Browsing by Author "Tootle, Glenn"
Now showing 1 - 17 of 17
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Climatic drivers of Southeast U.S hydrology(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Tabatabaei Sadeghi, Sahar; Tootle, Glenn; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThe growing demand for water has raised concerns regarding future resource scarcity. For water management, agriculture, fisheries needs and hydro-climatic research, there has been conflict over water in Southeastern United States (SEUS). In this dissertation, I intend to evaluate the temporal (monthly) variability of El Nino on SEUS streamflow and Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperature (AO SST) variability and SEUS streamflow. The development of an El Nino and the association of increased moisture (e.g., precipitation, streamflow) in coastal Mississippi and Alabama is misleading in agricultural practices (Sadeghi et al., 2019b). While annual increases were ~20%, this increase was in the winter and late-spring during the planting season for crops. Thus, moist soil conditions could delay crop planting. During the summer growing season, moisture was decreased and, thus, given the majority of agricultural lands are rain-fed and not irrigated, this could severely impact crop production (drought). A multi-decadal teleconnection was established between north Atlantic Ocean SSTs and SEUS streamflow (Sadeghi et al., 2019a). SEUS streamflow has been in a multi-decadal decline since ~1990 and the warming of north Atlantic Ocean SSTs exhibits a strong, linear relationship with this decline. The use of “raw” SSTs confirms previous efforts establishing an Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation “like” signal in SEUS streamflow. Future research efforts will utilize the multi-decadal teleconnection of Atlantic Ocean SSTs to forecast SEUS streamflow. Future forecasts of Atlantic Oceans SSTs from multiple Global Climate Models (GCMs) will be used as independent variables in regression models to forecast future multi-decadal variability of SEUS streamflow. These results can be compared to “traditional” methods in which physically based distributed hydrologic models are developed and downscaled future “forcings” are input to determine future flows.Item Enhancing Short-Term Operational Water Management of Urban Water Supply Systems Amid Persistent Streamflow Deficits(University of Alabama Libraries, 2024) Aziz, Danyal; Burian, StevenStreamflow deficits disrupt the regular performance of a water supply system and require management actions to prevent or reduce negative impacts. The effects on water supply exacerbate with increasing severity and duration of the deficit. Characterization of streamflow deficit severity, duration, and frequency (SDF) and organization of the information into forms and workflows useable for water management would help water utilities to mitigate the impacts of persistent low flows. This dissertation adapts the concept of streamflow deficit SDF information for urban water supply management and illustrates the impact of streamflow deficits across historical severity and duration on urban water supply system performance. This research demonstrates the use of the SDF information in a novel method called the retro-prospective approach to help water managers operationalize the streamflow deficit in preparing for low-flow conditions. Using Salt Lake City (SLC) in Utah as a case study, the research consists of three key parts. The first part analyzes historical data from the three primary creeks supplying SLC to characterize annual and multi-year streamflow deficits, aiming to determine if these deficits have or are changing. The second part concentrates on developing streamflow deficit SDF information and converting that into a time domain through the retro-prospective approach. This enables the application of the streamflow deficit hydrograph representing a specific historical event in impact analysis. The final part applies the approach to evaluate SLC's water supply system performance. The SDF information is used with a water systems model to evaluate the SLC water supply vulnerability to a range of deficit scenarios. The final part examines whether the system is more vulnerable to severe, shorter-term deficits compared to milder, longer-term ones. Results showed streamflow deficits over multi-year durations occurring more frequently, however, no change in the magnitude of these deficits was observed. The water supply system showed higher vulnerability to duration than the severity of deficits. Specifically, streamflow deficit of 7-year duration and a 100-year return period was identified as the critical event with the highest impact. The research outcomes include a characterization of streamflow deficit SDFs and its usage for operational management in urban water supply systems.Item Estimated Wind River Range (Wyoming, USA) Glacier Melt Water Contributions to Agriculture(MDPI, 2009-10-28) Cheesbrough, Kyle; Edmunds, Jake; Tootle, Glenn; Kerr, Greg; Pochop, Larry; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Wyoming; University of Alabama TuscaloosaIn 2008, Wyoming was