Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stormwater Subsurface Gravel Wetlands In Vermont: Permitting, Performance, And Chloride Concerns, Watershed Consulting Associates, Llc, University Of Vermont

Lake Champlain Sea Grant Institute

Subsurface gravel wetlands (SGW) are water treatment practices that utilize a saturated bed of gravel and (sometimes) wetland vegetation to filter incoming water and remove pollutants through a combination of physical filtration, adsorption, biological uptake, and microbial transformation. Water level is controlled by an outlet structure to retain a permanent subsurface pool, providing retention of stormwater volume in addition to pollutant removal. SGW are becoming increasingly popular tools for stormwater treatment in Vermont.

A varied group of partners including academic researchers, municipal stormwater managers, and consulting designers and engineers, have identified questions around stormwater gravel wetland performance as significant in …

Arkansas Bulletin Of Water Research - Issue 2021-2022, Erin Grantz, Lillie Haddock, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research

The Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research (Bulletin) is a publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC). We publish the Bulletin to communicate the major findings of research funded by the Water Resources Research Act Section 104(b) in Arkansas. This research is relevant to Arkansas water stakeholders, and the Bulletin provides an easily searchable and aesthetically engaging access option.

This is the fourth publication of the Bulletin. This issue contains final reports from research projects that were funded by the 104(b) program in fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The articles in this issue can be cited as an AWRC publication. …

Evaluating Remote Economic Benefits Of Watershed-Scale Acid Mine Drainage Restoration, Rachel E. Pell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In 2011, the West Virginia Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation Program (WVAML) implemented a watershed-scale restoration project in Three Fork Creek, a 103 square-mile watershed in rural West Virginia impaired by acid mine drainage (AMD). This was accomplished through the installation of four in-stream lime dosers in 2011. Due to the great capital investment in the restoration of Three Fork Creek and an interest in applying this watershed-scale approach to other watersheds throughout West Virginia, it is of great interest to demonstrate the successes of this remediation. It has already been demonstrated that the watershed has visibly improved and is …

Water Quality Responses To A Semi-Arid Beaver Meadow In Boise, Idaho, Luise Bayer Winslow

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Beavers have been instrumental in shaping the North American riverine landscape. However, land use change and beaver trapping have caused large decreases in beaver populations, resulting in fundamental changes to river morphology, hydrology, and biogeochemical function. Effective river restoration and remediation of arid western rivers relies on a comprehensive interpretation of how beaver activity influences water quantity and quality. In this study, I compared two stream reaches with and without beaver dams in a semi-arid watershed, to quantify the effects of beaver activity on hydrology and biogeochemistry. Within each reach, I combined dilution gauging and stream tracer experiments to determine …

Feasibility Of Development Of Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program, Commonwealth Center For Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, Mujde Erten-Unal, Carol Considine, Mark W. Luckenbach, Elizabeth Armistead Andrews

Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR): Reports

[Introduction]

House Bill 2187ⁱ, introduced by Delegate Keith Hodges in the 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly, directed the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR), a partnership between Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the William & Mary Law School’s Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC) established by Virginia Chapter 440 of the 2016 Acts of Assembly (HB 903), to evaluate the development of a Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program (henceforth Clearinghouse). The bill stipulated that the Center should work with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to evaluate solutions that manage …

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …

Hydrochemical Assessment Of Groundwater Around Lapite Dumpsite For Irrigation Water Quality In Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria, Oluwatoyin Opeyemi Akintola, Gabriel Oladapo Adeyemi, Adewunmi Idayat Bodede, Oluwatoyin Oluwatoyin Adekoya, Kekinde O. Babatunde

Journal of Bioresource Management

Due to the increase in population and industrialization growth, most countries in the world depend on groundwater to meet agriculture demands for food production. The increase in water contamination due to indiscriminate solid wastes has necessitated the assessment of water quality and its suitability for agricultural usage. Twenty four groundwater and ten stream water samples were randomly collected from the downslope and upslope side of the dumpsite for all the major physio-chemical parameters. The pH of water samples indicates slightly acidic to alkaline in nature. High concentrations of nitrate, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity suggest the impact of the …

Development Of A Python Library To Facilitate Wqx Dataset Exchanges, Jonathan Musselwhite, Fernando Rojano

Presentations

The assistance of programming tools to speed up the exchange of water quality datasets are necessary. These tools reduce and simplify the steps currently needed to transfer datasets from water quality monitoring stations to public databases. Here it is presented a library developed in Python that programmatically covers the steps related to the upload of datasets following the framework of the Water Quality Exchange (WQX) of the US EPA. This library is mainly characterized by its ability to efficiently connect and transfer data formatted as CSV or XLSX files via the WQX to the National STORET Data Warehouse by mostly …

