Belize Lane

Utah State University | USU · Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Increasing watershed disturbance regimes, such as from wildfire, are a growing concern for natural resource managers. However, the influence of watershed disturbances on event-scale rainfall–runoff patterns has proved challenging to disentangle from other hydrologic controls. To better isolate watershed disturbance effects, this study evaluates the...

Clustering and machine learning-based predictions are increasingly used for environmental data analysis and management. In fluvial geomorphology, examples include predicting channel types throughout a river network and segmenting river networks into a series of channel types, or groups of channel forms. However, when relevant information is unevenl...

Compounding changes in climate and human activities stand to increase sediment input to rivers in many landscapes, including via discrete perturbations such as post‐fire debris flows. Because sediment supply is a dominant control on river morphology, understanding mountain river responses to sediment regime perturbations is critical to predicting a...

As wildfire increases in the western United States, so do postfire debris-flow hazards. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed two separate models to estimate (1) rainfall intensity thresholds for postfire debris-flow initiation and (2) debris-flow volumes. However, the information necessary to test the accuracy of these models is seldom a...

Streamflow generation in mountain watersheds is strongly influenced by snow accumulation and melt as well as groundwater connectivity. In mountainous regions with limestone and dolomite geology, bedrock formations can host karst aquifers, which play a significant role in snowmelt–discharge dynamics. However, mapping complex karst features and the r...

During the last decade, meter‐resolution topo‐bathymetric digital elevation models (DEMs) have become increasingly utilized within fluvial geomorphology, but most meter‐scale geomorphic analyses are done on just one to a few rivers. While such analyses have contributed greatly to our collective understanding of river discharge‐topography interactio...

Watershed disturbances can have broad, long-lasting impacts that result in a range of streamflow response. Increasing disturbance regimes, particularly from wildfire, is a growing concern for watershed management. The influence of watershed disturbances on rainfall-runoff patterns has proved challenging to isolate from undisturbed streamflow variab...

As wildfire increases in the western United States, so do postfire debris-flow hazards. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed two separate models to estimate (1) rainfall intensity thresholds for postfire debris flow initiation and (2) debris-flow volumes. However, the information necessary to test the accuracy of these models is seldom a...

The transport and accumulation of driftwood, large wood, or large woody debris (LWD) in mountain streams is a natural part of catchment health and river connectivity. At hydraulic structures, the presence of driftwood has impacts on total discharge and upstream energy. Driftwood has been studied at a variety of spillways and weir types; however, li...

Geometric modeling of river channel topography is a method of design synthesis wherein specific 2D geometric elements of river topography, such as the bed profile, cross sectional shape, and channel planform contours, are expressed mathematically in isolation and then combined to produce a 3D heightmap. We utilized the geometric modeling framework...

Streamflow patterns are shifting with climate change, and these shifts pose increasing risk to freshwater ecosystems. These emerging changes must be linked with ecological functions of river systems to understand how climate change may affect freshwater biota. In this study we used a functional flows approach to analyze the ecological effects of ch...

The creation of high-quality curricular materials requires knowledge of curriculum design and a considerable time commitment. Instructors often have limited time to dedicate to the creation of curricular materials. Additionally, the knowledge and skills needed to develop high-quality materials are often not taught to instructors. Furthermore, simil...

Hydroinformatics and water data science topics are increasingly common in university graduate settings through dedicated courses and programs as well as incorporation into traditional water science courses. The technical tools and techniques emphasized by hydroinformatics and water data science involve distinctive instructional styles, which may be...

Hydroinformatics and water data science topics are increasingly common in university graduate settings through dedicated courses and programs as well as incorporation into traditional water science courses. The technical tools and techniques emphasized by hydroinformatics and water data science involve distinctive instructional styles, which may be...

Environmental flows are critical to the recovery and conservation of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. However, estimating the flows needed to sustain ecosystem health across large, diverse landscapes is challenging. To advance protections of environmental flows for streams in California, United States, we developed a statewide modeling approach foc...

The Rio Grande/Bravo is an arid river basin shared by the United States and Mexico, the fifth-longest river in North America, and home to more than 10.4 million people. By crossing landscapes and political boundaries, the Rio Grande/Bravo brings together cultures, societies, ecosystems, and economies, thereby forming a complex social-ecological sys...

Environmental flows (e‐flows) are powerful tools for sustaining freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services, but their widespread implementation faces numerous social, political, and economic barriers. These barriers are amplified in water‐limited systems where strong trade‐offs exist between human water needs and freshwater ecosystem protection...

Environmental flow programs aim to protect aquatic habitats and species while recognizing competing water demands. Often this is done at the local or watershed level because it is relatively easier to address technical and implementation challenges at these scales. However, a consequence of this approach is that ecological flow criteria are develop...

Plain Language Summary Deep pools and shallow riffles occur in most river systems and are formed through an interaction between the water flowing through a river and the sediment it carries and deposits. Several more technical hypotheses have been developed as to why pools and riffles form where they do. The original hypothesis, called the velocity...

Given the complex array of processes influencing river networks, conceptual frameworks of rivers are critical to our understanding of channel processes and response potential as well as restoration efforts. Yet despite their wide usage, many classifications are based on limited observations over homogenous landscapes, raising questions about their...

The era of ‘big data’ promises to provide new hydrologic insights, and open web-based platforms are being developed and adopted by the hydrologic science community to harness these datasets and data services. This shift accompanies advances in hydrology education and the growth of web-based hydrology learning modules, but their capacity to utilize...

Irrigation activities alter water distribution and storage in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. The removal of water from streams can drastically impact instream flows. However, irrigation water conveyance and application onto fields can create surface and subsurface hydrologic connections, or lateral inflows, that return some of this diverted...

