Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Exploring, Exploiting And Evolving Diversity Of Aquatic Ecosystem Models: A Community Perspective, Annette B.G. Janssen, George B. Arhonditsis, Arthur Beusen, Karsten Bolding, Louise Bruce, Jorn Bruggeman, Raoul-Marie Couture, Andrea S. Downing, J. Alex Elliott, Marieke A. Frassl, Gideon Gal, Daan J. Gerla, Matthew R. Hipsey, Fenjuan Hu, Stephen C. Ives, Jan H. Janse, Erik Jeppesen, Klaus D. Jöhnk, David Kneis, Xiangzhen Kong, Jan J. Kuiper, Moritz K. Lehmann, Carsten Lemmen, Deniz Özkundakci, Thomas Petzoldt, Karsten Rinke, Barbara J. Robson, René Sachse, Sebastiaan A. Schep, Martin Schmid, Huub Scholten, Sven Teurlincx, Dennis Trolle, Tineke A. Troost, Anne A. Van Dam, Luuk P.A. Van Gerven, Mariska Weijerman, Scott A. Wells, Wolf M. Mooij

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Here, we present a community perspective on how to explore, exploit and evolve the diversity in aquatic ecosystem models. These models play an important role in understanding the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, filling in observation gaps and developing effective strategies for water quality management. In this spirit, numerous models have been developed since the 1970s. We set off to explore model diversity by making an inventory among 42 aquatic ecosystem modellers, by categorizing the resulting set of models and by analysing them for diversity. We then focus on how to exploit model diversity by comparing and combining different aspects of …

Patterns Of Anthropogenic Nutrient Contaminants In The Otter Creek Watershed, Madison County, Kentucky, Elijah D. Wolfe, Walter S. Borowski, Jacob L. Robin

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We measured nutrient concentrations within the Otter Creek watershed (Madison County, Kentucky) to: (1) discover levels of anthropogenic contaminants affecting the water quality; (2) compare these measurements to a national data set; and (3) identify nutrient sources. The watershed mainly drains rural land characterized by cattle grazing, but also drains the town of Richmond. We sampled throughout the watershed to gain a representative perspective of nutrient levels and specifically targeted localities of suspected anthropogenic nutrient sources. Water samples were passed through a 0.45 mm filter, placed in pre-acidified vials, and measured one to two days after collection. Nutrients – ammonium, …

Water Quality In The Río Pastaza Watershed A Comparative Study Of Ríos Topo, Zuñag, And Pastaza And The Impact Of The Topo Hydroelectric Project Using Macroinvertebrates As Bioindicators, Jesse Vega-Perkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ríos Zuñag, Pastaza, and Topo flow through one of the rainiest and water-rich places in Ecuador. Río Zuñag is a relatively small, pristine montane river and Río Pastaza is a relatively large, contaminated river that receives the untreated wastewater of many communities. Río Topo’s unique watershed and gradient allow it to be home to many plants that have adapted to its unique environment, including the hyperendemic liverwort Myriocolea irrorata. However, in recent years, all of the water of Río Topo has been sold by the state of Ecuador to be developed for hydroelectric projects (HEP). The first of these …

Modeling Napl Dissolution From Pendular Rings In Idealized Porous Media, Junqi Huang, John A. Christ, Mark N. Goltz, Avery H. Demond

Faculty Publications

The dissolution rate of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) often governs the remediation time frame at subsurface hazardous waste sites. Most formulations for estimating this rate are empirical and assume that the NAPL is the nonwetting fluid. However, field evidence suggests that some waste sites might be organic wet. Thus, formulations that assume the NAPL is nonwetting may be inappropriate for estimating the rates of NAPL dissolution. An exact solution to the Young‐Laplace equation, assuming NAPL resides as pendular rings around the contact points of porous media idealized as spherical particles in a hexagonal close packing arrangement, is presented in this …

Lake Whatcom Water Quality - Presentation To Bellingham City Council, Robin A. Matthews

Lake Whatcom Other Reports

This presentation to the Bellingham City Council on the water quality of Lake Whatcom addresses the objectives of the Institute for Watershed Studies monitoring process and the impact of water quality problems caused by storm water runoff.

