Water Resource Management Commons^™

Assessing Machine Learning Utility In Predicting Hydrologic And Nitrate Dynamics In Karst Agroecosystems, Timothy Mcgill

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Seasonal hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and harmful algal blooms experienced in many inland freshwater bodies is partially driven due to excessive nitrogen loading seen from agricultural watersheds. Within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, many areas are underlain with karst features, and efforts to reduce nitrogen contributions from these areas have had varying success, due to lacking a complete understanding of nutrient dynamics in karst agricultural systems. To improve the understanding of nitrogen cycling in these systems, 35 months of high resolution in situ water quality and atmospheric data were collected and fed into a two-hidden layer extreme learning machine …

Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) supports ecologically and economically important commercial and recreational fisheries. One recreational fishery in the UMR is the Largemouth Bass fishery. Recreational fisheries can be effectively managed using information on population dynamics, though little is known about Largemouth Bass population dynamics in large river ecosystems. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate recruitment, growth, and mortality of three Largemouth Bass populations in the UMR, specifically within Pools 4, 8, and 13, and 2) to use those estimates of recruitment, growth and mortality to inform exploitation models to evaluate best management practices for each …

New Strategies For Groundwater Litigation In Texas, Amy Hardberger

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article evaluates the evolution of the understanding of groundwater rights since the Day decision and assesses the relative power of property rights in groundwater that have emerged and what can be done to equalize resulting inequities. Part I reviews the current state of groundwater ownership rights and includes a brief history of litigation that led to that point. Part II explains the authority and obligations of groundwater conservation districts, which create a regulatory overlay on the common law vested rights through permitting rules and the statewide planning process. Part III summarizes the history of constitutional challenges litigated after the …

Review Of Analytical Techniques For Arsenic Detection And Determination In Drinking Water, Abhijnan Bhat, Tony O'Hara, Furong Tian, Baljit Singh Dr.

Articles

Arsenic occurs in the natural environment in four oxidation states: As(V), As(III), As(0) and As(−III). The behavior of arsenic species changes depending on the biotic or abiotic conditions in water. In groundwater, arsenic is predominantly present as As(III) and As(V), with a minor amount of methyl and dimethyl arsenic compounds being reported. Global intake of As(III) and As(V) via drinking water and food has dramatically increased in recent years. The commonly used term inorganic arsenic includes both As(III) and As(V) species and constitutes the highest toxicological risk associated with arsenic in water compared to the organic arsenic species. Inorganic arsenic …

Drought Tolerant Landscaping Trends In Claremont, California, Serena Myjer

CMC Senior Theses

The environmental impacts of turf grass lawns are particularly important to consider in California, because of its unique Mediterranean climate and ongoing problems with chronic drought. While California is ideal for agriculture, recreation, and year-round living, the occurrence of drought is natural and not uncommon, evident in historical human and paleoclimate records. Drought impacts humans and wildlife including water scarcity, crop failure, water quality, reduced streamflow, and wetland availability. Diverting water from these critical sources for growing turf grass lawns is inappropriate and harmful. This project is the first analysis of landscaping patterns, trends, and changes in Claremont, California using …

Quantifying Water Security In West Virginia And The Potomac River Basin, Eric Carl Edvard Sinius Sjostedt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

All healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies are founded on access to clean, adequate water sources to support ecosystem services, provide clean drinking water, and allow the production of water-intensive goods and services. The state of available water resources must be analyzed through the lens of water security, defined as the capability to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for people, the economy, and ecosystems. Mountain regions are sources of freshwater resources for downstream regions, which produce disproportionately higher runoff than downstream regions. As a result, mountain regions are often referred to as natural water towers …

The Effects Of Channel Incision And Land Use On Surface-Water/Groundwater Interactions In The Teanaway River Basin, Washington, Usa, Joseph Petralia

