Kyson Coombs – Undergraduate – Geography
Water Quality: Robinson Mine in Eastern Nevada

This poster addresses the influence of mining on groundwater quality. In particular, I examine how mining affects the quality of water supplies through discarded waste rock that has been mined for ore, the effluent then seeps from the discarded rock into water supplies. These contaminated waters are the same ones that are used as part of community water supplies near Robinson Mine, which is an internationally-owned mine in White Pine County in eastern Nevada. Robinson Mine, like many other mines, is situated in a remote area that is surrounded and supported by rural communities, in this case the communities of Ruth, McGill, and Ely, Nevada. The city of Ely is actively investing in ways to improve filtering systems and similarly, the Ruth-McGill water district is working on water filtration.

Steven Evers – Undergraduate – Environmental Science 
The Colorado River and the Millions of American and Mexican Lives at Stake

​Shared water sources across the globe are the source of tension between upstream and downstream countries. The Colorado River, shared by the United States and Mexico, is no exception. The water of the Colorado River has large allocations to seven US states before ever reaching Mexico downstream. In the last 50 years, there have been instances when the US has delivered contaminated water to Mexico and was held accountable for their actions. Under a water treaty made in 1944, it was mandated that the US give Mexico 1.5 million acre feet of water annually. The purpose of this treaty is to allow both Mexico and the US to manage and allocate the shared surface water. Here, I present the history of this 1944 treaty between the US and Mexico, the water quality of the Colorado River since then, and some possible solutions to help restore the river. Without urgent management changes, people will be displaced in the search for clean water and valuable natural resources will be lost. The Colorado River has a range of responsibilities from supporting the lives of millions of Americans and Mexicans as well as the ecosystems surrounding its tributaries. As populations increase so does the demand for fresh water and as climate change starts to negatively affect the river, the issues in this system need to be addressed soon.

Benjamin Ingle – Undergraduate - Forest Ecology and Management and Environmental Science
Reclaiming the Cesspool: An Assessment of Two Major Pollution Problems in the Ganges River

​The Ganges River is the largest and most religiously important river in India, yet it remains one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Two of the largest pollution sources are untreated municipal sewage and industrial waste. This poster examines the municipal sewage pollution problem and one of the main industrial polluters, the tanning industry, with an emphasis on (1) assessing the causes of this pollution, (2) scrutinizing previous failed attempts to clean up the river, and (3) exploring possible solutions. The discharge of untreated sewage wastewater accounts for nearly 75% of the pollution in the river, causing the river water to contain microbial counts that make it unsafe for both drinking and bathing, while the tanning industry is a major contributor of metal pollution in the river, particularly chromium. The Indian government has recognized these pollution threats to the Ganges River, creating the Ganga Action Plan in 1985 and the National Ganga River Basin Project in 2011 in an attempt to mitigate pollution and restore water quality. However, these plans have failed, mainly due to a lack of oversight, enforcement, and participation. Along with accounting for these failed plans, future solutions to these pollution problems necessitate an accurate quantification of municipal and industrial sewage loads so the appropriate sewage treatment plants can be constructed and all wastewater can be treated before being discharged into the river. Future actions must successfully protect and restore the Ganges River before millions of people are drastically affected.

Kristine Koh – Undergraduate - Ecohydrology
The Dangers of Increasing Metal Pollution in the Nile River

​The Nile River is the longest river in Africa and it is also a main freshwater resource for nearby cities. The Nile River is convenient for providing food, water, transportation, and healthy soil for growing food. Due to an increased amount of dumping, there is an increasing amount of pollutants and metals in the river. When the high amount of metal is consumed by humans and animals, there can be detrimental effects to both species and the ecosystem around it. Animals like the Nile crocodile are in danger when they consume water with high concentrations of metal because they lay eggs with thinner shells and higher concentrations of metal. This causes an increase in deaths for the fetuses in the eggs. The high concentration of metal in the Nile river poses a danger to humans because of the vast uses for this freshwater resource. Humans that use the Nile River as potable water can have health related issues due to drinking water with metals in it. Here, I present that an increased concentration of metal pollution in the Nile River is endangering the Nile crocodile and the health of humans that use the river for freshwater, and some possible solutions to the higher metal concentrations include reverse osmosis and adsorption. The Nile river is becoming more dangerous to humans and the area around it because of an increasing metal content in this important freshwater resource.

Rena Shimizu and Liam Schilling - Undergraduate – Environmental Science
Arsenic Contamination of the Indus River Basin and its Effects on Human Health

​Arsenic is a toxic water pollutant that affects between 150-200 million people worldwide. Around 35 percent (~60 million) of those people live in the Indus River Basin. Groundwater within the basin has arsenic levels 10-25 times higher than the World Health Organization recommends. Chronic exposure to arsenic can lead to an assortment of diseases, ranging from Type-2 diabetes to skin cancer. Arsenic contamination occurs mainly through geological processes (leaching into groundwater through the surrounding rock), but can come to be from human activity as well. Anthropogenic sources of arsenic mainly are produced through the application of pesticides and the mining and smelting of metals. Due to the rural living conditions of many of the basin’s inhabitants, cheap and readily available arsenic removal methods are needed, as expensive treatment facilities are out of the question unless extensive government support is provided. Here, we present the challenges to arsenic pollution in the Indus River Basin, while also suggesting Pakistan implement solutions that have worked in Vietnam. In Northern Vietnam, where a similar problem is being faced, sand filtration units are used to remove bacteria and arsenic from their drinking water with a 95% efficiency. These units are cheap to construct and maintain, and only need a few minutes to work. With the growing population of people that live in the Indus River Basin and their increasing dependency on groundwater, these “low-tech” methods can succeed in keeping the inhabitants of the Indus River Basin safe from chronic arsenic exposure.