions in the study field, our results indicate that subsidence sinkholes are not …

Mitigating The Risk Of Extreme Water Scarcity And Dependency: The Case Of Jordan, Joep F. Schyns, Arwa Hamaideh, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Mesfin Mekonnen, Marlou Schyns

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Jordan faces great internal water scarcity and pollution, conflict over trans-boundary waters, and strong dependency on external water resources through trade. This paper analyzes these issues and subsequently reviews options to reduce the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency. Based on estimates of water footprint, water availability, and virtual water trade, we find that groundwater consumption is nearly double the groundwater availability, water pollution aggravates blue water scarcity, and Jordan’s external virtual water import dependency is 86%. The review of response options yields 10 ingredients for a strategy for Jordan to mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and …

Recent Progress In Performance Evaluations And Near Real-Time Assessment Of Operational Ocean Products, Fabrice Hernandez, Edward Blockley, Gary B. Brassington, Fraser Davidson, Prasanth Divakaran, Marie Drévillon, Shiro Ishizaki, Marcos Garcia-Sotillo, Patrick J. Hogan, Priidik Lagemaa, Bruno Levier, Matthew Martin, Avichal Mehra, Christopher Mooers, Nicolas Ferry, Andrew Ryan, Charly Regnier, Alistair Sellar, Gregory C. Smith, Sarantis Sofianos, Todd Spindler, Gianluca Volpe, John Wilkin, Edward Zaron, Aijun Zhang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Operational ocean forecast systems provide routine marine products to an ever-widening community of users and stakeholders. The majority of users need information about the quality and reliability of the products to exploit them fully. Hence, forecast centres have been developing improved methods for evaluating and communicating the quality of their products. Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) OceanView, along with the Copernicus European Marine Core Service and other national and international programmes, has facilitated the development of coordinated validation activities among these centres. New metrics, assessing a wider range of ocean parameters, have been defined and implemented in real-time. An …

Quantification Of Variable Rate Irrigation Benefits And Spatial Variability In Root Zone Water Holding Capacity, Tsz Him Lo

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) investment decisions require field-specific knowledge of benefits. The objective of this research was to help producers and consultants consider and quantify potential benefits of VRI. First, a conceptual model was developed for evaluating the public and/or private gain from adopting VRI where irrigation water supply is non-restrictive. Potential benefits were classified into three categories and were attributed to ten reasons. In the Central Plains at current prices, a small improvement in corn (maize) yield would make a large contribution to VRI profitability. Second, the potential irrigation withdrawal reduction from adapting VRI to spatial heterogeneity of root …

Estimation Of Historic Flows And Sediment Loads To San Francisco Bay, 1849 – 2011, Hamed Moftakhari Rostamkhani, David A. Jay, Stefan A. Talke, David H. Schoellhamer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

River flow and sediment transport in estuaries influence morphological development over decadal and century time scales, but hydrological and sedimentological records are typically too short to adequately characterize long-term trends. In this study, we recover archival records and apply a rating curve approach to develop the first instrumental estimates of daily delta inflow and sediment loads to San Francisco Bay (1849 – 1929). The total sediment load is constrained using sedimentation/erosion estimated from bathymetric survey data to produce continuous daily sediment transport estimates from 1849 to 1955, the time period prior to sediment load measurements. We estimate that ~55% (45 …

Channel Shallowing As Mitigation Of Coastal Flooding, Philip M. Orton, Stefan A. Talke, David A. Jay, Larry Yin, Alan F. Blumberg, Nickitas Georgas, Haihong Zhao, Hugh J. Roberts, Kytt Macmanus

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Here, we demonstrate that reductions in the depth of inlets or estuary channels can be used to reduce or prevent coastal flooding. A validated hydrodynamic model of Jamaica Bay, New York City (NYC), is used to test nature-based adaptation measures in ameliorating flooding for NYC’s two largest historical coastal flood events. In addition to control runs with modern bathymetry, three altered landscape scenarios are tested: (1) increasing the area of wetlands to their 1879 footprint and bathymetry, but leaving deep shipping channels unaltered; (2) shallowing all areas deeper than 2 m in the bay to be 2 m below Mean …

