Bethany T. Neilson

Spectral scaling of heat fluxes in streambed sediments

Advancing our predictive capabilities of heat fluxes in streams and rivers is important because of the effects on ecology and the general use of heat fluxes as analogues for solute transport. Along ...

A Bayesian Decision Network Engine for Internet-Based Stakeholder Decision-Making

In this paper, we present an Internet-based, Bayesian Decision Network engine to aid watershed stakeholders in collaborative decision-making. Recent years have seen an increased emphasis on including all affected parties in the process of making water resources and water quality management decisions (as in the TMDL program). Given the complexity of the models and data analysis tools that are typically employed by engineers and scientists in watershed studies, meaningful communication with stakeholders can be a daunting task. In our experience, stakeholders are often skeptical of model and data analysis results because of the inherent uncertainty associated with these methods. Because of this, a stakeholder may be more likely to accept results presented in the form of a probability distribution of potential outcomes, than a single predicted result. Additionally, if model predictions are mapped into the likelihood of realizing tangible and intangible benefits, stakeholders have a means whereby to evaluate the anticipated results. Bayesian Decision Network (BDNs) are presented here as a useful tool for diagramming the decision process; for holding relationships between variables; and for analyzing the anticipated effects of management decisions while explicitly accounting for the associated uncertainties. An Internet-based application for employing BDNs in watershed decision-making is described with a demonstration application from the East Canyon watershed in Utah.

A modeling approach for assessing the effect of multiple alpine lakes in sequence on nutrient transport

The effects of a single lake on downstream water chemistry may be compounded by the presence of additional lakes within the watershed, augmenting or negating the effects of the first lake. Multiple, linked lakes are a common feature of many watersheds and these resemble reactors in series often studied in engineering. The effects of multiple lakes in series on nutrient transport are largely unexplored. We populated and calibrated a simple lake model to investigate the role of a sub-alpine lake (Bull Trout Lake (BTL), Rocky Mountains, USA) on the transport of the macronutrients during the summer of 2008. Further, we developed a sequential model in which four identical lakes (copies of the BTL model) were connected in series. All lakes in the sequence retarded the flux of nutrients, thus slowing their transport downstream. The first lake in the sequence dramatically altered stream water chemistry and served as a sink for C and P and a source of N, while additional lakes downstream became sources of C, N and P. Although additional downstream lakes resulted in important changes to water chemistry and nutrient transport, the nature of the changes were similar from Lakes 2 to 4 and the magnitude of the changes diminished with distance downstream. Our lake model served as an effective tool for assessing the nutrient budget of the lake and the hypothetical effect of multiple lakes in sequence in a landscape limnology framework.

Groundwater exchanges near a channelized versus unmodified stream mouth discharging to a subalpine lake

The terminus of a stream flowing into a larger river, pond, lake, or reservoir is referred to as the stream-mouth reach or simply the stream mouth. The terminus is often characterized by rapidly changing thermal and hydraulic conditions that result in abrupt shifts in surface water/groundwater (sw/gw) exchange patterns, creating the potential for unique biogeochemical processes and ecosystems. Worldwide shoreline development is changing stream-lake interfaces through channelization of stream mouths, i.e., channel straightening and bank stabilization to prevent natural meandering at the shoreline. In the central Sierra Nevada (USA), Lake Tahoes shoreline has an abundance of both “unmodified” (i.e., not engineered though potentially impacted by broader watershed engineering) and channelized stream mouths. Two representative stream mouths along the lakes north shore, one channelized and one unmodified, were selected to compare and contrast water and heat exchanges. Hydraulic and thermal properties were monitored during separate campaigns in September 2012 and 2013 and sw/gw exchanges were estimated within the stream mouth-shoreline continuum. Heat-flow and water-flow patterns indicated clear differences in the channelized versus the unmodified stream mouth. For the channelized stream mouth, relatively modulated, cool-temperature, low-velocity longitudinal streambed flows discharged offshore beneath warmer buoyant lakeshore water. In contrast, a seasonal barrier bar formed across the unmodified stream mouth, creating higher-velocity subsurface flow paths and higher diurnal temperature variations relative to shoreline water. As a consequence, channelization altered sw/gw exchanges potentially altering biogeochemical processing and ecological systems in and near the stream mouth.

