Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

High-Resolution Water Footprints Of Production Of The United States

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The United States is the largest producer of goods and services in the world. Rainfall, surface water supplies, and groundwater aquifers represent a fundamental input to economic production. Despite the importance of water resources to economic activity, we do not have consistent information on water use for specific locations and economic sectors. A national, spatially detailed database of water use by sector would provide insight into U.S. utilization and dependence on water resources for economic production. To this end, we calculate the water footprint of over 500 food, energy, mining, services, and manufacturing industries and goods produced in the United …

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 …

Global Anthropogenic Phosphorus Loads To Freshwater And Associated Grey Water Footprints And Water Pollution Levels: A High-Resolution Global Study, Mesfin Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

We estimate the global anthropogenic phosphorus (P) loads to freshwater and the associated grey water footprints (GWFs) for the period 2002–2010, at a spatial resolution of 5 3 5 arc min, and com- pare the GWF per river basin to runoff to assess the P-related water pollution level (WPL). The global anthro- pogenic P load to freshwater systems from both diffuse and point sources is estimated at 1.5 Tg/yr. More than half of this total load was in Asia, followed by Europe (19%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (13%). The domestic sector contributed 54% to the total, agriculture 38%, …

The Future Of Groundwater In California: Lessons In Sustainable Management From Across The West, Christina Hoffman Babbitt, Katherine E. B. Gibson, Scott Sellers, Nicholas Brozovic, Anthony Saracino, Ann Hayden, Maurice Hall, Sandi Zellmer

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) created, for the first time and on an unprecedented scale, a mandate to change how groundwater is managed statewide in California. While enacting SGMA was a tremendous step forward, communities and water districts now face the considerable challenge of creating successful groundwater management programs. This report is aimed at helping California’s water managers, public water agencies, county commissioners, city planners, and others better understand the suite of tools and approaches that can be used to enhance the sustainable management of groundwater. Specifically, we consider four categories of management tools—regulatory, incentive-based, agency supply augmentation …

Droughtscape, Winter 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Year in review: Drought eased in California, developed in Northern Plains

Quarterly Summary: Drought creeps across the country

Annual impact summary: A year of wildfires

Quarterly impact summary: Drought expands in Texas, Colorado

Drought and water crisis book updated

U.S. Drought Monitor available in Spanish

Study shows cities step up when drought occurs

New staff at the NDMC

Drought Summit in photos

Motivations, Specializations, Identities, And Constraints Associated With Hunting In Nebraska, Alisha Grams

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

No abstract provided.

Persistence Of Stream Restoration With Large Wood, Redwood National And State Parks, California, Diedra L. Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The conservation and recovery of anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus sp.) depend on stream restoration and protection of freshwater habitats. In-stream large wood dictates channel morphology, increases retention of terrestrial inputs such as organic matter, nutrients and sediment, and enhances the quality of fish habitat. Historic land use/land cover changes have resulted in aquatic systems devoid of large wood. Restoration by placement of large wood jams is intended to restore physical and biological processes. An important question for scientists and restoration managers, in addition to the initial effectiveness of restoration, is the persistence and fate of large wood installations. In this …

The Effects Of Fire On Snow Accumulation, Snowmelt And Ground Thaw On A Peat Plateau In Subarctic Canada, Elyse Mathieu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

During the past century, the highest rates of warming have occurred at latitudes above 60^oN, where air temperatures have risen at twice the rate of other regions. In northwestern Canada, this warming has coincided with an increase in the frequency, size and severity of wildfires. The influence of such fires on the trajectory of on-going permafrost thaw is not well understood. As a consequence, the combined impacts of climate warming induced permafrost thaw and possible feedbacks arising from wildfires cannot be properly assessed. This study examines the impact of a 2.7 ha low-severity wildfire (July 2014) on water …

Improving The Accuracy Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probe Estimate Of Soil Water Content Using Multiple Detectors And Remote Sensing Estimates Of Vegetation, Xiaochen Dong

