Hydrology Commons^™

Analyzing Surface Water And Groundwater Interactions From Pfas Contamination In The West Plains Region Of Spokane County, Jerusha R. Hampson

2026 Symposium

The West Plains region of Spokane County has been significantly impacted by PFAS contamination due to the decades-long use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training at both Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and the Spokane International Airport (SIA). Groundwater contamination is significant, but surface waters are impacted by the contamination as well. Groundwater flows to the north and east, meaning surface water bodies that make up the northern and eastern boundaries (Deep Creek, Hangman Creek, and the Spokane River) can be impacted by PFAS contamination. The West Plains aquifer system is complex but combining data about aquifer flow …

Preliminary Geologic Assessment And Pfas Occurrence In Western Cheney, Washington, Sydney Frandsen

2026 Symposium

In 2021 Cheney Water Well #5 was closed due to toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels above the current State Action Limits and the National Drinking Water Protection Act (https://www.cityofcheney.org/207/Water), which is a concern since PFAS has been associated to types of cancer, birth defects, and other negative human and environmental health concerns (https://doh.wa.gov/communityand-environment/contaminants/pfas). The City of Cheney also tested two downgradient deep-groundwater-wells (Cheney wells #6 and 7) and halted investigation due to the wells being below state and federal drinking water standards. However, a local resident’s shallow groundwater well tested to be above federal and state levels of …

Uas Vs. In-Situ Measurement Techniques For Stream Substrates, Nathan Watson

Scholars Week

UAS vs. In-situ Measurement Techniques for Stream Substrates

Key words: Geomorphic, Fluvial, ArcGIS Pro, UAS

Traditionally, geomorphic assessments of streams and fluvial structures have been conducted using in-situ field techniques. These techniques include taking Wolman (D50) pebble counts to characterize substrate, measurements of stream dimensions with tape, meter sticks, and Jacob staff. We studied the efficacy of using an uncrewed aerial system (UAS) to measure the substrate composition of a section of stream along the east fork of the Clarks River in Calloway County, Kentucky. The section consists of a 30-meter riffle-pool-run sequence, with variation in substrate size to test …

One Year Of Analysis Of Pfas Contamination In Surface Waters Of The West Plains Region Of Spokane County, Jerusha R. Hampson

2025 Symposium

The West Plains has been significantly impacted by PFAS contamination due to the decades-long use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training at both Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and the Spokane International Airport (SIA). Groundwater contamination is significant, but less work had been done to understand contamination in surface waters. We now have over a year of data with most locations were sampled seasonally. Though FAFB and SIA are likely sources for some of the contamination, other, smaller sources exist. Surface waters are important to study as they form the boundaries of the West Plains and often function …

Proceedings Of The 12th Research Symposium At Mammoth Cave National Park, Pat Kambesis Editor, Lee Anne Bledsoe Editor, Ana K. Celis Editor

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Proceedings of the 12th Research Symposium at Mammoth Cave National Park: Celebrating 100 Years of Scientific Research & Resource Management in the Mammoh Cave Region.

Sampling Potential Hydrologic Impacts From An Underground Fire Lit By The Gray Road Fire, West Medical Lake, Isaac T. Dunmore

2024 Symposium

Eastern State Hospital (ESH) dumped and buried construction related material along the south west shores of West Medical Lake. Based on aerial photos from 1957, the dump was established with pine trees growing on the landfill. The dump is approximately 400 feet long, 50 ft wide and about 30 ft deep or about 6000,00 cubic feet of material. On August 18, 2023, during the Gray Road Fire, the buried site was ignited and has since continued to burn underground. Department of Health Services hired a consultant to analyze soils from the dump using the TCLP method for standard RCRA metals …

Pfas Variation Through A Wastewater Treatment Facility Process, Aaron A. Fuzak, Chad J. Pritchard

2024 Symposium

PFAS concentrations were measured at a wastewater treatment facility to see the effect the treatment process had on PFAS levels. Samples were collected following an initial clarifier, second clarifier, sand filtration system, ultraviolet light purification system, and then from the effluent produced by the facility and analyzed using EPA Method 533. The effluent from the treatment facility flows from a pipe that enters a wetland, where it evaporates or infiltrates the groundwater. Municipal and septic treated systems are considered possible point sources for PFAS contamination in groundwater. Sampling levels of PFAS after treatment will give insight into the concentrations and …

Preliminary Analysis Of Per-And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In Surface Waters Of The West Plains Region Of Spokane County, Jerusha Hampson