A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Land Use And Water Quality In Southern Miami Dade County, Mario Londono

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis research employs a multi-pronged analysis approach to contribute to the existing knowledge regarding land use and water quality in southern Miami Dade County. Nutrient concentrations for TP, NOx-N, and NH3-N were evaluated for water quality monitoring stations across seven canals for two time periods: 1990-2003 and 2009-2014. Overall, the sites did not surpass the mandated TP threshold but a number of sites exceeded the NOx-N and NH3-N criteria set by multiple government agencies. Statistical tests demonstrated that the sites had differing distributions, not sharing similar median concentrations. Land use classifications were derived for the area interest for the …

Slides: Water Planning In California: Past, Present, Future, Ellen Hanak

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

Presenter: Ellen Hanak, Senior Fellow and Director, PPIC Water Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of California

13 slides

Slides: Perspectives On Water Management In Arizona, Kathy Jacobs

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

Presenter: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS), Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

25 slides

Slides: Colorado's Water Plan, Lauren Ris

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

Presenter: Lauren Ris, Assistant Director for Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources

23 slides

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Diversity Within An Urbanized Gradient, Brian E. Lovejoy Jr., Jacob Torres

Urban Watershed Project

No abstract provided.

Sources Of Nutrient And Escherichia Coli Contamination Within The Otter Creek Watershed, Madison County, Kentucky, Nathaniel C. Crockett, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Otter Creek watershed exhibits dissolved nutrient (ammonium, NH₄; nitrate, NO₃; phosphate, PO₄) and Escherichia coli contamination that compromises its water quality. The watershed covers a substantial portion of Madison County and consists of Lake Reba, Dreaming Creek, and east and west forks, all of which enter the trunk of Otter Creek before flowing into the Kentucky River. Suspected contaminate sources include leaky sewage system pipes, runoff from pasture land, and septic system leachate. We collected 330 water samples on three occasions during summer 2014 to determine the extent and sources of contamination. Nutrients …

Quality Of Water From Tile Drains In Fields Treated With Poultry Litter In Mclean County, Kentucky, E. Glynn Beck, Lisa Y. Blue, David A. Atwood

Information Circular--KGS

Poultry litter (a mixture of feed, manure, and bedding material) is commonly used as a soil amendment to row-crop fields in western Kentucky. Because of feed additives, litter typically has elevated concentrations of contaminants, including metals and anions. These metals and anions can accumulate in the soil and therefore could be transported to surface water through drainage tiles. In order to assess water quality in tile drains, a pilot study was conducted in 2008 in McLean County, Kentucky, in which 10 tile drains and six drainage ditches were sampled for total metals and anions. Seven of the tile-drained fields were …

The Importance Of Lake-Specific Characteristics For Water Quality Across The Continental United States, Emily K. Read, Vijay P. Patil, Samantha K. Oliver, Amy L. Hetherington, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Jacob A. Zwart, Kirsten M. Winters, Jessica R. Corman, Emily R. Nodine, R. Iestyn Woolway, Hilary A. Dugan, Aline Jaimes, Arianto B. Santoso, Grace S. Hong, Luke A. Winslow, Paul C. Hanson, Kathleen C. Weathers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Lake water quality is affected by local and regional drivers, including lake physical characteristics, hydrology, landscape position, land cover, land use, geology, and climate. Here, we demonstrate the utility of hypothesis testing within the landscape limnology framework using a random forest algorithm on a national-scale, spatially explicit data set, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2007 National Lakes Assessment. For 1026 lakes, we tested the relative importance of water quality drivers across spatial scales, the importance of hydrologic connectivity in mediating water quality drivers, and how the importance of both spatial scale and connectivity differ across response variables for five …

Evaluation Of The Performance Of A Rural Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant In Nacogdoches, East Texas (Usa) (Abstract), Kefa Karimu Onchoke, Michael Janusa, Salomey Asantewaa Sasu

Faculty Publications

The performance of a rural wastewater treatment facility, Nacogdoches Wastewater Treatment Plant

(NWWTP), in East Texas, USA, was assessed from January 2013 through June 2014. The elemental concentrations (Na, Mg, Ca, Ni, Pb, Mn, Cr, Mo, and Cu, Al, As, B, Ba, Ag, Cd, Fe, Hg, K, Se, Zn, Co, P, and S) were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The anion concentrations (Br−, NO3- , NO2- , PO34-,F−, Cl−, and SO24−) were measured by ion chromatography. In general, the NWWTP was found efficient in removal to ≥ 96% for metals. The removal efficiency for anions was in …

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Sixto E. Portilla

CERCOM Reports

The Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring (CERCOM) visits 15 locations in Great South Bay to monitor for dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, clarity, total and fecal coliforms and temperature. This monitoring program has been conducted for the past 13 years. These parameters are critical in determining long-term water quality conditions in Long Island estuaries. Methodologies for monitoring parameters are provided by the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 20th Edition (1998). Criteria for determining water quality conditions in marine eco-systems are based on the type of contact (uses) people have with the water system. …