An Empirical Water Quality And Best Management Practice Prioritization Model For Select Arkansas Watersheds, James Mccarty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to prioritize subwatersheds using water quality data and watershed characteristics. Water quality data was provided through studies by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Beaver Water District, Arkansas Water Resources Center, and publicly available USGS gage data. A total of 114 sites across five HUC-8 watersheds were analyzed, including 12 USGS gages. Watershed characteristic data was retrieved from USGS and Arkansas GeoStore geodatabase repositories. A significant linear relationship between baseflow and stormflow nutrient concentrations was established allowing for the use of baseflow concentrations in the prioritization methodology. Pearson correlation, linear regression, classification and regression tree, …

Impact Of Limited Organic Carbon Addition On Nitrogen Removal In A Mainstream Anammox Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor, Johnnie Wayne Godwin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Excessive nitrogen compounds are a growing problem in the world and are leading to further environmental degradation. For future nitrogen pennit limits, conventional water treatment processes tend to not meet the requirements to drive these concentrations to low levels, and if they do, it can be rather costly. However, in mid 1990s a new bacterium was discovered that has allowed for nitrogen removal to occur at a considerably reduced cost. The use of anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (anammox or AMX) is well established in sidestream deammonification (partial nitritation and anammox). However, as of late there has been discussion of applying …

Slides: Wrapping Up The Big Horn Adjudication: Lessons After 38 Years And 20,000 Claims, Ramsey L. Kropf

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Ramsey L. Kropf, Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior

34 slides

Slides: Food Production: Technical Challenges In Agricultural Water Conservation, Perry Cabot

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Dr. Perry Cabot, Research Scientist and Extension Specialist, Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University

35 slides

Agenda: Innovations In Managing Western Water: New Approaches For Balancing Environmental, Social, And Economic Outcomes, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Many aspects of western water allocation and management are the product of independent and uncoordinated actions, several occurring a century or more ago. However, in this modern era of water scarcity, it is increasingly acknowledged that more coordinated and deliberate decision-making is necessary for effectively balancing environmental, social, and economic objectives. In recent years, a variety of forums, processes, and tools have emerged to better manage the connections between regions, sectors, and publics linked by shared water systems. In this event, we explore the cutting edge efforts, the latest points of contention, and the opportunities for further progress.

Slides: Moffat Collection System Project, Travis Bray

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Travis Bray, Project Manager, Moffat Collection System Project, Denver Water

45 slides

Slides: Ag Water Sharing: Legal Challenges And Considerations, Peter D. Nichols

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Peter D. Nichols, Esq., Partner, Berg, Hill, Greenleaf and Ruscitti, Boulder, CO

25 slides

Locating Optimal Water Quality Monitoring Locations Using Demand Coverage Index Method, Jeffrey Scott Brake

Master's Theses

Water quality regulations are always expanding especially in the field of water quality monitoring; however, threats to our water distribution systems still remain. Components of water distribution systems are susceptible to intentional and accidental contamination; therefore, they represent highly vulnerable aspects of our vital infrastructure.

An analysis was performed on a city in California with a population of 30,000 to 40,000 residents. The analysis is performed to determine the optimal locations of monitoring stations throughout the water distribution system. The method presented by Liu and colleagues (Liu et al, 2012) selects the optimal monitoring locations for the virtual California city …

On The Assessment Of Reliability In Probabilistic Hydrometeorological Event Forecasting, Caleb Matthew Dechant, Hamid Moradkhani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Probabilistic forecasts are commonly used to communicate uncertainty in the occurrence of hydrometeorological events. Although probabilistic forecasting is common, conventional methods for assessing the reliability of these forecasts are approximate. Among the most common methods for assessing reliability, the decomposed Brier Score and Reliability Diagram treat an observed string of events as samples from multiple Binomial distributions, but this is an approximation of the forecast reliability, leading to unnecessary loss of information. This article suggests testing the hypothesis of reliability via the Poisson-Binomial distribution, which is a generalized solution to the Binomial distribution, providing a more accurate model of the …