2024 Symposium

Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) have become a national issue as regulatory limits for these toxins have just recently been put into the Clean Water Act. The West Plains has been significantly impacted by PFAS contamination due to the decades-long use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training at both Fairchild Airforce Base and the Spokane International Airport. Though research is still underway, it is known that PFAS contamination in West Plains groundwater is significant and widespread. This study focuses on West Plains surface waters, as there is currently less information about how these water bodies are impacted by PFAS. …

Deep Q-Learning Framework For Quantitative Climate Change Adaptation Policy For Florida Road Network Due To Extreme Precipitation, Orhun Aydin

I-GUIDE Forum

Climate change-induced extreme weather and increasing population are increasing the pressure on the global aging road networks. Adaptation requires designing interventions and alterations to the road networks that consider future dynamics of flooding and increased traffic due to the growing population. This paper introduces a reinforcement learning approach to designing interventions for Florida's road network under future traffic and climate projections. Three climate models and a tide and surge model are used to create flooding and coastal inundation projections, respectively. The optimal sequence of decisions for adapting Florida's road network to minimize flooding-related disruptions is solved by using a graph-based …

Reducing Uncertainty In Sea-Level Rise Prediction: A Spatial-Variability-Aware Approach, Subhankar Ghosh, Shuai An, Arun Sharma, Jayant Gupta, Shashi Shekhar, Aneesh Subramanian

I-GUIDE Forum

Given multi-model ensemble climate projections, the goal is to accurately and reliably predict future sea-level rise while lowering the uncertainty. This problem is important because sea-level rise affects millions of people in coastal communities and beyond due to climate change's impacts on polar ice sheets and the ocean. This problem is challenging due to spatial variability and unknowns such as possible tipping points (e.g., collapse of Greenland or West Antarctic ice-shelf), climate feedback loops (e.g., clouds, permafrost thawing), future policy decisions, and human actions. Most existing climate modeling approaches use the same set of weights globally, during either regression or …

Rapid Assesment Of Aquatic Insect Diversity And Abundance Used To Evaluate The Quality Of Stream Restoration, Kaleb Stephen Kindoll

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Stream and wetland restoration activities seek to improve the function of aquatic ecosystems. Measurement of the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects are commonly used to evaluate the success of restoration efforts, but these measurements are often very time consuming. In this study, we attempt to construct an efficient method that can be used to rapidly assess the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects as a measure of the quality of stream restoration. We suspended uniform sized pieces of cardboard paper coated with adhesive to trap insects in three different environments: one restored and two unrestored streams with similar characteristics. …

069— Geomorphic Characteristics Of Canadice Lake, Ny, Watersheds And The Anthropogenic Effects On Watershed Output And Sensitivity, Carla Crampton

GREAT Day Posters

Land use and size of watershed catchment areas affects the overall health and water quality of Canadice Lake. Methods in ArcGIS Pro were used for high resolution imagery and topography data to analyze the geomorphology of watersheds at Canadice Lake. Watersheds were mapped using ArcGIS Hydrology tools by constructing flow direction and accumulation grids. In each individual watershed, total area of the watershed, area of residential and agricultural land use, and total length of roads was determined to evaluate which watersheds are most sensitive to human impact and which watersheds are likely to contribute the highest flow discharge and sediment …

Delineation Of Ohio River Flood Zones In Ballard County Using Remote Sensing, Nathan Rister

Scholars Week

The purpose of this study was to use remote sensing to map flood zones in Ballard County as it correlates to the Ohio River flood gauges. This will help Wildlife managers to know which areas are most likely to be flooded by simply looking at river gauges and prevent them to having to check which areas are flooded in person. By using this technique wildlife managers will be able to save time and resources as well as better manage wildlife areas along the Ohio River.

Engaging The Greater Lafayette Community In A Journey Through The Earth Sciences: Purdue’S Eaps Earth Science Passport Day Event, Dara Laczniak, Bradley Garczynski

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Assessing Water Policy Implications Of The Changing Agriculture In New Mexico, Trevor A. Birt

Shared Knowledge Conference

Agriculture is the dominant water sector in New Mexico, responsible for more than 80% of water withdrawals in 2015 (USGS 2018). Water policy needs to be extremely adaptive and informed to meet the needs of not only farmers, but cities, industry and riparian uses. Since 1840, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has conducted census surveys assessing all levels of agriculture. These data are physically published at the county, state, and national level on a 5-year cycle, detailing various material counts such as acreage, yields, and water usage, as well as socioeconomic estimates of farm costs, revenues, and hired workers. …

