Water Resource Management Commons^™

Index Construction For Multiple Objective Analysis Of Land And Water Use In A High Mountain Watershed, L. Douglas James, Dean T. Larson, Mac Mckee, Jay J. Messer, Thomas M. Twedt, Randy Sperger, Barbara D. Campion, Frank J. Nemanich, Donald B. Porcella, Herbert H. Fullerton

Reports

Comprehensive planning is an elusive ideal. The practical planner must sort the relevant information from the vast amounts of data that modern technology can collect. The objective of this study was to use the Upper Blackfoot watershed in the mountains of Southeastern Idaho as an arena for developing methods for construction, refinement, and application of indices needed to design land and water management schemes, compare alternatives, and influence the public in their uses of the area. A total of 21 uses were examined on 242 land units of a 160 square-mile area ranging in elevation from 6300 to 9000 feet …

Evaluation Of The Potential For Groundwater Transport Of Mutagenic Compounds Released By Spent Oil Shale, Robert E. Hinchee, V. Dean Adams, Jeffrey G. Curtis, Alberta J. Seierstad

Reports

The major focus of this study was on the potential mutagenicity of aqueous leachates from spent oil shale. Additional mutagenicity testing was also done on raw shale and coal. The Ames salmonella microsomal bioassay was used to test for chemical mutagenicity. Spent oil sahles from the Paraho and TOSCO II processes, a raw shale from Anvil Points, and a composite coal sample from the Wasatch plateau were extracted with water and organic solvents. Only organic solvent extraction of the TOSCO spent shale resulted in a mutagenic response. The lack of mutgenic reponse to organic extracts of Paraho spent shale was …

Eutrophication Assessment Of Mt. Dell Reservoir, Richard A. Hanson, V. Dean Adams, Vincent A. Lamarra, Kyle R. Cook, Dennis B. George

Reports

The degree and possible causes of eutrophication in Mt. Dell Reservoir, a small water supply reservoir in Parleys Canyon above Salt Lake City, were examined with a number of limnological studes. These studies described external (incoming stream flow) and internal (sediment) nutrient sources, general limnology, nutrient limitations, and trophic state. A monthly program of sampling at selected stream sites determined taht one area of mixed agricultural and undistrubed rangeland contributed significant amounts of total soluble inorganic nitrogen. Sediment phosphorus uptake and release rates were determined with aquatic three-phase microcosms. The results indicated that sediment phosphorus mass loadings were small (less …

A Preliminary Quantification Of The Impacts Of Aspen To Conifer Succession On Water Yield Within The Colorado River Basin (A Process Aggravating The Salt Pollution Problem), Gerald F. Gifford, William Humphries, Richard A. Jaynes

Reports

Heat pulse velocity techniques were developed for effectively monitoring water movement in aspen (Populus ttremuloides), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), and Englemann spruce (Picea engelmannii). Once the techniques were perfected, transpiration was monitored in replicated trees of each species for one year. This data was used to modify the plant activity index and the crop coefficient for each species within the model ASPCON, a deterministic, lumped-parameter model describing the hydrology of aspen to conifer succession. Results of the modeling indicate 18.5 cm(7.3 in) net loss of moisture available for stream flow when spruce replace aspen, and a loss of 7.1 cm …

Conjunctive Water Use Planning With Water Quality Constraints In Tooele Valley, Utah, Bhasker Rao K., Calvin G. Clyde, Rangesan Narayanan

Reports

The need for more efficient water management is gaining recognition due to the increased cost of water supply, the growth in the demand for water, and greater environmental and social impacts of water programs. "Conjunctive use" of surfact and groundwater resources provides opportunities for increasing net benefits to the water users. Past "conjunctive use" studies, however, have usually not included water quality constraints. In Tooele valley, Utah, spatial variation of groundwater qualtity (total dissolved solids) is significant. The areas of good (400-500 mg/1), fair (500-1,000 mg/1), and poor (1,000-3,000 mg/1) quality groundwaters were identified in an earlier study by the …

An Economic Evaluation Of Benefits And Costs Of Maintaining Instream Flows, Rangesan Narayanan, Dean T. Larson, A. Bruce Bishop, Parvaneh Amirfathi

