Water Supply & Water Quality
WEO researchers have leveraged existing gradients in water isotope values (d18O and d2H in surface water, groundwater, precipitation, drinking water, and effluent) across the Jordan River Basin and monitoring of discharge and hydrochemistry to better understand complexities in the supply of surface water and drinking water (Jameel et al., 2016; 2018; Follstad Shah et al., 2019), as well as relationships between water supply and water quality (Hall et al., 2016; Gabor et al., 2017). These studies demonstrate how water isotopes can be a tool for public utilities to identify where to monitor for unintended reactions within pipes receiving water from multiple sources, isolate areas of water-related public health emergencies, and better manage impaired waterways. Studies in Jordan River tributaries also indicate that snowmelt-dominated groundwater is a significant contributor to discharge along the montane to urban gradient and show that shallow, polluted groundwater in highly urban areas as the source of elevated stream nutrient loads (Hall et al., 2016; Gabor et al., 2017). These results challenge the existing paradigm linking stormwater inputs to poor water quality in urban streams.
Two facilities exist at the University of Utah that provide opportunities for assessing the efficacy of green infrastructure to manage stormwater inputs and retain nutrients. The Green Infrastructure Research Facility (GIRF) is an experimental set of bioswales where hydrologic inputs, water chemistry, and vegetation can be fully manipulated. Work at this site has demonstrated that bioswales with irrigated wetland vegetation and un-irrigated xeric adapted upland vegetation retained similar amounts of phosphorus, while wetland swales retained more nitrogen (Houdeshel et al., 2015). The Landscape Lab (http://cepd.cap.utah.edu/landscape-lab/) consists of eight bioswales receiving runoff from adjacent structures and streets. Bioswales are planted with either mesic, ornamental vegetation or drought-adapted vegetation, with equal replication of each treatment. The site was established through a designed experiment process (Felson and Pickett, 2005), as both a demonstration project for stormwater management in semi-arid regions, and a research site to address how ecohydrology and ecology affect green infrastructure function.