Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modeling Overdraft-Driven Nitrate Transport In Shallow Wells For Mitigation And Scenario Planning, Jonathan Cronk

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

In Nebraska, average nitrate concentrations in groundwater have doubled since 1974, making water quality management more important than ever. As droughts, heat waves, and floods become more common climate events, understanding their impacts will be necessary to make informed management decisions. Emerging literature describes that drought correlates to an increase in the concentration of nitrate-N at domestic and irrigation wells, however the relative contributions of the mechanisms thought to be responsible is currently unknown.

This research assessed the impact of recharge and pumping rate changes as two mechanisms affecting nitrate-N concentration during drought, assessed the relationship between well depth and …

Revised Draft Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Third Quarter 2022, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Bpsou Buffalo Gulch Forebay Parcel 2023 Expedited Well Abandonment Plan, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Revised Draft Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Second Quarter 2022, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Revised Draft Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – First Quarter 2022, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Buffalo Gulch Forebay Parcel 2023 Expedited Well Abandonment Plan (Dated August 21, 2023, Nikia Greene

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Pumping-Induced Drawdown Of Streams In Proximity To Agricultural Wells, Sara Alina Sternberg

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

In the context of unprecedented drought and aquifer overdraft in California, understanding surface water and groundwater connectivity have become increasingly important. While there is a clear understanding of how wells induce drawdown in aquifers (Theis, 1935; Hantush, 1965), secondary effects on local streams have not fully been considered. Current mathematical models targeting aquifer drawdown do not address stream drawdown response in aquifer-stream systems with strong connectivity; instead, they assume the stream to be a constant head boundary. In the drought-stricken and summer-dry climate of California, streams often run dry for months out of the year, which is currently not reflected …

Managed Aquifer Recharge: Installation And Early Evaluation Of Infiltration Galleries In The Cache River Critical Groundwater Area, Northeast Arkansas, Allegra Christiane Pieri

Student Theses and Dissertations

Arkansas ranks third in the nation for irrigated land, with water primarily sourced from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial (MRVA) aquifer. Intensive irrigation combined with limited natural recharge due to the region’s geology has led to the designation of critical groundwater areas. The Cache River Critical Groundwater Area (CRCGA) has undergone severe declines, impacting agricultural production and threatening aquifer depletion. This thesis outlines the construction of two infiltration galleries for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and investigated the early stages of their capacity to recharge the MRVA aquifer. The infiltration galleries and MRVA aquifer were physically capable of accepting reservoir water …

Groundwater Flow Across The Coyote Wash Fault And Cedar Mesa Anticline Near St. Johns, Arizona, Stephanie Lynn Latour

Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for water increases across the southwestern United States, the region's utilization of and dependence on water stored in groundwater aquifers has risen in kind. The Coconino Aquifer (C-aquifer) underlies much of the southwestern Colorado Plateau and is a primary source of groundwater in northeastern Arizona. One of the largest commercial users of water from the C-aquifer in Apache County, Arizona, is Springerville Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Tucson Electric Power. The area surrounding the power plant, located between the cities of Springerville and St. Johns, Arizona (the Springerville-St. Johns area), is geologically …

Comments On The Draft Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Buffalo Gulch 60 Percent Design (Dated December 9, 2022), Nikia Greene

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Hydrology Data For Fern Cave, Alabama (2020-2022), Benjamin Tobin, Benjamin V. Miller, Matthew Niemiller, Andrea Erhardt

Research Data--KGS

Dataset includes water level from four sites within Fern Cave in Jackson County Alabama. Additionally, it includes chemistry of water, sediments and cave-adapted isopods.

Groundwater Budgeting And Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Of Water Supply At Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Maximiliano Trujillo

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Water resources management is becoming increasingly complex in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, where the negative impacts of climate change and growing demand for a fully allocated river put further strain on diminishing water supply. The precarity of future water availability emphasizes the importance of fully accounting for existing water rights allocations and understanding how ever changing social and ecological processes might hinder those rights from being fully realized. This study aimed at improving knowledge of the groundwater budget at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico by utilizing experimental methods of Darcy Flow analysis to estimate groundwater flow …

Groundwater Flow And Salt Marsh Migration: The Forest/Marsh Boundary, Camille Rossiello

Theses and Dissertations

Salt marshes migrate landward in response to sea level rise, but the rate of this migration is not constant and can be influenced by pulse disturbances. Long term observations at Sapelo Island, Georgia, show that salt marsh migration has occurred during droughts, but the mechanism for this migration is unclear. Drought is thought to influence salt marsh migration by reducing fresh groundwater discharge from the upland. Rising sea level also encroaches on the upland, which could cause movement of the freshwater lens inland. A two-dimensional numerical model was built to simulate groundwater flow and solute transport based on the Marsh …

Comment For The Butte Reduction Works (Brw) Smelter Area Mine Waste Remediation And Contaminated Groundwater Hydraulic Control Site Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) For Microbial Analysis And Biotreatability; Request For Change Brw-2023-02 (Dated May 15, 2023), Nikia Greene