All Master's Theses

The Teanaway River basin, a major tributary to the Yakima River, is host to several restoration projects with the intention of returning the river channel to a more natural state and improving riparian habitat. These projects may also increase aquifer storage and potentially increase summertime streamflows. This study of the Teanaway Valley Family Farm, an 88-hectare parcel on the main-stem Teanaway River that was recently purchased by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, provides hydrogeologic data that will inform these restoration projects. Following the purchase of this land, ten wells were installed within and slightly above the floodplain in order …

Decadal-Scale Effects Of Large Wood Restoration On Channel Morphology And Groundwater Connectivity, Taneum Creek, Wa, Samuel Fixler

All Master's Theses

The importance of large wood (LW) in creating channel complexity is widely recognized; however, few LW projects have been in place long enough to track meaningful channel changes on a decadal timescale. Taneum Creek, located in central Washington, is one of the earliest LW restoration areas (2008) in the Yakima River Basin and the central Cascade Mountains. The flood in 2011, with an estimated discharge of 69 m³/s (2,400-2,800 cfs), provided further channel change by mobilizing LW and channel sediments. Three reaches with similar channel characteristics and LW additions were compared with a control reach without LW additions …

Angler Catch Rates, Opinions, And Abiotic Variable Relationships In The Lower Logan River, Utah, Tyler Coleman, Jim Derito, Chris Penne, Gary Thiede, Phaedra Budy

Watershed Sciences Student Research

Summer base flows for rivers are critical for maintaining water quality, healthy fish populations, and a functional aquatic ecosystem. Low summer base flows can increase water temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen levels. These conditions can cause Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) energetic stress and result in lower angler catch. The goal of this study was to determine if low river flows and higher water temperatures influence angler catch rates of Brown Trout on the lower Logan River, Utah and to better understand angler use of the lower river. We performed a creel survey on approximately 6.4 km of the …

Zebra Mussel Length-Weight Relationships Across Various Substrate Types In Lake Bemidji, Mitch Kehne

Journal of Earth and Life Science

As of November 2021, zebra mussels were confirmed in 270 Minnesotan lakes with another 232 lakes listed as infested due to their connection or proximity to where zebra mussels have been found. With lack of effective treatments to impede their spread, zebra mussels continue to colonize new areas causing ecological as well as economic harm. The goal of this study was to establish a length-weight relationship for the zebra mussel population in Lake Bemidji using shell length (SL) and wet weight (WW), as well as to assess substrate type and log transformed shell length as predictors of log transformed zebra …

Water Woes Worsen: Middle Rio Grande Reservoir Modeling Projects Declining Water Availability Under Climate Change Simulations, Robyn Holmes

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Middle Rio Grande is a vital source of water for over 2M people. Climate change is impacting regional hydrology and is likely to put additional stress on a water supply that is already stretched thin. To gain insight on future water availability, a simple water balance model was used to simulate the Elephant Butte-Caballo reservoir system (Southern New Mexico, USA). The water balance model was run under 97 climate simulations derived from Global Climate Models (GCMs) developed under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 5^th generation Coupled Modeling Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Results suggest that the percentage of …

Implementation And Usage Of Low-Cost Turbines For Power Generation In Water Networks, Luis Javier Ortiz Osornio

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The following APP is part of an investigation and development, carried out to design, and implement a hydroelectric turbine of horizontal axis, in order to generate electrical energy in rural areas, utilizing existing infrastructure or natural waterways such as irrigation canals, piping, rivers and streams. Every industrialized country, as well as, most of the developing nations, have a stake in agriculture and thus access to the infrastructure required for irrigation purposes. Artificial irrigation canals offer advantages such as a clean continuous flow, with the possibility of flow regulation: this together with their vast availability as agricultural infrastructure constitute the main …

