Hydrology Commons^™

Data Repository For "The Influence Of Hydrologic And Salinity Conditions On Drought-Tolerant Great Salt Lake Wetland Plant Species" By Samantha Kurkowski And Karin Kettenring, Samantha Kurkowski

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This greenhouse experiment investigated the effects of salinity (3 levels) and hydrologic condition (5 levels),  on the cover and biomass of a single mix of 11 native drought- and salt-tolerant species.

Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems In Southeastern Utah: An Integrated Analysis Of Hydrology, Ecology, And Landscape Change, Colten Lay

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In Southeastern Utah, springs play a critical role in sustaining groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in a semi-arid environment. However, they remain understudied and face growing threats from climate change, land use modifications, and hydrologic alterations. This study addresses knowledge gaps in spring occurrence, hydrologic function, and ecological condition by integrating field surveys, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis across multiple spatial scales. It provides a comprehensive assessment of spring hydrology, water quality, and ecological conditions using field surveys, remote sensing, and GIS analysis to establish a foundational baseline of GDE resources in the region. I applied a multi-scale monitoring approach across the …

Dream Pilot Project: Analysis Of Groundwater Development At Six Villages In Ethiopia, Lindsay K. Gordon

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This study presents a hydrogeologic assessment of the Distributed Renewable Energy Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) pilot project, an ongoing groundwater development initiative in rural Ethiopia. This project integrates solar-powered groundwater infrastructure across six villages to improve water access, agricultural productivity, and economic stability.

Fourteen production wells were installed at Murche, four at Dalle, and additional test wells at Murche, Dalle, Chefe Kora, and Huluku. Transmissivity values and the number of wells at Murche suggest that local water needs are currently being met. In contrast, fewer wells were drilled at Dalle. This reflects the high cost of well construction relative to yield, …

Estimating Increased Transient Water Storage With Increases In Beaver Dam Activity, Konrad Hafen, Joseph M. Wheaton, Brett B. Roper, Philip Bailey, William W. Macfarlane, Bethany T. Neilson, Christopher J. Tennant

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Dam building by beaver (Castor spp.) slows water movement through montane valleys, increasing transient water storage and the diversity of residence times. In some cases, water storage created by beaver dam construction is correlated to changes in streamflow magnitude and timing. However, the total amount of additional surface and groundwater storage that beaver dams may create (and, thus, their maximum potential impact on streamflow) has not been contextualized in the water balance of larger river basins. We estimate the potential transient water storage increases that could be created at 5, 25, 50, and 100% of maximum modeled beaver dam capacity …

Building And Using A Hydrology Experiment For Place-Based Learning With Native American Students, Michaela Shallue

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Geoscience has a known diversity problem, specifically a participation gap of ethnic minority representation, and it is especially severe regarding Native American representation. To address this participation gap, an identity gap needs to be addressed first. Native students need to visualize themselves as geoscientists before they can commit to geoscience programs and careers. This project uses a hands-on, place-based learning activity as an opportunity for Native students to better see themselves as geoscientists.

A portable rainfall simulator was constructed, calibrated, and refined for use in teaching concepts about rainfall, runoff, and erosion. It was employed in place-based learning exercises with …

Multi-Objective Water Management In Idaho's Henrys Fork Watershed: Leveraging Reservoir Operation And Groundwater Pathways To Benefit Aquatic Habitat, Christina N. Morrisett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Multi-user water management is a challenging arena further complicated by climate change. This research is based in the Henrys Fork, Snake River, Idaho—an agricultural watershed that exemplifies those throughout the semi-arid American West. This dissertation uses an integrated approach that considers groundwater-river relationships, farm-scale decisions and basin-scale outcomes, upstream reservoir operation for downstream aquatic habitat, water rights, and collaborative stakeholder management to identify drought adaptation strategies accordingly.

Chapter 2 uses an interdisciplinary approach to quantify how improvements to irrigation efficiency at the farm-scale (i.e., converting from flood to sprinkler irrigation) can add up to affect hydrology at the landscape-scale and …

Controls On Sediment Connectivity In Fluvial Networks Impacted By Wildfire Across Utah, Alec Arditti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Flooding and sedimentation caused by wildfire are among the greatest threats to watersheds, fish populations and reservoirs in the western US. Burned landscapes are at risk for increased runoff and erosion and have the potential to transport sediment that may put downstream resources at risk. The ability of the channel to transport sediment downstream, known as the connectivity, is important for determining where impacts may occur. Sediment bottlenecks are locations within the watershed where local conditions produce a persistent decrease in downstream connectivity of sediment, resulting in increased sediment deposition and potentially a substantial modification of the local channel and …