Reports

Instream flows enhance recreation, hydropower, fish and wildlife maintenance, and riverine ecosytems. Each use has water requirements that vary over time in unique patterns. The determination of the overall instream requirement at any given time must be considered in competition with the demand for municipal and agricultural uses. Two obstacles to integrating instream uses into the appropriation system of water law are difficulty in satisfying the legal requirements of an appropriation for a public use and the fact that instream flow uses are considered more "environmental" than "economic" in character. The extreme options for allocating flow between these user groups …

Drought Management Concepts: Lessons Of The 1976-1977 U.S. Drought, Rangesan Narayanan, Herbert H. Fullerton, Trevor C. Hughes, A. Bruce Bishop, Mac Mckee, Dean T. Larson, Hamid Fakhraei

Reports

Three approaches to drought management are developed as generalized mathematical models. Each model is then applied to particular locations in Utah using the hydrologic/economic data from the 1976-77 drought. The modeling approaches include: (1) A multiple regression approach is used to quantify the changes in water use achieved by three common municipal sector rationing policies: (a) restrictions on time of outdoor use, (b) price increases, and (c) mandatory quantity restrictions (2) A model was presented for determing the optimal long term price schedule for rationing a stochastically variable water supply during summer peak demand season among groups of municipal water …

Alteration Of Availability Of Heavy Metals To Aquatic Microflora By Complexation With Organics Associated With Oil Shale Development, Bruce S. Mok, Jay J. Messer

Reports

Leachates from both raw (unretorted) and Paraho retorted oil shale show the ability to bind copper, and perhaps cadmium, strongly enough to mitigate the inhibitory effects of these metals on the growth of the test algal,

Reconnaissance Of Sediment-Phosphorus Relationships In Some Utah Reservoirs, Jay J. Messer, Jean M. Ihnat

Reports

Introduction: Phosphorus inputs to lakes and reservoirs from tributary streams and non-point sources are well-known contributors to nuisance algal growths that degrade water quality for potable and recreational uses in lakes and reservoirs. However, phosphours inputs to the euphotic zone may also occur from within the lake itself, as a result of releases from both oxic and anoxid sediments. Such releases may originate from phosphorus inputs to a lake or reservoir during high runoff periods in the previous winder or spring, or they may represent phosphorus trapped in the sediment many years earlier, when phosphorus contributions from natural or anthropogenic …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Are They A Problem In Processed Oil Shales?, David L. Maase, V. Dean Adams

Reports

Organic residues from processed oil shales were characterisized with specific attention to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Oil shale development in the White River Basin (Utah and Colorado) was projected and hydrological and geological parameters pertinent to estimations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) flux were focused. Oil shale samples from the Union B, Paraho, and Tosco II processes were extracted by using organic solvents in a soxhlet apparatus and by mixing shale samples with water (characterization in

Adapting Water Services To Urban Growth: A Case Study Of Salt Lake County, Dean T. Larson, Kirk R. Kimball, Calvin W. Hiibner, Jay M. Bagley

Reports

Urbanizing areas thorughout the nation are considering governmental reorganization or consolidation to coordinate planning and improve the cost effectiveness of the delivery of public services. More efficient water supply and wastewater services may become important in the political debate over reorganization. However water factors figure politically, accomplished reorganizations must carefully plan for efficent provision of water services. This study profiles the structure and interactions of municipalities and water service agencies in Utah's Salt Lake County during the 1970s. Both 1975 and 1978 attempts to consolidate Salt Lake City and the unincorporated areas of the county failed. The voting patterns, interest …

Adapting Appropriation Water Law To Accommodate Equitable Consideration Of Instream Flow Uses, Jay M. Bagley, Dean T. Larson, Lee Kapaloski

Reports

The increasing public interest in naturally flowing streams has fostered efforts to obtain their protection under existing state water laws. In this study, the water laws of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming were examined and compared 1) with each other, and 2) against a set of aleitn criteria, to assess shortcomings in accommodating instream flow protections. It was determined that the appropriation system has the essential features of and ambodies legal principles that should allow the accommodation of instream flow values but, at this time, purchase of existing rights or the exercise of governmental reservation/withdrawal/appropriation …

