Water Resource Management Commons^™

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

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

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

Landowner And Practitioner Perspectives On Private Land Conservation Programs, Michelle L. Lute, Caitlyn R. Gillespie, Dustin R. Martin, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Efforts to reverse declines in native grasslands benefit from agricultural policies that encourage private land conservation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) improved conservation across landscapes but enrollment has declined. We used sequential exploratory mixed methods to compare landowner and conservation practitioners’ perceptions, evaluate perceived benefits, and identify potential improvements to CRP. Focus groups of practitioners informed a quantitative survey of landowners who had properties >160 total acres in Nebraska. Results suggest potential misalignment in perceptions between practitioners and landowners. Practitioners were concerned that conservation, especially of wildlife, was secondary to profit. But the majority of landowners …

Modeling The Effectiveness Of Riparian Restoration On Stream Shading In The Clackamas River Basin, Rachel Barksdale

ESM Colloquium

Rivers and streams within the Clackamas River Basin are not currently meeting water quality standards in terms of temperature. The Clackamas River Basin Council (CRBC) designed a restoration program to address the thermal loading on behalf of Portland General Electric (PGE) in which native trees and shrubs are planted along streams to restore riparian canopy cover. Solar radiation can be blocked by restoring canopy cover and is an effective way to provide shade, as well as providing ancillary environmental benefits such as enhanced wildlife habitat and erosion control. Stream and vegetation data were collected at nine sites to model the …

Informing Oregon's Marine Protected Area (Mpa) Baseline: Past And Present Tribal Uses Of Marine Resources, Sabra Marie Tallchief Comet

ESM Colloquium

Native American tribes with ancestral land adjacent to the coast have gathered, hunted, and fished marine resources for millennia. In 2012, the state of Oregon designated five marine sites as reserves in which ocean development and harvest were prohibited. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are paired with each of the reserves and have less stringent “take” restrictions. Conflict over tribal use of MPAs have arisen in other states (e.g., California) as designation of MPAs and Reserves can impact subsistence, ceremonial, and traditional uses. My master’s thesis is intended to inform Oregon MPA management by developing a dataset that will describe tribal …

Effects Of Beaver Dams On Surface Water Flow During Storm Events In An Urban Landscape, Erin Poor

ESM Colloquium

Urban land-use generally alters the hydrologic cycle, leading to changes in the natural flow regime of local streams. Runoff from impervious surfaces and routing of stormwater to streams causes urban streams to respond quickly and more intensely to storm events-more so than then would be observed in a less urbanized landscape. The rapid pulse of water that is routed to streams during precipitation events can degrade the physical structure of the channel and alter water quality and habitat availability. To manage these common urban stream issues, agencies have been seeking alternative ways of restoring and enhancing resilience in urban stream …

Regime Shifts And Panarchies In Regional Scale Social-Ecological Water Systems, Lance Gunderson, Barbara Cosens, Brian C. Chaffin, Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold, Alexander K. Fremier, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Robin Kundis Craig, Hannah Gosnell, Hannah E. Birge, Craig R. Allen, Melinda Harm Benson, Ryan R. Morrison, Mark C. Stone, Joseph Hamm, Kristine Nemec, Edella C. Schlager, Dagmar Llewellyn

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate …

Escherichia Coli As A Water Quality Indicator Organism: A Case For Responsive, Science-Based Policy, Sarah M. Mclarnan

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

Water quality indicator organisms such as E. coli are used in the monitoring of recreational waterbodies to indicate the presence of fecal contamination. In 2009, a 1.5-mile stretch of Plum Creek in Stearns County, MN was classified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as impaired due to high levels of E. coli. Citizen science to investigate the source of this contamination began in 2014 and with the addition of student research from CSB/SJU in 2016. This thesis presents results of the 2016 study, supplemented by summary of Minnesota water quality policy and recent research on indicator organisms. The 2016 …

Nutrient Variations Of Six Surface Water Bodies In Mchenry County, Il, Jacob Piske

Celebration of Learning

This research analyzes water quality from several ponds in McHenry County, Illinois, with a goal of developing a understanding of pollution sources and temporal variations in concentrations of nitrate, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, and sodium. Over the past 25 years, the population of McHenry County has grown rapidly, with residential developments expanding into former farmlands. Yet, the county remains heavily agricultural, with roughly 60% of the surface area used for agricultural purposes. Concentrations of NO3-, P+, K+, Cl-, and Na+ were analyzed from six sites: two in subdivisions, two in farmland, and two near major highways. Data were collected once a …

Water-Energy Sector Collaboration In The United States: Benefits, Barriers, And Climate-Change Implications, Cassandra J. Osterhoudt

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the water-energy nexus in the United States, and identify opportunities for increased collaboration between water and energy utilities. Through reviewing the regulatory history of both sectors, I explore how regulations on utilities align with the Porter Hypothesis, and the impacts the water-energy nexus will have moving forward, including under climate-change scenarios. The extent of collaboration between sectors has been relatively limited to states with progressive energy and water efficiency policies. This report identifies existing barriers and benefits to collaboration, and utilizes two case studies; California and Massachusetts. Results are …

