Salinity is a major determinant of where and how water resources are used
worldwide. Natural salt pollution severely constrains the beneficial use of large amounts
of water in Texas and neighboring states. High salinity loads in several major
river/reservoir systems, including the Brazos River, originate largely from salt seeps and
springs in isolated areas of the upper river basins located in the Permian Basin geologic
region.
Research objectives were (1) to improve salinity simulation capabilities of the
Water Rights Analysis Package (WRAP) modeling system, and (2) to develop a better
understanding of the occurrence, transport, and impacts of salinity in the Brazos River
and Lakes Possum Kingdom, Granbury, and Whitney. Water volume budgets and total
dissolved solids load budgets were developed for five river reaches covering 405 miles
of the upper Brazos River. Methodologies were developed for creating and applying
WRAP salinity input datasets. The WRAP modeling system was expanded and applied to the entire Brazos River Basin to investigate alternative modeling premises and
impacts of salinity and salinity control measures on water supply capabilities.
Water and salinity budget analyses of the Brazos River system based primarily
on measured stream flow, reservoir storage, and total dissolved solids data compiled by
the U.S. Geological Survey were performed to explore the characteristics of flow and
storage volumes and salinity loads and concentrations in the river/reservoir system.
WRAP salinity input datasets were developed based on results from the salinity budget
study. One dataset was designed and applied specifically for testing salinity routing
methods and calibrating salinity routing parameters. A second complete basin salinity
dataset was developed and applied to simulate the Brazos River Basin for alternative
management strategies. The results of the simulations demonstrate, for example, that
previously proposed salt control impoundments can significantly reduce salinity loads
and concentrations in the three reservoirs and at all locations on the Brazos River from
the impoundments downstream to the Gulf of Mexico.
The WRAP salinity simulation features are designed to provide flexibility in
combining water quantity simulation datasets from the Texas Water Availability
Modeling System or other sources, which may be very complex, with available salinity
data which varies in extent and format between different river basins. The modeling
capabilities demonstrated by the Brazos River Basin study can be applied in other river
basins as well.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-05-7820 |
| Date | 2010 May 1900 |
| Creators | Lee, Chi Hun |
| Contributors | Wurbs, Ralph A. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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