Water Resource Management Commons^™

Comparing Strategies For Wetland Revegetation In An Uncertain Water Future, Hailey M. Machnikowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wetlands worldwide are expected to experience more frequent and intense droughts and floods due to climate change. These shifting water conditions introduce challenges to restoring wetland plants, especially using direct seeding. Seeding is cost and labor-efficient compared to planting, but seeds and seedlings are highly vulnerable to water stress, so restoration efforts often fail when conditions are too wet or dry. Understanding how to improve seed-based revegetation under these conditions is increasingly important. Therefore, we sought to understand the response, measured by percent canopy cover or dry biomass weights, of native plants to different durations of drought in greenhouse experiments, …

Community Science For Enigmatic Ecosystems: Using Ebird To Assess Avian Biodiversity On Glaciers And Snowfields, William E. Brooks, Jordan Boersma, Neil Paprocki, Peter Wimberger, Scott Hotaling

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Mountain glaciers and snowfields are rapidly receding because of climate warming. Species living in these habitats remain poorly studied, likely because of the remoteness and ruggedness of their terrain. We leveraged community science data from eBird—an online database of bird observations from around the world—to characterize bird use of mountain glaciers and snowfields. We estimated total bird biodiversity and preference for glaciers and snowfields over nearby, ice-adjacent habitats. We used field notes from eBird users and breeding codes to extend our data set to include insight into habitat usage and behavior. Finally, we compared our community-science approach to previous studies …

Assessing Water Storage In Northern California Forests, Christopher Gerard Gressierer

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The climate is changing, with rising temperatures projected to increase vegetation stress and mortality. Precipitation is also expected to become more extreme, with longer dry seasons intensifying droughts, and wetter wet seasons increasing the risk of landslides or floods. Summer baseflows in northern California are declining, and a shift in water availability may alter vegetation communities, resulting in mortality and species composition changes. These trends highlight the need for increased attention and management to be focused on evaluating and maintaining watershed water storage to maintain ecosystem health.

This study estimates water storage capacity using a water balance approach, drawing in …

Wildfire And Water Security: Post-Fire Erosion And Sedimentation Threaten Utah's Reservoirs, Quinn Olpin, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling, Aish Chandrasekaran, Patrick Belmont

All Current Publications

As an arid state with limited water, Utah relies heavily on reservoir storage to maintain its water supply throughout the year. This vital water storage, however, is increasingly at risk due to contemporary wildfires. Wildfires pose a risk to water storage because after vegetation burns, erosion typically increases. Eroded soil can be carried by rivers and deposited into reservoirs where it accumulates as sediment, reduces water storage capacity, clogs dam outlets, and degrades water quality. Identifying which watersheds are most vital to maintaining Utah’s water supply, are most threatened by wildfires, and are most prone to high levels of post-fire …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Enhancing Water Supply Resilience & Sustainability: Potential Solutions To Address Water Scarcity In Bogotá, Colombia, Sophia Alvarez Wong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Municipal water utilities are in urgent need of adapting to the intensifying impacts of climate change and population growth—key drivers of urban water scarcity worldwide. In rapidly expanding cities like Bogota, Colombia, these pressures have contributed to a severe water crisis driven by prolonged droughts, ecosystem degradation, increasing water demands, and overdependence on limited water sources. This study explores potential adaptation and management strategies that utilities can implement to sustainably strengthen supply system resilience and enhance water security, in the context of low- to middle-income regions. A series of comparative and case study analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility …

Climate Change Impacts On Drinking Water Security: A Comparative Study In Australia’S Remote Central Australia And Torres Strait Islands, Nina Lansbury, Julia Bradford, Sandra J. Creamer, Geoffrey Evans

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are well adapted to the many different environments in which they have lived for thousands of years. However, their environments and communities are highly vulnerable to impacts of anthropogenic climate change, including increasing threats to the security of drinking water supplies. Climate change is intensifying the significant social and economic disadvantage Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face from poverty, poor housing, and poor health including high exposure to infectious and other diseases. Lack of sufficient safe, clean, drinking water could force Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to leave their homelands, adding …

System Change, Not Climate Change: Collaborative Development Of A Few Nexus Experiential Learning Course For A Justice-Centered Comparative Study Abroad Program, Sonya Ahamed

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

The International Honors Program (IHP) on Climate Change: The Politics of Land, Water and Energy Justice has been offered by the School for International Training (SIT) since 2013. This thematic multidisciplinary program currently travels to Morocco, Nepal, and Ecuador for one month each, introducing students to local food, water, and energy challenges in the context of a changing climate. In updating the program following its relaunch in 2023, renewed attention was given to the food, energy, and water nexus from a comparative perspective across and within these countries. This presentation will focus on the development of experiential learning cycles for …

