Fresh Water Studies Commons^™

Simulation Of Groundwater Flow, 1895–2010, And Effects Of Additional Groundwater Withdrawals On Future Stream Base Flow In The Elkhorn And Loup River Basins, Central Nebraska—Phase Three, Amanda T. Flynn, Jennifer S. Stanton

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Document abstract

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Lewis and Clark, Lower Elkhorn, Lower Loup, Lower Platte North, Lower Niobrara, Middle Niobrara, Upper Elkhorn, and the Upper Loup Natural Resources Districts, designed a study to refine the spatial and temporal discretization of a previously modeled area. This updated study focused on a 30,000-square-mile area of the High Plains aquifer and constructed regional groundwater-flow models to evaluate the effects of groundwater withdrawal on stream base flow in the Elkhorn and Loup River Basins, Nebraska. The model was calibrated to match groundwater-level and base-flow data from the stream-aquifer …

Droughtscape, Fall 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

From the director

Drought greatly improves in Southern Plains and South

Texas, Missouri, and Colorado logged late-summer impacts

Memory, remote sensing and a new research methodology

Navigating the U.S. Drought Monitor

Planners discuss the barriers to effective drought mitigation planning

Exploring climate issues from a county management perspective

Strategic Framework for Drought Risk Management and Enhancing Resilience in Africa

Mena global policy forum looks from data to mitigation

About us

State-by-state drought classification table developed by NDMC graduate student

Umphlett Qci Sept 2018, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Drought

Water Resources

Agriculture

Temperature

Precipitation

Natural And Managed Watersheds Show Similar Responses To Recent Climate Change, Darren L. Ficklin, John T. Abatzoglou, Scott M. Robeson, Sarah E. Null, Jason H. Knouft

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Changes in climate are driving an intensification of the hydrologic cycle and leading to alterations of natural streamflow regimes. Human disturbances such as dams, land-cover change, and water diversions are thought to obscure climate signals in hydrologic systems. As a result, most studies of changing hydroclimatic conditions are limited to areas with natural streamflow. Here, we compare trends in observed streamflow from natural and human-modified watersheds in the United States and Canada for the 1981–2015 water years to evaluate whether comparable responses to climate change are present in both systems. We find that patterns and magnitudes of trends in median …

Estimating Watershed Residence Times In Artificially-Drained Landscapes And Relation To Nutrient Concentrations, Emma Beck, Lisa Welp, Alexandra L. Meyer

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nutrient runoff from agricultural lands feeds harmful algae blooms that create a variety of problems in freshwater ecosystems. In order to reduce the effects of this nutrient runoff, Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being put in place in agricultural lands. Most of these BMPs focus on slowing down the flow of water through the watershed to give nutrient concentrations time to deplete before the water flows to the stream or river. However, the effectiveness of these BMPs are highly unknown and the process of monitoring nutrient runoff is often complex and costly. The data in this study consists of 7 …

Estimating Watershed Mercury Contribution To Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas, Usa, William Miles Harmon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mercury contamination associated with human activities poses global human health and environmental risks. A fish-consumption advisory has been in effect at Lake Fort Smith in central west Arkansas for more than a decade due to observed methylmercury concentrations in fish tissue. Lake Fort Smith is an important municipal drinking water supply and recreational resource. Water samples from the majority contributing tributary stream, Frog Bayou creek, were collected periodically, under differing hydrologic conditions in order to quantify the allochthonous mercury load delivered to the lake. Temperature, specific conductance, and turbidity data were collected and used to estimate dissolved organic carbon, methylmercury …

Groundwater Discharge Characteristics For Selected Streams Within The Loup River Basin, Nebraska, 2014–16, Christopher M. Hobza, Aaron R. Schepers

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Streams in the Loup River Basin are sensitive to groundwater withdrawals because of the close hydrologic connection between groundwater and surface water. Groundwater discharge is the primary component of streamflow in the Loup River Basin and constitutes more than 90 percent of streamflow in the central part of the Sand Hills. To improve the understanding of geologic controls and various climatic and land-use changes on groundwater discharge, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Upper Loup Natural Resources District (NRD), the Lower Loup NRD, and the Nebraska Environmental Trust, studied the spatial and temporal characteristics of groundwater …

Droughtscape, Summer 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

From the director

Drought expands and intensifies

Dry down fuels fires

Tweeting #drought18

MOISST and NSMN

Caribbean planning progress

Drought observer network study

MENA teams report progress

NDMC global outreach

Climate hub workshop

On the horizon

Shifting Niche Space In Coastal Landscapes: Spatio-Temporal Patterns Driving Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Across The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kristin Elise Demarco