Funding Strategies For Non-Traditional University Ms4 Stormwater Programs, Elizabeth M. Garrett

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Stormwater programs have historically been stymied by lack of proper funding resources. Unlike drinking water and sanitary sewer utility services that long ago transitioned to enterprise funds, a stormwater utility continues to evade stable and direct revenue sources throughout much of the United States. Inefficiently funded stormwater programs utilizing general funding practices leaves stormwater management programs unable to properly plan for long-term improvement, management, regulatory compliance, and maintenance. Funding research has established that forms of direct funding sources are crucial for successful stormwater programs, however, focus has been directed to strategies for municipalities. This paper will attempt to analyze, through …

Understanding N-Nitrosodimethylamine Formation In Water: Chloramine Chemistry, Kinetics, And A Proposed Reaction Pathway, Huong Thu Pham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The formation of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in drinking water systems is a concern because of its potential carcinogenicity and occurrence at toxicologically relevant levels. The postulated mechanism for NDMA formation involves a substitution between dichloramine and amine-based precursors to form an unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), which is then oxidized by ground-state molecular oxygen to form NDMA. However, this latter reaction is spin forbidden, thus likely occurs at a slow rate. It is hypothesized that the reaction between monochloramine and hydroxylamine (a nitrification product) may form an intermediate, which is involved in the NDMA formation pathway. This intermediate may also be generated from …

Using Survey Data And Hec-Ras Modeling To Assess A Riffle-Remediation Structure On The Big River, Bonne Terre, Missouri, Nichole Renee Weedman

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Sediment transport and deposition in river channels can vary for many reasons including flooding, dredging, channel velocity, and grain size. On the Big River, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed a riffle ramp structure to trap and remediate lead-contaminated sediments. The performance of the structure is unknown. The goal of this study is to evaluate the storage capabilities of the riffle structure. To do this, survey data was collected to analyze sediment storage and entered into the HEC-RAS 5.0 to model the hydraulics of the channel before and after the riffle installation. Samples were collected to assess the level of …

A Multi-Millennial Drought Reconstruction For West-Central New Mexico Using Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus Scopulorum, Sarg.), Joshua S. Oliver

Master's Theses

A new multi-millennial tree-ring record from living and remnant Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum, Sarg.) wood from Candelaria in west-central New Mexico is used to determine the temporal and spatial variability of scPDSI over the past two millennia (B.C. 492 to A.D. 2014). Our record indicates extreme drought events found within other hydroclimatic proxy records in the Colorado Plateau region spanning the time period (16^th century and 2^nd century megadroughts). By ranking the extreme drought events by magnitude, duration, intensity, and overall score, the most extreme drought events of this record are compared to drought events …

Evaluation Of The Correlation Between The Oxidation Reduction Potential And Free Chlorine Residual For Different Chlorine Sources Used In Poultry Drinking Water Sanitation, Samantha Renee Cox

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A critical component in commercial poultry production is to ensure birds are provided clean, quality water. Multiple disinfectants can be utilized to optimize a good water quality program. The goal of these water disinfectants is to greatly reduce or eliminate the presence of all bacteria. In recent years, the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) meter has been a tool utilized by the poultry industry to monitor chlorine efficacy in drinking water. An ORP reading of 650-750 millivolts (mV) has become the industry standard for assuring an acceptable sanitizing residual of free chlorine is present for controlling microbial contamination regardless of the actual …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Snowpack And Groundwater Across Utah Watersheds., Samuel Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined what type of relationship existed between snow water equivalence (SWE) volume and groundwater elevation within six sub-watersheds in Utah. Data was gathered on SWE from seventeen SNOTEL sites and groundwater elevation data was gathered from six continuously monitored groundwater wells. This data was gathered for January through May for 2011, 2013, and 2014 in order to represent the water conditions that were above average, below average, and average respectively. Using MLR formulas the total SWE for each sub-watershed was determined for each year/month. Afterwards a correlation analysis was performed to determine if any association existed between SWE …

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spatiotemporal Analyses Of Recycled Water Production, Jana E. Archer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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

Changes In Floodplain Inundation Under Non-Stationary Hydrology For An Adjustable, Alluvial River Channel, Bruce C. Call

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Predicting the frequency and aerial extent of flooding in river valleys is essential for infrastructure design, environmental management, and risk assessment. Such flooding occurs when the discharge of water within a river channel exceeds its maximum capacity and the extra water submerges the adjoining floodplain surface. The maximum capacity of a channel is controlled by its geometry, gradient, and frictional resistance. Conventional flood prediction methods rely on assumptions of unchanging flood probabilities and channel capacities. However, changes in climate, land cover, and water management have been shown to systematically shift the magnitude and variability of flood flows in many systems. …