ranked 8th in barley production and 20th in hay production in the United States and these crops support Wyoming's $800 million cattle industry. However, with a mean elevation of 2,040 meters, much of Wyoming has a limited crop growing season (as little as 60 days) and relies on late-summer and early-fall streamflow for agricultural water supply. Wyoming is host to over 80 glaciers with the majority of these glaciers being located in the Wind River Range. These "frozen reservoirs" provide a stable source of streamflow (glacier meltwater) during this critical late-summer and early-fall growing season. Given the potential impacts of climate change (increased temperatures resulting in glacier recession), the quantification of glacier meltwater during the late-summer and early-fall growing seasons is needed. Glacier area changes in the Wind River Range were estimated for 42 glaciers using Landsat data from 1985 to 2005. The total surface area of the 42 glaciers was calculated to be 41.2 +/- 11.7 km(2) in 1985 and 30.8 +/- 8.2 km(2) in 2005, an average decrease of 25% over the 21 year period. Small glaciers experienced noticeably more area reduction than large glaciers. Of the 42 glaciers analyzed, 17 had an area of greater than 0.5 km(2) in 1985, while 25 were less than 0.5 km(2) in 1985. The glaciers with a surface area less than 0.5 km(2) experienced an average surface area loss (fraction of 1985 surface area) of 43%, while the larger glaciers (greater than 0.5 km(2)) experienced an average surface area loss of 22%. Applying area-volume scaling relationships for glaciers, volume loss was estimated to be 409 x 106 m(3) over the 21 year period, which results in an estimated 4% to 10% contribution to warm season (July-October) streamflow.Item Five Hundred Years of Hydrological Drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin(2007-06) Timilsena, Janak; Piechota, Thomas C.; Hidalgo, Hugo; Tootle, Glenn; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis article evaluates drought scenarios of the Upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) considering multiple drought variables for the past 500 years and positions the current drought in terms of the magnitude and frequency. Drought characteristics were developed considering water-year data of UCRB’s streamflow, and basin-wide averages of the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI) and the Palmer Z Index. Streamflow and drought indices were reconstructed for the last 500 years using a principal component regression model based on tree-ring data. The reconstructed streamflow showed higher variability as compared with reconstructed PHDI and reconstructed Palmer Z Index. The magnitude and severity of all droughts were obtained for the last 500 years for historical and reconstructed drought variables and ranked accordingly. The frequency of the current drought was obtained by considering two different drought frequency statistical approaches and three different methods of determining the beginning and end of the drought period (annual, 5-year moving, and ten year moving average). It was concluded that the current drought is the worst in the observed record period (1923-2004), but 6th to 14th largest in terms of magnitude and 1st to 12th considering severity in the past 500 years. Similarly, the current drought has a return period ranging from 37 to 103 years based on how the drought period was determined. It was concluded that if the 10-year moving average is used for defining the drought period, the current drought appears less severe in terms of magnitude and severity in the last 500 years compared with the results using 1- and 5-year averages.Item Hydroclimate Extreme Drivers and Impacts Depicted by Remote Sensing, Deep Learning, and Multivariate Data Assimilation Systems(University of Alabama Libraries, 2023) Gavahi, Keyhan; Moradkhani, HamidSoil moisture (SM) and evapotranspiration (ET) are among those key environmental variables that greatly affect hydroclimate extremes (e.g., floods and droughts), agricultural production, and irrigation management which all collectively control the land and atmospheric system. Land surface models most often do not provide accurate and reliable estimates of these prognostic variables as they suffer either from inadequate conceptualization of underlying physics or non-uniqueness of model parameters or inaccurate initialization. During the past two decades, Data Assimilation (DA) has received increased prominence among researchers and practitioners as an effective and reliable method to integrate the hydrometeorological observations from remotely sensed sensors into land surface models for enhancing their forecasting skills while taking into account all sources of uncertainties. Although numerous efforts have gone into assimilating satellite soil moisture observations into land surface models, little attention has been given to the combined use of soil moisture and evapotranspiration to better characterize drought conditions. Hence, will examine the multivariate and univariate assimilation of SM and ET observations to understand how they contribute to the improvement of drought monitoring and forecasting