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

The recently developed Cosmic-ray Neutron Probe (CRNP) for estimating soil water content (SWC) fills a critical measurement gap between point scale methods and large scale measurements collected from remote sensing. CRNP works by measuring the change in low-energy neutron intensity over time. However, the accuracy of CRNP to measure SWC is well known to be affected by other hydrogen sources (e.g. soil organic content, atmospheric water vapor, vegetation and surface water). This study focuses on the influence of rapidly growing vegetation in agricultural fields on the accuracy of the CRNP method. Here we use data from three long-term CRNP study …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

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 …

Droughtscape, Fall 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Drought worsens in northern Great Plains

Drought takes toll on agriculture, livestock

Study examines ag advisors’ views on climate change

New drought definition could lead to better preparation

McCook takes big steps toward drought readiness

Group hopes to map drought planning process for Korea

South African researcher working to forecast drought

Cultivating drought preparedness in South Africa

Physical Water Scarcity Metrics For Monitoring Progress Towards Sdg Target 6.4: An Evaluation Of Indicator 6.4.2 “Level Of Water Stress”, D. Vanhama, A. Y. Hoekstra, Y. Wada, F. Bouraoui, A. De Roo, Mesfin Mekonnen, W. J. Van De Bund, O. Batelaan, P. Pavelic, W. G.M. Bastiaanssen, M. Kummu, J. Rockström, J. Liu, B. Bisselink, P. Ronco, A. Pistocchi, G. Bidoglio

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Target 6.4 of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) dealswith the reduction ofwater scarcity. To monitor progress towards this target, two indicators are used: Indicator 6.4.1 measuring water use efficiency and 6.4.2 measuring the level of water stress (WS). This paper aims to identify whether the currently proposed indicator 6.4.2 considers the different elements that need to be accounted for in a WS indicator.WS indicators compare water use with water availability.We identify seven essential elements: 1) both gross and net water abstraction (or withdrawal) provide important information to understand WS; 2) WS indicators need to incorporate environmental flow requirements …

Water Use In Irrigated Agriculture: An Approach To Water Productivity In Drip And Sprinkler Systems, Fernanda Lamede Ferreira De Jesus, Jéssica Garcia Nascimento, Rubens Duarte Coelho, Sergio Nascimento Duarte, Fernando Campos Mendonça

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Irrigation plays an important role in agriculture and the increase in the irrigated area and scarce water resources have encouraged the use of irrigation systems and management systems that increase the efficiency of water use. Thus, maximize water productivity has been one of the most important challenges in agriculture. The present study aimed to relate information on water productivity for two irrigation systems, drip and sprinkler systems, with the purpose of understanding the characteristics of these systems and contributing to the advancement of studies and research carried out in the area. Technological innovations aimed at reducing consumption and increasing water …

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) …

Loss Of Buffer Value Due To Aquifer Depletion: The Case Of High Plains Aquifer, Mani Rouhi Rad, Timothy Foster, Nicholas Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Existing literature in economics and engineering do not realistically capture the effects of aquifer depletion on loss of profits from agricultural production. While the former literature ignores the physical characteristics of aquifer and the relationship between aquifer levels and groundwater availability, the latter strand of literature does not consider farmers' decisionmaking as a result of aquifer depletion. Misspecification of these relationships and their effect on irrigation decisions can result in misunderstanding the consequences of aquifer depletion and may provide ineffective policies. This paper provides a framework to study the effects of aquifer depletion on the profit of agricultural production. We …

Understanding Cigarette Butt Littering Behavior On Public Beaches: A Case Study Of Jekyll Island, Georgia, Maranda R. Miller

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

The world’s natural environment is degrading, and human behavior is a leading cause. Therefore, in order to address environmental problems it is important to understand the factors driving environmentally degrading behaviors and subsequently design behavioral interventions to alter undesirable behaviors.