Persistent Urban Influence on Surface Water Quality via Impacted Groundwater

Growing urban environments stress hydrologic systems and impact downstream water quality. We examined a third-order catchment that transitions from an undisturbed mountain environment into urban Salt Lake City, Utah. We performed synoptic surveys during a range of seasonal baseflow conditions and utilized multiple lines of evidence to identify mechanisms by which urbanization impacts water quality. Surface water chemistry did not change appreciably until several kilometers into the urban environment, where concentrations of solutes such as chloride and nitrate increase quickly in a gaining reach. Groundwater springs discharging in this gaining system demonstrate the role of contaminated baseflow from an aquifer in driving stream chemistry. Hydrometric and hydrochemical observations were used to estimate that the aquifer contains approximately 18% water sourced from the urban area. The carbon and nitrogen dynamics indicated the urban aquifer also serves as a biogeochemical reactor. The evidence of surface water-groundwater exchange on a spatial scale of kilometers and time scale of months to years suggests a need to evolve the hydrologic model of anthropogenic impacts to urban water quality to include exchange with the subsurface. This has implications on the space and time scales of water quality mitigation efforts.

Water temperature controls in low arctic rivers

Understanding the dynamics of heat transfer mechanisms is critical for forecasting the effects of climate change on arctic river temperatures. Climate influences on arctic river temperatures can be particularly important due to corresponding effects on nutrient dynamics and ecological responses. It was hypothesized that the same heat and mass fluxes affect arctic and temperate rivers, but that relative importance and variability over time and space differ. Through data collection and application of a river temperature model that accounts for the primary heat fluxes relevant in temperate climates, heat fluxes were estimated for a large arctic basin over wide ranges of hydrologic conditions. Heat flux influences similar to temperate systems included dominant shortwave radiation, shifts from positive to negative sensible heat flux with distance downstream, and greater influences of lateral inflows in the headwater region. Heat fluxes that differed from many temperate systems included consistently negative net longwave radiation and small average latent heat fluxes. Radiative heat fluxes comprised 88% of total absolute heat flux while all other heat fluxes contributed less than 5% on average. Periodic significance was seen for lateral inflows (up to 26%) and latent heat flux (up to 18%) in the lower and higher stream order portions of the watershed, respectively. Evenly distributed lateral inflows from large scale flow differencing and temperatures from representative tributaries provided a data efficient method for estimating the associated heat loads. Poor model performance under low flows demonstrated need for further testing and data collection to support the inclusion of additional heat fluxes.

The influence of spatially variable stream hydraulics on reach scale transient storage modeling

Within the context of reach scale transient storage modeling, there is limited understanding of how best to establish reach segment lengths that represent the effects of spatially variable hydraulic and geomorphic channel properties. In this paper, we progress this understanding through the use of channel property distributions derived from high-resolution imagery that are fundamental for hydraulic routing. We vary the resolution of reach segments used in the model representation and investigate the minimum number necessary to capture spatially variable influences on downstream predictions of solute residence time probability density functions while sufficiently representing the observed channel property distributions. We also test if the corresponding statistical moments of the predictions provide comparable results and, therefore, a method for establishing appropriate reach segment lengths. We find that the predictions and the moment estimates begin to represent the majority of the variability at reach segment lengths coinciding with distances where observed channel properties are spatially correlated. With this approach, reach scales where the channel properties no longer significantly change predictions can be established, which provides a foundation for more focused transient storage modeling efforts.

