Hydraulic Engineering Commons^™

The Practical And The Possible: How Research Informs Policy And Management For Land, Forest, And Water Management, Charlie Luce

Spring Runoff Conference

The practical and the possible: How research informs policy and management for land, forest, and water resources.

What Does Our Water Year Look Like?, Candice Hasenyager

Spring Runoff Conference

Drip Drip Drop: Water in Utah

In Utah, we are either in drought or preparing for the next one

We Shall Have A Seat At The Table, Yanna Liang

Spring Runoff Conference

Uniqueness of ESE 

• The only environmental BS program in the nation that has “Sustainable” in its title.
• Sustainability in water treatment, air pollution control, energy production, resource re-utilization 

The Once And Future Variability Of Colorado River Water Resources, Balaji Rajagopalan

Spring Runoff Conference

The Plot – “Millennium Drought” Since 2000 

• Current Water Crisis 

Impacts Of Changing Temperatures On The Water Budget In The Great Salt Lake Basin, Grace Affram, Jihad Othman, Reza Morovati, Saddy Pineda Castellanos, Sajad Khoshnoodmotlagh, Diana Dunn, Braedon Dority, Katherine Osorio Diaz, Cody Ratterman, Wei Zhang

Spring Runoff Conference

Temperature affects precipitation phases and the evolution of snowpack.

Canal Improvements: Balancing Piping And Automation, Trevor Nielson

Spring Runoff Conference

Factors to Consider 

- Piping 

• Size/Cost 
• Loss saved per mile 
• Longer Lifespan 
• Safety Benefits 

- Automation 

• On-going Cost 
• Cover Existing O&M Costs 
• More Skilled Staff 
• Higher Quality of Life for Field Employees 
• Safety Benefits 

Box Elder County - Countywide Water Master Plan, Quinn Dance

Spring Runoff Conference

Box Elder County Water Master Plan.

Project Background: 

Pre-Project Planning 

• Box Elder County General Plan Update 
• Steering Committee Organization 

Soil Health And Water Conservation, Tony Richards

Spring Runoff Conference

What are Healthy Soils? 

• Stable 
• Functional 
• Productive 
• Resilient 

Numerical Study Of Local Scour Around Inclined Bridge Piles Under Wave Conditions, Elsayed Mosaad Shewakh, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, H. Omara

Journal of Engineering Research

Scouring is an issue of interest in the bridge design process, in reality many inclined piers are used. Moreover, scour prosses around inclined piers have non-uniform behaviour depending on its exposure of their foundation into the flow field. The mean purpose of this paper is to study the flow and local scour evolution around the inclined piers to the flow under waves conditions using numerical work. For this purpose, a hydrodynamic and morphological three-dimensional model using RANS equations, and the turbulence k-ε model is used. The inclination direction affects both the strength and location of the scour. Different value of …

Using Sheet Piles To Control Contaminant Transport From Different Sources Through The Soil, Eslam Kashef Elgmmal Eslam K. Elgmmal, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, H. Omara

Journal of Engineering Research

Contaminants can reach the excavation site and lead to groundwater contamination. The present research investigates the effect of using sheet piles for controlling the migration of contaminants to excavation sites that require high-quality groundwater, taking into consideration changing concentrations of contaminants and changing soil surface depth downstream of the sheet piles. The arrival time of contamination to reach under the sheet piles and the time for reaching contamination to the excavation site were studied. Additionally, the effect of using two different sources of contaminants with different concentrations on the mixing time between them through groundwater was investigated. Two modules, SEEP/W …

Water Quality Assessment Of Irrigation Streams Within Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt, Mahy Adel Elbialy, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, Saleh Shalaby, Ahmed Shalby

Journal of Engineering Research

Water quality degradation is a major global concern and a significant threat to human health. In Egypt, extensive agricultural runoff enriched with fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides endangers the aquatic ecosystems. Accordingly, a reliable water quality monitoring and assessment program is crucial for formulating a management strategy aimed at water resource protection. Indeed, water quality assessment implies a challenge in identifying sampling locations, frequencies and monitored parameters. This paper aims to report on the water quality state of some irrigation streams in the Dakahlia governorate, Egypt. A systematic monitoring program was implemented through three field campaigns conducted in November 2023, February …

Great Salt Lake Model Depletion, Katherine Wright

Spring Runoff Conference

When does water leasing make sense? Using New Information to Make Better Leases.