Impediments To Effective Interactions Between Multipurpose Water Districts And Other Governmental Institutions In Urbanizing Areas, Jay M. Bagley, Frank W. Haws, Wendell B. Anderson, Daniel H. Hoggan, Lee Kapaloski

Reports

Water institutions are highly diffused throughout society. These institutions interact with one another in various ways. As water needs and services expand, collaborative and cooperative arrangements are commonly sought as a means of meeting common goals of providing a safe, dependable adn least cost water supply to particular constituencies. Of the many different institutions involved in the development, managment, distribution, and use of water, perhaps the most significant in terms of extensive interactions with other institutions is the kind that is typified by Water Conservancy Districts and Metropolitan Water Districts in Utah. The statutory and operating framework of counterpart organizations …

Some Lake Level Control Alternatives For The Great Salt Lake, Marvin E. Allen, Ronald K. Christensen, J. Paul Riley

Reports

Fluctuations of the level of the Great Salt Lake cause large changes in both surface area and shoreline. Developments adjacent to the lake have been damaged by both high and low lake levels; and unless measures are implemented to regulate lake level fluctuations or otherwise to protect these developments, damages will continue. Various possible managment alternatives for mitigating potential damages from lake level fluctuations need to be examined and evaluated. In this study, three possible techniques are examined for reducing damages from fluctuating water levels at the lake, namely: 1. Consumptively using an increased proportion of the inflowing fresh waters …

Aquatic Resources Management Of The Colorado River Ecosystem, V. Dean Adams, Vincent A. Lamarra

Reports

The Colorado River system has often been referred to as "the most regulated river system in the world." The Colorado River Basin serves millions of people through agricultural, energy, municipal and industrial uses, fish and wildlife activities, and recreation. The symposium was conceived and organized to allow researchers, private industry, consultants, water users, regulatory agencies, and concerned citizens the opportunity to express needs, desires, and concerns about the vast resources of the Colorado River. We found that there were a diverse number of problems confronting the individuals who are involved in the management of this important ecosystem. A variety of …

Hydrologic Evaluation Of The Coastal Belt Water Project Sarir And Tazerbo Well Fields, Libya, Edward P. Fisk, Christopher J. Duffy, Calvin G. Clyde, Roland W. Jeppson, Phillip H. Degroot, Bhasker Rao K., Win-Kai Liu

Reports

Executive Summary: The basic purpose of this study was to conduct a finite-element computer model and give an dindependent appraisal of the reliability of the groundwater supply for the proposed Coastal Belt Water Project (CBWP_ Well Fields at Sarir and Tazerbo. There is no doubt that ample quantities of groundwater of acceptable quality occur at the sites selected for these well fields for the estimated 50-year life of the project and longer. Of major concern is the predicted drawdown of wells and total pumping lifts throughout the 50-year period. Excessive drawdowns could cause operating costs to become prohibitibely expensive. Average …

Chemical Changes In Groundwater Of Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Paul E. Fairbanks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Northern Utah Valley is one of the fastest growing areas of Utah and has increasing needs for domestic, industrial, and agricultural water. To meet these needs, groundwater and surface water systems must be understood to maximize their use. Chemical studies of the sediment mineralogy and related water-chemistry give insight to the movement of the water.

There are three major aquifers present in the valley: shallow Pleistocene; deep Pleistocene; and Tertiary. They are composed of sands and gravels and are separated by confining layers (aquitards) composed mostly of clay. Along the flanks of the bordering mountains there are undifferentiated aquifers which …

Evaluation Of The Utah Operational Weather Modification Program, Geoffrey E. Hill

Reports

This study is an evaluation of a winter orographic cloud seeding project in Utah. The evaluation is based upon both intensive field measurements and historic~l records. For the field measurements, ground and airborne data were collected during February and March, 1981 in the vicinity of the Tushar Mountains. In evaluating the physical data three aspects are emphasized: the dispersal of artificial ice nuclei, the distribution of supercooled liquid water, and the growth and trajectories of precipitation. Ground based measurements were made by K and X band radars, a dual frequency microwave radiometer, a network of precipitation gauges, an ice nucleus …