One environmental issue of particular concern is toxins leeching from trash. Specifically, cigarette butts are of concern due to their prevalence in the environment. Cigarette butt discarding behavior is affected by personal attributes, but data regarding which personal attributes and how these affect discarding behavior is lacking. This thesis seeks to understand cigarette butt disposal on public beaches by exploring …

Soil Ecosystem Service Tradeoffs And Social–Ecological Resilience In The North Central Great Plains, Hannah E. Birge

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

Humans seek to improve their wellbeing by altering ecological processes to maximize the output of specific ecosystem services, which often leave the system vulnerable to unintended and undesirable side effects. Ecosystem services emerge from complex interactions among ecological structures and processes occurring at multiple scales. The degree to which an ecosystem maintains a predictable range of structures and processes in the face of disturbance can be described as its resilience. The 1930s Dust Bowl of the North American Great Plains is an example of a system reconfiguration and loss of resilience that was ultimately driven by human optimization for a …

Using Mountain Snowpack To Predict Summer Water Availability In Semiarid Mountain Watersheds, Rebecca Dawn Garst

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In the mountainous landscapes of the western United States, water resources are dominated by snowpack. As temperatures rise in spring and summer, the melting snow produces an increase in river flow levels. Reservoirs are used during this increase to retain surplus water, which is released to supplement growing season water supply once the peak flows decrease to below water demands. Once there is no longer surplus natural flow of water, the water accounting changes – referred to as the day of allocation (DOA), and water previously retained within the reservoir is used to supplement the lower flow levels. The amount …

Droughtscape, Summer 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Drought policy write shops conclude in Caribbean

Drought encroaches on Northern Plains in second quarter

Impact tool racks up submissions in second quarter

Maps on new website highlight drought effects on ag industry

Centers release new flash drought tool: QuickDRI

NDMC contributes to EU report on disaster risk management

Groups earn Climate Adaptation award for work with tribes

NDMC, ICPAC director talk collaboration on drought in Greater Horn of Africa

Up next in MENA: Drought vulnerability assessments

Trophic Dynamics Of Flathead Catfish In The Missouri River Bordering Nebraska, Dylan R. Turner

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

Understanding the trophic dynamics of large, riverine ecosystems is complex and requires knowledge from several inputs and outputs of the ecosystem. Most riverine ecosystems have been altered in some way whether through damming, channelizing, or diverting water. The Missouri River is not immune to these anthropogenic alterations. The river has dams throughout its middle portion and is channelized from Sioux City, Iowa to its confluence with the Mississippi River. Flathead Catfish pylodictus olivarius are one of the most ecologically harmful introduced species but little research has looked at the influence native populations of Flathead Catfish have on native prey populations …

Fish And Macroinvertebrate Response To Restored Off Channel Habitats On The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Caleb Uerling

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

Anthropogenic alterations to large rivers ranging from impoundments to levees have caused many rivers to no longer access the floodplain. The ecological integrity of floodplain rivers depends on the interaction between main-channel and floodplain habitats. Fish communities inhabiting floodplain habitats are often dictated by the type of habitat and conditions within that habitat. As restoration projects are undertaken it is imperative that managers understand how fish and macroinvertebrates respond to these events. We collected fish, macroinvertebrates, and habitat parameters on two restored floodplain habitats on the lower Platte River, Nebraska to answer questions about aquatic community response to floodplain restoration …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Farmers’ Behaviors On A Hypothetical Agricultural Water Market Based On Double Auction, Erhu Du, Ximing Cai, Barbara Minsker

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Agricultural water markets are considered effective instruments to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity and to increase crop production. However, previous studies have limited understanding of how farmers’ behaviors affect the performance of water markets. This study develops an agent-based model to explicitly incorporate farmers’ behaviors, namely irrigation behavior (represented by farmers’ sensitivity to soil water deficit k) and bidding behavior (represented by farmers’ rent seeking l and learning rate b), in a hypothetical water market based on a double auction. The model is applied to the Guadalupe River Basin in Texas to simulate a hypothetical agricultural water market under …

Integration Of Hydrogeophysical Datasets For Improved Water Resource Management In Irrigated Systems, Catherine E. Finkenbiner