Lease, but only if it makes sense.

• Farmers have a legal right to use water on their farms for agriculture.
• Leasing might be a good economic decision for you, but not your neighbor.
• Leasing is voluntary, the purpose of this presentation is to explain the benefits of leasing and give you the information you need to decide if it is right for you. 

Utah Water Research Lab, David Tarboton

Spring Runoff Conference

The concept of a dedicated water research laboratory evolved over years, with significant contributions from Vaughn E. Hansen, Dean F. Peterson, and George D. Clyde. The UWRL represents the culmination of a long-held vision at USU to advance water research.

Legislative Updates Panel, Casey Snider, Brian Steed, Kelly Pehrson, Joel Ferry

Spring Runoff Conference

Legislative Updates Panel

Water Rights Update, Teresa Wilhelmsen

Spring Runoff Conference

State Engineer's Update:

2024-2025 Strategic Action Plan

2024 Updates by functional section:

• Adjudication
• Applications & Records
• Dam Safety & Stream Alterations
• Data Services
• Field Services
• Technical Services

Northern Utah Gaging And Measurement Infrastructure Needs And Updates, Beth Neilson

Spring Runoff Conference

We can’t manage what we don’t MEASURE. We can’t manage what we don’t UNDERSTAND.

Great Salt Lake: What’S Next?, Brian Steed

Spring Runoff Conference

Water security is key to living in the West.

Snowpack And Water Supply Outlook, Jordan Clayton

Spring Runoff Conference

>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.

Assessing Water Quantity And Quality In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer And Coastal Louisiana Through Integrated Airborne Electromagnetic And Borehole Data, Michael George Henin Attia Khalil

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Numerical modeling has contributed significantly to the understanding of groundwater systems. Many challenges are associated with constructing groundwater models which include an accurate understanding of the geology and aquifer parameters estimation. Traditionally boreholes are a successful way to capture geological features, however, boreholes often have sparse data. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data allows for efficient and cost-effective surveying of large areas, providing valuable information about the subsurface electrical resistivity. By bridging the gap between boreholes, AEM data offers a broader view of the aquifer system's structure and heterogeneity. However, interpreting geophysical AEM data has uncertainties. Developing a framework to apply the …

Techniques For Controlling Saltwater Intrusion In Coastal Aquifers, Mohamed Elsayed Thabet, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, Asaad Matter Armanuos, Walaa Abdullah Asaar

Journal of Engineering Research

Groundwater is a significant freshwater source due to rising water demand for agriculture, industry, rapid population growth, and home usage; however, coastal groundwater is at risk of pollution from seawater intrusion due to intensive pumping.

Heavy extraction of groundwater to meet rising demands has resulted in lower groundwater tables and less seaward freshwater flow. As a result, saltwater spreads further inland, threatening fresh groundwater supplies. Saltwater intrusion refers to the introduction of saltwater into an aquifer system. Around the world, there are several coastal and deltaic regions in which seawater intrusion occurs. Underground water supplies are made worthless when seawater …

Groundwater Pumping Impacts On Stream Depletion In Humboldt County, Ca: Integrating Analytical Models And Field Data, Andy Hans Heise

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study addresses the significant concern of stream depletion from groundwater pumping in Humboldt County, CA. The objective of this study is to develop an analytical model for estimating stream depletion and integrating field data into model parameters.

