Water Resource Management Commons^™

Regulatory Drivers For The Upper Illinois River And Other Regional Watersheds, Ray Weida

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Environmental regulations are put in place to protect the air, water and land from threat of pollution. Regulatory programs establish pollution limits, determine compliance, and enforce environmental laws and regulations for waterbodies within the watershed based on the designated uses for the individual waterbody. These established regulations make sure that the state’s mandatory standards for clean water and the minimum federal standards are being achieved. Environmental regulations are established on both the federal and state levels. On the federal level, Congress has authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other governmental agencies to create and enforce regulations. The EPA delegates …

Treatment Of Displaced Indigenous Populations In Two Large Hydro Projects In Panama, Mary Finley-Brook, Curtis Thomas

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

The World Commission on Dams provided an analytical overview of the cumulative effects of years of dam development. A lack of commitment or capacity to cope with displacement or to consider the civil rights of, or risks to, displaced people led to the impoverishment and suffering of tens of millions and growing opposition to dams by affected communities worldwide. However, after the WCD, little has changed for the better in terms of resettlement policies. In fact, the standards of key agencies, like the Asian Development Bank, have been lowered and diluted compared to prior policies. Dam-induced development and displacement are …

Examining The Effects Of Climate Change And Urban Development On Water Demand: A Multi-Scale Analysis Of Future Water Demand In Hillsboro, Oregon, Lily Arielle House-Peters

Dissertations and Theses

In the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, suburban cities such as Hillsboro are projected to grow as people seek affordable housing near a rapidly growing metropolis. This thesis examines the combined impact of climate change and urban development on both neighborhood and municipal scale residential water demand in Hillsboro, Oregon. I use two models, a surface energy balance model, Local-scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme (LUMPS), and a system dynamics model, CCDomestic, to investigate changes in residential water demand in the 2040s at two distinct spatial scales, the neighborhood and the municipality. I calibrate and validate each model to the reference period …

The Hydro-Ecology Of Everyday Life: Assessing The Social And Environmental Determinants Of Water Use In The Portland Region, Vivek Shandas

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Driven in part by the imminent threats of population growth and climate destabilization, recent studies suggest that urban areas face severe water scarcity, with some areas in Australia and the United States already instituting moratoria on water use. While water managers traditionally avoid such crises by developing demand forecasts based on population estimates, technological developments, and weather predictions, their analysis are often at a regional scale with aggregate measures of water consumption. To date, there exists limited empirical evidence about how urban spatial structure and concomitant socio-demographic and temperature characteristics mutually interact to affect water demand at the scale of …

Desertification And Political Onstability In The Tigris And Euphrates River Basins, Kanar Hamza

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The Tigris and Euphrates river basin is located in arid and semi-arid regions of the Middle East. Five countries share this basin, with Turkey, Syria, and Iraq being the main nations concerned. The water resources of the basin are unable to meet the entire current and future water demands of all of these nations. Water scarcity in this basin is caused by one-sided, unilateral development projects and complicated by natural conditions, such as reduced annual rainfall. Shared freshwater resources are complicated matters that cause tensions between nations sharing river basins, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The shared fresh water …

Assessment Of Impacts To Hydroclimatology And River Operations Due To Climate Change Over The Colorado River Basin, William Paul Miller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigated the impacts of climate change to the hydroclimatology and river and reservoir management operations within the Colorado River Basin. Preliminary research indicated observed warming trends throughout the Colorado River Basin and corresponding seasonal trends to the magnitude and timing of runoff in the Colorado River Basin. Subsequent research investigated the changing character of precipitation and corresponding impacts to streamflow over the Colorado River Basin. Analysis of snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) stations over the American West and Colorado River Basin indicated decreasing trends in annual snowpack, often at least at the 95% confidence interval. A shorter snowpack season was …