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

Water scarcity is predicted to be the major limitation to increasing agronomic outputs to meet future food and fiber demands. With the agricultural sector accounting for 80 – 90% of all consumptive water use and an average water use efficiency (WUE) of less than 45%, major advances must be made in irrigation water management. Precision agriculture, specifically variable-rate irrigation (VRI) and variable-speed irrigation (VSI) systems, offers the technologies to address and manage for infield variability and incorporate that into management decisions. The major limitation to implementing this technology often lies in the management of spatial datasets and the development of …

Problematizing Socio-Scientific Issues: An Approach To Understanding Student Decision-Making Using Construal Level Theory, Ashley M. Peterson

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

Socio-scientific issues (SSIs) are challenges at the intersection of science and everyday life that require use of scientific knowledge, argumentation skills, personal values, and morals to articulate science-informed decisions. While addressing SSIs, the ways in which individuals define a problem will influence the solution or decision reached. The problem definition can differ along many dimensions, including content and construal level. A construal is a mental construction of the past and future, other places and people, and unlikely events. Construal Level Theory (CLT) suggests pro-environmental intentions are associated with abstract situations. I explore the application of CLT to teaching and learning …

Spatiotemporal Analyses Of Recycled Water Production, Jana E. Archer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased demands on water supplies caused by population expansion, saltwater intrusion, and drought have led to water shortages which may be addressed by use of recycled water as recycled water products. Study I investigated recycled water production in Florida and California during 2009 to detect gaps in distribution and identify areas for expansion. Gaps were detected along the panhandle and Miami, Florida, as well as the northern and southwestern regions in California. Study II examined gaps in distribution, identified temporal change, and located areas for expansion for Florida in 2009 and 2015. Production increased in the northern and southern regions …

Plant Diversity Influences The Structure And Function Of A Restored Prairie And Its Responses To Added Disturbances, Rebecca Bevans

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

As global warming, human conversion of natural landscapes to agricultural uses, and widespread biodiversity losses continue to alter the ecosystems we depend on, an understanding of the relationship between ecosystem structure, composition, and function is needed to maintain valuable ecosystem states and their associated functions. Research testing the limits of an ecosystem’s ability to maintain essential structure and functioning under disturbance conditions can aid in this goal.

In this study, I measured the relationship between plant diversity, community structure and functional traits, and their responses to added disturbances. I added disturbances representing those either caused or intensified by human activity …

Droughtscape, Spring 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Drought center helps islands reduce drought vulnerability

2017 sees above-average precipitation, warmer temps

California pulls out of drought

After tech transfer, training Tunisia launches first drought map

Drought center releases 2016 annual report

Book chapter focuses on drought and health

U2U wraps up, brings useful tools to farmers

Survey finds drought info leads to better decisions

Influence Of Internal Variability On Population Exposure To Hydroclimatic Changes, Justin S. Mankin, Daniel Viviroli, Mesfin Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Radley M. Horton, Jason E. Smerdon, Noah S. Diffenbaugh

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Future freshwater supply, human water demand, and people’s exposure to water stress are subject to multiple sources of uncertainty, including unknown future pathways of fossil fuel and water consumption, and ‘irreducible’ uncertainty arising from internal climate system variability. Such internal variability can conceal forced hydroclimatic changes on multi-decadal timescales and near-continental spatial-scales. Using three projections of population growth, a large ensemble from a single Earth system model, and assuming stationary per capita water consumption, we quantify the likelihoods of future population exposure to increased hydroclimatic deficits, which we define as the average duration and magnitude by which evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation …

Effects Of Initial Aquifer Conditions On Economic Benefits From Groundwater Conservation, T. Foster, N. Brozovic, A. P. Butler

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Worldwide, there is growing recognition of the need to reduce agricultural groundwater use in response to rapid rates of aquifer depletion. To date, however, few studies have evaluated how benefits of conservation vary along an aquifer’s depletion pathway. To address this question, we develop an integrated modeling framework that couples an agro-economic model of farmers’ field-level irrigation decisionmaking with a borehole-scale groundwater flow model. Unique to this framework is the explicit consideration of the dynamic reductions in well yields that occur as an aquifer is depleted, and how these changes in intraseasonal groundwater supply affect farmers’ ability to manage production …