Water Resource Management Commons^™

Probabilistic Estimation Of Water Conservation Effectiveness, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

An analytical method is derived to describe the distribution of water quantity saved among customers within a water-use sector who adopt a water conservation action. Analytical results tend toward lognormal distributions with long tails, quantifying a smaller subset of customers that show potential to achieve large savings. Example effectiveness distributions are shown for seven long-term conservation actions potentially implemented by urban, domestic water users in Amman, Jordan. Monte Carlo simulations verify the analytical derivations. The probabilistic outputs contrast with common methods that estimate conservation action effectiveness as a product of typical (average) characteristics for disaggregated customer groups. Implications to size …

Bear River Watershed Historical Digital Collection, Cheryl D. Walters, Stephen C. Strugeon

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

This presentation to the Bear River Water Commission introduced a new digital collection of images and text resources about the Bear River Watershed in Utah and Idaho.

Micro-Structural And Phase Configuration Effects Determining Water Content: Dielectric Relationships Of Aggregated Porous Media, J. M. Blonquist, Jr., Scott B. Jones, I. Lebron, D. A. Robinson

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Many porous media in which we determine water content are aggregated and characterized by a dual-porosity pore network, composed of interaggregate pores and intra-aggregate pores. This paper reports sample-scale permittivity measurements made in four stable aggregate media with dual porosity. Results indicate two distinct dielectric responses depending on whether the aggregates are surrounded by water or air. We relate transitions in the permittivity response to the water retention characteristic (WRC), showing that after the interaggregate pores have drained, the slope of the water content–permittivity relationship is significantly reduced (permittivity values ranging from 5 to 7). The hydraulic critical water content …

Movement Behavior And Habitat Selection Of The Endangered June Sucker (Chasmistes Liorus) In Utah Lake, Utah, Kris A. Buelow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The June sucker (Chasmistes liorus) is a pelagic feeding sucker endemic to Utah Lake, Utah. It has been listed as an endangered species with the present population being estimated with as few as 300 individuals. Efforts to reinvigorate the population by placing breeding age individuals and augmenting the population with hatchery-reared fish have proved to have had limited success. At this stage there is an imperative to understand the behavioral traits and life history of June sucker to retrieve them from the brink. Previous efforts have been hampered by few individuals and a difficult habitat to study. Utah …

Sneak Preview: Bear River Watershed Historical Digital Collection, Cheryl D. Walters, Cheryl D. Walters

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

Provides early look at a new digital collection assembling image and text resources about the Bear River Watershed in Utah and Idaho.

Salinity Controls Phytoplankton Response To Nutrient Enrichment In The Great Salt Lake, Utah, Usa, Amy M. Marcarelli, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, O. Griset

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

To examine how salinity and nutrient supply interact to control phytoplankton community composition, nutrient limitation, and dinitrogen (N2) fixation rates in the Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA), we conducted a series of bioassay experiments with plankton from both Gilbert Bay, where salinities are near 160 g·L–1, and Farmington Bay, where salinities range from 10 to 90 g·L–1. Six-day nutrient addition bioassay experiments showed that the extant phyto plankton communities in both bays were limited by nitrogen (N). However, in 28- to 30-day factorial bioassay experiments in which both salinities and nutrient supply were manipulated, phosphorus stimulated chlorophyll a as much …

Watershed Management To Control Pollution In The Ayuquila River, Jalisco, Mexico, Luis Manuel Martinez Rivera

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Ayuquila River watershed is important to western Mexico because of its biodiversity, physiography, fisheries resources, and water production. However, human activities are continuingly affecting natural resources within the basin. Soil erosion, as result of land use change, agriculture in steep land, extensive grazing activities and forest fires; and water diversion and pollution of the Ayuquila River are two relevant issues that have affected the natural resources of this watershed.

This river system plays an important role in wildlife conservation, containing 29 fish species, of which 12 are found inside the BRSM. The River also contains nine species of crustacean, …

Winter Ecology Of Kokanee: Implications For Salmon Management, G. B. Steinhart, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We sampled various limnological parameters and measured growth and diet of age-0 kokanee Oncorhynchus nerka (lacustrine sockeye salmon) during two winters in a high-mountain lake of the Sawtooth Valley, Idaho. Although winter has been recognized as an important period for many warmwater fishes and for stream-dwelling salmonids, winter limitations have only recently been studied for coolwater and coldwater species. Ice and snow cover in winter limited light penetration. As a result, chlorophyll-a and zooplankton density were lower in ice-covered periods than during ice-free periods. The weight of stomach contents was often below a maintenance ration, yet the incidence of empty …

Water Management: Partnerships For Future Directions (Research And Testing Education Support Outreach), Mac Mckee