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Stormwater To Groundwater: How California Can Increase Groundwater Storage And Build Climate Resilience., Emily M. Perales

Master's Projects and Capstones

California is predicted to have more intense and frequent changes in weather patterns within the next 50 years. Historical and current groundwater use for residential and agricultural use is unsustainable and is creating significant deficits in groundwater aquifers throughout the state. To better adapt to potential damages caused by atmospheric rivers, better stormwater management and capture could increase California’s Climate adaptability. This study is focused on the means and methods to capture stormwater and increase groundwater recharge. Nature-based infrastructure (NBI), or Green Infrastructure (GI), has been used in urban areas throughout the country to mitigate harmful stormwater effects by replicating …

Small Community Water Systems Have The Highest Prevalence Of Mn In Drinking Water In California, Usa, Miranda Aiken, Samantha C. Ying

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Manganese (Mn) is currently regulated as a secondary contaminant in California, USA; however, recent revisions of the World Health Organization drinking water guidelines have increased regulatory attention of Mn in drinking water due to increasing reports of neurotoxic effects in infants and children. In this study, Mn concentrations reported to California’s Safe Drinking Water Information System were used to estimate the potentially exposed population within California based on system size. We estimate that between 2011 and 2021, over 525,000 users in areas with reported Mn data are potentially exposed to Mn concentrations exceeding the WHO health-based guideline (80 μg L …

Predictive Modeling Of Cave Entrance Locations: Relationships Between Surface And Subsurface Morphology, William Blitch, Adia R. Sovie, Benjamin Tobin

Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Publications--KGS

Cave entrances directly connect the surface and subsurface geomorphology in karst landscapes. Understanding the spatial distribution of these features can help identify areas on the landscape that are critical to flow in the karst groundwater system. Sinkholes and springs are major locations of inflow and outflow from the groundwater system, respectively, however not all sinkholes and springs are equally connected to the main conduit system.

Predicting where on the landscape zones of high connectivity exist is a challenge because cave entrances are difficult to detect and imperfectly documented. Wildlife research has a similar issue of understanding the complexities of where …

Study Of Trace Elements In Southern Nevada Spring Waters And Lakes, Hyejeong Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Comprehending the natural water resource is imperative for the entire state of Nevada and of particular significance for Southern Nevada, where rapid population growth and climate change are placing significant strain on supplies. This research underscores the significance of water chemistry in identifying potential water source areas through trace elements. For the first time, the study proposed measuring the compositions of the entire suite of metal elements, ranging from Li to U, in over 40 springs in the Moapa Valley and its upper gradient valleys, utilizing the iCAP Qc ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer) at UNLV. The research evaluated …

Factors Affecting Groundwater Nitrate Concentration In Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia, Majed M. Almutairi

Masters Theses

High levels of nitrate in groundwater are a serious problem in Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia. Identifying factors affecting groundwater nitrate contamination is important for managing groundwater quality. This study examined factors that have significant impacts on the high level of groundwater nitrate in Madinah Area. Factors examined included well-depth and land cover. Relationships between variables were explored using three statistical approaches: the Kruskal-Wallis test and two types of regression (ordinary least squares [OLS] and geographically weighted regression [GWR]).

Nitrate concentration data show that 73% of obtained groundwater samples exceeded the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) …

Evaluation Of A Radium-Thorium Disequilibrium Sediment Method Used To Model And Assess Porewater And Submarine Groundwater Exchange In The Coastal Marsh, Madeline R. Bodine

Theses and Dissertations

Ground, pore, and surface water exchange has been extensively studied in beach and near shore environments but has been long neglected in saltmarsh systems due to their complexity. Saltmarsh systems are of particular importance as they are the interface between fresh and saltwater. Saltmarshes impact carbon exchange, release and sequestration, and they process particulate matter. Understanding the characteristics of a marsh system such as the nutrient and particulate loads in conjunction with the flux of water exchange through the marsh provides a deeper understanding of these systems and can impact our understanding of the global water and carbon cycles, as …

Montana Bureau Of Mines And Geology Butte Alluvial And Bedrock Controlled Groundwater Area Monitoring 2022 Data Summary Report, Montana Bureau Of Mines And Geology

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Comments On The Draft Final Butte Reduction Works (Brw) Smelter Area Mine Waste Remediation And Contaminated Groundwater Hydraulic Control Site Organic Pollutant Surface Water Sampling Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) (Dated December 27, 2022), Nikia Greene

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Importance Of Snowmelt On Soil Nitrate Leaching To Groundwater – A Model Study, Sahila Beegum, Arindam Malakar, Chittaranjan Ray, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The movement of nitrate to surface water bodies during snow accumulation and melting has been extensively studied, but there are only limited studies on the influence of snow processes on nitrate leaching to groundwater. The present study investigated the impact of snow processes on nitrate leaching to groundwater based on a simulation modeling approach using HYDRUS-1D. HYDRUS-1D model has a temperature threshold-based snow model in addition to water, solute, and heat simulation components. The snow component in HYDRUS-1D was previously not applied to snow simulation studies since the method does not consider a detailed physical and process-based representation of snow …

