Schedule for Fall听2024

Spring 2024听presentations are officially wrapped up! Stay tuned for the upcoming list of speakers for Fall听2024.

  • 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Online - &听听听(Engineering Building)
    Passcode: watertalks
  • Time:听Wednesdays, 11:15听- 12:15 p.m., MT听 听听
  • Coordinator:听

We will be adding to our Fall听2024听schedule as the information becomes available. Please check back soon!

Aug. 28
Speakers: Hydrology, water resources and environmental fluid mechanics faculty and students

Sept. 4听
Speaker: Professor听Rajagopalan Balaji, CU Boulder
Title:听Critical Effects of Precipitation on Future Colorado River Flow

Abstract
Of concern to Colorado River management, as operating guidelines post-2026 are being considered, is whether water resource recovery from low flows during 2000鈥�2020 is possible.听 Here we analyze new simulations from the sixth generation of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to determine plausible climate impacts on Colorado River flows for 2026鈥�2050 when revised guidelines would operate. We constrain projected flows for Lee Ferry, the gauge through which 85% of the river flow passes, using its estimated sensitivity to meteorological variability together with CMIP6 projected precipitation and temperature changes. The critical importance of precipitation, especially its natural variability, is emphasized. Model projections indicate increased precipitation in the Upper Colorado River basin due to climate change, which alone increases river flows 5%鈥�7% (relative to a 2000鈥�2020 climatology). Depending on the river鈥檚 temperature sensitivity, this wet signal compensates some, if not all, of the depleting effects from basin warming. Considerable internal decadal precipitation variability (~5% of the climatological mean) is demonstrated, driving a greater range of plausible Colorado River flow changes for 2026鈥�2050 than previously surmised from treatment of temperature impacts alone: the overall precipitation-induced Lee Ferry flow changes span -25% to +40% contrasting with a -30% to -5% range from expected warming effects only. Consequently, extreme low and high flows are more likely. Lee Ferry flow projections, conditioned on initial drought states akin to 2000鈥�2020, reveal substantial recovery odds for water resources, albeit with elevated risks of even further flow declines than in recent decades.

Sept. 11听
Speaker:听Mukesh Kumar,听associate professor of hydrology and water resources, University of Alabama
Topic:听Unexpected Responses of Land, Ecosystem, and Communities to Geoenvironmental Change

Sept. 18 TBD

Sept. 25听
Speaker:Erin Towler, research scientist, hydrology applications, NOAA
Topic:TBD

Oct. 2
Presenter:听Frances Davenport, assistant professor, civil and environmental engineering, Colorado State University
Topic:听TBA

Oct. 9
Presenter:听Matthew Weingarten, assistant professor, San Diego State University
Topic:听TBA

Oct. 16
Presenter: Yadu Pokhrel, PhD,听Michigan State University
Topic:听TBA

Oct. 23
Presenter:听David Mays, associate professor, civil engineering, University of Colorado听Denver
Topic:听TBA

Oct. 30
Presenter: Parth Modi
Title: Identifying Alternatives to Snow-based Streamflow Predictions to Advance Future Drought Predictability

Nov. 6
Speaker: Maddy Pernat, PhD candidate, civil engineering, CU Boulder
Topic: TBA

Nov. 13
Presenter:听Fabian Nippgen, associate professor, watershed hydrology, University of Wyoming
Topic:听TBA

Nov. 20
Presenters: Elle Stark/Derek Goulet

Wednesday, Nov. 27听
Thanksgiving 鈥� no presentations

Wednesday, Dec. 4听
AGU presentations 鈥� dry runs

Wednesday, Dec. 11
AGU presentations听

Wednesday, Aug. 30
Presenters:听 Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar and Professor Michael Gooseff
Title:听Welcome new CEAE graduate students and graduate program overview of the听听


During this one-hour session of the Boase water seminar series,听 Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar welcomed new civil engineering graduate students and provided an overview of the Hydrology, Water Resources, and Environmental Fluid Mechanics graduate program.听 Also, Professor Michael Gooseff provided an overview of the campus-wide听.