Reports

The UWRL is uniquely positioned to form collaborations with USU departments, other academic institutions and water centers, government, and private sector organizations involved in addressing water issues. The strong and consistent support of the State of Utah illustrates the importance of water and the creation of knowledge to manage water in Utah and the surrounding western states. The scope of projects ranges from multimillion dollar partnerships related to soil and groundwater remediation with national impacts, to small scale projects related to outreach to a specific city or county public sector audience. The UWRL mission, the strategy used to accomplish the …

Quantifying Potential Urban Landscape Water Conservation Through Billing Data Analysis In Layton, Utah, Roger Kjelgren, Fayek A. Farag, Christopher M. U. Neale, Joanna Endter-Wada, Judith Kurtzman

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Natural Channel Design To Restore The Greenwater River, Washington, Gregory J. Laurie

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Channelization of the Greenwater River has resulted in a loss of habitat for Chinook salmon, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In order to restore habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms, a design was developed to restore meanders to the original floodplain. The channel design process began at the watershed scale, and progressed down to the scale of the stream channel. A twelve-step design process was followed that considered the influence of watershed disturbances on channel forming processes. Trends in sediment yield were assessed using an existing landslide inventory, and changes in channel pattern were …

Effects Of Epilimnetic Versus Metalimnetic Fertilization On The Phytoplankton And Periphyton Of A Mountain Lake With A Deep Chlorophyll Maxima, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. P. Gross, Phaedra E. Budy, Chris Luecke

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Nutrients can load directly to either the epilimnion or metalimnion of lakes via either differential inflow depths of tributaries or intentional fertilization of discrete strata. We evaluated the differential effects of epilimnetic versus metalimnetic nutrient loading using 17-m-deep mesocosms that extended into the deep chlorophyll layer of oligotrophic Pettit Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. Addition of nitrogen plus phosphorus stimulated primary production nearly identically (2.4- to 4-fold on different dates) in both treatments, with the production peaks occurring in the strata where nutrients were added. The metalimnetic fertilization, however, resulted in equal or greater stimulation of chlorophyll a …

Salmonine Consumption And Competition For Endemic Prey Fishes In Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho, J. R. Ruzycki, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Chris Luecke

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Two principal sport fish—the indigenous Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki utah and the introduced lake trout Salvelinus namaycush—are the dominant piscivores in Bear Lake, a 282-km^2 oligotrophic system. These piscivores rely predominantly on four endemic prey fish species that make up a major portion of the unique Bear Lake fish assemblage. We estimated the annual biomass of pelagic and benthic prey fish by using hydroacoustic and trawling techniques. We also estimated the lakewide abundance of piscivores with a multiple mark–recapture survey and used a bioenergetics model to compare the population-level consumption of prey fish with prey fish production. Prey fish …

Development Of A Low-Cost, Self-Calibrating Stream Gaging Station, Gilberto Urroz, Robert C. Leines, Garryn L. Perret, Jared M. Holland, Brian E. Hunsaker

Reports

Executive Summary: The present report presents a review of the state-of-the-art technologies for the development of a low-cost, self-calibrating stream gaging station. The research was conducted by the Utah Water Research Laboratory with funding provided by the Utah Division of Water Resources through Project RP 110080, March 1998. The report presents a review of the current practices in stream gaging and how technologies such as remote data telemetry through the use of satellite, cellular phone communications, and radio telemetry can be used for the real-time transmission of data. The study also includes the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) for …

Under-Ice Diel Vertical Migrations Of Oncorhynchus Nerka And Their Zooplankton Prey, G. B. Steinhart, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We used stationary hydroacoustics and measures of environmental conditions (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, light levels, and zooplankton) to determine what factors, foraging or predation risk, influenced diel vertical migrations of Oncorhynchus nerka during winter in three high-mountain lakes. The Sawtooth Valley lakes are deep, oligotrophic, glacial lakes located in central Idaho, U.S.A., and historically contained populations of anadromous O. nerka. In general, low light intensities limited foraging opportunities of O. nerka under ice, especially at night. In Stanley Lake, O. nerka underwent diel vertical migrations to exploit available light to feed. Oncorhynchus nerka occupied shallow water at night, where there …

Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts Of Juvenile Bear Lake Sculpin, J. Ruzycki, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Bear lake sculpin Cottus extensus exhibit ontogenetic habitat shifts during their initial year of life. Distribution and habitat switching was measured with bimonthly bottom-trawl surveys repeated throughout the summer. Patterns of daily growth increments on otoliths were used to measure the history of habitat residence, individual size at the time of the habitat switch, and habitat-specific growth rates. Laboratory experiments and known-age fish confirmed daily increment formation of otoliths. After dispersing during an initial pelagic larval stage, postlarval juveniles settled in both the warm, food-rich littoral zone and the cold, unproductive profundal zone. During summer, initial profundal-zone inhabitants underwent a …