Spatial considerations of stream hydraulics in reach scale temperature modeling

While a myriad of processes control water temperature, the most significant in streams without notable shading or groundwater inputs are surface heat fluxes at the air-water interface. These fluxes are particularly sensitive to parameters representing the water surface area to volume ratio. Channel geometry dictates this ratio; however, it is currently unclear how spatial variability in stream hydraulics influences temperature predictions or how the contribution of the boundary condition influences interpretation of processes most sensitive to this variability. To investigate these influences over long reach scales, we used high-resolution spatial observations collected over a 25 km reach within a Laplace-domain solution to a two-zone temperature transient storage model. We found that for the study reach and flow condition, changes in the surface area to volume ratio did not generally coincide with changes in stream temperature. Though, notable changes in cumulative mean residence time corresponded with changes in the temperature extremes throughout the study reach. The surface heat fluxes were clearly the most sensitive to spatially variable hydraulics that translated into high residence times once the contribution of the boundary condition decayed. Consistent with solute transport, reach segment lengths that reflect the spatial correlation in observations were necessary to capture the spatial influences of hydraulics on temperature predictions. This approach provides a fundamental step for determining whether spatial detail related to stream hydraulics is important to support accurate temperature predictions and how best to represent that detail.

Denitrification in the banks of fluctuating rivers: The effects of river stage amplitude, sediment hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity, and ambient groundwater flow

Hyporheic exchange induced by periodic river fluctuations leads to important biogeochemical processes, particularly nitrogen cycling, in riparian zones (RZs) where chemically distinct surface water and groundwater mix. We developed a two-dimensional coupled flow, reactive transport model to study the role of bank storage induced by river fluctuations on removing river-borne nitrate. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to quantify the effects of river amplitude, sediment hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity, and ambient groundwater flow on nitrate removal rate. The simulations showed that nitrification occurred in the shallower zone adjacent to the bank where oxic river water and groundwater interacted while denitrification occurred deeper into the aquifer and in the riverbed sediments where oxygen was depleted. River fluctuations greatly increased the amount of nitrate being removed; the nitrate removal rate increased as river amplitude increased. Similarly, increasing hydraulic conductivity increased overall nitrate removal since it expanded the denitrifying zone but decreased efficiency. In contrast, increasing sediment dispersivity increased the removal efficiency of nitrate because it promoted mixing between electron acceptors and donors. The presence and direction of ambient groundwater flow had a significant impact on nitrate removal rate when compared to neutral conditions. A losing river showed a larger nitrate removal rate, whereas a gaining river showed a smaller nitrate removal rate. Our results demonstrated that daily river fluctuations created denitrification hot spots within the RZ that would not otherwise exist under naturally neutral or gaining conditions.

EPRI’S WATERSHED ANALYSIS RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK (WARMF) VS. USEPA’S BETTER ASSESSMENT SCIENCE INTEGRATING POINT AND NONPOINT SOURCES (BASINS)

There are numerous water quality modeling packages available from industry and government that assist in watershed decision-making and total maximum daily load (TMDL) development. Uncertainty exists among decision makers concerning the appropriateness of these tools and modeling packages to specific TMDL issues. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in collaboration with Utah State University and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), has undertaken a comparison of Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) and Watershed Analysis Risk Management Framework (WARMF). BASINS, developed by the USEPA, and WARMF, developed by EPRI, are watershed management decision support systems that integrate data, geographic information systems (GIS), and models. Although similar in their description, there are important differences in model setup requirements, technical expertise requirements, overall modeling approaches, and the application of model results to watershed decision making and TMDL development. The portion of this study presented in this paper compares the requirements, strengths, and weaknesses of WARMF with BASINS for general watershed management and TMDL activities. Specifically, guidance is provided on DSS selection by providing information on the capabilities of each system, human resource requirements, and the approximate costs associated with model setup and calibration. Overall, it was found that each system has strengths and weaknesses and that choosing one system over another is dependent on many factors, including in-house modeling expertise, constituents to be modeled, the number of watershed modeling efforts required, and available funds.