Velocity Distributions And Wall Pressures In A Scale Model Gated Box Culvert Control Structure, Alexander L. Evans

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) manages a system of canals and structures that control the flow through several large storm water treatment areas (STA). The present project was initiated because of the partial failure of a three-barrel, gated box culvert structure that belongs to the system. The structure has a forebay with three sluice gates that control the flow into three 8 ft by 8 ft box culverts. Settling and partial failure of the culverts in the structure was presumably caused by piping of sediment through joints in pre-cast sections of culvert. It was hypothesized that both unsteady …

Evaluation Of The Equations Used To Calculate Hydraulic Conductivity Values From Two-Stage Borehole Tests, Johnathon Dale Blanchard

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A compacted clay liner (CCL) test pad was constructed for the purpose of evaluating the testing procedures utilized for determining hydraulic conductivity of a CCL. These procedures include ASTM D6391 (2014) Method C and ASTM D6391 Method A. Method C was recently added to ASTM D6391(2014) and was evaluated based upon comparison of results obtained from previous research with results from the data presented herein. The test pad was instrumented with volumetric water content probes and water matric potential sensors to monitor the wetting front in the soil. The data obtained from this instrumentation should be used to develop a …

Numerical Modeling Of Fluid Migration In Hydraulically Fractured Formations, Toyin Christie Aseeperi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Economic production from low permeability shale gas formations has been made possible by the introduction of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. To ensure that gas production from these formations is optimized and carried out in an environmentally friendly approach, knowledge about the patterns of gas flow in the shale reservoir formation is required. This work presents the development of a shale gas reservoir model for the characterization of flow behavior in hydraulically fractured shale formations. The study also seeks to develop more computationally efficient approaches towards the modeling of complex fracture geometries. The model evaluates the migration patterns of gas …

Anthropogenic Impacts To The Sediment Budget Of São Francisco River Navigation Channel Using Swat, Calvin T. Creech, Rafael Brito Siqueira, James P. Selegean, Carol J. Miller

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

The São Francisco River Basin, located in eastern Brazil, has undergone a significant amount of anthropogenic changes in the last several decades, such as agricultural expansion, irrigation activities, mining, and the construction of large dams. Together, these changes have altered the historic sediment budget and have led to an aggradation of sediments in the navigation channel, impacting the ability to efficiently ship agricultural commodities to regional ports. In an effort to aid decision makers in future waterway navigation planning, an international partnership between the Brazilian government agency CODEVASF and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was created. Through this …

Drip Hydraulics Program, Garret Blocher

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project report lays out the production of drip hydraulics software composed in Microsoft Excel and backed by coding in Visual Basic for Applications. The program performs 2 main functions useful in the design of irrigation systems. The first is based on performing single hose computations under three different circumstances. It can solve for the average emitter flow rate given the hose inlet pressure, the inlet pressure given the average emitter flow rate, and can model hose pressures and flow rates while flushing. The second function is to place a manifold in the hydraulically optimum location on a slope. …

Engineering Graphene Oxide Membranes For Contaminant Removal And Bacterial Inactivation, Stefan M. Schaepe

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The need for improved water filtration technologies continues to grow on a global scale. Membrane filtration devices are increasing in use because they can remove a variety of contaminants efficiently. The major issue with membrane filters is biofouling. Coating membranes with nanoparticles such as graphene oxide (GO) can increase contaminant removal and decrease microbial growth.

This research characterizes the properties of the GO itself, two procedures for producing GO coated membranes, the properties of the created membranes and the contaminant removal and bactericidal efficiencies of the membranes. Pure water flux values for GO coated membranes prepared using a direct deposition …

Adsorption-Style Activated-Sludge: Is It A Practical Treatment Process In North America?, Jon Dearmond

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adsorption/Bio-Oxidation (A/B) processes occupy a small footprint and can be exceptionally energy efficient to the point of being energy positive in optimum conditions. They have the ability to handle industrially influenced municipal wastewater with high pH and BOD swings. The A/B plant configuration also appears to be a great platform for shortcut nitrogen removal processes because of the controlled carbon diversion capabilities of the adsorption stage (A-stage). In Europe, these plants have been successfully implemented at full scale since the early 1980s. However, in the U.S. there is a false conventional wisdom that plants operating at very low SRT's will …

Gis Tools For Hydrology And Hydraulics, David D. Finley

Purdue Road School

GIS information sources used by the Office of Hydraulics to improve the accuracy and efficiency hydrologic computations will be presented. A variety of information sources will be discussed with an emphasis on DEM data obtained from Indiana's recent state-wide mapping initiative. Sources and limitations of the data will be discussed, and techniques for utilizing this data will be introduced.