skills.While accounting for uncertainties in model outputs such as SM and ET, the significance of uncertainties stemming from the forcing data cannot be underestimated, especially precipitation, which is the most erroneous meteorological forcing in land surface modeling and soil moisture estimation. More accurate precipitation estimations at fine spatial and temporal resolutions have proven to improve our land surface hydrological simulations and provide us with a more accurate representation of extreme events such as floods and droughts. In this study, the influence of uncertainties stemming from forcing precipitation data in driving Land Surface Models (LSMs) and characterizing drought conditions was investigated. Furthermore, a deep learning-based data fusion technique is proposed here to improve quantitative precipitation estimation which can consequently help to better characterize hydroclimate extremes such as floods and droughts.Item Hydroclimatic Controls on the Dynamics of Wetland Hydrology and Groundwater Droughts(University of Alabama Libraries, 2023) Park, Junehyeong; Kumar, MukeshWetlands provide a multitude of ecosystem services. To predict their sustainability and function, it is important to understand the controls on their inundation dynamics. Given that many wetlands are fed by groundwater, for them, the inundation dynamics is inextricably linked to groundwater variations. This dissertation investigates the role of hydroclimatology on dynamics of wetland inundation and groundwater. Specifically, in the first chapter, the seasonal variations of wetland inundation over the contiguous United States are mapped. Next chapter evaluates the role of inundation morphometry dynamics on surrogate metrics of ecosystem services. The third chapter uncovers the spatio-temporal interactions between groundwater and wetlands, specifically assessing the dynamics of groundwater contribution areas during both wet and dry periods. Finally, the fourth chapter examines the role of groundwater depth and land cover on groundwater dynamics. Overall, these investigations provide a novel assessment of inundation dynamics of wetlands, and the role of hydroclimatic controls on them. The findings have important implications for wetland use, management and conservation, particularly in the context of changing hydroclimatic conditions. The study highlights the importance of considering the interactions between groundwater and wetland inundation dynamics, as well as the morphometric properties of wetland inundation, in the design and implementation of wetland restoration projects.Item Multi-Scale Risk and Impact Assessment of Potential Dam Failure in the United States(University of Alabama Libraries, 2021) Song, Junho; Jones, Steven; Kam, Jonghun; University of Alabama TuscaloosaAging water infrastructure in the United States (U.S.) is a growing concern. According to the 2018 National Inventory of Dams (NID) database, there are more than 90,000 dams registered in the U.S, and their average age is 57 years. The compounding impact of climate change with aging dams has increased the potential for and exposure risk of dam failure-driven floods. At the national level, dam failure with an absence of a state dam safety program and Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) trigger local-economic collapse causing malfunction of flood control, economic paralysis, and fatalities with property losses. Since the 1950s, which is known as the Dam nation period, dams have been providing sustainable water resources for the entire continental United States (CONUS). Dams are considered a vital infrastructure providing water and water ways to communities and industries, therefore, a dam safety program is required along with increasing economics. At the state level, dams play a significant role as well (e.g., agriculture, navigation, and recreation) to increase the quality of life. Therefore, a scheduled inspection of dams inevitably leans on dam management agencies and private owners for protecting benefits from the existing dams. However, due to the various regional characteristics and legislations by the states, such as topography, privacy, and security issues, systematic administrating of dams is poorly conducted. Dams in the Black Belt areas of Alabama, home to some of the most socioeconomic vulnerable communities in Alabama, indicate an extremely low level of regular dam inspection based on the NID. At the site level, hyper-resolution inundation floodplain mapping for dam breach is crucial to improve EAPs and to minimize adverse impacts of the dam failure. However, hyper-resolution 2D modeling for hydrodynamics and costly bathymetric surveys limit understanding of the impact of antecedent flow conditions on flood mapping at the site level.This dissertation proposes a multiple-scale risk and impact assessment of potential dam failure in the United States with a focus on the state of Alabama, the only state in the CONUS with no formal dam safety legislation, in order to better understand 1) how the risk and preparedness of potential dam failure in the United States vary at a range of spatial scales (site-level to national-level), 