The Role Of Anadromous Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) In The Nutrient Loading And Productivity Of The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, H. P. Gross, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Chris Luecke

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We constructed a simulation model for Redfish Lake, Idaho, using water budget and nutrient loading measurements, to predict the dependence of lake production on nutrients from the watershed, precipitation, lake fertilization, and marine-derived nutrients from sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, which historically have reared in the lake. We also used the model to simulate different management scenarios to help restore the endangered Snake River sockeye salmon. The model and other empirical evidence indicated that even before hydropower dams were present in the migration corridor, marine-derived nutrients were not of major importance to lake production, contributing only about 3% of the annual …

Adding Nutrients To Enhance The Growth Of Endangered Sockeye Salmon: Trophic Transfer In An Oligotrophic Lake, Phaedra E. Budy, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, listed under U.S. law as endangered in 1991 in response to a decline in anadromous adult numbers, spend their first 1–2 years in Redfish Lake, Idaho, before migrating to the sea. To determine how nutrient enhancement might influence phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish production, we performed fertilization experiments in large enclosures in this oligotrophic lake using juvenile kokanee (lacustrine O. nerka) as analogues for endangered sockeye salmon. Fertilization of the metalimnion substantially increased chlorophyll a (150%), phytoplankton biovolume (75%), primary productivity (250%), and zooplankton biomass (200%), and moderately increased fish growth (12%) over our control …

Channel Narrowing Of The Green River Near Green River, Utah: History, Rates, And Processes Of Narrowing, Tyler M. Allread

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous scientific research has documented channel narrowing on the Green River near Green River, Utah, but the exact timing, rates, and causal mechanisms of that narrowing have been the source of disagreement in the scientific literature. This thesis demonstrates that the Green River has narrowed in two separate periods during the last 100 years. The narrowing is driven primarily by changes in the hydrologic regime and not by the invasion of saltcedar. The channel narrowed between 1930 and 1938, when a shift from wetter than normal conditions to a period of draught led to a reduction in river discharge. Channel …

Fertilization Of An Oligotrophic Lake With A Deep Chlorophyll Maximum: Predicting The Effect On Primary Productivity, H. P. Gross, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Phaedra E. Budy, Chris Luecke

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We investigated how epilimnetic fertilization would affect chlorophyll levels and light penetration of oligotrophic sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) lakes and how the resulting self-shading would affect primary production of the prominent deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) of the lakes. Epilimnetic nutrient additions to large mesocosms (330 m3) in Redfish Lake, Idaho, increased levels of primary productivity and chlorophyll a but decreased Secchi depths and light available in the metalimnion and hypolimnion. Redfish Lake and other Sawtooth Valley (Idaho) lakes had DCM in which the mean chlorophyll a peaks were 240-1000% of mean epilimnetic chlorophyll a concentrations. The DCM existed at low …

Hydroacoustic Assessment Of Abundance And Diel Distribution Of Sockeye Salmon And Kokanee In The Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho, D. Beauchamp, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. G. Gross, Phaedra E. Budy, S. Spaulding, R. Dilenger, C. P. Gubala

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We used dual-beam hydroacoustics and echo integration techniques, combined with midwater trawling and gillnetting, to assess the abundance and distribution of the endangered Snake River juvenile sockeye salmon and resident kokanee (both Oncorhynchus nerka) in Sawtooth Valley lakes of Idaho during September 1991 and 1992. Abundance of O. nerka varied among the four lakes containing this species (12,500–257,000) and varied between years in Redfish Lake (86,400 in 1994 and 241,000 in 1992) and Alturas Lake (230,000 in 1991 and 257,000 in 1992). In Alturas Lake, where piscivore densities were high and zooplankton densities were low, small acoustic targets (≤18 cm …

Nutrient Limitation Of Oligotrophic Sockeye Salmon Lakes Of Idaho (Usa), Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, H. P. Gross, Chris Luecke, Phaedra E. Budy

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

"Phytoplankton production in lake ecosystems is frequently controlled by amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus (Smith 1982, Elser et al. 1990), as well as minor- and micro-nutrients (Wurtsbaugh & Horne 1983, Wurtsbaugh 1988, Lovstad & Bjorndalen 1990). Nutrient limitation is often studied to determine which nutrient(s) should be reduced to control lake eutrophication (Schindler 1974(. Conversely, nutrients have been used for decades to stimulate plankton and, subsequently, fish production in aquaculture (Bardach et al. 1972). More recently, lake fertilization has been used to augment salmon runs for commercial exploitation (Hyatt & Stockner 1985, lye et al. 1988), and it has been …