Network Inventory Map Book 9: Berg-Olifants, South Africa

Policy

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is the custodian of ten national monitoring programs. The overall aim of this project is to undertake an evaluation of each monitoring network, in its present condition, and to redesign and realign the network based on scientific analysis and the strategic and management objectives of DWS and of the country as a whole. The water resources monitoring network will be optimised to ensure sustainable, relevant and up-to-date data of an acceptable quality. This Network Inventory Task focused on the production of maps to illustrate the spatial distribution of the existing monitoring stations for …

Nebraska’S Natural Resources Districts: An Assessment Of A Large-Scale Locally Controlled Water Governance Framework, Ann Bleed, Christina Hoffman Babbitt

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In 1972 the State of Nebraska created the Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) to consolidate a multitude of single-purpose local natural resource districts into a more comprehensive, holistic, and efficient natural resources governance system. While consolidation and efficiency was important, so was the concept of maintaining local control. Thus, Nebraska rejected the governance framework of a single top-down state agency, preferring to create NRDs that are each governed by a locally elected board. The locally elected governing boards of the NRDs were given broad authorities over many of the state’s natural resources, including groundwater. Such a governance structure was, and to …

Multimodal Internal Waves Generated Over A Subcritical Ridge: Impact Of The Upper-Ocean Stratification, Xie Jieshuo, Jiayi Pan, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interaction of barotropic tides with subsurface topography is vital to ocean mixing. Yet the behavior of large-amplitude, nonlinear, internal solitary waves (ISWs) that can cause strong mixing remains poorly understood, especially that of higher-mode and multimodal internal waves. Therefore, a 2.5-dimensional, nonhydrostatic model with adjustable vertical resolution was developed to investigate effects of upper-ocean stratification on tidally induced multimodal internal waves and to show how they are generated by the subcritical ridge where only upward-propagating internal wave beams (IWBs) are present. The effects of the stratification on properties and characteristics of the excited IWBs and on the energy partition of …

Sustainability, Efficiency And Equitability Of Water Consumption And Pollution In Latin America And The Caribbean, Mesfin Mekonnen, Markus Pahlow, Maite M. Aldaya, Erika Zarate

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This paper assesses the sustainability, efficiency and equity of water use in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) by means of a geographic Water Footprint Assessment (WFA). It aims to provide understanding of water use from both a production and consumption point of view. The study identifies priority basins and areas from the perspectives of blue water scarcity, water pollution and deforestation. Wheat, fodder crops and sugarcane are identified as priority products related to blue water scarcity. The domestic sector is the priority sector regarding water pollution from nitrogen. Soybean and pasture are priority products related to deforestation. We estimate …

Concomitant Uptake Of Antimicrobials And Salmonella In Soil And Into Lettuce Following Wastewater Irrigation, J. Brett Sallach, Yuping Zhang, Laurie Hodges, Daniel D. Snow, Xu Li, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The use of wastewater for irrigation may introduce antimicrobials and human pathogens into the food supply through vegetative uptake. The objective of this study was to investigate the uptake of three antimicrobials and Salmonella in two lettuce cultivars. After repeated subirrigation with synthetic wastewater, lettuce leaves and soil were collected at three sequential harvests. The internalization frequency of Salmonella in lettuce was low. A soil horizon-influenced Salmonella concentration gradient was determined with concentrations in bottom soil 2 log CFU/g higher than in top soil. Lincomycin and sulfamethoxazole were recovered from lettuce leaves at concentrations as high as 822 ng/g and …