Managing Beyond Water: Utilizing Community Well-Being Interviews In The Upper Yakima River Basin, Usa, For Climate Change Adaptation, Rebecca Gustine, Alexander Theophilus, Courtney G. Flint, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, Emma Epperson, Claudia Mendez Wright, Jennifer C. Adam

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

In contemporary, natural resources dependent and specialized communities, community well-being is connected to the environment. Understanding the local connections between community well-being and the environment can provide a more complete understanding of how to manage social-ecological systems and promote community resilience. Herein, we combine semi-structured community well-being interviews with hydrologic modeling using the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model to suggest climate adaptation pathways for a diverse set of community interests. We found that community well-being across the Yakima River Basin was connected to water, snow, and the environment through recreation opportunities, aesthetics, livelihoods, and having clean water and air. Additionally, …

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

Multi-Scale Analysis Of Karst Aquifer Vulnerability To Climate Change And Contamination Processes, Shishir Sarker

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Karst aquifers represent some of the world’s most productive yet vulnerable groundwater systems, supplying freshwater to approximately 10% of the global population across 15% of Earth’s ice-free land surface. Their distinctive hydrological characteristics— including rapid recharge, preferential flow paths, and limited natural filtration— create unique vulnerabilities to both climate variability and contamination that pose significant challenges for sustainable water resource management. This dissertation presents a comprehensive multi-scale analysis of karst aquifer vulnerability through three interconnected studies that examine climate change impacts, microbial contamination dynamics, and contaminant transport processes across diverse geographic and hydrogeologic settings.

Chapter two investigates climate change impacts …

Climate Change And The Logan River: Past, Present, And Future, Mercy Smith, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

The Logan River runs through Idaho and northern Utah, beginning in the Bear River Mountains and flowing through Logan Canyon to Cutler Reservoir. The river is socially and ecologically significant to the Cache Valley community. Throughout its history, the Logan River’s water and energy have sustained life within the valley. However, climate change is threatening the Logan River’s support of both human and animal communities. Rising water temperatures and reduced flow caused by declining snowpack may impair the river’s ability to maintain healthy ecosystems.

Simulating The Compound Impacts Of Climate Change And Sea-Level Rise On Coastal Shallow Groundwater Using An Integrated Surface-Subsurface Hydrologic Model, Zhaoyi Cai

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

As climate change intensifies and sea levels rise, coastal aquifers become increasingly vulnerable to interacting oceanic and terrestrial processes. This dissertation examines the combined impacts of climate change and sea-level rise (SLR) on coastal shallow groundwater using an integrated surface-subsurface hydrologic model, focusing on the low-lying Little Creek watershed (LCW) in Norfolk, Virginia. The SWAT-MODFLOW model, a coupled system, unifies land surface, streamflow, and groundwater processes, providing a comprehensive framework for watershed-aquifer analysis. Model parameters were derived from U.S. Geological Survey datasets, relevant literature, station records, and technical reports, followed by meticulous calibration. The validated model first simulated baseline groundwater …

Scientific And Technological Measures To Support Sustainability Of Water Resources In Western China, Jun Xia, Xi Chen, Qiuhong Tang, Hongwei Lu, Shaofeng Jia, Genxu Wang, Jingjie Yu, Jinzhu Ma, Xingcai Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Under the combined impacts of climate change and human activities, the ecological barrier regions of western China exhibit significant reductions in solid water storage, increases in liquid water, declining water resource stability and non-steady-state characteristics in hydrological systems. Water allocation risks have increased, making it exponentially more difficult to ensure water security. Transboundary water resource development can lead to spillover risks, requiring urgent research on sustainable water resource use and adaptation strategies. The water cycle in western China is driven by both natural and anthropogenic factors, yet fundamental research on water cycle dynamics and resource management under changing environments remains …

Wildfire Smoke Impacts Lake Ecosystems, Mary Jade Farruggia, Janice Brahney, Andrew J. Tanentzap, Jennifer A. Bentrup, Ludmila S. Brighenti, Sudeep Chandra, Alicia Cortés, Rocio L. Fernandez, Janet M. Fischer, Alexander L. Forrest, Yufang Jin, Kenneth Larrieu, Ian M. Mccullough, Isabella A. Oleksy, Rachel M. Pilla, James A. Rusak, Facundo Scordo, Adrianne P. Smits, Celia C. Symons, Minmeng Tang, Samuel G. Woodman, Steven Sadro

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Wildfire activity is increasing globally. The resulting smoke plumes can travel hundreds to thousands of kilometers, reflecting or scattering sunlight and depositing particles within ecosystems. Several key physical, chemical, and biological processes in lakes are controlled by factors affected by smoke. The spatial and temporal scales of lake exposure to smoke are extensive and under-recognized. We introduce the concept of the lake smoke-day, or the number of days any given lake is exposed to smoke in any given fire season, and quantify the total lake smoke-day exposure in North America from 2019 to 2021. Because smoke can be transported at …

