No description available.

No description available.

In arid lands, wetland loss is the result not only of the scarcity of water itself, but of the management of water to maximize off-stream uses. Declaring a wetland as a protected natural area is not enough when its water supply is not protected as well. In a fully-diverted, over-allocated, drought-prone Colorado River ecosystem, its delta has no instream flows allocated. Water use efficiency (WUE) is touted as the panacea for water shortages and lack of instream flows. I evaluated the relationships between water use in the Mexicali Irrigation District and the water supply for the Colorado River delta wetlands. The survey applied to 521 farmers complemented the GIS analysis to create a spatial distribution of agronomic and socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ options to improve WUE in irrigation. Mexicali farmers apply 10,496 m³/ha/yr; 4% higher than the legal allotment. Still, 28% of the district’s soils are salt-affected (ECe > 8dS/m), 19% are sodic (ESP > 50%), and 39% of the salt load in irrigation water accumulates in the soils. Thus, Mexicali farmers apply more water than plants need in order to maintain the sustainability of their soils. From an agronomic perspective, increasing WUE is feasible in 80% of the valley. However, high costs and lack of technical knowledge limit farmers’ options to either continue using as much water as they do now or rent/sell their water rights to larger farming operations or urban developments. Mexicali’s agriculture provides 87 Mm³ of water to the delta marshes, and seepage from unlined canals and subsurface flows generated by irrigation contribute to sustain riparian areas. Agricultural “inefficiencies” become the main source of water for wetlands when flows are fully diverted. The Irrigation District 014 is an integral part of the delta ecosystem; this is a required change in the agriculture-wetland paradigm. The restoration of arid and over-allocated rivers requires the integration of irrigation practices and WUE with the allocation of water for instream flows. The restoration of wetlands of international watersheds like the Colorado River requires the bi-national collaboration beyond memorandums of understanding between the countries; treaties where environmental flows are actually allocated will better serve shared ecosystems.

Thesis (M.S. - Renewable Natural Resources)--University of Arizona, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80).

Thesis (M.S.- Hydrology and Water Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 245-249).

The ~5.6-4.8 Ma Bouse Formation, exposed along the lower Colorado River, contains a well exposed but debated record of river integration. Sedimentologic and stratigraphic analysis aid interpretation of depositional processes, relative water depth, depositional environments, stratal architecture, and basin-filling history. Data collected include detailed measured sections, facies descriptions, and fault measurements. Seven lithologically distinct units have been identified along with numerous marine sedimentary structures and fossils. The Bouse Formation preserves a systematic sequence-stratigraphic architecture that records two cycles of base level rise and fall. Lacustrine versus estuarine interpretation remains elusive, though new isotope and micropaleontology data suggest a shift from marine to lacustrine. Constructed stratigraphic facies panels reveal a wedging geometry indicative of syn- to post-depostional tilting, leading us to propose a "sag basin" model during deposition of the Bouse. Finally, the newly described Bouse upper limestone unit resolves a long-standing debate over the age of the first through-going river.

abstract: For this dissertation, three separate papers explore the study areas of the western Grand Canyon, the Grand Staircase (as related to Grand Canyon) and Desolation Canyon on the Green River in Utah. In western Grand Canyon, I use comparative geomorphology between the Grand Canyon and the Grand Wash Cliffs (GWC). We propose the onset of erosion of the GWC is caused by slip on the Grand Wash Fault that formed between 18 and 12 million years ago. Hillslope angle and channel steepness are higher in Grand Canyon than along the Grand Wash Cliffs despite similar rock types, climate and base level fall magnitude. These experimental controls allow inference that the Grand Canyon is younger and eroding at a faster rate than the Grand Wash Cliffs. The Grand Staircase is the headwaters of some of the streams that flow into Grand Canyon. A space-for-time substitution of erosion rates, supported by landscape simulations, implies that the Grand Canyon is the result of an increase in base level fall rate, with the older, slower base level fall rate preserved in the Grand Staircase. Our data and analyses also support a younger, ~6-million-year estimate of the age of Grand Canyon that is likely related to the integration of the Colorado River from the Colorado Plateau to the Basin and Range. Complicated cliff-band erosion and its effect on cosmogenic erosion rates are also explored, guiding interpretation of isotopic data in landscapes with stratigraphic variation in quartz and rock strength. Several hypotheses for the erosion of Desolation Canyon are tested and refuted, leaving one plausible conclusion. I infer that the Uinta Basin north of Desolation Canyon is eroding slowly and that its form represents a slow, stable base level fall rate. Downstream of Desolation Canyon, the Colorado River is inferred to have established itself in the exhumed region of Canyonlands and to have incised to near modern depths prior to the integration of the Green River and the production of relief in Desolation Canyon. Analysis of incision and erosion rates in the region suggests integration is relatively recent. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2016