Ion-Exchange (Ix): Arsenic And Chromium Removal From Brines And Removal Of Inorganic Contaminants By Specialty Resins, Behrang Pakzadeh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although ion exchange is highly efficient in removing inorganic contaminants, similar to other water treatment technologies, ion exchange has some drawbacks that need to be studied further. Three issues related to drawbacks of ion-exchange resins in water treatment were addressed in this research. The first issue was the influence of anionic inorganic co-contaminants including nitrate, Cr(VI), Se(VI), and As(V) on the performances of nitrate and perchlorate specialty (selective) resins in water treatment. It was found that nitrate can be removed from waters using perchlorate specialty resins, but the resin is poorly regenerated. Perchlorate was not easily removed from either nitrate …

The Integration Of Biomimicry Into A Built Environment Design Process Model: An Alternative Approach Towards Hydro-Infrastructure, Timothy Lee Albertson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current methods and processes that support the planning, design and construction of a sustainable built environment include ambiguous principles (Roseland 2000), lack feedback loops (Van Bueren and Jong 2007) and lack a common language between disciplines (Brandon et al 1997). As a result of 3.8 billion years of "research and development" (evolution), nature provides a set of design blueprints that may be used to guide us to create elegant, sustainable, and innovative designs for human technologies (Benyus 1997). The field of biomimicry analyzes nature's best ideas and adapts them for human use (Benyus 1997). The built environment could benefit from …

Keeping Wetlands Wet: The Human Hydrology Of Wetlands In The Bear River Basin, Rebekah Downard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research seeks to understand how wetlands maintain a water supply in the Bear River Basin, where water is generally scarce. Research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with wetland and water experts in the basin and archival research of historical documents and water rights.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages three refuges on the Bear River, and has obtained water rights portfolios for each. Holding water rights does not ensure that there will be water available for refuge wetlands. Instead, position in relation to other powerful water users is the most important factor in determining the security of …

Filtration And Growth Rate Of Lake Mead Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Bugensis) In Laboratory Studies And Analyses Of Bioaccumulation, Carolyn Louise Link

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In January of 2007, Quagga Mussels (Dreissena bugensis) were identified in Lake Mead, Nevada. An aquatic invasive species, these mussels can significantly alter ecosystems. This study sought to quantify three ecological traits of the species through a series of laboratory experiments and analyses, providing information both for comparison with Dreissena in other locations, as well as for limnologic management decisions. Filtration rate of quagga mussels was quantified using algal strains and natural seston. Two strains of green algae, Nannochloris and Scenedesmus were used to determine mussel filtration rates with a spectrophotometer. Quagga filtration rates of collected Lake Mead seston were …

Science And Practice Of Integrated River Basin Management : Lessons From North And Central American Unesco-Help Basins, Heejun Chang, Anne Browning-Aiken

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) program, a cross-cutting component of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), has as its goal to facilitate dialogue among hydrologists, social and economic scientists, water resource managers, water lawyers, policy experts, and river basin stakeholder communities in setting a research agenda driven by local management and policy issues. HELP seeks to improve the benefits to society by applying the principals of integrated water-resources management to complex, interdisciplinary issues within catchments.

This Monograph is the culmination of a workshop held in 2010 in which the managers from the six North American basins …

Water Quality And Public Health Monitoring Of Surface Waters In The Kura-Araks River Basin Of Armenia, Azerbaijan, And Georgia, Amy Ewing

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The Kura-Araks (sometimes spelled Aras) River Basin is an international river basin located in the South Caucasus with five separate countries contributing area to the watershed. These countries are Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Surface water from the Kura and Araks Rivers is used for a variety of uses, including municipal, agricultural, industrial, and mining, and the waste products from each of these uses are discharged back into the rivers. Many of the resulting contaminants pose significant risks to human health, including exposure to organic pollution derived from municipal use, organochlorine pesticides and high nitrate from agriculture, chemical contamination …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 3, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

This report is the third in a series of efforts by students at the Muskie School of Public Service, Community Planning and Development Master’s program, in a core class called “Sustainable Communities.” In this course students seek to understand principles of sustainability and how efforts to implement Sustainability programs can become more successful. The report assembles term papers students completed on particular efforts by municipalities, universities, and other groups to achieve sustainability goals. Students worked on each project in a service learning format with real world clients. They were asked to fashion their papers around lessons learned by other organizations …