What Limits Tailed Frog Tadpole Density And Distribution In Western Montana Streams?, Megan Barker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

We explored the possible limitation of temperature and other habitat features on tailed frog tadpole populations in northwestern Montana. We sampled densities and habitat features in two regions with different climatic regimes and in streams with and without tadpoles, expecting larger density and size in the warmer region. We also expected habitat conditons to be more optimal (higher gradient, swifter velocity, and less canopy cover) in streams with tadpoles. Temperature appeared to positively influence tadpole size, though both tadpole size and density were strongly correlated with other variables. Density was correlated with gradient, canopy, depth, and elevation, whereas length was …

Global Climate Change Response Program, Water Yield In Semiarid Environment Under Projected Climate Change, United States Department Of The Interior

Water

This paper presents the practical application of a distributed parameter climate vegetation hydrologic model (CVHM) and its ability to simulate hydrologic response under existing conditions and under assumed CO₂-induced climate and vegetation change. Applying the model to the Weber River basin provided a basis for determining the impacts of climate change on the hydrologic response. By using a "what if" scenario this model included the changes in plant transpiration rates and in vegetation cover under a CO₂-altered climate change and the effects of these changes on water yield.

Simulated Growth And Production Of Endangered Snake River Sockeye Salmon: Assessing Management Strategies For The Nursery Lakes, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Phaedra E. Budy, H. P. Gross

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We examined the potential of employing a series of lake management strategies to enhance production of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in its historical nursery lakes in central Idaho. We used a combination of limnological sampling, experimentation, and simulation modeling to assess effects of lake fertilization and kokanee reduction on growth and survival of juvenile sockeye salmon. Juvenile sockeye salmon from a broodstock of this endangered species are being introduced into the lakes from 1995 to 1998. Results of our analyses indicated that several lakes were suitable for receiving broodstock progeny. Field experimentation and simulation modeling indicated that …

Effects Of Daphnia Availability On Growth And Food Consumption Of Rainbow Trout In Two Utah Reservoirs, R. Tabor, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We monitored the diet and growth of stocked rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in two Utah reservoirs during 1986 and 1989–1990. For the first month after stocking, juvenile rainbow trout in both reservoirs fed extensively on large Daphnia spp. In East Canyon Reservoir where Daphnia were abundant, this pattern continued throughout the summer, fall, and winter. Growth of rainbow trout in East Canyon Reservoir was generally good throughout 1989–1990. In Causey Reservoir, where Daphnia were less abundant and smaller, rainbow trout fed progressively less on smaller Daphnia throughout the summer, fall, and winter, while other prey items (snails, aquatic insects, and …

Cache County Water Demand/Supply Model, Trevor C. Hughes, Gregory J. Norby, Laxman Thyagarajan

Reports

This report descibes a municipal water demand forecasting model for use in areas of mixed rural and urban housing types. A series of residential demand functions were derived which forecast water demand based on the ype and density of housing and season. Micro sampling techniques were used to correlate water use data and explanatory variable data for low, medium, and high density housing. The demand functions were incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) platform cosisting of a desk-top mapping program, MapInfo, coupled with a user interface program written in Visual Basic. The GIS-based model analyzes water demand at the …

The Study Of The Resistance And Stability Of Vegetation Ecosystem Plant Groupings In Flood Control Channels: Vol. 1, William Rahmeyer, David Werth

Reports

Preface: The following report was prepared by the utah Water Research Laboratory of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Volume 1 of the UWRL report USU--400A contains the data summary and conclusions of flow tests conducted with different plant types and ecosystem groupings of shrubs and woody vegetation in the hydraulics flumes of Utah State University. The methodology and equations that were developed to predict flow resistance for fultiple plant types include the effects of plant fexibility, varying plant density, plant characteristics, and multiple plant stems. The study included over 214 flow tests, testing of 20 different plant types, 5 …

Utah Water Research Laboratory Publications Listing 1993-1996, David S. Bowles, Leaunda S. Hemphill

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Lake Fertilization As A Tool To Assist In The Recovery Of The Snake River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka), Howard P. Gross

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I analyzed lake fertilization (with nitrogen and phosphorus) as a tool to assist in the recovery of the Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the oligotrophic Sawtooth Valley Lakes in southcentral Idaho. These analyses involved monitoring, manipulating, and modelling several aspects of the lakes' primary producer, nutrient, and light parameters.

In Pettit Lake, I evaluated the effects of metalimnetic and epilimnetic fertilization in 330-m³ mesocosms. The metalimnetic treatment was equal to or more effective than the epilimnetic treatment in increasing chlorophyll a, phytoplankton biovolume, and primary productivity, yet caused smaller changes in periphyton growth and …