Rock Glaciers In Utah, Scott Hotaling, Kendall Becker, Matthew Morriss

All Current Publications

Utah’s primary water supply––winter snowpack––is in decline due to climate warming coupled with more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow. As snowpack dwindles, other sources of cold stream water, such as rock glaciers, will become more important. Rock glaciers contain significant volumes of internal ice covered by debris. This internal ice provides cold meltwater to mountain streams, sustaining flows in summer and supporting biodiversity. Rock glaciers are common in Utah’s mountains and are projected to be more stable under climate change than Utah’s snowpack. Thus, rock glaciers are likely to persist in their current form even as snowpack volumes …

Nonstationary Recharge Responses To A Drying Climate In The Gnangara Groundwater System, Western Australia, Simone Gelsinari, Sarah Bourke, James Mccallum, Don Mcfarlane, Joel Hall, Richard Silberstein, Sally Thompson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The response of groundwater recharge to climate change needs to be understood to enable sustainable management of groundwater systems today and in the future, yet observations of recharge over long-enough time periods to reveal responses to climate trends are scarce. Here we present a meta-analysis of 60 years of recharge studies over the Gnangara Groundwater System of South-West Western Australia, covering a period of sustained drying consistent with climate change projections. The recharge process in the area is defined by a wet winter during which rain saturates a deep, highly permeable soil profile with very low water storage capacity. Measurements …

Fauna, Flora, And Land Cover Changes Over The Last Two Decades In The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, Gabriel De Oliveria, Steven R. Schultze, Guilherme Mataveli

Technical Reports

A technical report documenting ecosystem changes to the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta region due to urban expansion over approximately two decades (2001-2019).

Climate Change's Effect On Flow Regime, Alexander Ialenti

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will test to see if there is a percent increase in non-perennial streams sampled from 2003-2021. Using data provided by The Cleveland Metroparks, sampling events will be separated by date, flow regime classification, and rain data. Current literature supports the claim that many perennial streams, streams that flow year-round, will become non-perennial streams over time. This shift is predicted to be caused by a change in rain patterns. Both the interval between rain events and the intensity of rainfall per event are predicted to increase. My hypothesis is that there will be an increase in the percentage of …

Analysis And Assessment Of Land Use / Land Cover Impact On Human And Natural Ecosystems In The Salton Sea Watershed, 2013 - 2021, Diego Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study represents an interdisciplinary analysis of the changing landscape of the Salton Sea Watershed from 2013 to 2021, focusing on land use land cover (LULC) category changes, climatic variations, and socioeconomic factors. The findings of this research show a shift in land cover categories, portrayed by the changes of natural landscapes and vegetative areas into rapidly increasing urbanized expansion and increased impervious surfaces. These changes pose concerns about increased temperature in the region, a decrease in overall water availability and groundwater infiltration, and an increase in pollution. The study explores 10 sub-watersheds within the Salton Sea Watershed basin, focusing …

How Sensitive Are Catchment Runoff Estimates To On-Farm Storages Under Current And Future Climates?, David E. Robertson, Hongxing Zheng, Jorge L. Pena-Arancibia, Francis H S Chiew, Santosh Aryal, Martino E. Malerba, Nicholas J. Wright

Climate Science Research Articles

Storage of water in farm dams is important to support irrigation, stock requirements and domestic uses when reticulated water is unavailable. Farm dams that fill by intercepting landscape runoff change the total volume and seasonality of catchment streamflow, potentially impacting water policy outcomes. While numerous studies have quantified how climate change and farm dams independently change streamflow characteristics, few studies have investigated their interactions. This study investigates the interactions between farm dams and climate change in the Murray-Darling Basin of southern and eastern Australia. We use hydrological modelling that explicitly represent farm dams and remotely sensed data describing historical farm …

“Without Water, Nothing”: Examining The Water Saving Practices Of Women In Amman Under Periodic Water Supply, Rory Dixon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan is among the most water-scarce countries in the world. Consequently, water is only pumped to households once a week and households store water in tanks to last them until the next water day. Women conducting housework do so under conditions of environmental stress that this research calls resource-scarce domestic labor. In this study, I apply an eco-feminist lens to examine the water-saving practices women employ to manage and conserve domestic water supplies. I explore the larger causes of these behaviors including climate change, government management, and regional politics. Resource-scarce domestic labor is not a practice unique to Jordan and …

How Active Rainwater Harvesting May Help Reduce Nuisance Flooding: Flood Analysis And Social Barriers To Adoption, Isabel Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As urbanization continues to expand, fewer pervious surfaces are available to help reduce stormwater runoff from rainfall. The impacts of urbanization are becoming evident through sunny day flooding - flooding that occurs in areas not designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as flood zones. Nevertheless, water accumulates in low-lying areas and compromises street intersections and other parts of neighborhoods. Some methods can help alleviate the impacts of unexpected heavy rains, such as passive and active rainwater harvesting. As a pilot study, in a selected area in the northeast of El Paso, the level of adoption (e.g., what percentage …