Evaluating Impacts Of Anthropogenic Disturbance To Wetland Water Quality Functions, Sindupa De Silva, Jim Anderson, Jason A. Hubbart, Michael P. Strager, Elliott Kellner, Christopher T. Rota, Elizabeth A. Byers

Presentations

Wetland ecosystems play fundamental roles in regulating our freshwater resources, yet they are not comprehensively protected from degradation and loss. West Virginia, USA has wetlands across diverse landscapes and geography that feed into both the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico. The state is also comprised of diverse anthropogenic land-use practices. We are assessing 200 wetlands over 2 years to evaluate how anthropogenic disturbance impact wetland water quality functions. Select water quality parameters (20), and relative diversity and abundance of vegetation and macroinvertebrates will be used as bioindicators. They will be compared with GIS assessments of watershed land cover/ land-use …

Epa Applications To Identify Headwater Watershed Changes And Best Management Practices In The San Bernardino National Forest, Sandra Ukaru

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The human-environmental landscape influences water quality across highly variable spatiotemporal scales. One such example is the human-environmental landscape in California, which has changed dramatically over the past several decades leading to a multitude of environmental issues including the reduction and impairment of water resources. This study compares surface water quality at four headwater streams in the San Bernardino National Forests using multiple assessment tools including in situ data, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPAs) Model My Watershed Tool and multiple databases within a GIS framework. These collective efforts enabled headwater watershed landscape changes and the extent of impacts to soil erosion …

Best Management Practices For Firefighting In The Karstic Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer Of South-Central Texas, Geary M. Schindel, Rudolph A. Rosen

Water Resources Science and Technology Faculty Publications

Karst aquifers are vulnerable to contamination from hazardous pollutants that can harm drinking water supplies, species inhabiting aquifers and springs, and other karst water resources. This paper presents best management practices (BMPs) designed for use by first responders, and for use in developing training curricula and tools to assist first responders in protecting karst water resources. Training and tools based on the BMPs will help first responders prevent or reduce runoff of potentially hazardous materials that can rapidly enter an aquifer during firefighting and other responses to emergencies in locations where hazardous materials are stored, such as in retail centers, …

Water Quality Monitoring In The Upper Poteau River Watershed, Abbie Lasater, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Upper Poteau River Watershed (UPRW) has been listed as a priority watershed in Arkansas since 1998 due to nutrient and sediment enrichment from point and nonpoint sources (NPS). According to the Arkansas NPS pollution management plan, the goals for the UPRW are to reduce pollutant levels that will restore all designates uses and target subwatersheds where implementation of management practices can have the greatest impact. Over the last several years, many 319(h) projects have been implemented and point sources have been reduced in order to improve water quality in the UPRW. The purpose of this study was to monitor …

Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In A Mixed-Land-Use Watershed, Joellen Stivala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

As urbanization continues, there is a need to identify and understand environmental stressors that impact stream condition in mixed-land-use watersheds. This study analyzed four years of aquatic macroinvertebrate community and environmental data collected from ten sites located at the mouths of first-order tributaries and along the main stem creek of a 23-km², mixed-land-use watershed in central Appalachia. The main objectives were to 1) determine stream ecological integrity by analyzing stream macroinvertebrate taxonomic and trait-based composition and 2) assess which of 23 environmental variables explained significant variability in common community composition metrics (WVSCI, GLIMPSS, Biotic Index, % clingers, etc.). …

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

Tree Canopy Effects On Roof-Harvested Rainwater In East Texas, Kimberly Gamez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nine experimental metal roofs with rainwater harvesting systems were constructed and water quality parameters were measured in 2016-2017 in order to evaluate the effects of arboreal overhang on roof-harvested rainwater quality collected in East Texas. Three treatments were evaluated: Rainwater collected from roofs without any overhanging tree vegetation, rainwater collected from roofs under predominantly Southern yellow pine tree cover, and rainwater collected from roofs under predominantly hardwood tree cover. Rainwater was collected from these roofs for one year. The effects of canopy cover on water quality parameters, comparison to drinking water standards, first-flush efficiency, and seasonal effects were evaluated.