Natural Trace Element Salinization Of The Jemez River, New Mexico By Geothermal Springs And Major Tributaries, Jon K. Golla, Laura J. Crossey, Abdul-Mehdi S. Ali, Karl E. Karlstrom

Shared Knowledge Conference

The Jemez River (JR), a tributary of the Rio Grande, is in north-central New Mexico within the Jemez Mountains, which houses the active, high-temperature (≤ 300 oC), liquid-dominated Valles Caldera geothermal system (VC). This work focuses on the northern portion of the JR, spanning a reach from the East Fork JR to the town of San Ysidro. Previous decadal work during low-flow or baseflow conditions (~10-20 cfs) has identified and characterized significant major-solute contributions from two outflow expressions of the VC, Soda Dam Springs and Jemez Hot Springs, and two major tributaries, Rio San Antonio and Rio Guadalupe. There is …

Longitudinal Study Of Water Quality In Jennings Creek, Bowling Green, Kentucky: Urbanization Impacts On Karst Groundwater, Lea Mitchell, Jason S. Polk, Rachel Kaiser, Ethan Givan, Kegan Mcclanahan

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Karst groundwater systems, which occur in areas where caves, sinkholes, and underground rivers dominate the landscape, are vulnerable to pollution from surface contaminants. In urban areas, like Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is home to extensive caves and groundwater supplies, the immediate transport of heavy metals, organic waste, chemicals, and other pollutants from surface activities into groundwater poses a serious threat. This research project was done to examine the water quality of urban karst sites in Bowling Green, Kentucky at Jennings Creek, which is a local river primarily fed from springs; the water quality of Jennings Creek was never tested before …

Groundwater Contamination At Coal Ash Deposit Sites In Kentucky, Brandon Rose

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing Using I-Band And S-Band Signals Of Opportunity, Kadir Efecik, Benjamin R. Nold, James L. Garrison

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Measurement of soil moisture, especially the root zone soil moisture, is important in agriculture, meteorology, and hydrology. Root zone soil moisture is concerned with the first meter down the soil. Active and passive remote sensing methods used today utilizing L-band(1-2GHz) are physically limited to a sensing depth of about 5 cm or less. To remotely sense the soil moisture in the deeper parts of the soil, the frequency should be lowered. Lower frequencies cannot be used in active spaceborne instruments because of their need for larger antennas, radio frequency interference (RFI), and frequency spectrum allocations. Ground-based passive remote sensing using …

Estimating Watershed Residence Times In Artificially-Drained Landscapes And Relation To Nutrient Concentrations, Emma Beck, Lisa Welp, Alexandra L. Meyer

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nutrient runoff from agricultural lands feeds harmful algae blooms that create a variety of problems in freshwater ecosystems. In order to reduce the effects of this nutrient runoff, Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being put in place in agricultural lands. Most of these BMPs focus on slowing down the flow of water through the watershed to give nutrient concentrations time to deplete before the water flows to the stream or river. However, the effectiveness of these BMPs are highly unknown and the process of monitoring nutrient runoff is often complex and costly. The data in this study consists of 7 …

Use Of Floodscape Mapping To Assess Changes In Inundation Frequency Of The Upper Mississippi River, Jeffrey L. Swanson

Celebration of Learning

As an alternative to probability-based maps, DeJager (and others) reconceptualized floodplain mapping using the notion of “floodscapes” (DeJager et al., 2015). A floodscape map is developed using daily stage data and high-resolution topography to create maps that depict the average number of days of inundation (per year or growing season). Floodscape maps reveal intricate and continuous patterns of high-frequency flows that are critically important to floodplain ecological functioning. DeJager found significant correlations between floodscape inundation and riparian vegetation patterns but single floodscape maps only provide snapshots in time. This current research develops and utilizes multiple floodscape maps to quantify changes …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum

Celebration of Learning

Urban expansion has had devastating impacts on forest ecosystems, especially within the past century. Human attempts to dominate nature have diminished natural disturbance regimes, which have maintained the biodiversity and historic composition of these ecosystems. Fires have been a prominent force in maintaining the structure of oak, hickory and other heliophytic (sun loving and fire-adapted) forest systems. Human induced fire suppression has led to mesophication across North America. Mesophication is the transition from drier conditions with open canopies to wetter conditions with closed canopies. These new conditions decrease the survival rates of these important species and begin to favor mesophytic …

Reconstructing Late Holocene Paleofloods Along The Middle Tennessee River And Exploring Links With Climate And Land Use, Lance Stewart