Fertilizer Use In Aquaculture, Bartholomew W. Green

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Aquaculture ponds traditionally are fertilized to stimulate primary productivity, which serves as the base of the pond natural food web and provides ancillary ecosystem services. Fertilizer can be made regularly or based on some water quality variable or measure of algal productivity. Nutrients from chemical fertilizers are available sooner for phytoplankton growth compared to organic fertilizers that first must undergo microbial decomposition before nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations increase. Primary production increases with increased fertilizer application if productivity is limited by primary nutrients rather than by light. In semi-intensive and intensive production systems, natural pond productivity enhanced by targeted fertilization protocols …

A Framework For Inland Cities To Prevent Marine Debris: A Case Study From Durham, North Carolina, Nancy Lauer, Michelle B. Nowlin

Faculty Scholarship

Land-based sources of litter are increasingly recognized as significant contributors to marine debris, and rivers can carry debris to the coast from far-inland sources. In this paper, we demonstrate the important role inland cities can play in the marine debris crisis by reducing their own marine debris contributions. Given this role, we provide a framework for inland cities to prevent plastic pollution along with the lessons learned from introducing these strategies in Durham, North Carolina, a mid-sized, inland city that drains to the ocean through the Cape Fear and Neuse River watersheds. This framework guides city officials, resource managers, and …

Environmental Effects On Constructed Wetland Microbial Diversity And Function In The Context Of Wastewater Management, Sandrine Grandmont-Lemire

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Microbial communities play a crucial role in ecosystems, yet we know little about how microbial diversity influences ecosystem functioning. An important gap in our understanding is how environmental change affects microbial Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function relationships (BEF). These complex interactions between microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function can influence major biogeochemical processes, such as the nitrogen cycle in wetland ecosystems, which play an important role in managing wastewater. To address the effect of biodiversity on function, my study investigates the BEF relationships between microbial diversity and the function in terms of ammonia removal from wastewater at the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF) both …

Sources Of Variability And Uncertainty In Food-Energy-Water Nexus Systems, Heydi Calderon-Ambelis, Deepak R. Keshwani

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A nexus approach contributes to the strategic allocation of resources to secure food, energy, and water for the world population. Integrated models considering the complex interactions across food, energy, and water (FEW) enhance decision-making and strategic planning towards resilience. However, a significant number of the existing integrated models leave unaddressed the inherent variability and uncertainty present in the FEW sectors. Here, we review the importance of characterizing variability over spatial and temporal scales and the importance of decreasing the uncertainty present within a FEW nexus systems. The review also discusses existing modeling tools that address variability and uncertainty on single …

City Of Milpitas Trash Capture Device Program: An Evaluation Of System Performance And Compliance With The Municipal Regional Permit, Joseph Aguilera

Master's Projects

Water pollution negatively impacts the environment and human population. The problem persists despite various mitigation efforts, strategies, and the implementation of regulatory requirements. It is estimated that Californians dispose of approximately 40 million tons of consumer items and waste materials annually (California Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery, 2019). As the population increases, it is expected that negative impacts of trash on the environment will be exacerbated. To address this, municipalities in California apply various methods to reduce trash before it enters ocean waters.

The primary vehicle for urban trash pollutants to reach ocean waters is through storm water conveyance …

Data Fusion And Synergy Of Active And Passive Remote Sensing; An Application For Freeze Thaw Detections, Zahra Sharifnezhadazizi

Dissertations and Theses

There has been a recent evolvement in the field of remote sensing after increase of number satellites and sensors data which could be fused to produce new data and products. These efforts are mainly focused on using of simultaneous observations from different platforms with different spatial and temporal resolutions. The research dissertation aims to enhance the synergy use of active and passive microwave observations and examine the results in detection land freeze and thaw (FT) predictions. Freeze thaw cycles particularly in high-latitude regions have a crucial role in many applications such as agriculture, biogeochemical transitions, hydrology and ecosystem studies. The …

A Citizen-Science Approach For Urban Flood Risk Analysis Using Data Science And Machine Learning, Candace Agonafir