Lake Powell Water Quality Programs And Associated Files, A Users' Guide To Programs Powell And Powplot, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Reclamation

Water

During the summer of 1980, work began at the Engineering and Research Center, Bureau of Reclamation, to develop a computerized method for analyzing Lake Powell water quality data. Lake Powell, in southeastern Utah is formed by Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River at Page, Arizona. This work was carried out by Mr. Greg A. Keller under the supervision of Mr. David H. Merritt in the Colorado River Water Quality Office. By July of 1981, two computer programs, named POWELL and POWPLOT, had been produced. This document is intended to provide guidance for the user of these programs.

An Evaluation Of The Performance Of A Modified Overland Flow Wastewater Treatment System: Sloped Rock-Grass Filtration, Daria Wightman, Dennis B. George, John H. Zirschky, Daniel S. Filip, Judith Sims

Reports

The effectiveness of a sloped rock-grass filtration system in treating municipal wastewater was tested on a 24 m by 36 m (80 ft by 120 ft) slope on a 2.5 percent grade sown with a mixture of rye grass, fescue grass, and bluegrass. The field was divided into six plots, each approximately 3.5 m wide and 36 m long. Three of the plots (slope-rock) were constructed with 9 m of gravel, 7.6 cm deep, on the upper reaches of the slope. Raw (screened, degritted) municipal wastewater from Hyrum, Utah, was applied to the slope-rock sections at application rates of 13 …

Catalytic Oxidation Of Sulfur Dioxide In Wastewater, Ernest J. Upton, V. Dean Adams

Reports

Sulfur dioxide has been shown to be an effective wastewater disinfectant. The aqueous sulfur dioxide creates and oxygen demand in the effulent which must be removed prior to discharge. Oxidation to sulfate is one means of accomplishing this task. Experiments were carried out to determine the effectiveness of transition metals and activated carbon as catalysts for the oxidation of S+IV species in wastewater. Both the metals and carbon are known catalysis, but what inhibitory effect the wastewater might have was unknown. Effectiveness was defined as a combination of catalyst life, effluent quality, and cost. Tradition metals were eliminated as potential …

Evaluation Of Selected Mulches And Specialty Erosion Control Products Under Simulated Rain, C. Earl Israelsen, Eugene K. Israelsen, William N. Mcneill

Reports

Introduction: Utilizing a rainfall simulator, a sunlight simulator, and a wind generator, the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL), Utah State University (USU), completed in 1979 and 1981 a series of evaluations of erosion control products for CONWED Corporation. Increasingly more commercial products for controlling erosion are being produced nationally and there remains a need to evaluate the effectiveness of these, one against another, in order that potential users may make cost-effective decisions in their use. CONWED recognizes this need and has funded the comparative testing of its own products and some of those of leading competitors throughout the country. The …

Consumptive Use And Water Requirements For Utah, A. Leon Huber, Frank W. Haws, Trevor C. Hughes, Jay M. Bagley

Reports

Foreword: Studies on the meteorological determinants of evapotranspiration were initiated at least as long ago as the 1920s and by the late 1940s had produced the Blaney-Criddle method for estimating crop consumptive use. The resulting ability to estimate water requirements by both location and crop added a new scientific dimension to water rights administration that was first introduced into the courts of Utah during adjudication of water rights in the Escalante Valley in 1949. Application of the consumptive use concept to water rights administration and water resources planning, however, required a wirtten reference. Technical Publication No. 8 entitled "Consumptive Use …

Organizational Alternatives To Achieve Greater Uniformity In State-Wide Water Rights Management In Utah, Daniel H. Hoggan, Kirk R. Kimball, Jay M. Bagley, Frank W. Haws

Reports

In the distribution of water among users in the state of Utah there is lack of organizational uniformity. On some rivers, the state engineer is assisted by river sommissioners who have been appointed to measure and monitor water deliveries. On other rivers there are no comissioners; problems and disputes must be settled on a case by case basis by the state engineer. The responsibilities, arrangements, salaries, and methods of payment for commissioners vary from basin to basin. A more unifed distribution organization composed of state-employed water sommissioners would have several advantages over the existing system of commissioners employed by local …

