Where Does the Water From Snow Actually Go? January 26, 2016 ...

WhereDoestheWaterFromSnowActuallyGo?

January26,2016

Eachwinter,asthesnowfallsacrossUtah,hopegrowsthattheaccumulatingsnowpackwilleaseourdroughtconditions,andsupplythestatewithwaterthroughouttheyear.Whilesnowfallcanhappenanywhereinthestate,itaccumulatesmostinthemountains,whereelevation,aspect,andvegetationcovervarygreatly.Naturaldisturbancessuchasfiresandinsectsfurtheralterthelandscape,andchangethewaythesnowaccumulatesandcontributestoourwatershed.

ThesearesubjectsthatinterestJordanMaxwell,graduateresearchassistantandPhDstudentatBrighamYoungUniversity.

Nowintohissecondyearofhisresearch,JordanisworkingwithfacultyadvisorDr.SamSt.ClairtoexaminethechangingsnowpackacrossgradientsofdisturbanceinUtah’salpineregions.BecauseofhisinterestinimprovingsustainabilityofwaterresourcesinUtah,hisworkreceivesfundingfromiUTAHEPSCoR,aNationalScienceFoundation-supportedprogram.

ForJordan,agoodsnowfallgiveshimtheopportunitytoskiintoremoteregionsofUtahwherehetakessnowmeasurements.WhilethismaysoundlikeaHerculeantask,heisespeciallyinterestedinfocusingonareaswherethevegetationcoverhasbeendisturbedoreliminatedbyinsectsorfiretoseeifthesechangingconditionsinfluencesnowaccumulationandwaterretention.Oneofthequestionshewantstoanswerthroughhisresearchis--howdodisturbancessuchasfireand/ortreedeathsduetobeetleattacksaffecthowmuchwaterwillbeavailabletocomethroughourfaucets?

PreliminaryresearchconductedduringJordan’sfirstyearexaminedareasofTwichellCanyonincentralUtah,andselectedSnowTelemetry(SNOTEL)sites,aswellasotherareasburnedbythe2010TwitchellCanyonfire.SNOTEL,operatedbytheU.S.DepartmentofAgriculture’sNaturalResourcesConservationService(NRCS),isanautomatedsystem,withover600sitesacross13states,whichmeasuressnowpackandrelatedclimatesensors.Hisfindingsforthisinitialresearchconfirmedthattherewasaninverserelationshipbetweenvegetation,densityoftreecover,andsnowaccumulation.

JordanMaxwell,PhDstudentatBrighamYoungUniversity.Credit:J.Maxwell

Continuingresearchconductedthiswinterwillbemorerobust,coveringalargercollectionareaandachangeinlocationpatternstogenerateamorerandomsampling.First,sectionsofforestsareidentifiedbytypeofforest,alongwithfourcategoriesoffireseveritydisturbances,includingintact,open,moderate,andseverelyburned.MeasurementswillbecollectedforSnowWaterEquivalence(SWE),whichmeasurestheamountofwatercontainedwithinthesnowpack,andSnowDepth.ThesemeasurementswillhelpindevelopingaGISsnow-waterequivalencemodeltodiscoverhowmuchwaterisinawatershed,andwhatchangesoccurafteradisturbancesuchasfire.Futureandfollow-upresearchwilllookatsnowablation.

AlsoJordanwillcomparethedataheiscollectingtotheSNOTELdatatoseehowvegetationisaffectingsnowaccumulation.HehopesthathisresearchwillprovideotherresearchersworkingwithNRCS,includingwaterandfiremanagers,amodelforpredictinghowsnowfallinanarea,andthususablewater,maybealteredbychangesinvegetation.

Bycombiningresearchresultsanddatacollectionintoamodelthatcanbeusedforpredictions,JordanhopestohelpresearcherspredicthowmuchthesnowpackiscontributingtothewatershedinUtah,aswellascontributetohelpingproperlymanageandprotectit.Hewillusehisfindingsintwomanuscriptssummarizingtheresultsofresearchanddatacollections,oneonSNOTEL,andtheotheronsnowinthepostfireconditionsofTwitchellCanyon.

Jordan’sresearchrepresentstheidealmodelofagraduatestudentsfundedbyiUTAH.Studentsengagedwithfacultyresearchmentors,suchasDr.SamSt.Clair,whoguidestudentinterestincutting-edgeeco-hydrology,environmentalengineering,socio-environmentalscienceandcoupledmodeling.

WhendescribinghislabatBYU,Jordansaysthatwhileresearchtopicsrangefrominvasiveplantmanagementinsagebrushdesertstograzingpatternsofmammals,everyoneisinterestedinthesamequestion:Howmuchwaterdowehavethisyear?Hesaysthat“waterisacentralpointinalltheirresearch,itaffectseveryone.”

iUTAHEPSCoRisamulti-institutionalprojectintegratingresearch,trainingandeducation,aimedatstrengtheningscienceforUtah’swaterfuture.

Relatedlinks:iUTAHwebsiteContact: JordanMaxwell,801-669-4768,jdmax29@byu.edu

SamSt.Clair,(801)422-5725,stclair@byu.eduWriter: JeannineHuenemann,435-797-0984,Jeannine.huenemann@usu.edu