The Irrigation Efficiency Trap: Rational Farm-Scale Decisions Can Lead To Poor Hydrologic Outcomes At The Basin Scale, Christina N. Morrisett, Robert W. Van Kirk, London O. Bernier, Andrea L. Holt, Chloe B. Perel, Sarah E. Null

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural irrigation practices have changed through time as technology has enabled more efficient conveyance and application. In some agricultural regions, irrigation can contribute to incidental aquifer recharge important for groundwater return flows to streams. The Henrys Fork Snake River, Idaho (United States) overlies a portion of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, where irrigated agriculture has occurred for over a century. Using irrigator interviews, aerial and satellite imagery, and statistical streamflow analysis, we document the impact of farm-scale decisions on basin-scale hydrology. Motivated to improve economic efficiency, irrigators began converting from surface to center-pivot sprinkler irrigation in the 1950s, with rapid …

Evaluation Of Temperature-Index And Energy-Balance Snow Models For Hydrological Applications In Operational Water Supply Forecasts, Tian Gan, David G. Tarboton, Tseganeh Z. Gichamo

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In the western United States, snow accumulation, storage, and ablation affect seasonal runoff. Thus, the prediction of snowmelt is essential to improve the reliability of water supply forecasts to guide water allocation and operational decisions. The current method used at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) couples the SNOW-17 temperature index snow model and the Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA) runoff model in a lumped approach. Limitations in parameter transferability and calibration requirements for changing conditions with the temperature-index model motivated this research, in which new avenues were investigated to assess and prototype the application of an energy-balance snow …

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

Usu Professor David Rosenberg Spearheads Asce Efforts To Encourage Research Reproducibility, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently announced a new program with the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management that will recognize and reward authors who make their research results more reproducible. As an associate editor at ASCE and Professor in civil and environmental engineering at USU and the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) at USU, Dr. David Rosenberg was instrumental in creating this new program. He has been studying the importance of reproducibility in research results and advocating for the concept for years.

Uwrl Welcomes Two New Faculty Members, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Last spring, the UWRL and USU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering began seeking bright, creative, and interdisciplinary researchers “whose research will yield more holistic approaches to solving water problems in natural, built, and/or agricultural environments” to “lead and develop the next generation of resilient solutions to water problems in these linked environments.” And despite a worldwide pandemic, we were able to welcome two such individuals to the UWRL in time for fall semester!

2020 Data Visualization Challenge, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Utah Water Research Lab Faculty Dr. Jeff Horsburgh, an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University, recently issued a challenge to USU students called the Cyberinfrastructure for Intelligent Water Supply (CIWS) Data Visualization Challenge.

Call For Pre‑Proposals For Water‑Related Research Benefiting Utah, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The Utah Center for Water Resources Research (UCWRR) at the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) is currently inviting pre-proposals from faculty members or affiliates at Utah’s institutions of higher education for Plan Year 2021–22 of the Utah grant program funded through an annual grant award from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Program 104b), as amended. This program targets applied research that addresses water problems in Utah.

Aggieair Demonstrates New Greatblue Aircraft At "Drones In Ag" Day, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

USU AggieAir, a research lab at the Utah Water Research Laboratory, and USU Aviation Technology recently held their "Drones and Ag" demonstration day at the USU Agricultural Experimentation Center. The event, which invited members of the public to attend with proper COVID-19 precautions, featured a demonstration of AggieAir's newest aircraft, GreatBlue, and showcased the future of drones in agriculture.

Greening-Induced Runoff Loss In The Western United States, Xueyan Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study assessed how vegetation will influence long-term runoff trends across the western United States (western US) in the future. I used a land surface model with improved dynamic vegetation root processes to better quantify regional runoff trends across five regions (Upper and Lower Colorado, Great Basin, Pacific Northwest, and California). The model was driven by statistically downscaled and bias-corrected outputs from three global climate models under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. Vegetation greening dominated significant transpiration increases that contributed most to increasing evapotranspiration across the western US, especially during spring and summer. Consistent with these trends, …

In Memoriam: Former Uwrl & Cee Professor Gordon Flammer, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Renowned UWRL and CEE faculty member Dr. Gordon H. Flammer, 94, passed away on June 14^th, 2020 in Mesa, Arizona.

Uwrl Faculty Member Ron Sims Highlighted For Covid‑19 Research, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

UWRL faculty member Ron Sims was recently highlighted by the USU Office of Research for his work with fellow USU researcher Keith Roper.

Uwrl Outstanding Student Spotlight: Ayman Nassar, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The UWRL likes to take a moment to highlight an outstanding student, faculty member, or alumni. This time our spotlight is on Ayman Nassar, a Ph.D. researcher studying Water Engineering at Utah State University.