Significant …

Occupancy And Abundance Of Stream Salamanders Along A Specific Conductance Gradient, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Simon J. Bonner, Stephen C. Richter, Christopher D. Barton

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

In the Central Appalachians (USA), mountaintop-removal mining accompanied by valley fills often leads to streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Thus, the ionic composition of freshwaters in this region is hypothesized to be a driver of the distribution and abundance of freshwater taxa, including stream salamanders. We examined the association between SC and stream salamander populations by conducting salamander counts in 30 southeastern Kentucky streams across a continuous gradient of SC that ranged from 30 to 1966 μS/cm. We counted 2319 salamanders across 5 species and, using a hierarchical Bayesian version of the N-mixture model, found a negative association between …

Use Of Citizen Science In Monitoring Groundwater Quality: A Case Study From Nebraska, Christopher Olson

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Citizen science has a key role in modernizing effective communication between professional scientists and the general public. However, citizen science differs to that of professional science due to equipment and experience and is a topic argued against citizen science. However, technology in water quality testing has developed in simplicity and affordability to a point where high school students, with hands-on training, can collect groundwater samples and test for quality themselves. Nebraska groundwater quality is a critical part of the state and can utilize high school students as citizen scientists for their communities. High school students from rural communities across Nebraska …

Ceramic Water Filter For Point-Of-Use Water Treatment In Developing Countries: Principles, Challenges And Opportunities, Haiyan Yang, Shangping Xu, Derek E. Chitwood, Yin Wang

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Drinking water source contamination poses a great threat to human health in developing countries. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment techniques, which improve drinking water quality at the household level, offer an affordable and convenient way to obtain safe drinking water and thus can reduce the outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Ceramic water filters (CWFs), fabricated from locally sourced materials and manufactured by local labor, are one of the most socially acceptable POU water treatment technologies because of their effectiveness, low-cost and ease of use. This review concisely summarizes the critical factors that influence the performance of CWFs, including (1) CWF manufacturing process …

Cost Benefit Analysis And Beyond: Stream Restoration In Richmond, Virginia, Claire Powell

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This research assessed the costs and benefits of six recent stream restoration projects in Richmond, Virginia within the context of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (CB TMDL) pollutant reduction requirements. In order to meet these requirements, state and local governments promoted stream restoration as an important way to reduce Bay-wide inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, and total suspended solids. The overall intention of this paper was to holistically evaluate the risks and positive impacts associated with stream restoration, with a focus on Little Westham Creek, a stream restoration project located on the University of Richmond campus. I hypothesized that …

Protecting Water Quality In Virginia: Recommendations To Combat Sea Level Rise And Increased Storm Events, Madhavi Kulkarni

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Impairment of Virginia waters is tied to coastal storm hazards and sea level rise because excess floodwaters are contaminated by flood-exposed industrial and residential facilities, and these toxic floodwaters flow into the state’s water bodies. In Virginia, thousands of industrial facilities can potentially be subjected to the effects of stormwater flooding, hurricane storm surge, and sea level rise, in turn affecting water quality. Failing or unmaintained septic systems also pose a major threat to the quality of Virginia waters that increases with recurrent inundation by flood waters. A combination of changes to law and policy and investment in infrastructure are …

Risk And Cost Assessment Of Nitrate Contamination In Domestic Wells, Pongpun Juntakut, Erin M.K. Haacker, Daniel D. Snow, Chittaranjan Ray

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study combines empirical predictive and economics models to estimate the cost of remediation for domestic wells exceeding suggested treatment thresholds for nitrates. A multiple logistic regression model predicted the probability of well contamination by nitrate, and a life cycle costing methodology was used to estimate costs of nitrate contamination in groundwater in two areas of Nebraska. In south-central Nebraska, 37% of wells were estimated to be at risk of exceeding a threshold of 7.5 mg/L as N, and 17% were at risk of exceeding 10 mg/L as N, the legal limit for human consumption in the United States. In …

Swine Slurry Characteristics As Affected By Selected Additives And Disinfectants, Jon Duerschner, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Kent Eskridge, John E. Gilley, Xu Li, Amy M. Schmidt, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Current swine industry practice is to house animals in confinement facilities which capture and store feces and urine as slurry in pits below the production area. Additives and disinfectants may be introduced into the manure pits. This study was conducted to measure the effects of additives and disinfectants on temporal changes in swine slurry characteristics. Slurry from a commercial swine production facility in southeast Nebraska, USA was collected and transferred to 57 L reactors located within a greenhouse. Selected additives and disinfectants were added to the reactors and physical properties, chemical characteristics, and antibiotic concentrations were monitored for 40 days. …

Reconstructing Hydrologic Conditions And Metals Supplied By The Peace River To The Peace-Athabasca Delta, Jelle André Faber

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in northern Alberta, Canada, is recognized internationally for its ecological, historical, and cultural significance. The delta is mostly within Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The construction of the WAC Bennett Dam (1967) and the Site C Dam (ongoing, 2024) on the Peace River, and expansion of the Alberta Oil Sands industry along the Athabasca River have raised concerns over water quantity and quality in the delta. When industry operations began, effective monitoring had not been implemented. Consequently, pre-industrial reference conditions are unknown and can …

Evaluation Of The Relationship Between Land Use And Water Quality In Kittitas County, Wa, Lindsay Schulz