Droughtscape, Spring 2010, Kelly Smith

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

NDMC and NC Drought Council Team Up

Drought to Intensify in Northwest and Hawaii

International Work

Impacts Recorded in Hawaii and Western States

U.S. Drought Monitor Archives Enhanced

Low-Water Impact Surveys Completed

K-12 Drought Outreach

The Impact Of Community Consultation To Set Resource Condition Targets For Dryland Salinity, Rebecca Heath, Susan Murphy-White, Jamie Bowyer

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Water Current, Volume 42, No. 2, Spring 2010

Water Current Newsletter

Tour Examines SharingLimited Platte Basin Water
Daugherty Foundation FundsWater for Food Institute
$50 Million Donation Makes Waterfor Food Institute a Reality; UNL Hires Watershed Hydrologist; Upcoming Activities
MEET THE FACULTY: John E. Gilley, Ph.D., P.E., Martha D. Shulski, Ph.D.
Two Water Events Come to Lincoln in October
Extension Protects Waterways from Stormwater Runoff
Groundbreaking Research Showing Evolution Can Impact Ecology
Frogs and Atrazine: What Doesn’t Kill You Can Turn You Female
Niobrara’s Uses in Balance
LPRCA Announces Seminar Surveys
Drinking Water Wells Vulnerable
Healthy Water Healthy People: Empowering Educatorsshop
Featured Partner: Nebraska Society of Professional Soil Scientists
UNL Scientists Take …

Mitigation Banking: Is State Assumption Of Permitting Authority More Effective, Adrienne M. Sakyi

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Priceline For Pollution: Auctions To Allocate Public Pollution Control Dollars, Robert W. Adler

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Regional Scarcity, Andrew Funk

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The foreseeable vulnerability of regional water supplies in the Lower 48 to shortages from over stressed basins is made worse by anticipated water resource impacts from climate change. Essentially, regional water scarcity will differ depending on state and local supply and demand portfolios and variability of climate. Since U.S. water supply vulnerabilities are regionally uneven, the strategic water use efficiency response needs to be regional as well. Regionally mandatory water use efficiency should replace the outdated paradigm of voluntary measures currently employed piecemeal and unevenly within state borders, which ignore regional watershed hydrology. Mandating the efficient use of regional water …

Aquatic Fauna - Biological Survey Ten Mile Brook Dam Margaret River - Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 22, 2010, Craig Lawrence, C Hugh, Renae Larsen, J Ledger, Phil Vercoe

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

Ten Mile Brook Dam has a surface area of 275 Ha and receives water from a 10 km2 catchment (Figure 1). It has a total storage capacity of 1,691 ML. At the time of this study the dam was 89 % capacity (1,511 ML), however as recently as June 2009 water storage was as low as 663 ML (39 % capacity).

In order to improve the drinking water supply to the town of Margaret River, the Water Corporation is investigating the option of pumping bore water into Ten Mile Brook Dam. This would remove the need to transfer water from …

The Influence Of Mechanical Circulation On Water Column Stability And Dissolved Oxygen In Stratified Lakes, Paal Engebrigtsen

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Surface circulators have been used in wastewater and industrial lagoons for many years, but only recently have they been designed for lakes and reservoirs as a water quality management tool. Their relatively low capital investment and operational costs make them an attractive chemical free option for ameliorating the symptoms of eutrophication. Little research has been conducted on their effectiveness in impacting water quality. Today many lake managers are waiting for independent research on surface circulators' performance before installing such systems.