Aggieair Works With Blm To Assist Endangered Species, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The AggieAir Service Center recently traveled down to Vernal, UT to assist in a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funded project to estimate the colony size of white-tailed prairie dogs. The scientific imagery gathered will be used to help the BLM reintroduce the endangered black-footed ferret in the area, as white-tailed prairie dogs are a key component to the species’ survival.

Usgs Water Resources Research Institute Awards Through The Uwrl, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Faculty members at the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) and Watershed Sciences at USU and at the University of Utah recently received project awards as part of the USGS 104b program administered by the Utah Center for Water Resources Research (UCWRR) housed within the UWRL. As one of 54 state-level water resources research institues in the US authorized by the 1964 Water Resources Research Act, the UCWRR supports water resources and environmental quality research, outreach and information dissemination in the State of Utah.

New Water Resources Management Textbook Co-Authored By Ryan Dupont, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

UWRL faculty member R. Ryan Dupont recently published a new textbook with co-author Louis Theodore, an internationally recognized author and lecturer on chemical engineering and environmental protection topics. Dr. Dupont, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been teaching and conducting research in environmental engineering at UWRL at USU for more than 35 years. His main research areas have addressed soil and groundwater bioremediation, stormwater management via green infrastructure, field remediation technology demonstration and treatment system performance verification, and water reuse technology performance and risks. He also served as Acting Director of the Utah Water Research …

Usu Students Win First Asdso Student Dam Model Competition, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

USU students Kyler Olsen, Braiden Amata, Jack Tousley, Kathryn Margetts, and their Technical Advisor Dr. Brian Crookston recently won the ASDSO’s first student dam model competition.

Ueb Parallel: Distributed Snow Accumulation And Melt Modeling Using Parallel Computing, Tseganeh Z. Gichamo, David G. Tarboton

Publications

The Utah Energy Balance (UEB) model supports gridded simulation of snow processes over a watershed. To enhance computational efficiency, we developed two parallel versions of the model, one using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and the other using NVIDIA's CUDA code on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Evaluation of the speed-up and efficiency of the MPI version shows that the effect of input/output (IO) operations on the parallel model performance increases as the number of processor cores increases. As a result, although the computation kernel scales well with the number of cores, the efficiency of the parallel code as a whole …

Uwrl Hosts Awra Conference Tour, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The Utah Water Research Laboratory recently had the opportunity to host AWRA Conference attendees on a laboratory tour.

Ensemble Streamflow Forecasting Using An Energy Balance Snowmelt Model Coupled To A Distributed Hydrologic Model With Assimilation Of Snow And Streamflow Observations, Tseganeh Zekiewos Gichamo, David G. Tarboton

Publications

In many river basins across the world, snowmelt is an important source of streamflow. However, detailed snowmelt modeling is hampered by limited input data and uncertainty arising from inadequate model structure and parametrization. Data assimilation that updates model states based on observations, reduces uncertainty and improves streamflow forecasts. In this study, we evaluated the Utah Energy Balance (UEB) snowmelt model coupled to the Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC‐SMA) and rutpix7 stream routing models, integrated within the Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (RDHM) framework for streamflow forecasting. We implemented an ensemble Kalman filter for assimilation of snow water equivalent (SWE) observations in …

Kenyan Delegation Visits The Uwrl, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

The UWRL recently welcomed a delegation of Kenyan dignitaries who were visiting USU to discuss development and use of the water that will become available with dam projects underway in Kenya. The USU agricultural extension office arranged the tour, which included the UWRL and USU’s experimental farm in Wellsville. The lab portion of the tour was hosted by UWRL faculty members involved in agricultural management and irrigation and hydraulics. Visitors included government leaders from the Kajaido area in Kenya and the East Africa Chamber of Commerce, along with staff members and others. Together they discussed water challenges, use, and development …

Uwrl Outstanding Student Spotlight Hyrum Tennant, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

Each month the UWRL takes a moment to highlight an outstanding student, faculty member, or alumni. This month our spotlight is on Hyrum Tennant, a graduate student studying Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University.

Aggieair Partners With Faa & Industry Experts To Develop Drone Traffic Management System, Brittanie Carter

News

AggieAir^TM recently spent 10 days in Las Vegas, Nevada working with the FAA and other industry experts to create safety regulations and programs for drone services in the future. As a research center of the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University, AggieAir has been specializing in the development and use of small uncrewed aerial systems for collecting scientific imagery and data for the past 13 years.

Dr. Blake Tullis Appointed To The Utah Drinking Water Board, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

UWRL researcher, USU professor, and Interim VP for Research,Blake Tullis, has been appointed to the Utah Drinking Water Board (DWB) for a 4-year term. The 9 members of the board are appointed by the governor. Dr. Tullis will fill the academic/research board member position previously held by UWRL faculty member David Stevens.