Getting The Dirt On Phosphorus Pollution In Mountain Lakes: Are Rising Soil Temperatures Contributing To Eutrophication In Mountain Watersheds?, Gordon O. Gianniny

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mountain watersheds provide a critical supply of clean water to millions of people around the world. In recent years, evidence of a concerning trend has emerged in these watersheds: rising phosphorus (P) concentrations. P often acts as the limiting nutrient in mountain lake ecosystems, so increasing P availability in mountain lakes and streams has the potential to drastically increase algal growth in these systems. In extreme cases, increasing mountain lake P concentrations may even cause harmful algal blooms that degrade downstream water quality. While the implications of rising P concentrations in mountain lakes are serious, the cause driving this widespread …

Pan-Arctic Soil Moisture Control On Tundra Carbon Sequestration And Plant Productivity, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Koen Hufkens, Beniamino Gioli, Barbara Bailey, George Burba, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Jennifer D. Watts, Kyle A. Arndt, Mary Farina, John S. Kimball, Martin Heimann, Mathias Göckede, Martijn Pallandt, Torben R. Christensen, Mikhail Mastepanov, Efrén López-Blanco, Albertus J. Dolman, Roisin Commane, Charles E. Miller, Josh Hashemi, Lars Kutzbach, David Holl, Julia Boike, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Elyn R. Humphreys, Oliver Sonnentag, Gesa Meyer, Gabriel H. Gosselin, Philip Marsh, Walter C. Oechel

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Long-term atmospheric CO₂ concentration records have suggested a reduction in the positive effect of warming on high-latitude carbon uptake since the 1990s. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reduced net carbon sink of northern ecosystems with increased air temperature, including water stress on vegetation and increased respiration over recent decades. However, the lack of consistent long-term carbon flux and in situ soil moisture data has severely limited our ability to identify the mechanisms responsible for the recent reduced carbon sink strength. In this study, we used a record of nearly 100 site-years of eddy covariance …

Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson

Scripps Senior Theses

We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …

Rad Rivers In Rad Places: Characterizing The Historical And Future Whitewater Resources In Select Regions Of The United States, Melissa D. Shafer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Outdoor recreation is a highly profitable industry in the United States. In 2021, outdoor recreation accounted for $454.0 billion, or 1.9% of the current-dollar gross domestic product for the nation. Many states have benefited financially from focusing on promoting their outdoor recreation and natural resources. Whitewater (WW) paddling has been a recreational activity since the 1950s. In 2007 there were an estimated 1.2 million participants in whitewater kayaking. As of 2020, that number increased to 2.6 million, doubling the number of participants. WW resources can be leveraged to reshape local and regional economies. The framework developed in this study provides …

Comparing Past And Future Drought And Surplus Periods In The Colorado River Basin, Rama Bedri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The Colorado River Basin is crucial to the Western United States, providing water for seven states and Mexico. Historical and future periods of drought and surplus are analyzed in 17 Colorado River stations. Unimpaired streamflow data are evaluated from the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, and Coupled Modeled Intercomparison Projection 5 from 1950-2099. Future projections are based on eight climate scenarios. Four climate models (HadGEM2-ES, CNRM-CM5, CanESM2, MI-ROC5) are observed at Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios. Furthermore, the ensemble water year means of the four models are analyzed. The durations of drought or surplus, magnitudes, …

How Impervious Are Solar Arrays? On The Need For Geomorphic Assessment Of Energy Transition Technologies, Charles Shobe

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Staying within manageable global temperature rise scenarios (i.e., 1.5° C) requires rapid decarbonization of energy sources. Research on the energy transition typically focuses on engineering, socioeconomic, and political challenges related to implementation of renewable energy technologies. Yet many facets of the energy transition are intricately intertwined with earth surface processes. Projects that advance the energy transition affect surface hydrology, sediment transport, and landscape evolution. Geomorphic processes likewise set the feasibility of energy transition projects. Here I use the lens of a recent policy debate to examine a case study that illustrates the key role of surface processes in determining the …

Temporal Changes In Surface Water Availability: Patterns Of Seasonal Shift On Water Stress In The Conterminous Us Under A Changing Climate, Quinn Montana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The argument could be made that there is nothing more valuable on the planet than water. Our lives depend upon it. Climate change is already having an impact on the United States (US) and water stress will be one of the problems we increasingly face in coming decades. Regional research has shown that one or another part of the conterminous US (CONUS) is expected to experience an annual deficit or a surplus in runoff. Further studies have looked at changing patterns over the CONUS as a whole. Other research has focused on a particular season. This work addresses a gap …