Scholars Week

Sediment stored in floodplains and low alluvial terraces along the middle Tennessee River reflects flood frequency and magnitude during the past ca. 2800 years. This study uses the stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochronology of three alluvial terraces to infer past flooding and explore links with climate change and anthropogenic land-use practices. Four sites located on different geomorphic landforms adjacent to the Tennessee River preserve records of at least 11 major flood events from 2780 ± 185 BP to 100 ± 10 BP. Buried soils at three sites are older than ca. 1380 BP and suggest a relatively recent period of landscape …

Extreme Precipitation Events, Impacts, Trends And Projections For Indiana, Sam Lashley

Purdue Road School

The National Weather Service is working with core partners to build a Weather Ready Nation for present and future generations by taking advanced action against the devastating impacts of extreme weather events, including extreme precipitation and flooding. One way in which this can be accomplished is by studying trends in historical weather data and applying what we learn to future mitigation efforts. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the magnitude and impacts that future extreme precipitation events may have on local infrastructure.

This presentation will review extreme rainfall and flooding events that have occurred across Indiana along …

Assessing The Periodic Groundwater Flow Conditions Of A Perched Aquifer System In The Daniel Boone National Forest, Ethan Sweet

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Assessing the Periodic Groundwater Flow Conditions of a Perched Aquifer System in the Daniel Boone National Forest

Ethan Sweet and Jonathan Malzone

Eastern Kentucky University, Department of Geosciences

Natural ephemeral wetlands situated among the ridge-tops in the Daniel Boone National Forest serve as reservoirs that recharge a shallow groundwater system. Unique interactions between surface and groundwater in these isolated systems provide substantial support for the native ecosystem, serving as a breeding ground for amphibians and as source water for vegetation—especially in periods of drought. Currently it is not understood how groundwater could provide regional biodiversity, a drought buffer, or a …

Improving The Accuracy For The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-Thia) Model, Anqi Zhang, Lawrence Theller, Bernard A. Engel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Urbanization increases runoff by changing land use types from less impervious to impervious covers. Improving the accuracy of a runoff assessment model, the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) Model, can help us to better evaluate the potential uses of Low Impact Development (LID) practices aimed at reducing runoff, as well as to identify appropriate runoff and water quality mitigation methods. Several versions of the model have been built over time, and inconsistencies have been introduced between the models. To improve the accuracy and consistency of the model, the equations and parameters (primarily curve numbers in the case of this model) …

An Operational Drought Prediction Framework With Application Of Vine Copula Functions, Mahkameh Zarekarizi

Student Research Symposium

Early and accurate drought predictions can benefit water resources and emergency managers by enhancing drought preparedness. Soil moisture memory is shown to contain helpful information for prediction of future values. This study uses the soil moisture memory to predict their future states via multivariate statistical modeling. We present a drought forecasting framework which issues monthly and seasonal drought forecasts. This framework estimates droughts with different lead times and updates the forecasts when more data become available. Forecasts are generated by conditioning future soil moisture values on antecedent drought status. The statistical model is initialized by soil moisture simulations retrieved from …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Nitrogen Processing In Urban Streams, Peter Francissen, Dr. Kevin Geedey, Dr. Michael Reisner

Celebration of Learning

Urban stream syndrome is described as the deterioration of stream health in an urbanized watershed and is associated with the loss of ecosystem services, which in turn degrades downstream environments. One key symptom of the urban stream syndrome is reduced processing of inorganic nitrogen. Previous research suggests that as urbanization increases and water quality decreases, the uptake length (Sw) of inorganic N increases. This indicates that the stream is increasing the export of N downstream compared to in situ incorporation of N into the ecosystem. We measured uptake length (Sw) of NO3, using a pulse addition method, along 9 different …

Nutrient Variations Of Six Surface Water Bodies In Mchenry County, Il, Jacob Piske

Celebration of Learning

This research analyzes water quality from several ponds in McHenry County, Illinois, with a goal of developing a understanding of pollution sources and temporal variations in concentrations of nitrate, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, and sodium. Over the past 25 years, the population of McHenry County has grown rapidly, with residential developments expanding into former farmlands. Yet, the county remains heavily agricultural, with roughly 60% of the surface area used for agricultural purposes. Concentrations of NO3-, P+, K+, Cl-, and Na+ were analyzed from six sites: two in subdivisions, two in farmland, and two near major highways. Data were collected once a …

Closing The Water Budget In An Experimental Urban Watershed: A Comparative Assessment Of Methods For Measuring Evapotranspiration, Leana M. Weissberg, Gaboury Benoit

Yale Day of Data

No abstract provided.