TWRI USGS Small Grants for 2001-02
The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has selected 11 research projects it will fund during 2001–2002. The projects will explore a wide assortment of topics. Research projects were selected at Texas A&M University (TAMU), Texas Tech University (TTU), the University of Texas at Austin (UT), Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the University of North Texas (UNT), the University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas (UT MSI), and Texas A&M University-Galveston.
TWRI received 35 submissions in response to this year’s request for proposals. The research program is funded by the United States Geological Survey. Research projects were developed by graduate students in collaboration with faculty members. Projects were evaluated by TWRI staff as well as key TAMU faculty. Each project will be awarded a $5,000 grant. Matching funds are provided by each cooperating university. The projects will start March 1, 2001 and run through February 28, 2002. At the conclusion of these studies, TWRI will publish a scientific paper or technical report describing the research.
The following projects were funded:
- Jill Brandenberger (student) and Patrick Louchouarn (researcher), Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, TAMU–Corpus Christi, “Arsenic Concentration in Water Resources of the Choke Canyon/Lake Corpus Christi Reservoir System: Surface and Ground Waters.” The research will investigate the cycling of arsenic and trace elements in the waters of Lake Corpus Christi, Choke Canyon Reservoir, and points along the Nueces, Atascosa, and Frio rivers.
- Bryan Brooks (student) and Thomas La Point (researcher), Institute of Applied Science, UNT, “Sublethal Effects of Cadmium and Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate Mixtures on Pimephales promelas Exposure and Effect Endpoints: Laboratory and Field Assessments.” The study will investigate how fish and aquatic organisms may be affected by exposure to cadmium and other pollutants in North Texas surface waters using fathead minnows as a test species.
- Yesim Buyukates (student) and Daniel Roelke (researcher), TAMU Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department, “Plankton Succession: Investigation Regarding New Approaches to Management.” This study will assess how releasing treated wastewater in pulses to the Rincon Delta may affect the flora and fauna of coastal wetlands, and how nutrients in wastewater effluents affect phytoplankton growth.
- Richard Hoffpauir (student) and Ralph Wurbs (researcher), TAMU Civil Engineering Department, “Incorporation of Salinity in Evaluating Water Availability.” This project will expand the modeling capabilities of a comprehensive water rights simulation modeling tool (the Water Rights Analysis Package or WRAP), to assess natural salt pollution.
- Jeffrey Johnson (student) and Phillip Johnson (researcher), Agricultural and Applied Economics Department, TTU, “Regional Economic Impacts of Aquifer Decline in the Southern High Plains of Texas.” This project will investigate the short- and long-term economic impact of strategies to limit groundwater pumping in the Texas High Plains through the use of dynamic optimization models.
- Balaji Narasimhan (student), TAMU Agricultural Engineering Department, and Raghavan Srinivasan (researcher), TAMU Spatial Sciences Laboratory, “Determination of Regional Scale Evapotranspiration of Texas from a NOAA-AVHRR Satellite.” This study will use an advanced high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) sensor which is aboard an orbiting earth satellite to develop more accurate estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) from various land uses.
- Rafael Perez (student) and G. Joan Holt (researcher), UT MSI Port Aransas, “Fluctuating Environmental Parameters in Red Drum Nursery Habitats: The Influence of Habitat Quality on Larval Growth and Endocrine Function.” The goal is to examine how natural variations in temperatures and storm cycles may affect the growth of larval stages of red drum using laboratory studies.
- Andres Salazar (student) and Ralph Wurbs, (researcher), TAMU Civil Engineering Department, “Conditional Reliability Modeling to Support Short-Term River Basin Management Decisions.” Case studies will be conducted of the San Antonio, Guadalupe, and Nueces River basins to identify how the WRAP computer modeling software can estimate water reliability at specific sites.
- Daniel Stein (student) and David Eaton (researcher), the Lyndon B. Johnson School for Public Affairs, UT, “Texas Groundwater Management and Global Applications.” This study will carry out a comparative analysis of how multiple political jurisdictions have tried to manage transboundary groundwater supplies.
- Kevin Yeager (student) and Bruce Herbert, TAMU Geosciences and Geophysics Department and Peter Santschi, TAMU–Galveston (researchers), “Resolution of Fluvial Sediment Sources, Residence Times and Resuspension Using Lithogenic, Atmospheric and Cosmogenic Radionuclides, Bayou Loco, Texas.” This study will use radionuclide fingerprinting to investigate sediment production, transport, and deposition within Bayou Loco near Galveston Bay.
- Biswaranjan Das (student) and David B. Willis (researcher), Agricultural and Applied Economics Department, TTU, “Towards an Integrated Water Planning Model for the Texas High Plains.” The project will develop a water policy planning model that can be used to evaluate proposed water resources policies.