Dissertations and Theses

Street flooding is problematic in urban areas, where impervious surfaces, such as concrete, brick, and asphalt prevail, impeding the infiltration of water into the ground. During rain events, water ponds and rise to levels that cause considerable economic damage and physical harm. The main goal of this dissertation is to develop novel approaches toward the comprehension of urban flood risk using data science techniques on crowd-sourced data. This is accomplished by developing a series of data-driven models to identify flood factors of significance and localized areas of flood vulnerability in New York City (NYC). First, the infrastructural (catch basin clogs, …

Re-Storying Grant Creek: A Case Study Of Relational Dynamics On A Degraded Montana Stream, Seamus Rucci Land

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration began in 2021, and after a history of contentious ethical debates, ecological restoration is increasingly portrayed as a viable framework for combating environmental degradation and supporting more healthy and stable social-ecological systems. The proposed ecological restoration of Grant Creek, a degraded stream near Missoula, Montana, offers an opportunity to connect a restoration site to the broader, rapidly growing field of restoration practice. It also allows the opportunity to forward the ‘relational turn’ proposed by many in the sustainability sciences as an ontological and methodological means to move beyond positivist portrayals of social-ecological systems, which …

Combined Effects Of Temperature And Heavy Metals On The Performance Of The Giant Salmonfly., James Frakes, Amanda Andreas, Benjamin P. Colman, Aurthur Woods

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In many freshwater ecosystems, communities of aquatic insects are facing the combined stresses of warmer waters due to climate change and increased exposure to heavy metal toxicants. Although each stressor may threaten aquatic insects independently, they also likely interact in important ways to affect insect physiology and performance. Here we investigate this potential interaction using two populations of aquatic nymphs of the giant salmonfly, Pteronarcys californica, collected from adjacent rivers in Montana: naïve individuals from Rock Creek, a relatively pristine stream, and individuals from the Upper Clark Fork River, which has a history of heavy metal pollution and higher …

Examining The Impacts Of Beaver Dam Analogues And Groundwater Storage On Miners Creek, California, Miles Munding-Becker

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Beavers have been altering streams in North America for millions of years by impounding water behind their dams. The recent historical removal (intensely throughout the 18^th and 19^th century) of these dams altered the hydrology in low gradient streams from dynamic anastomosing streams and wet meadow complexes to incised channels with little structural diversity. Anthropogenic structures called Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) are used as a restorative process by mimicking natural beaver dams that can reverse channel incision, increase ponded and groundwater storage, and provide low velocity habitat for aquatic species and vegetation. A system of four original BDAs …

Discussing Changes In Historical Human–Environmental Dynamics Through Ecosystem Services Interactions And Future Scenarios In A Rural-Mining Region Of Central Appalachians, Vincenzo Cribari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate how recent processes of land-change induced by humans contributed to the shaping and alteration of the current landscape in a headwater system of Central Appalachians in West Virginia (US), to understand the interactions and tradeoffs among ecosystems services and address potential solutions for targeting more sustainable human-environment interactions in a region that is deeply grounded on extractive economies. The multitiered objective was addressed through different research phases in order to unfold and disentangle a series of complex problems that the study area presents. Three main phases were used; they corresponded to distinct …

High Precision Pipeline Leak Detection And Localization Using Negative Pressure Wave Technique: An Application In A Real Field Case Study, Nathaniel C. Moryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the most important aspects of oil and gas production is the safe and efficient fluid transportation using pipelines. Pipelines transporting various fluids are the most efficient but are susceptible to failure and leaks. These leaks can come about through natural disaster, as well as from general wear from the pipes that could result in major environmental and economic problems. The ability to detect leaks with speed and accuracy, as well as locating these leaks within a narrow range, will aid with the maintenance response. Hasty responses will minimize the revenue loss and reduce potential environmental impact but bring …