The Occoquan Reservoir was the primary site for a study conducted to examine the influence of surface circulation on water …

Integrated Water Resources Management: A Theoretical Exploration Of The Implementation Gap Between The Developed And Developing Worlds, Jennifer S. Schiff

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

As part of its Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations acknowledges that solving the world's water woes requires giving one billion additional people access to safe and affordable drinking water, while also noting that this is a difficult goal to achieve considering present environmental challenges. Amidst this atmosphere of vanishing freshwater, the legislative policy community has begun to encourage diverse discourse on the topic of efficient resource management, but the form and function of such a solution present unique political and theoretical challenges for policymakers and scholars alike. The current consensus among water managers is that a multifaceted policy framework …

Evaluation Of Alternative Technologies To Supply Drinking Water To Marines In Forward Deployed Locations, Derek R. George

Theses and Dissertations

With recent increases, there are approximately 20,000 Marines deployed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The cost of delivering bottled water to the troops is rapidly becoming unsustainable and convoys delivering bottled water are vulnerable to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Currently, raw water from indigenous sources, which has chemical and microbiological contaminants, is treated with reverse osmosis (RO), but only used for hygiene, with bottled water used for drinking. Due to the economic costs and risks to life of providing bottled water, decision-makers need to evaluate technology alternatives to treat raw water to supply safe drinking water. In this study, …

Modeling The Fate Of Groundwater Contaminants Resulting From Leakage Of Butanol-Blended Fuel, Khai H. Vuong

Theses and Dissertations

Fuel spills and leaks from storage tanks can contaminate groundwater. Typically in groundwater, hazardous aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene are attenuated through natural processes. However, it is possible that adding butanol to gasoline will interfere with these natural attenuation processes, so that spills and leaks of alternative fuels containing biobutanol may result in more persistent hazardous aromatic hydrocarbon plumes. This effect has already been observed with ethanol, which is currently added to gasoline. A numerical model was developed to simulate the subsurface fate and transport of butanol-blended fuel to assess the potential impacts of butanol on the natural attenuation of benzene. …

Kentucky River Watershed Watch: A Summary Of Volunteer Water Quality Sampling Efforts In The Kentucky River Basin From 1999 To 2009, Malissa Mcalister, Madhu Akasapu, Ben Albritton, Lindell Ormsbee, Dan Carey

Kentucky River Watershed Watch

No abstract provided.

Siltcoos Lake Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant: Water Quality Conditions And Nutrient Sources, Mark D. Sytsma, Rich Miller

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Siltcoos Lake is a large (1280 hectares), shallow (mean depth 3.3 m; maximum depth 6.7 m) lake located on the Central Oregon Coast, just south of Florence and bordered by Dunes City, Oregon. The outflow and water level of Siltcoos Lake is regulated by a dam on the Siltcoos River 4 km upstream from the Pacific. Several permanent streams feed the lake from its 176 square kilometer watershed including Fiddle Creek, Maple Creek, and Woahink Creek, the outflow from Woahink Lake. Much of the watershed is forested and used for timber harvest, residential development, and limited agricultural production.

The lake …

Colorado River Water: Mexico's Perspective On The Ongoing Negotiations, Mario López Pérez

US-Mexico Negotiations on Improved Colorado River Management: An Update (February 19)

Presenter: Mario López, Engineering and Technical Standards Manager, National Water Commission of México

53 slides

Agenda: Us-Mexico Negotiations On Improved Colorado River Management: An Update, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program, Colorado Water Conservation Board

US-Mexico Negotiations on Improved Colorado River Management: An Update (February 19)

The United States and Mexico are currently negotiating an international accord on a variety of Colorado River water matters, including the prospects for new water projects, conservation efforts, and operational improvements. Participants are invited to hear an update on these efforts from individuals directly involved in the negotiations, including Mario López Pérez, Engineering and Technical Standards Manager in the National Water Commission of México, who is responsible for binational water issues with the USA, Guatemala and Belize.

Slides: Energy Development Water Needs Assessment And Water Supply Alternatives And Analysis, Benjamin Harding

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Benjamin Harding, Principal Engineer, AMEC Earth and Environmental

15 slides

Slides: Promise Or Peril: Shale Oil, Energy, And The Region, Chase Huntley

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Chase Huntley, Policy Adviser for Energy & Climate Change, The Wilderness Society

8 slides