The methodology involved conducting a field study near three operating wells by a stream, installing stream gages upstream and downstream of the wells, and recording pumping rates and schedules for two of the wells. The third well’s pumping data was synthetically generated, for privacy concerns of the well owner. The StreamDepletR package was used for estimating depletion rates in a stream in …

Adaptation For Whom? Understanding The Impacts Of Dyke Policies On Small-Scale Farmers In Ca Mau Province Of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Quang, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Vo Chau Ngan, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Low-lying deltas worldwide are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise. As the risks of climate-induced flooding become increasingly clear, the thirst for infrastructure-driven adaptation increases. This highlights a patent need to understand the impacts of engineering adaptation solutions, especially those targeting built structures such as dykes and sluices, on farmers from a bottom-up, farmer-centred perspective. The study addresses this call by examining cases where dyke policies, while successful in some dimensions, have undermined small-scale farmer livelihoods in Ca Mau ― Vietnam’s southernmost rural province. It identifies areas in need of attention and adds empirical data related to this group of farmers. …

Nebraska Water Center Annual Report 2025

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

Training Nebraska's future water professionals, research publications, water sciences laboratory impact and know your well curriculums and community impact

Coastal Flooding Along The Lower Brazos During The Landfall Of Hurricane Beryl -A Model-Based Investigation, Sabiha Tasnuva Khan

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Hurricane Beryl generated a complex hydrodynamic response along the Texas coast and Lower Brazos River, producing storm surge, elevated coastal water levels, intense rainfall, and widespread inundation. Low-gradient coastal rivers such as the lower portion of the Brazos River are particularly sensitive to the interaction of these drivers, yet the inland decay of surge energy and its interplay with watershed runoff remain poorly quantified. This study aims to characterize the physical mechanisms controlling water-level amplification, flow reversal, surge attenuation, and inundation development during Hurricane Beryl along the Lower Brazos and to determine the relative contributions of surge and rainfall to …

An Investigation Of The Legitimacy Of The Underlying Assumptions Of The Scs Curve Number Method By Application To Actual Urban Watersheds, Robert K. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number (CN) method is widely used to estimate direct runoff, and its TR-55 urban-adapted Curve Numbers are commonly applied in stormwater design. However, the underlying assumptions of the method have been the subject of contemporary review, and concerns remain that these values underestimate runoff in actual urban watersheds. This study evaluates the performance of TR-55 CNs using rainfall–runoff data from twenty real-world urban watersheds in the National Stormwater Quality Database.

Empirical Curve Numbers were derived using two calibration techniques, the asymptotic CN method (CN∞) and a nonlinear least-squares optimization method (CN_LS), and …

Harmful Algal Bloom Prediction Modeling In The Face Of A Changing Climate, Jordan E. Spears

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers pose significant threats to drinking water quality and public health, yet the predictive understanding of their proliferation remains limited, particularly regarding the influence of flow conditions in large rivers. This thesis addresses the critical knowledge gap of the relationship between seasonal flow variability and HAB proliferation in the Ohio River, with the Markland Pool serving as the primary study site. This study quantified the impact of early summer high flow events (>7500 m³ s^-1) and late summer to early fall low flow conditions (< 1500 m³ s^-1) by integrating …

Quantifying Sedimentation Dynamics Of Regulated River Backwater Confluences With Low-Order Tributaries, Abby Kathryne Berry

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Sediment dynamics in backwater confluences of regulated rivers have received limited study, despite being recognized as hotspots for sedimentation and nutrient attenuation. Development of management and restoration strategies in these landscapes require improved understanding of fluvial geomorphology and sediment transport dynamics due to the alterations in hydraulic regimes and sediment inputs associated with riverine backwaters. The objective of this study was to couple remote sensing, high frequency sensing, and numerical modeling to quantify drivers of erosion and deposition dynamics within regulated river backwater tributary confluences. To meet the objective of this study, data was collected and analyzed from the Fourpole …

Assessment Of Surface Area Application Ratios For Beach Sand Treated Via Surface Percolated Micp-Bioslurry For Erosion Mitigation, Connor J. Marlin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid shoreline erosion associated with sea-level rise is an ongoing threat to coastal infrastructure. Traditional stabilization techniques, such as revetments, seawalls, and periodic nourishment, often prove costly, ecologically disruptive, or provide only temporary protection. Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) and its operational variant, bioslurry, present a biologically inspired alternative capable of forming a cemented surface crust that reduces soil erodibility. Previous laboratory studies typically prescribed a solution dosage as a percentage of pore volume (%PV). While geotechnically sound, this metric is poorly suited to field deployment across a large area. This thesis evaluates surface-area-based dosing (L/m²) as the primary dosage …