Wednesday, Sept. 6
Presenter: Carli Brucker, PhD, CU Boulder听
Title: Assessment of basin vulnerability to post-wildfire hydrologic and water quality effects through a multi-scale framework


Wildfires can significantly impact water quality and supply, presenting challenges for water treatment plants and freshwater systems. However, high variability and data scarcity in post-wildfire听in situ听water quality data have hindered previous analyses. Here, I present a unique multi-scale analysis of post-burn hydrologic and water quality effects, observing small-scale driving mechanisms as well as broad, large-scale responses across watersheds. Custom-designed laboratory-scale wildfire and rainfall simulation experiment apparati were first tested on 154 ~300 cm2听soil samples. Burn effects were observed in the context of other key drivers鈥攔ainfall intensity and terrain slope鈥攖o simulate variable conditions in natural settings. A synthesis of previous wildfire simulation methods was also completed, discussing benefits and limitations of different techniques. Next, broad changes in constituent responses in post-fire years were assessed for 241 forested watersheds across the U.S. West using machine learning and statistical techniques. Inter-basin variability in post-fire responses was also attributed to physiographic watershed variables and wildfire characteristics. By bridging multiple scales, this study strives to provide a holistic understanding of wildfires鈥� impacts on watersheds in the U.S. West.

Wednesday, Sept. 13
Presenter: Court Strong, associate professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
Title:听Emerging tools for prediction and management of water resources


Western-U.S. water managers facing changing climate and growing populations are seeking new tools to guide their planning and operational decision making. This presentation highlights two key tools that emerged from a five-year collaboration between university researchers and Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities. Using a century-length, ten-catchment streamflow dataset we found that interannual variability in groundwater storage, inferred from winter baseflow, is a primary control on canyon runoff efficiency. Adding antecedent groundwater storage to a linear model with precipitation and melt dynamics reduces uncertainty in annual runoff from approximately 40% to 5%. Investigating the climate drivers of groundwater storage, we found an important role for an Atlantic Quadpole Mode (AQM) of sea surface temperature variability that modulates the winter precipitation patterns associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The connection between the AQM and western-U.S. hydroclimate generates precipitation anomalies as large as 30%, and is robust in observations and a 10,000-year global climate model simulation with perpetually fixed modern greenhouse gas concentrations.

Wednesday, Sept. 20
Presenter:听Manabendra Saharia, assistant professor of civil engineering, IIT Delhi
Title:听India Water Model (IWM): Progress in Developing a Transboundary Water Modeling System over South Asia

Wednesday, Sept. 27
Presenter: Peter Mayer,听principal engineer at WaterDM and Flume Data Labs
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Oct. 4
Presenter: Fred Tillman, research hydrologist, USGS
Title:听 The Potential for Effects from Breccia-Type Uranium Mining on Regional Water Sources in the Grand Canyon Region

Wednesday, Oct .11
Presenter: Rebecca Smith, civil/hydrologic engineer, US Bureau of Reclamation
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Oct. 18
Presenter: Homa Salehabadi, PhD candidate, Utah State University听
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Oct. 25
Presenter: Josh Koch, research hydrologist, Alaska Science Center
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Nov. 1
Presenter:听Jenny Pensky, post doctoral scholar, Ecohydrology Lab, CU Boulder
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Nov. 8
Presenter: David Woodson, PhD candidate, CU Boulder
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Nov. 15
Presenter: Ryan Currier, hydrologist, NOAA
Title: Future Hydroclimate Projections in the Western United States

Wednesday, Nov. 22
No seminar due to Thanksgiving

Wednesday, Nov. 29
Presenter: Julianne Quinn, University of Virginia
Title: TBA

Wednesday, Dec. 6
AGU conference presentation rehearsals