2) how the economic benefits of the existing dams vary across the U.S. states in terms of the marginal cost of water use, and 3) what are the values of cutting-edge technologies are beneficial in better describing the flood inundated areas due to potential dam failure. This dissertation consists of five main chapters. In Chapter 1, the objectives and goals of this dissertation are addressed. In Chapter 2, the spatiotemporal patterns of the growth of dams and their potential hazard and economic benefit are assessed, using more than 70,000 NID-registered dams in the CONUS. In Chapter 3, the state-level risk of dam failure is assessed using more than 2,000 dams in the state of Alabama. The vulnerability of communities to dam failure is high in populated counties with high incomes while less populated counties with lower incomes show a low vulnerability to dam failure due to the relatively small storage capacities of the existing dams. In Chapter 4, the sensitivity test of inundation flood mapping to initial river depth with antecedent flow condition is also conducted using the experimental simulations of the two-dimensional hydrodynamic model with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Applying the NID database which is updated with EAP data for the entire dams in the U.S, the results of the dissertation provide quantified data on potential economic values and hazards of dams. Therefore, the results of the dissertation are useful to not only estimate the total cost of recovery but also assess potential losses of the water cost due to dam failures. In addition, providing calculated cost of flood damage restoration would be a valuable index for flood insurances and increasing public awareness as a beginning step of dam safety. Furthermore, using an underwater drone has been successfully applied to acquire precise Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and flood maps. If fully autonomous underwater drones are available later, the drones would play a key role in floodplain research areas as well as not only river streams, but also river basins are accessible to measure the bathymetric survey. The findings of this study can be useful data for reconsideration of the dam safety programs and EAPs, and it further emphasizes the need for careful design of EAPs accounting for antecedent flow conditions and accurate river channel depths for places that are required to establish safety programs.Item Oceanic-atmospheric variability and western US snowfall(American Geophysical Union, 2006-07-08) Hunter, Thad; Tootle, Glenn; Piechota, Thomas; University of Wyoming; Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE); University of Nevada Las Vegas; University of Alabama TuscaloosaA study of the influences of interdecadal and interannual oceanic-atmospheric influences on April 1 Snow-Water Equivalent (SWE) in the western U. S. is presented. SWE data was identified at 323 Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS) SNOTEL (SNOwpack TELemetrysites) stations for the period of 1961 to 2004 and for 121 SNOTEL stations for the period 1941 to 2004. The phases (cold/negative or warm/positive) of Pacific Ocean [ El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)] and Atlantic Ocean [ Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ( AMO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)] oceanic-atmospheric influences were identified for the year prior to the SWE data set. Statistical significance testing of SWE data set, based on the interdecadal and interannual oceanic-atmospheric phase (warm/positive or cold/negative) was performed by applying the nonparametric rank-sum test. The results show that in addition to the well established ENSO signal in the northwest, the PDO and AMO influence SWE variability. Additionally, the coupled effects of the oceanic-atmospheric influences were evaluated on the basis of the long-term phase (cold/negative or warm/positive) of the interdecadal ( PDO, AMO, NAO) influences and the interannual ENSO. Finally, the coupled effects of the oceanic-atmospheric influences were evaluated on the basis of the long-term phase (cold/negative or warm/positive) of the interdecadal ( AMO, PDO, NAO) phenomena. Regions in the west were identified that responded to the interdecadal/ decadal climatic coupling. By utilizing the April 1 SWE and the long lead-time approach for the oceanic-atmospheric variables, useful information can be provided to snow forecasters and water managers.Item Practical Tools for Disinfection Byproduct Mitigation in Drinking Water Utilities(University of Alabama Libraries, 2023) Vines, Melanie; Terry, Leigh GDrinking water treatment is crucial to protecting public health. The disinfection of drinking water with chlorine-based disinfectants prevents many waterborne illnesses and is widely considered to be one of the greatest public health advancements of the 20th century. However, these chlorine-based disinfectants react with organic matter and other constituents naturally present in source waters to create disinfection byproducts (DBPs), some of which pose a risk to public health. While over 600 DBPs have been identified, the classes