Further Studies Of A Cache Valley Residence Having A Groundwater Heat Pump, Michael L. Henrie

Reports

The thermal behavior of a 5-ton groundwater heat pump and the wood-frame house in which it is installed (located in Logan, Utah, latitude 44°49’; elevation 4775 ft.) were investigated during two 30 day peak use periods, the first in late summer and the second in mid-winter. Continuous measurements were taken of indoor and outdoor temperatures, groundwater temperatures, supply and return air temperatures, gallons of groundwater cycled, and Btu rejected or absorbed. These measurements were used for 1) determining the instantaneous heat gains and/or heat losses of the house by conduction and infiltration of both periods studied and 2) computing the …

Defining Stream Fish Microhabitat Requirements For Water Project Planning, William T. Helm

Reports

Brown trout daily activities were divided into two braod categories, resting and feeding, and the population was divided into three size groups (one of which is reported on here), based on the timing and location of these activities. Microhabitat components, measured previously in four rivers at sites occupied by fish, were utilized to develop usable componenet ranges for each size group and activity to illustrate the breadth of component values utilized out of the total range available. Microhabitat is thus described as a range of numerical values for each componenet of a specific set of components. A 90 meter section …

Potential Of Water And Salt Yields From Surface Runoff On Public Lands In The Price River Basin, J. Paul Riley, Eugene K. Israelsen, William N. Mcneill, Brian Peckins

Reports

The report examines possible sources of dissolved salts in the Price River basin. Ephemeral and intermittent streams contributed dissolved salts and are the focus of the study. Seven subwatersheds and the Price River at Heiner are investigated to examine the effects of existing watershed characteristics on runoff and dissolved salts production. Alternatley, the report examines the effects of specific land treatments on surface runoff quantity and quality. Various instrumentation techniques are evalauted to help improve future data collected capabilities in intermittent channels. The examination of the data reveals various trends that might be considered for further investigation in subsequent studies.

Salt Uptake In Natural Channels Traversing Mancos Shales In The Price River Basin, Utah, J. Paul Riley, D. George Chadwick, Lester S. Dixon, L. Douglas James, William J. Grenney, Eugene K. Israelsen

Reports

Field and laboratory measurements of process rates for runoff and salt movement were used to develop and calibrate a hydrosalinity model of outlfows from the Price River Basin at Woodside, Utah. The field measurements were specifically used to formulate a model for estimating surface flow (both overland and from small ephemeral channels) in the Coal Creek Basin on the valley floor of the Price River Basin. The basin simulation assessment model (BSAM) was used to combine local flows and model total outflow from the Price River. The results must be regarded as a first generation model that, while giving ostensibly …

An Evaluation Of Water Conservation Techniques In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Rangesan Narayanan, Douglas R. Franklin

Reports

The Upper Colorado River Basin states contain large deposits of oil shale, tar sands, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, which are or could be used to produce refined petroleum products, natural and synthetic gas, and eletrical power. Agriculture is the predominant water consuming industry of the basin, accounting for 90 percent of the total depletions. Future energy development in the Upper Colorado River Basin will compete with agriculture for the limited supply of water by bidding up the price of water. The study attempts to identify the need for government-sponsored water conservation measures in conjunction with other water saving …

Potential For Acid Snowmelt In The Wasatch Mountains, Jay J. Messer, Lloyd Slezak, Charles I. Liff

Reports

Snowmelt collected from snow cores taken from the 1982 spring snowpack in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah lacked mineral acidity and retained enough buffering capacity in the form of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates to titrate additional inputs of strong acid equivalent to the amount apparently already neutralized. While acid anion concentrations were higher than those found in pristine areas, they were much lower than those reported for winter precipitation in other western areas experiencing acidification of precipitation. Snowmelt pH ranged from 5.62 to 6.88 (mean = 6.17), and sulfate was relatively more important than nitrate, showing an average equivalent …