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Identifying distributions of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) across the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) coastal landscape necessitates describing ecological processes in estuarine gradients. SAV assemblages are ecological indicators of aquatic ecosystem health; spatial and temporal distributions are strongly correlated to environmental conditions. Many wildlife species, including waterfowl, are dependent on SAV and seeds in NGOM coastal marshes for food and habitat. To understand SAV distributions at multiple spatial and temporal scales a multi-tiered project was designed to collect SAV presence, species assemblage, and cover data, and cores to describe seed food. The first tier sampled inter-annually in the growing seasons …

Umphlett Qci June 2018, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature Anomalies

Precipitation Anomalies

Water Resources

Agriculture

Temperature

Precipitation

Calibration Parameter Selection And Watershed Hydrology Model Evaluation In Time And Frequency Domains, Karthik Kumarasamy, Patrick Belmont

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Watershed scale models simulating hydrological and water quality processes have advanced rapidly in sophistication, process representation, flexibility in model structure, and input data. With calibration being an inevitable step prior to any model application, there is need for a simple procedure to assess whether or not a parameter should be adjusted for calibration. We provide a rationale for a hierarchical selection of parameters to adjust during calibration and recommend that modelers progress from parameters that are most uncertain to parameters that are least uncertain, namely starting with pure calibration parameters, followed by derived parameters, and finally measured parameters. We show …

Functions Of Ecosystems: Stream Metabolism As An Efficient And Effective Means To Gage The Health And Understand The Interworking Of Urban Streams In A Watershed Of Rock Island, Il, Ryan Johnson, Dr. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

Stream metabolism is a critical functional measure of stream health that integrates physical parameters like slope and discharge, with ecosystem functions like photosynthesis and respiration. Stream metabolism is widely studied; however, urban stream metabolism remains poorly understood. Stream metabolism was measured for five streams ranging from 1^st to 5^th orders from October 11^th to October 18^th 2017 and four streams ranging from 1^st to 4^th order from October 22^nd to 25^th 2017 located within an approximately 9.3 square kilometer watershed of Rock Island, IL that has an urban to suburban type of …

Predicting Spatial Patterns In Precipitation Isotope (Δ2h And Δ18o) Seasonality Using Sinusoidal Isoscapes, Scott T. Allen, James W. Kirchner, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding how precipitation isotopes vary spatially and temporally is important for tracer applications. We tested how well month‐to‐month variations in precipitation δ18O and δ2H were captured by sinusoidal cycles, and how well spatial variations in these seasonal cycles could be predicted, across Switzerland. Sine functions representing seasonal cycles in precipitation isotopes explained between 47% and 94% of the variance in monthly δ18O and δ2H values at each monitoring site. A significant sinusoidal cycle was also observed in line‐conditioned excess. We interpolated the amplitudes, phases, and offsets of these sine functions across the landscape, using multiple linear …

Cyanobacteria Reduce Quagga Mussel (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis) Spawning And Fertilization Success, Anna G. Boegehold, Nicholas S. Johnson, Jeffrey L. Ram, Donna R. Kashian

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) are highly fecund broadcast spawners invasive to freshwaters of North America and western Europe. We hypothesized that environmental cues from phytoplankton can trigger gamete release in quagga mussels. Nutritious algae may stimulate dreissenid spawning, but less palatable food, such as bloom-forming cyanobacteria, could be a hindrance. The objective of our study was to test whether exposure to cyanobacteria can inhibit quagga mussel spawning and fertilization. We assessed spawning in the presence of serotonin, a known spawning inducer, where adult quagga mussels placed in individual vials were exposed to 13 cyanobacteria cultures and purified algal toxin …

Water Quality And Freshwater Mussel Assemblages In The Strawberry River Watershed, Arkansas, Irene Sanchez Gonzalez

Student Theses and Dissertations

Contamination of freshwater resources is an environmental issue worldwide. Habitat alteration and degradation cause water quality decreases and loss of aquatic biodiversity. The Strawberry River in Northeast Arkansas is an example of a highly diverse watershed presenting water quality impairments due to siltation caused by land use alteration. This thesis provides a better understanding of water quality in the tributaries contributing to the Strawberry River and of the freshwater mussel biodiversity of the river. Overall, the Strawberry River tributaries do not exceed criteria assessment but show increased sediment and nutrient concentrations in more agriculturally intense areas. The diversity of freshwater …

Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about groundwater depletion from conventional irrigation agriculture in the Arkansas Delta region have led to the promotion of more efficient irrigation practices. With Arkansas being the largest producer of rice, the 10th largest producer of soybeans and the 16th largest producer of corn in the United States, the irrigation demand of these crops has put pressure on producers to find ways to irrigate more efficiently. Not only are the alternative technologies supposed to reduce water use, it is also believed that their adoption can also yield economic benefits for the producer. Despite these assumed benefits, adoption of alternative technologies …