All Master's Theses

Water in Kittitas County is extremely valuable since it supports farming, recreation, and cultural activities, as well as environmental processes and a diversity of biological life while providing many ecosystem services. However, land conversions required by agricultural and urban land uses can negatively impact water quality and the biological function of the stream. I studied how forested, agricultural, and urban land use affect six streams. Fourteen sites were sampled, once each in July, August, and September 2019. Land use was calculated as a percentage of forested, agricultural, and urban land use within a 100-m buffer of the stream, upstream of …

California Stream Condition Index (Csci) Score Analysis Of Streams Sampled From 1998 To 2017 In The San Francisco Bay Region, Jenna Rais

Master's Projects and Capstones

Human impacts to California’s streams have altered the state’s riparian and hydrological landscape. This is a critical issue with regard to natural resources, including ecosystem services such as water availability and water quality. Regulations have a limited amount of impact on the improvement of this landscape and can also become complicated by politics. Scientific advances have developed ways to quantify and describe the quality of streams, this includes the development of the California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) which is based on benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) population numbers and functions. This index allows scientists to not only score the quality of a …

Participatory Modeling Of Tidal Circulation On Maine Mudflats To Improve Water Quality Management Of Shellfish Areas, Gabrielle V. Hillyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, researchers have become increasingly aware of the vital role stakeholder knowledge plays in understanding complex social and environmental problems. Incorporating stakeholder knowledge into understanding complex problems allows for greater awareness and identification of community needs and can help build partnerships to support the development of applied research. In this thesis, I demonstrate the value of stakeholder knowledge and research partnerships by focusing on the soft-shell clamming industry in Maine and how a complex collaboration between clammers, municipal officials, representatives from state agencies, researchers, and other partners relied on and build adaptive capacity to address complex water …

Evaluation Of Stream Bank Restoration To Improve Water Quality In A Semi-Arid Stream, Johnathan Neenan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human watershed activities such as converting land cover to agriculture and livestock grazing have negatively impacted stream water quality worldwide. One such case is Utah’s Upper Sevier River where a loss of woody bank vegetation (reduced shading) and accelerated bank erosion (increased fine sediment inputs) has led to increased stream temperature and water turbidity. As a result, the state of Utah sought to improve water quality conditions using streambank restoration. While commonly recommended and performed, the effectiveness of this sort of restoration has rarely been quantified. Here, I evaluated a restored reach of the Upper Sevier River near Hatch, UT …

Clearcutting In Appalachia: Impacts On Stream Water Quality In An Appalachian Watershed, Alyssa J. Kaewwilai, Hannah R. Peterson, Abigail F. Rec

Student Publications

Clearcutting forests has the potential to impact the water quality of high water headwater streams. In this study, we measured the effect of forest clearcut events on parameters of stream water quality within Michaux State Forest. The watershed of two streams included 2.1% and 11.6% of the total catchment in clearcuts, while the other 4 watersheds had no clearcuts. We measured pH, electrical conductivity, total suspended solids, and nitrate (ppm) and phosphate (ppm) concentrations from six different tributary streams. Mann-Whitney U tests maintain no statistical difference observed between pH (U= 4.00, p= 1.00), temperature (U=1.00, p=0.165), electrical conductivity (U=2.00, p=0.355), …

A Comparison Of Three Types Of Permeable Pavements For Urban Runoff Mitigation In The Semi-Arid South Texas, U.S.A, Taufiqul Alam, Ahmed Mahmoud, Kim D. Jones, Juan Cesar Bezares-Cruz, Javier Guerrero

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines the hydrologic and environmental performance of three types of permeable pavement designs: Porous Concrete Pavement (PCP), Permeable Interlocking Concrete (PICP), and Interlocking Block Pavement with Gravel (IBPG) in the semi-arid South Texas. Outflow rate, storage, Normalized Volume Reduction (NVR), Normalized Load Reductions (NLR) of Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅) were compared to results obtained from adjacent traditional pavements at different regional parking lots. A notable percentage of peak flow attenuation of approximately 31–100% was observed when permeable pavements were constructed and implemented. IBPG was capable to hold runoff from rainfall depths …

Water Quality Analysis Of Ecoroof Runoff In Portland, Pranoti P. Deshmukh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Portland, Oregon is internationally recognized for its implementation of sustainable stormwater management technologies. Ecoroof is one of the sustainable solutions to reduce stormwater runoff which also provides multiple environmental benefits. However, very little is known about the impact of ecoroofs on water quality of roof runoff. Stormwater runoff carries a significant amount of pollutants, which, if it directly enters a stream or river, degrades water quality and severely harms aquatic life.

This study evaluates the trends in the long-term water quality data from ecoroofs and conventional roofs in the Portland area. Mann Kendall trend test was used to detect the …