Jacob Boomsma – Undergraduate – Atmospheric Science
Impacts on Streamflow Temperature in the Pacific Northwest due to Climate Change

​Steam temperatures are expected to rise in the Pacific Northwest over the coming decades. This warming has the potential to affect the ecology of the rivers in this region, specifically with fish habitats. Climate change will affect precipitation and air temperature. In a warmer climate, streams and rivers fed by snowmelt will be affected greatly due to a change in the amount of snow accumulation and how speed that the snow melts. These changes affect the temperature and flow rate of streams of rivers. These changes will impact water management in flood prone areas, reservoirs, and urban water management. The extent of the warming, however, varies based on climate model. An overall warming is anticipated, but the degree of warming, and with it, the effects on the ecosystem, vary based on climate model. Through comparing similar sites with different climate change forecast methodology, the impact on a wider range of climatic conditions on stream temperature will be evaluated.

Hannah Hoyos – Undergraduate – Natural Resources and Environmental Science
The Impacts of Drought and Land Use Change in the Parana River Basin

​The Parana Basin includes land belonging to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, and houses the second largest river on the continent, the Parana River. The Parana River supplies 18 million people with water for drinking and agriculture, but in the last 50 years, droughts and land use change have resulted in decreased flow. Increasing extreme seasonal droughts compounded with the increased use of the Parana River’s water for industry and damming of the river, have depleted the river’s resources. Communities that rely on exports have been severely impacted by low flows as it restricts large ships from traveling in and out of the mouth of the river. It is important that these damages causing low flows be reversed or slowed, as they not only have negative impacts on local economies, but they also threaten food and water security. Declining fish populations due to damming the river and droughts disrupting crop production diminish food supply for those reliant on the Parana River and land in the basin. This presentation examines the impacts that droughts, increased water usage, and dams in the Parana River Basin have had on resource availability to communities in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, then suggests strategies for improved water management.

Destiny Poulson – Undergraduate – Geography
Decreased Fresh Water in Murray-Darling Basin and Ecosystem Effects

​The Murray-Darling Basin in South East Australia is home to 16 significant wetlands, 35 endangered species, and 98 different species of waterbirds. However, the basin provides 40% of agriculture produce and freshwater use by 2.2 billion people that live in the basin as well as demands for international exports. Drought severity has increased because of declining precipitation and increased evaporation caused by climate change. A decline in water level increases the basins salinity and affects ecosystems that normally thrive within the region. Here I cover water quality changes, decreasing fish and turtle populations, and sensitivity of macroinvertebrates in response to these changes in the Murray-Darling Basin. Salinization decreases the potential of water usage in crop growth where the salt effects the ability of absorption and transpiration through the leaves. Whereas lower water levels have left fish and turtle populations vulnerable to invasive species that lead to loss of native fishes and turtles. Temperature of the water also changes due to increasing salinity which shows to be lethal to macroinvertebrates, this indirectly affects fish. The Murray-Darling Basin wetlands are a significant resource for food and water directly and indirectly, making restoration of the waters health and availability imperative to sustaining water species and agricultural crops that provide food for a significant amount of people around the world.

Molly Willoughby – Undergraduate – Environmental Science
Role of the Gila River Indian Community and Colorado River Indian Tribes in the Arizona Drought Contingency Plan

​Inter-state water planning in the American West has historically excluded participation by Tribal representatives. While legislative frameworks and, where they are pursued and formalized, judicial settlements may establish high-seniority reserved water rights for Tribes, larger-scale water decision-making has generally not been inclusive of Tribal representatives. The Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) may mark a break with this trend. DCP is a compact negotiated between the lower-basin Colorado River states, signed into law in 2019. In the case of Arizona’s DCP negotiations, the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) played major roles in ensuring its viability. However, tensions are ongoing for water negotiations between Tribal and Anglo stakeholders in the state. Many argue that it is essential to include Tribes in these large-scale “co-governance” processes. Indeed, Tribes are entitled to 46% of the water delivered from the Colorado River by the Central Arizona Project, and are thus highly relevant to long-term sustainability planning. However, while Tribes are important stakeholders in these water resources, they are also sovereign nations. Tribal members may not always benefit from involvement in co-governance with Anglo structures for a variety of reasons. Such issues in water negotiations grow more salient as Arizona’s water resources come under increasing stress. As such, this poster examines the role played by GRIC and CRIT in DCP negotiations. It discusses the relationship of historical water settlement decisions to more recent Tribal involvement in drought planning at the state level, and highlights ongoing ecological and social challenges. 

Molly Willoughby References

Uriel Cholula Rivera and Manuel A. Andrade – Graduate – Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences
Estimation of Actual Evapotranspiration Using Landsat Imagery with the METRIC Model over an Irrigated Corn Field in Texas

​Accurate estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) are essential for efficient irrigation management, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Optical-satellite remote sensing methods are suitable for estimating crop water use at field and regional scales at low-cost. Additionally, these methods have the advantage of estimating the crop actual water ET as a residual of the energy balance not requiring reference crop ET and crop coefficients. The objective of this study was to estimate the actual evapotranspiration (ETa) over an irrigated corn field applying the METRIC (Mapping evapotranspiration with internalized calibration) model. The experiment was conducted at the USDA-ARS CPRL in Bushland, Texas during the summer of 2016 using a center pivot irrigation system. Cloud-free images from the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) were processed and analyzed using the ENVI 5.6 software. Multi-temporal ETa estimates were obtained after the application of the model. The results were compared with the ETa obtained by conventional methods that use the reference ET and crop coefficients (Kc). Actual ET estimates of the METRIC model were similar to the ETa calculated using the conventional methods. The application of remote sensing methods to estimate ETa offers the possibility to improve irrigation management and conserve water.