Chemical And Statistical Analysis Of Karst Groundwater Basin Signatures - Springfield, Mo, Benjamin E. Lockwood

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Springfield, MO is located on the Springfield Plateau physiographic province. The Springfield plateau contains a number of Mississippian aged units and is mainly capped by the Burlington-Keokuk Formation. The Burlington-Keokuk is a highly fossiliferous limestone with nodular and interbedded chert. Beneath the Burlington-Keokuk lies the Elsey, Reeds Spring, and Pierson Formations respectively which comprise the Springfield Plateau aquifer hydrostratigraphic unit. Within the Springfield Plateau aquifer, a well-developed karst system includes springs, sinkholes, and caves. The Springfield Plateau aquifer is the predominant source for springs and seeps in the Springfield area. The purpose of this study was to understand the differences …

Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Management Practices That Affect Emissions In Us Rice Systems, Bruce A. Linquist, Mathias Marcos, M. Arlene Adviento-Borbe, Merle Anders, Dustin Harrell, Steve Linscombe, Michele L. Reba, Benjamin R.K. Runkle, Lee Tarpley, Allison Thomson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous reviews have quantified factors affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) systems, but not from rice systems typical for the United States, which often vary considerably particularly in practices (i.e., water and carbon management) that affect emissions. Using meta‐analytic and regression approaches, existing data from the United States were examined to quantify GHG emissions and major practices affecting emissions. Due to different production practices, major rice production regions were defined as the mid‐South (Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri) and California, with emissions being evaluated separately. Average growing season CH4 emissions for the mid‐South and …

A Geospatial Study Of The Drought Impact On Surface Water Reservoirs: Study Cases From Texas And California, Zachary Asbury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drought in Texas and California has been a long-term problem. Over the past 60 years reservoir construction has occurred to remedy the situation. Satellite imagery has been used historically to measure and monitor fluctuations in surface water reservoirs. This investigation integrates remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies to study the impact of drought on selected surface water reservoirs in San Angelo and Dallas in Texas, and Lake Oroville in California. Expansion and shrinkage over the 2005-2016 period reveal the concrete impact that drought, along with other factors, have on the selected lakes. Fluctuations in reservoir sizes during summer …

Applications Of Reservoir Limnology Theory And Steady-State Modeling To Eutrophication Management In Beaver Lake, Arkansas, Matthew Rich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reservoir limnology theory predicts that phytoplankton biomass (PB) is greatest in riverine-transition zones and least in lacustrine zones leading to an inverse pattern in water clarity. These theoretical patterns were utilized to create a statistical model of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), an indicator of PB, and Secchi transparency (ST), an indicator of Chl-a, in Beaver Lake, Arkansas, a 12,800-ha reservoir, in order to hindcast historical conditions. Sampling for Chl-a, ST, and photic depth occurred semimonthly at 12 locations along a 78-km transect from the river inflow to the dam during the 2015 growing season. The ratio of Chl-a and ST measured at …

The Relationship Between Measures Of Annual Livestock Disturbance In Western Riparian Areas And Stream Conditions Important To Trout, Salmon, And Char, Lindsey M. Goss, Brett B. Roper

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Managing livestock disturbance in riparian zones in a manner that provides economic returns to ranchers while protecting streams is an important aspect of rangeland management on public lands in the western United States. Attempts to balance economic and ecologic outcomes have been made more difficult due to the presence of several salmonid species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. One approach to proper management of livestock use near streams has been to define the allowable limits of disturbance using 2 metrics, streambank alteration and stubble height. We evaluated 153 stream reaches within the Interior Columbia Basin to determine …

Importance Considered Organic Versus Inorganic Source Of Carbon To Lakes For Calculating Net Effect On Landscape C Budgets, Weiqi Lu, Shilu Wang, Kevin M. Yeager, Fang Liu, Qiangsheng Huang, Yuxue Yang, Peng Xiang, Yingchun Lü, Chong-Qiang Liu

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Lakes and reservoirs transform, emit, and bury carbon that is exported from land and are thus significant components of terrestrial carbon budgets. Their significance is often assessed by integrating these water bodies into terrestrial primary production. However, the transfer of inorganic carbon (IC) is likely a sticking point for these integrations because IC is not part of net ecosystem production. Here we integrated carbon evasion and organic carbon (OC) burial in a lake in the context of inorganic and OC cycling in a karst catchment from a system perspective. The lake emitted carbon dioxide (CO₂) and buried OC …

Drought Drives Rapid Shifts In Tropical Rainforest Soil Biogeochemistry And Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Christine S. O'Connell, Leilei Ruan, Whendee L. Silver