of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) due to their prevalence and suspected carcinogenicity. While the Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule has been in its current state since 2006, many utilities still struggle to stay in compliance.This dissertation focuses on three research goals surrounding the prevention and mitigation of DBPs, for which an introduction is given in Chapter 1. The first goal is to use fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate organic matter removal via biological filtration (biofiltration) for drinking water treatment. Thus, Chapter 2 presents the results of a bench-scale biofiltration study which examined three source waters with varying organic matter character under different biofiltration operating parameters. The second goal is to determine the removal of pre-formed HAAs in a combined granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorbing filter and anthracite-based biological filter. For this purpose, Chapter 3 discusses the removal of HAAs from bromine-spiked tap water by the combined filter system. The third goal is to assess the efficacy of magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) treatment for removing DBP precursors. Chapter 4 presents the results from a comparison study between a pilot-scale conventional treatment train with MIEX pretreatment and a full-scale conventional treatment train without MIEX pretreatment. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes the main conclusions of the studies conducted for this dissertation and discusses suggestions for future research for utilities to prevent and mitigate DBP formation.Item Recent Alpine Glacier Variability: Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA(2014-08-24) Maloof, Abigail; Piburn, Jesse; Tootle, Glenn; Kerr, Greg; University of Alabama TuscaloosaGlacier area and volume changes were quantified through the use of historical aerial photographs in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Forty-four glaciers in the Wind River Range were analyzed using orthorectified aerial photography from 2012. This is an update to the work of Thompson et al. [1] in which the surface area changes of the 44 glaciers were estimated from 1966 to 2006. The total surface area of the glaciers was estimated to be 27.8 ± 0.8 km2, a decrease of 39% from 1966 and a decrease of 2% from 2006. The 2012 volume changes for the 44 glaciers were estimated using the Bahr et al. [2] volume-area scaling technique. The total glacier volume in 2012 was calculated to be 1.01 ± 0.21 km3, a decrease of 63% from 1966. These results, once compared to temperature and snowpack trends, suggest that the downward trend in snowpack as well as increasing temperatures seem to be the most likely driver of the glacier recessions. With Global Circulation Models (GCMs) forecasting higher temperatures and lower precipitation in the western U.S., it is likely that glaciers will continue to recede.Item Toward hyper-resolution hydrologic data assimilation systems for improved predictions of hydroclimate extremes(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020) Abbaszadeh, Peyman; Moradkhani, Hamid; University of Alabama TuscaloosaOver the past decades, tropical storms and hurricanes in the Southeast United States have become more frequent and intense, mainly due to the effects of climate change. They often produce torrential rains that may result in catastrophic floods depending on hydrologic, geomorphologic and orographic characteristics of the region. Although hydrological models are widely used to provide estimates of such floods, their predictions most often are not perfect as the models suffer either from inadequate conceptualization of underlying physics or non-uniqueness of model parameters or inaccurate initialization. Data Assimilation (DA) based on Particle Filtering (PF) has been recognized as an effective and reliable mean to integrate the hydrometeorological observations from in-situ stations and remotely sensed sensors into hydrological models for enhancing their prediction skills while accounting for the associated uncertainties. Although recent developments in DA theory and remote sensing technologies have made significant progress in enhancing the performance of the hydrologic models, their usefulness are subject to some inherent limitations that may result in inaccurate and imprecise model predictions, especially in the case of an extreme event such as flooding. This dissertation is an attempt to identify these limitations and address those by conducting four studies. The first tackles a fundamental problem associated with the utilization of remotely sensed observations in hydrologic data assimilation applications. The two and third are progressive studies that address two conceptual/theoretical problems of using particle filtering approach in hydrologic studies. As a result, the fourth study demonstrates the effectiveness and usefulness of the developments in all three studies in improving the hyper-resolution hydrologic model predictions over a region in the Southeast Texas where heavy rainfall from Hurricane Harvey caused deadly flooding.Item Tree-ring anatomical variability and flooding near the White River-Mississippi River confluence(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Meko, Matthew Dobbyn; Therrell, Matthew D.