Riparian Buffered Sinkholes In The Blue River Watershed, Colin Copler

Undergraduate Theses

Riparian vegetation along streams has many positive effects on water quality and macroinvertebrate communities, especially in agricultural areas. Some of these effects include erosion prevention, pollutant removal, and lower summer water temperatures. There has been much research done examining the link between these riparian areas and streams; however, riparian vegetation is understudied in karst areas. Karst is a geologic formation that is composed of limestone, which dissolves in groundwater, forming sinkholes. Thus, the question this paper seeks to investigate is does riparian vegetation around sinkholes in a karst plain influence water quality within a watershed? Water quality, land cover, and …

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

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

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

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

Salting Our Freshwater Lakes, Hilary A. Dugan, Sarah L. Bartlett, Samantha M. Burke, Jonathan P. Doubek, Flora Krivak-Tetley

Dartmouth Scholarship

The highest densities of lakes on Earth are in north temperate ecosystems, where increasing urbanization and associated chloride runoff can salinize freshwaters and threaten lake water quality and the many ecosystem services lakes provide. However, the extent to which lake salinity may be changing at broad spatial scales remains unknown, leading us to first identify spatial patterns and then investigate the drivers of these patterns. Significant decadal trends in lake salinization were identified using a dataset of long-term chloride concentrations from 371 North American lakes. Landscape and climate metrics calculated for each site demonstrated that impervious land cover was a …

Water Quality Characteristics Of Reservoir Tailwater Recovery Systems Associated With Agriculture Production In Northeast Arkansas, Leevi Trull Haas

Student Theses and Dissertations

Reservoir tailwater recovery systems (R-TWRS) have helped shift considerations for a broader array of water storage and irrigation techniques for conventional crop production in the Mississippi River basin under conditions of declining recharge and developing cones of depression in the Mississippi Alluvial Aquifer (alluvial aquifer). Sustaining groundwater supplies further emphasizes potential water quality changes that can occur within and downstream of production sites. This study examined water quality characteristics throughout three reservoir tailwater recovery systems (R-TWRS) during events of water movement from irrigation, significant precipitation, and drawdown. While orthophosphate, dissolved nitrate, and nitrite concentrations were significantly different among R-TWRS and …

Impact Of Road Salts (Nacl) On Winter Water Quality In Mill Brook, Westbrook, Maine, Devin Page

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Mill Brook is approximately 5 miles long and is an important migration route for Alewife during the spawning season. Mill Brook stretches from Highland Lake, Westbrook, Maine to the Presumpscot River in Portland, Maine and is surrounded by relatively well-protected forest land. However, chloride concentrations still rise from the upper end of the brook to the end: preliminary data, collected in the winter of 2017, showed an increase in mean chloride concentration from 37.28mg/L +/- 25.61mg/L at the start of Mill Brook to 51.25mg/L +/- 11.63 mg/L at the end of the brook. Chloride concentrations increase in the winter due …

Drought By Fifth Amendment: Debunking Water Rights As Real Property Comments, Jacqueline Carlton

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Water, Sanitation And Hygiene In Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Katelyn Bergl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Quality Of Water In Relation To Diarrheal Disease Incidence In Obunga, Tianna Herman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Kenyan cities are experiencing a serious dilemma in dealing with the large influx of people from rural parts of the country to the cities. Most people come to the city in pursuit of better opportunities and jobs. Rapid urban growth with little planning and preparation by the national and county governments has led to the development of informal settlements. These informal settlements are characterized by poor environmental conditions that predispose their residents for poor health conditions. Because of their illegal status, most residents of informal settlements in Kenya do not receive government services such as water, drainage, sewerage, and rubbish …

Increasing Population, Urbanization And Climatic Factors In Lagos State, Nigeria: The Nexus And Implications On Water Demand And Supply, Amidu Owolabi Ayeni Dr.

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This study examines the impact of population, urbanization, and climate on water supply in Lagos State. Population baseline data used for this research were based on provisional census data of 1963, 1973, 1991 and 2006. Information on water production, demand and supply for this study were cleaned from the Nigerian Bureau of statistics (NBS), Lagos State Water Corporation reports of different years and relevant literature on Lagos water supply and demand. Urbanization assessment were based on multi-temporal imageries from Landsat MSS, TM, NigeriaSat-1 and Landsat ETM+ for 1975, 1995, 2007, and 2015 respectively. The Census data revealed that the population …

Droughtscape, Spring 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Drought center helps islands reduce drought vulnerability

2017 sees above-average precipitation, warmer temps

California pulls out of drought

After tech transfer, training Tunisia launches first drought map

Drought center releases 2016 annual report

Book chapter focuses on drought and health

U2U wraps up, brings useful tools to farmers

Survey finds drought info leads to better decisions

Water Current, Volume 49, No. 2, Spring 2017

Water Current Newsletter

Water tour to central Platte River basin June 27-29, 2017

National and international travel, work on grants, increasing collaborations highlight past few months