Assessment Of Health Risks Associated With Contaminants In Groundwater In The Catchment Area Of Selected Dumpsites In Abuja North Central Nigeria, A. Omali, J. T. Arogundade, Daniel D. Snow

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Investigating Changes In Permeability Caused By The Transport And Retention Of Microplastics In Saturated Sand Columns, Iliansherry Santiago

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Microplastics (MPs), plastic particles present and continuously moving in our environment, represent a contaminant of global concern to the scientific community and society. MPs are particles less than 5 mm and are ubiquitous in our surroundings and the environment. MPs have been detected in oceans, soils, freshwater, drinking water and groundwater. MPs are considered contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), as they contain toxic components and serve as carriers for other contaminants that may affect the ecology and human health. Limited laboratory and field experiments demonstrate that MPs are transported and retained in porous media of a groundwater aquifer. A research …

Voltammetric Determination Of Inorganic Arsenic In Mildly Acidified (Ph 4.7) Groundwaters From Mexico And India, Martijn Eikelboom, Yaxuan Wang, Gemma Portlock, Arthur Gourain, Joseph Gardner, Jay Bullen, Paul Lewtas, Matthieu Carriere, Alexandra Alvarez, Arun Kumar, Shane O'Prey, Tamás Tölgyes, Dario Omanović, Subhamoy Bhowmick, Dominik Salaun, Pascal Salaun

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Routine monitoring of inorganic arsenic in groundwater using sensitive, reliable, easy-to-use and affordable analytical methods is integral to identifying sources, and delivering appropriate remediation solutions, to the widespread global issue of arsenic pollution. Voltammetry has many advantages over other analytical techniques, but the low electroactivity of arsenic(V) requires the use of either reducing agents or relatively strong acidic conditions, which both complicate the analytical procedures, and require more complex material handling by skilled operators. Here, we present the voltammetric determination of total inorganic arsenic in conditions of near-neutral pH using a new commercially available 25 m diameter gold microwire (called …

Coastal Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems Are Falling Through Policy Gaps, Madeleine Dyring, Melissa M. Rohde, Ray Froend, Harald Hofmann

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Coastal groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), such as wetlands, estuaries and nearshore marine habitats, are biodiversity hotspots that provide valuable ecosystem services to society. However, coastal groundwater and associated ecosystems are under threat from groundwater exploitation and depletion, as well as climate change impacts from sea-level rise and extreme flood and drought events. Despite many well-intentioned policies focused on sustainable groundwater use and species protection, coastal GDEs are falling through gaps generated by siloed policies and as a result, are declining in extent and ecological function. This study summarized then examined policies related to the management of coastal groundwater and connected ecosystems …

Estimating Evapotranspiration And Analyzing Soil Moisture And Heat Flux Parameters At Taneum Creek, Central Washington, Edward Vlasenko

All Master's Theses

In the past two decades, stream restoration work, primarily in the form of wood emplacement, has been undertaken in the Taneum Creek watershed, resulting in increased channel-floodplain connectivity. One of the goals of stream restoration was to boost dry season groundwater storage in the shallow floodplain aquifer. However, any gains in groundwater due to increased connectivity may be nullified by increased evapotranspiration (ET) losses because of denser floodplain vegetation. Within the floodplain aquifer budget, ET is a major flow of water out of the system and is not well quantified.

In order to quantify ET, a monitoring site was established …

Effects Of Salix Psammophila On Groundwater Recharge In A Semiarid Area Of North China, Lizhu Hou, Jingdong Gao, Bill X. Hu, Xixi Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Study region: The semiarid Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) was selected for this study. It is in the farming-pastoral ecotone of north China and functions as an eco-environmental barrier.

Study focus: Afforestation can mitigate desertification and soil erosion by improving hydrologic condition, which is particularly true for semiarid and arid regions. However, little is known about the quantitative response of hydrologic improvement to afforestation level that can be measured by leaf area index (LAI). The objective was to setup and use a physically-based model to quantitatively assess the dynamics of water fluxes from Salix psammophila afforestation in the MUSL.

New …

Evaluating The Sensitivity Of Crustal Deformation To Bedrock Hydrology In A Mountain Watershed, Brett J. Oliver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

We evaluate the sensitivity of Earth's elastic deformation to groundwater hydraulic diffusivity using coupled groundwater and elastic deformation models. Seasonal changes in terrestrial water storage cause deformation to the Earth’s crust and deeper interior that is within the observational capacity of GPS instruments. We couple finite difference groundwater simulations with geodetic forward models of crustal displacement to investigate the ability of geodetic deformation to constrain bedrock hydrologic properties. We use MODFLOW-2005 to simulate seasonal changes in groundwater flow and storage, and then use the LoadDef elastic deformation model to forward model surface displacement caused by the change in terrestrial water …