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaI explored the relationship between inter-annual tree-ring anatomical variability of overcup oak (Quercus lyrata) and river flooding at a floodplain forest site near the confluence of the White River and Mississippi River, developing chronologies of anatomical variability from quantitative measurement series and also from the visual identification of presence or absence of “flood-ring” anatomical anomalies. A chronology developed from measured widths of the first rank of earlywood vessels (VR1W) in each growth increment displayed a strong signal related to spring river levels, and a VR1W-based model of spring river levels explains 37 percent of the variance of the 67 years of mean March-April-May stage height with which it was calibrated. The flood-related signal present in the VR1W chronology provides quantitative evidence supporting the continued study of past floods using tree rings, but does not capture relative magnitude of floods better than a chronology of flood response based on visual identification of flood-ring anatomical anomalies. Further investigation of the tree-ring flood record necessitates the development of chronologies from carefully selected sites, as well as continued exploration of methods of quantifying anatomical variability.Item Unraveling Compound Extremes: Tropical Storm, Drought, Heat Wave, and Wildfire(University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) Song, Jae Yeol; Moradkhani, Hamid; University of Alabama TuscaloosaClimate and weather extremes are occurring more frequently and intensively due to climate change. Over the past decades, research relating to compound and cascading climate extremes are gaining more attention. These events can occur in complex combination which threats the human society and cause huge damage to the environment and economy. On the other hand, there are cases when the risk or damage of climate extremes are neutralized by another extreme event. Therefore, it is essential to understand the characteristics of climate extremes and need to investigate on the compound effects of the extremes.This dissertation is an attempt to identify the effect and behavior of different climate extremes including tropical storms, agricultural drought, heat wave, and wildfire. Here I conduct a rigorous spatiotemporal analysis to different cases of concurrent extreme events. First, I assess the joint likelihood of precipitation and wind-speed from landfalling tropical storm and then integrate the vulnerability of affected communities to depict the risk and damage from tropical storm events. Second, I involve the storm surge and a larger sample size of the landfalling tropical storms to depict the risk and damage from them. Third, I examine the concurrent moment of drought and tropical storms to seek whether the agricultural droughts are ameliorated or exacerbated after tropical storm landfall. Finally, I investigate the relationship between heat wave and wildfire using probabilistic approaches.Item Using Paleoflood Hydrology to Extend Flood Records and Understand Large Floods in South Sauty Creek, Buck's Pocket State Park, AL(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020) Corbin, Joni; Davis, Lisa; University of Alabama TuscaloosaIn this study, we use multiple paleoflood hydrologic techniques to develop a chronology of flood events that pre-date stream gauge data for South Sauty Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River in north Alabama. Paleoflood hydrology uses physical evidence of flooding to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of floods that occurred prior to historical and instrumental data. South Sauty’s gorge setting makes the stream highly prone to large floods, which as recently as 2020 resulted in loss of life. Streamflow data only begin in 2011, providing limited data for understanding the large floods generated by this stream. Tree core samples were collected from primarily oak (Quercus) trees with flood impact scars in the riparian zone, and dated using standard dendrochronology techniques. We developed a 247-year flood chronology, with the earliest dated flood in 1758 C.E. Dated tree scar heights correspond to stages associated with flows 34%-65% greater than discharges for the December 2019 high flow, and 17% - 28% greater than the 25-year event that occurred in 2015. The highest tree scars thought to be from the December 2015 flood modeled result in discharges consistent with a 50-200 year flood event. Additionally, sediment entrainment equations based on the Shield’s parameter were used to determine the minimum water height necessary to move the 10 largest imbricated cobbles located in channel adjacent to the tree-sampling site. We use HEC-RAS 5.0.6 to model the discharge associated with the stage that transported the imbricated boulders. Transportation of 80% of the measured cobbles is associated with the largest flows on record or greater, up to 50 times greater than the modeled 2015 