Agrohydrology

The current paradigm tends to view the balance of agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship as divergent concepts where pursuing one excludes the other. This perspective is from a unit-operations perspective that became popular due to rapid gains when implemented. However, enough time has passed that the negative aspects of a unit-operations approach have revealed themselves and it is now clear that a systems-based approach is superior over medium to long timescales.

I'm grateful to have contributed to a new paper, Forming the Future of Agrohydrology. The paper is based on one of the more fun conference sessions I've attended - Forming the Future of Agrohydrology Research at the Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting (2022).

In the paper we, as a multidisciplinary team, identify key research themes in agrohydrology, conceptualize future research topics, and estimate timeframes before each topic becomes a limiting factor in advancing water management in an agricultural context.

We envision a future where benefits far beyond food production are realized, externalities are minimized, and agriculture is realized as a net benefit to the environment as well as to humans.

The bulk of the credit for this work is attributed to Sam Smidt and Erin Haacker who led the effort - taking it from initial conceptualization as a conference session to publication.

Spatial Arangement of Stormwater Infiltration Study with ParFlow

As stormwater infiltration continues to be pursued to reduce overland flow generated in urban settings, it is necessary to understand the fate of the infiltrated water. Whether we choose to gather water into large or clustered areas and infiltrate it or distribute it to many small areas affects the fate of the infiltrated water.

My M.S. thesis at CSU focused on understanding how spatial arrangement of infiltrated water impacts the partitioning of subsurface storage between phreatic (saturated) and vadose (unsaturated) zones, Spatial Arrangement of Stormwater Infiltration Affects Subsurface Storage and Baseflow, was awarded editors choice in the November, 2020 issue of the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering.

Simulated stormater in clustered stormwater control measures.
Simulations generated using ParFlow.

2D-Hydraulic Modeling of the Rossum Drive Reach of the Big Thompson Flood Recovery

In September of 2013 devastating flooding wrecked havoc in Colorado's northern front range. In 2016, I developed a 2D hydraulic model of a portion of the Big Thompson river that had been heavily impacted. Of note, a large pond had been filled with sediment and a local pumpkin patch and golf course were flooded.

This modeling work explored three scenarios; 1. As-is streamflow response, 2. Adding a single auxillary channgel, and 3. Adding two auxillary channels. I did not have streamflow to calibrate to, so instead, used observations from an engineer with the City of Loveland. This way, we were able to calibrate based on observed inundation at a known flows. Velocity and shear stress from the model were used by a colleague to design bank stabilization using the willow-post method. Our senior design team was awarded first place at CSU's Senior Design Showcase in Spring 2016.

Model results at various discharges. As-Is, 1 Channel, 2 Channels, with overview, and zoom on channels.
Simulations generated using SRH-2D with AQUAVEO's Surface-Water Modeling System.

I recommend playing at 2X, or skipping ahead manually. This video is long. These timestamps are not linked, but can guide you to a specific portion of the video.
0:00: As-Is Overhead - 0:59: Alt1 Overhead - 2:06 Alt2 Overhead - 3:59: Alt2 Zoomed - 5:04: Channel 1 Detailed - 5:30: Channel 2 Detailed

Valuation of Carbon Sequestration from NRCS Conservation Practices Using R-Shiny

As part of my NSF-Funded Food-Energy-Water fellowship, I participated in a project with the Colorado Water Conservation Board to better understand the potential benefits related to carbon sequestration in the instance of irrigated agriculture being converted to more natural vegetative cover in the Front Range of Colorado.

The application is hosted on the free tier of Posit's Shiny Server. Because it is on the free tier, it runs a bit slow, and can take a moment to load. The app is also not optimized for mobile (or tiny screen) use, so I do not suspect it will function as expeted if used on your phone.

Visit Shiny App