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change models predict more frequent and severe droughts in the humid tropics. How drought will impact tropical forest carbon and greenhouse gas dynamics is poorly understood. Here we report the effects of the severe 2015 Caribbean drought on soil moisture, oxygen, phosphorus (P), and greenhouse gas emissions in a humid tropical forest in Puerto Rico. Drought significantly decreases inorganic P concentrations, an element commonly limiting to net primary productivity in tropical forests, and significantly increases organic P. High-frequency greenhouse gas measurements show varied impacts across topography. Soil carbon dioxide emissions increase by 60% on slopes and 163% in valleys. …

Documentation Of Particle-Size Analyzer Time Series, And Discrete Suspended-Sediment And Bed-Sediment Sample Data Collection, Niobrara River Near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014, Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Document abstract

The Ubited States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, monitored a sediment release by Nebraska Public Power District from Spencer Dam located on the Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, during the fall of 2014. The accumulated sediment behind Spencer Dam ordinarily is released semiannually; however, the spring 2014 release was postponed until the fall. Because of the postponement, the scheduled fall sediment release would consist of a larger volume of sediment. The larger than normal sediment release expected in fall 2014 provided an opportunity for the USGS and US Army Corps …

How To Sample: Collecting Water Samples Is So Easy, Anyone Can Do It!, Mike Daniels, Bradley J. Austin, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resource Center Fact Sheets

The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) runs a water quality lab that anyone can use to have their water sample tested. The AWRC Lab is certified for the analysis of water samples, but the quality (and meaningfulness) of the data generated by the Lab is also dependent on you – the client. This fact sheet provides you some general guidance on how to properly collect your water sample.

Carbon Flux And Weathering Processes In Icelandic Glacial-Fed Rivers, Allison Quiroga

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An investigation into the carbon dynamics and weathering processes occurring in Icelandic glacial-fed streams was conducted during the spring to summer seasonal transition in June of 2017. Four major outlet rives were sampled from the glaciers of Gígjökull, Steinsholtsjökull, Sólheimajökull, and Falljökull. Markarfljót, the major river that Gígjökull, Steinsholtsjökull, and many other glaciers drain into, was also sampled. Longitudinal sampling occurred at all sites to capture downstream trends in the hydrogeochemistry and carbon dynamics. Distinct differences in geochemistry between glacier surface meltwater, sub-glacial waters, pro-glacial lake water, and post-mixed downstream samples were evident in the data. Glacier surface streams were …

Primary Atmospheric Drivers Of Pluvial Years In The United States Great Plains, Paul Flanagan, Jeffrey B. Basara, Jason C. Furtado, Xiangming Xiao

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Precipitation variability has increased in recent decades across the Great Plains (GP) of the United States. Drought and its associated drivers have been studied in the GP region; however, periods of excessive precipitation (pluvials) at seasonal to interannual scales have received less attention. This study narrows this knowledge gap with the overall goal of understanding GP precipitation variability during pluvial periods. Through composites of relevant atmospheric variables from the ECMWF twentieth-century reanalysis (ERA-20C), key differences between southern Great Plains (SGP) and northern Great Plains (NGP) pluvial periods are highlighted. The SGP pluvial pattern shows an area of negative height anomalies …

Droughtscape, Spring 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Drought shifts to south in beginning of 2018

Ag records impacts; strong fire season forecast

Drought maps show regional and river forecast areas

Greenness indicator could save lives in Africa

NDMC on a global playing field

Visitors from Korea tap drought resources, experts

Svoboda named to United Nations advisory group

Responding to drought in the Southern Plains

Crops, cattle and climatology in the Upper Niobrara

Connecting locally for global change

Umphlett Qci March 2018, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Mountain Snowpack

Enhanced Fire Activity During Winter

Utilities Impacted by Extreme Cold

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Winter Drought Conditions and Outlook

Reducing Dietary Protein In Pond Production Of Hybrid Striped Bass (Morone Chrysops × M. Saxatilis): Effects On Fish Performance And Water Quality Dynamics, Steven Rawles, Bartholomew Green, Matthew Mcentire, T. Gibson Gaylord, Frederic T. Barrows

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

In previous work, we demonstrated that diets containing 40% digestible protein (DP) (45% crude protein) and 18% lipid supplemented with Met and Lys resulted in superior performance and nutrient retentions in hybrid striped bass (HSB) compared to less energy-dense diets when rearing HSB at temperatures similar to the summer growing period of the Southern U.S. The current work was aimed at vetting previous results in pond production of market-size HSB at commercial stocking densities to assess impacts on fish production indices and water quality parameters. Diets were formulated to contain digestible protein levels ranging from 41% to 35% DP and …