event. Future work will expand the data set to include higher tree scars to isolate the dates of larger flood events based on inundation mapping of the floodplain.Item Utilizing tree ring chronologies to reconstruct paleo streamflow: a case study at the alabama-florida state border(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020-12) Vines, Melanie; Terry, Leigh; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis study examined the results from a statistical screening of tree-ring width records to evaluatethe strength of the hydrological signal in dendrochronological records from the Southeastern region of the United States. We used United States Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow data from five gages near the Alabama-Florida border and 74 regional tree-ring chronologies to create and analyze seasonal flow reconstructions. Prescreening methods included correlation and temporal stability analysis of predictors to ensure practical and reliable reconstructions. Seasonal correlation analysis revealed that several regional tree-ring chronologies were significantly correlated (p≤0.05) with March–October streamflow, and stepwise linear regression was used to create the reconstructions. Reconstructions for all five rivers were considered statistically skillful (R2≥0.50), with lengths ranging from 144 to 782 years. The reconstructions were statistically validated using the following parameters: R2 predicted validation, the sign test, the variance inflation factor (VIF), and the Durbin-Watson (D-W) statistic. The long-term streamflow variability was analyzed for the Choctawhatchee, Conecuh, Escambia, and Perdido Rivers and the recent (2000s) drought was identified as being the most severe in the instrumental record. The 2000s drought was also identified as being one of the most severe droughts when compared to the paleo-records developed for all five rivers.Item The Western U.S. Drought: How Bad Is It?(2004-08-10) Piechota, Thomas C.; Timilsena, Janak; Tootle, Glenn; Hidalgo, Hugo; University of Alabama TuscaloosaHistorical stream flow records and the forecast for 2004 make the current (1999–2004) drought in the southwestern United States the worst one in the past 80 years for portions of the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB).For the Colorado River (near Cisco, Utah), the cumulative stream flow deficit (departure from long‐term mean) for the current drought is almost 11 km8, or approximately 2 years of average stream flow Although the current drought is the most significant, based on historical stream flow records, is it the worst ever?Item What is the Appropriate Institutional Arrangement for the Administration of Water Policy in Alabama?(University of Alabama Libraries, 2023) Mary, Mary Wallace Pitts; Hart, JustinIt has been postulated that the accelerating and multiple global water crises may be addressed through governance. This research presents a definition of water governance and applies it to a review and assessment of regimes in the United States (US), Australia, Canada, and the European Union (EU). Although contextual factors limit direct transferability, lessons learned can inform the development of a resilient water governance framework in other contexts. A general water governance framework is presented in Article 1 which is used as a guide to water governance reform and spatial reorganization. Article 2 examines the evolution of existing spatial patterns of the political, legal, and institutional structures in Alabama that are mandated and funded to manage water. Through analysis of water resources management and State entity mandates, the most appropriate institutional framework for water policy is proposed. This framework could operate within existing legal, institutional, and funding arrangements, but would necessitate revisions to State agency spatial organization. Alternatives discussed include a new State-level organization, or merging functions and mandates of existing agencies. These alternatives would require legislative reform, spatial reorganization, and continued funding. This research is intended to inform and initiate continued discussion among all interested parties so that consensus is reached and prioritized regarding the selection and initiation of an appropriate institutional framework for the State. Given the importance of groundwater, a sustainable groundwater management plan must be developed. This plan should be an integral part of a conjunctive state water management plan implemented to protect this vital resource. Article 3 explores whether the legal statutes and institutional arrangements governing groundwater support a sustainable groundwater management regime, and whether they could be incorporated into a management plan for the state. A framework for sustainable management of groundwater resources is proposed which includes the rejection of the traditional common law riparian model, and the adoption of the regulated riparian model. It supports the adoption of a conjunctive system for the management and regulation of surface and groundwater resources and recommends that water quantity and quality issues be managed and regulated together.