Browsing by Subject "water management"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 27
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Analysis of Drawdown for Three Ground Water Projects in Roberts County, Texas and Comparison to the 50-Percent Goal(2000) Dutton, Alan R.; Reedy, R. C.Three water production projects have been proposed in and adjacent to Roberts County, Texas, and are in various stages of planning, permitting, construction, and implementation. The projects are referred to as the Amarillo, Mesa, and Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (CRMWA) projects. The total pumping from the Ogallala aquifer in these projects is anticipated to be more than 280,000 acre-feet/year. Additional permit applications for groundwater development in the Roberts County area are expected. This study was performed at the request of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District to evaluate whether these projects, at an average pumping rate of 1 acre-foot/acre per year or at some lower average pumping rate, might meet District aquifer management goals. These projects were evaluated in various combinations. Three scenarios treated each project by itself. Three more scenarios combined the three projects in pairs. A seventh scenario analyzed all three as simultaneous projects. An eighth scenario evaluated hypothetical production from the entire Roberts County area. The scenarios were evaluated using a groundwater flow model of the Ogallala aquifer developed for the Panhandle Regional Water Planning Group.Item CleanTX Analysis on Water: The Thirst for Power(Austin Technology Incubator, 2008-05-14) King, Carey W.; Holman, Ashlynn S.; Webber, Michael E.Current technologies for power generation, with some exceptions such as wind turbines and photovoltaic solar cells, rely heavily on the availability of large amounts of water. Primarily this water is needed for cooling thermoelectric plants and supplying fluid pressure and flow for hydroelectric power generation. But in a changing climate, it is not clear whether sufficient volumes of water will continue to be available where needed. In the future the growing demand for water for power production will come into conflict with other uses, particularly municipal supplies. This report examines water consumption and withdrawal in Texas in the light of the interrelated demand for power and water.Item Colonia Housing and Infrastructure Volume 2: Water and Wastewater, PRP 124(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1997) Chapa, Jorge; Eaton, David J.Item Contemporary Developments in Water Law(University of Texas Press, 1970) Maloney, Frank E.; Swenson, Robert W.; Trelease, Frank J.; Murphy, Earl Finbar; Robie, Ronald B.; Johnson, Corwin W.; Shurtz, Earl B.; Johnson, Ralph W.; Morry, G. Richard; Sax, Joseph L.; Clay, Comer; Waggoner Johnson, C.; Hollingsworth Lewis, S.Item Ecology and Economy: "Emergy" Analysis and Public Policy in Texas, PRP 78(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1987) Odum, Howard T.; Odum, Elisabeth C.; Blissett, MarlanItem The Effects of State Government on Economic Development in Texas Cities, PRP 63(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1985) Cope, Glen H.; Wilson, Robert H.Item An Evaluation of Pollution Prevention at the Lower Colorado River Authority, PRP 125(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1999) Eaton, David J.; Kabir, JobaidItem Final Report on Water Needs and Residuals Management(University of Texas at Austin, 1974) Sherman, J.S.; Malina, J.F. Jr.Item How Texas is Planning to Manage its Water(0000-00-00) University of Texas at Austin; Environmental Science InstituteItem Hydrological indices and triggers, and their application to hydrometeorological monitoring and water management in Texas(Center for Water and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, 2013-01) Ward, George H.Item Identification and Quantification of Municipal Water Sources Contributing to Urban Streamflow in the Austin, Texas Area(Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin, 2013-05) Snatic, Jonathan W.Previous studies have shown that municipal water can provide a substantial surface water and groundwater recharge source for the Edwards aquifer in central Texas. Knowledge of how water sources to urban watersheds change with urbanization is essential for sustainable water resource management. The range for 87Sr/86Sr values for Austin municipal water (0.7086–0.7094) is distinct from that of naturally occurring phreatic groundwater (0.7076-0.7079) and stream discharge in many rural watersheds (0.7077– 0.7084). Many streams in urbanized Austin watersheds have elevated 87Sr/86Sr values (0.7085–0.7088) relative to these rural streams. These differences demonstrate the potential for Sr isotopes to serve as a tracer of municipal water inputs to urban streamflow. A few urban streams and springs, however, have 87Sr/86Sr values higher than those of municipal water. Soil is the likely source of these elevated values. Spatial variability in the distribution of high 87Sr/86Sr soil and temporal variability in soil-exchangeable Sr contributions to groundwater may result in naturally high streamflow 87Sr/86Sr values, making the identification and quantification of municipal water as a streamflow source using Sr isotopes unreliable in some instances. Temporal variability in climatic conditions and resulting changes in effective moisture can result in distinct natural groundwater 87Sr/86Sr and Mg/Ca ratio variations, due to differences in overall groundwater residence times and water-rock interaction. Unlike natural water sources, municipal water inputs to urban watersheds peak during the summer (and periods of drought) when natural recharge inputs (precipitation) are minimal or nonexistent. Thus, proportions of natural vs. municipal water sources in the streamflow of some highly urbanized streams vary seasonally, resulting in distinct 87Sr/86Sr and Mg/Ca temporal trends, based on the recharge source. In some urban watersheds, municipal water appears to be a significant streamflow component during dry periods. However, temporal variation in natural Sr inputs to vadose and phreatic groundwater may result in the overestimation of municipal water contributions to streamflow and groundwater recharge during relatively wet periods.Item Impact of the Safe Drinking Water Act on Texas, PRP 21(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1978) Rohlich, Gerard A.; Eaton, David