The era of ”big data” promises to provide new hydrologic insights, and open web-based platforms are being developed and adopted by the hydrologic science community to harness these datasets and data services. This shift accompanies advances in hydrology education and the growth of web-based hydrology learning modules, but their capacity to utilize...

Understanding how natural variation in flow regimes influences stream ecosystem structure and function is critical to the development of effective stream management policies. Spatial variation in flow regimes among streams is reasonably well understood for streams in mesic regions, but a more robust characterization of flow regimes in arid regions...

Irrigation activities are a major control on water movement and storage in irrigated river valleys in the Intermountain West, USA. Particularly in dry years, surface water diversions can deplete streams over the summer irrigation season, leading to more variable stream temperatures and increased risk for resident aquatic species. Cooler lateral inf...

Open science principles that seek to improve science can effectively bridge the gap between researchers and environmental managers. However, widespread adoption has yet to gain traction for the development and application of bioassessment products. At the core of this philosophy is the concept that research should be reproducible and transparent, i...

Reach‐scale morphological channel classifications are underpinned by the theory that each channel type is related to an assemblage of reach‐ and catchment‐scale hydrologic, topographic, and sediment supply drivers. However, the relative importance of each driver on reach morphology is unclear, as is the possibility that different driver assemblages...

Hydrologic and geomorphic classifications have gained traction in response to the increasing need for basin-wide water resources management. Regardless of the selected classification scheme, an open scientific challenge is how to extend information from limited field sites to classify tens of thousands to millions of channel reaches across a basin....

Seasonal flow transitions between wet and dry conditions are a primary control on river conditions, including biogeochemical processes and aquatic life-history strategies. In regions like California with highly seasonal flow patterns and immense interannual variability, a rigorous approach is needed to accurately identify and quantify seasonal flow...

The science and practice of environmental flows have advanced significantly over the last several decades. Most environmental flow approaches require quantifying the relationships between hydrologic change and biologic response, but this can be challenging to determine and implement due to high data requirements, limited transferability, and the ab...

Numerous hydrodynamic mechanisms result in characteristic river landforms that are integral to the ecohydraulic conditions in streams of all sizes. One mechanism associated with self-regulated riffle and pool formation is flow convergence routing (FCR). Flow convergence routing in alluvial channels produces “wide bars” that are both shallow and wid...

https://www.essoar.org/doi/abs/10.1002/essoar.10501068.1

Robust reservoir operation has long been considered a promising solution for addressing water allocation problems in the absence of reliable hydroclimatic forecasts. This study aims to evaluate the performance of this solution using a novel two-stage stochastic optimization model. The model maximizes economic benefits from reservoir deliveries whil...

AGU Abstract: Riffle-pool, plane bed, and step-pool geomorphic units represent archetypical, instream river forms that exist across a number of hydrologic settings. Given the common existence of these geomorphic units, previous research has identified distinct relationships between channel attributes with these characteristic forms. However, contra...

In a water-stressed California, how can society meet human needs without jeopardizing the hydro-ecological integrity of rivers and creeks? Answering that critical open question requires a multidisciplinary approach, because the ecological function of a stream is intrinsically linked to its channel geometry and to the magnitude and frequency of its...

This poster provides an overview of the Functional Flows Calculator, a tool created for analyzing reference-condition streamflow in California using signal processing methods. Poster presentation of this work by Noelle Patterson at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting was awarded an Outstanding Student Presentation Award.

Balancing ecological and human water needs often requires characterizing key aspects of the natural flow regime and then predicting ecological response to flow alterations. Flow metrics are generally relied upon to characterize long-term average statistical properties of the natural flow regime (hydrologic baseline conditions). However, some key as...

The extent and timing of many river ecosystem functions is controlled by the interplay of streamflow dynamics with the river corridor shape and structure. However, most river management studies evaluate the role of either flow or form without regard to their dynamic interactions. This study develops an integrated modeling approach to assess changes...

To date, subreach-scale variations in flow width and bed elevation have rarely been included in channel classifications. Variability in topographic features of rivers, however, in conjunction with sediment supply and discharge produces a mosaic of channel forms that provides unique habitats for sensitive aquatic species. In this study we investigat...

Alterations to flow regimes for water management objectives have degraded river ecosystems worldwide. These alterations are particularly profound in Mediterranean climate regions such as California with strong climatic variability and riverine species highly adapted to the resulting flooding and drought disturbances. However, defining environmental...

Study region: The study region is the Big Bend Reach of the Rio Grande/Bravo, from Luis L. Leon reservoir in the Rio Conchos to Amistad reservoir in the Rio Grande/Bravo mainstem. This reach is part of the Rio Grande trans-boundary river basin between United States and Mexico, an area of recognized environmental and socioeconomic significance by bo...

This chapter addresses the current state of water and energy resources management in different regions of the world using basin-scale case studies from North America, Latin America, and Africa. It focuses on the characterization of the current state and future projections of water and energy resources available in each basin as well as management o...

Integrated water management seeks to balance the interests of multiple stakeholders who desire many end-uses for water within the context of institutions and regulations. This problem is particularly complex in transboundary and water-scarce basins. In the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande/Bravo, an arid, monsoonal climate combines with multiple hu...

Water management in the transboundary Rio Grande/Bravo (RGB) Basin, shared by the US and Mexico, is complicated by extreme hydrologic variability, overallocation, and international treaty obligations. Heavy regulation of the RGB has degraded binationally protected ecosystems along the Big Bend Reach of the RGB. This study addresses the need for int...

Today's water systems require integrated water resource management to improve the water supply for conflicting water uses. This research explores alternative policies to improve the water supply for two conflicting uses, hydropower and environmental, using the Leishui River basin and Dongjiang reservoir as a case study. First, the natural flow regi...