Evaluating Remote Economic Benefits Of Watershed-Scale Acid Mine Drainage Restoration, Rachel E. Pell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In 2011, the West Virginia Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation Program (WVAML) implemented a watershed-scale restoration project in Three Fork Creek, a 103 square-mile watershed in rural West Virginia impaired by acid mine drainage (AMD). This was accomplished through the installation of four in-stream lime dosers in 2011. Due to the great capital investment in the restoration of Three Fork Creek and an interest in applying this watershed-scale approach to other watersheds throughout West Virginia, it is of great interest to demonstrate the successes of this remediation. It has already been demonstrated that the watershed has visibly improved and is …

Present And Future Thermal Regimes Of Intertidal Groundwater Springs In A Threatened Coastal Ecosystem, Jason J. Karrisallen, Aaron A. Mohammed, Joseph Tamborski, Rob C. Jamieson, Serban Danielescu, Barret L. Kurylyk

OES Faculty Publications

In inland settings, groundwater discharge thermally modulates receiving surface water bodies and provides localized thermal refuges; however, the thermal influence of intertidal springs on coastal waters and their thermal sensitivity to climate change are not well studied. We addressed this knowledge gap with a field- and model-based study of a threatened coastal lagoon ecosystem in southeastern Canada. We paired analyses of drone-based thermal imagery with in situ thermal and hydrologic monitoring to estimate discharge to the lagoon from intertidal springs and groundwater-dominated streams in summer 2020. Results, which were generally supported by independent radon-based groundwater discharge estimates, revealed that combined …

Editorial: Advances In Understanding Lateral Blue Carbon Export From Coastal Ecosystems, Kai Xiao, Nengwang Chen, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Joseph James Tamborski, Damien Troy Maher, Xuan Yu

OES Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lake Huron Shoreline Analysis, Shubham Satish Nandanwar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lake Huron is a popular tourist destination and is home to several businesses and residents. Since the shoreline is dynamic and is subject to change over the years due to several factors such as a change in water level, soil type, human encroachment, etc., these locations tend to encounter floods due to increased water levels and wind speed. This causes erosion and loss to the properties along the shoreline.

This study is based on two areas of interest named Pinery Provincial Park and Sauble Beach which are located on the shoreline of Lake Huron where Pinery Provincial Park is a …

Partially Oxidised Boron Nitride As A 2d Nanomaterial For Nanofiltration Applications, Natalia Garcıa Domenech, Aine Coogan, Finn Purcell Milton, María Luisa Casasín Garcia, Adrián Sanz Arjona, Marc Brunet Cabré, Aran Rafferty, Kim Mckelvey, Peter Dunne, Yurii K. Gun'ko

Articles

Access to clean water has become increasingly scarce in recent years due to various factors, such as increasing population density, urbanisation, and inequality, among others.1 The development of new, inexpensive, and reliable methods for the removal of various impurities and toxins from water is therefore vital. In recent years, the emergence of nanofiltration (NF) membranes has become an exciting prospect for water purification. NF can be described as a type of filtration which exhibits separation characteristics in between reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration, and typically has molecular weight cut-offs in the region of 200–1000 Daltons.2,3 Various nanomaterials have been implemented in …

Carli Creek Regional Water Quality Project: Assessing Water Quality Improvement At An Urban Stormwater Constructed Wetland, Christopher L. Desiderati

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Stormwater management is an ongoing challenge in the United States and the world at-large. As state and municipal agencies grapple with conflicting interests like encouraging land development, complying with permits to control stormwater discharges, “urban stream syndrome” effects, and charges to steward natural resources for the long-term, some agencies may turn to constructed wetlands (CWs) as aesthetically pleasing and functional natural analogs for attenuating pollution delivered by stormwater runoff to rivers and streams. Constructed wetlands retain pollutants via common physical, physicochemical, and biological principles such as settling, adsorption, or plant and algae uptake. The efficacy of constructed wetlands for pollutant …