J.; Lovelace, R. BarryItem Implementing Watershed Management in Texas, PRP 105(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1993) Hadden, Susan G.; Hobby, William P.; Myers, Alice; Rose, MarkItem International Water Quality Management in the Lower Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, PRP 177(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 2013) Eaton, David J.During the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years, 42 students participated in the Lower Rio Grande Water Quality Initiative, a Policy Research Project working with Mexican, Texas, U.S., and bilateral institutions to identify options for improving the water quality within segments 2301 and 2302 in the Rio Grande/Río Bravo that define the Texas/Mexico border below the Falcon Reservoir. The river appears on many “worst U.S. river” lists because the water quality in some segments does not meet Mexican, Texas, or U.S. ambient water quality criteria, in part because it is one of the most over-appropriated rivers in the U.S. As the Rio Grande/Río Bravo is a border river, neither the U.S./Texas alone nor Mexico alone can control water quality. Student participants conducted research on regional water quality uses and what can be done to improve water quality, conducted interviews among stakeholders, surveyed water users and river basin residents, and recorded video of stakeholders’ views and water infrastructure in the region. This report documents water users’ perceptions of river water quality and their preferences to improve water quality to enable the river to return to its role as a regional resource for fishing, swimming, and other recreation, as well as continue to be a source for domestic drinking water, irrigation, commercial water use, and industrial development.Item No Water for the New West: A Critique of the Colorado River's Two Basin Approach(2023-05) Pham, EmmaThe Colorado River, spanning 1,450 miles and supplying water to seven western states and Mexico, is facing a dire situation due to climate change and increased demand for water. The river serves almost 40 million people and irrigates 5.5 million acres of agricultural land annually. The two main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are currently at the lowest levels ever recorded. The federal government has mandated the seven basin states to cut back on their water usage by up to 4 million acre-feet to mitigate the effects of drought and allocate the water supply in a sustainable manner. However, tensions have arisen between the Upper and Lower Basin states regarding water conservation strategies, revealing the need for collaboration and compromise. The megadrought is not just a scientifically based problem, but now a social, political, and economic one, and requires progressive technological and conservation-based solutions as well as significant investment in infrastructure. This thesis aims to investigate the root of these problems, assess what is currently being done to address the megadrought, and propose potential solutions. My research centers on questions regarding the past and present operation of the Colorado River Basin system, the changing dynamics of Upper Basin versus Lower Basin water management, and how the Colorado River Basin now responds to the challenges of managing water resources amidst the drought, its many stakeholders, and slow-moving institutions. My proposed solutions include water banks, nature-based solutions, improving agriculture and infrastructure, municipal conservation, and the federal government’s involvement.Item Regional Geohydology of the Gulf Coast Aquifer in Matagorda and Wharton Counties, Texas: Development of a Numerical Model to Estimate the Impact of Water Management Strategies(1990) Dutton, Alan R.; Richter, Brend C.A ground-water flow model that represents the complex interrelations among aquifer stratigraphy, hydrologic properties, and ground-water availability in the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Matagorda and Wharton Counties and adjacent areas of Texas can be used for evaluating surface- and ground-water management strategies. The hydrological model developed in this study is based on results of detailed mapping of sand-bed distribution, hydraulic head, and hydrochemical facies in horizontal and vertical planes. It differs from previous regional models of the Gulf Coast aquifer by treating the Beaumont Formation in the study area as a hydrostratigraphic unit distinct from the Chicot aquifer unit and by using a smaller grid to represent the study area in greater detail. The quasi-three-dimensional numerical model is implemented using the U.S. Geological Survey computer code MODFLOW. Transmissivity and storativity are assigned to model blocks as functions of sand percentage mapped for each aquifer unit. The model uses head-dependent source terms, options in the MODFLOW computer code, to simulate interaction between rivers and aquifers as well as regional recharge and discharge. The model includes cross-formational leakage between hydrostratigraphic units. "No-flow" lateral boundaries reflect original ground-water-basin divides. The model excludes interbasin loss of water such as drainage of water to the northeast into the cone of depression underlying much of Harris County. The seaward edges of the model layers representing the Chicot and Evangeline aquifer units also are treated as "no-flow" boundaries where the base of fresh water rises above the top of the aquifer units. Transmissivity, vertical conductance, river leakage rates, and recharge and discharge rates were adjusted to attain a satisfactory match between simulated and estimated pre-pumping hydraulic heads, which were assumed to represent steady-state hydrologic conditions.Item Rice Water Irrigation: Conservation Management at the Lower Colorado River Authority, PRP 139(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 2001) Eaton, David J.; Kabir, JobaidItem A Sourcebook for Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Water Management, PRP 57(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1983) Eaton, David J.; Howe, Richard S.; Jamail, Milton H.; Martinez-Pereda, PedroItem Squeezing a Dry Sponge: Water Planning in Texas, PRP 111(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1994) Hadden, Susan G.; Hobby, William P.Item Storm Water Management Program 2012(University of Texas at Austin Environmental Health and Safety, 2012) UT Environmental Health and Safety