abstract: Rapid urbanization and population growth occurring in the cities of South Western United States have led to significant modifications in its environment at local and regional scales. Both local and regional climate changes are expected to have massive impacts on the hydrology of Colorado River Basin (CRB), thereby accentuating the need of study of hydro-climatic impacts on water resource management in this region. This thesis is devoted to understanding the impact of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on the local and regional hydroclimate, with the goal to address urban planning issues and provide guidance for sustainable development. In this study, three densely populated urban areas, viz. Phoenix, Las Vegas and Denver in the CRB are selected to capture the various dimensions of the impacts of land use changes on the regional hydroclimate in the entire CRB. Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model, incorporating the latest urban modeling system, is adopted for regional climate modeling. Two major types of urban LULC changes are studied in this Thesis: (1) incorporation of urban trees with their radiative cooling effect, tested in Phoenix metropolitan, and (2) projected urban expansion in 2100 obtained from Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency for all three cities. The results demonstrated prominent nocturnal cooling effect of due to radiative shading effect of the urban trees for Phoenix reducing urban surface and air temperature by about 2~9 °C and 1~5 °C respectively and increasing relative humidity by 10~20% during an mean diurnal cycle. The simulations of urban growth in CRB demonstratedii nocturnal warming of about 0.36 °C, 1.07 °C, and 0.94 °C 2m-air temperature and comparatively insignificant change in daytime temperature, with the thermal environment of Denver being the most sensitive the urban growth. The urban hydroclimatic study carried out in the thesis assists in identifying both context specific and generalizable relationships, patterns among the cities, and is expected to facilitate urban planning and management in local (cities) and regional scales. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2017

Master of Science / Department of Biology / Craig Paukert / I investigated the influence of anthropogenic threats and hydrologic alteration on fish assemblages within the Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB). Life history traits of fish assemblages for individual stream segments were summarized by species presence/absence data of current (1980-2006) records. To assess anthropogenic threats, I developed a series of ecological risk indices at various scales (e.g., catchment, watershed, aquatic ecological system and upstream of aquatic ecological system) and related each index to fish life-history traits to determine the method and scale that best related to biotic metrics. Hydrologic alteration was quantified using the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration software to calculate hydrologic alteration values using the range of variability approach. Ecological risk indices within all scales were strongly correlated (r[superscript]2>0.54, p<0.0001) to one another. Relationships between fish life history traits and ecological risk indices occurred only at the catchment and watershed scales. Strongest relationships were at the watershed scale where increased levels of anthropogenic risk were related to reduced occurrences of native, fluvial dependent species (r[superscript]2=0.12, p<0.0001) and increased occurrences of nonnative generalist species (r[superscript]2=0.22, p<0.0001). The percent agriculture was positively related to indices of alteration of low flows (r=0.401, p=0.006) while forested land cover was negatively related to alteration of low flow events (r=-0.384, p=0.008). Relationships between indices of hydrologic alteration and fish traits indicate the occurrence of piscivorous, nonnative fishes increased with alteration of low flow events whereas occurrence of fluvial dependent fishes that preferred rubble substrate decreased with alteration of low flow events (r=0.64, p=0.001). Our analysis suggests that ecological risk indices and hydrologic alteration in the LCRB are related to composition of biotic communities. Incorporating cost-effective risk indices into conservation planning will likely increase the effectiveness of conservation efforts while understanding biotic responses to modified flow regimes are a necessity in sustainable development of water resources as human populations grow and water resources decrease in the LCRB.

Changes in climate influence agricultural production. This study looks at the impacts of climate variability in the Utah regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin by combining regression techniques with interview data to explore how climate variability affects agricultural production and how the farmers are adapting their practices to these changes. The results show that climate does not have any significant impact on cattle and hay production in the study area on a decadal scale. However, on an annual basis temperature seems to have more impact than precipitation. Among non-climatic variables, commodity prices and their regulations by the government are the most important factors that influence the year-to-year production. Farmers are well-aware of these impacts and have adapted significantly to the changes that occur on a year-to-year basis.