Browsing by Author "Brown, Christopher"
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Item The Development of a Coordinated Database for Water Resources and Flow Model in the Paso Del Norte Watershed(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2006-12) Granados, Alfredo; Srinivasan, Raghavan; Michelsen, Ari; Brown, Christopher; Creel, Bobby; King, Phillip J.; Tillery, Sue; Sheng, Z.This report fulfills the deliverables required by the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES/03-PL-02: Modification No. 2) on behalf of the Paso del Norte Watershed Council. Tasks accomplished in this phase include (a) review of hydrological models in the region; (b) conceptual model of the Rio Grande flow; and (c) linkage protocol of the coordinated database and hydrological models. In addition, a training workshop on the RiverWare model was offered to regional water stakeholders. Twenty-four trainees attended the workshop at New Mexico State University on December 15-17, 2004. The Project Team also provided review on the FLO-2D model simulation of the Rio Grande flood control scenarios at the U.S. IBWC on August 3, 2005, review of QA/QC procedures of the real-time data collection, and assessment of regional orthophotographic images in 2005. This Project was conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) under the direction of Zhuping Sheng of TAMU. It was developed to enhance the coordinated database, which was originally developed by the Paso del Norte Watershed Council with support of El Paso Water Utilities to fulfill needs for better management of regional water resources and to expand the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) to cover the river reaches between Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. In Phase I of this Project (TAES/03-PL-02), hydrological data needed for flow model development were compiled and data gaps were identified. The objectives of this phase were to develop a conceptual model of the Rio Grande flow between Elephant Butte Dam and American Dam by using data collected in the first development phase of the PdNWC/Corps Coordinated Water Resources Database and to enhance the data portal capabilities of the PdNWC Coordinated Database Project. The first part of this report (corresponding to Task Five of the contract for the Development of a Coordinated Database and GIS for Water Related Resources in the Rio Grande Watershed, written by Sue Tillery, Phillip King and Zhuping Sheng), summarizes the hydrological models developed for surface water and groundwater flows and management of regional water resources in terms of model configuration, advantages, and limitations of each modeling approach. This part of the report also identifies and verifies the availability of relevant hydrological data needed for development of the RiverWare model, especially hydrology of drain return flows. Based on previous modeling studies, the authors evaluated reasonable simplifications (through the use of look-up tables or similar tools) of interaction of surface and groundwater within the Mesilla Basin and Rincon Valley and developed the RiverWare conceptual model for the Rio Grande flow for the selected reaches and within the limits of available data. The second part of this report was written by C. Brown and B. Creel and summarizes the data portal enhancements to the PdNWC Coordinated Database for its linkage to the URGWOM development. This part of the report describes enhancements to the data portal capabilities of the Project through the development of a low-end user interface that would serve GIS-based graphics of each data set and enhanced metadata of relevant data sets. A literature search of bibliographic resources detailing GIS-based hydrologic modeling in the Paso del Norte region and linkages to these resources are provided via portions of the Project website.Item The Development of a Coordinated Database for Water Resources and Flow Model in the Paso Del Norte Watershed (Phase III) Part I Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Model [LRGFCM] RiverWare Model Development(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2009) Tillery, Sue; Sheng, Zhuping; King, J. Phillip; Creel, Bobby; Brown, Christopher; Michelsen, Ari; Srinivasan, Raghavan; Granados, AlfredoThis report fulfills the deliverables required by the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Texas AgriLife Research (TAES/03-PL-02: Modification No. 3) on behalf of the Paso del Norte Watershed Council. Tasks accomplished in this phase include (a) assess the data availability for expansion of the URGWOM model, identify data gaps, generate data needed from historic data using empirical methods, compile and verify the water quality data for reaches between the Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas; (b) develop the RiverWareTM physical model for the Rio Grande flow for the selected reaches between Elephant Butte Reservoir and El Paso, beginning with a conceptual model for interaction of surface water and groundwater in the Rincon and Mesilla valleys, and within the limits of available data; (c) implement data transfer interface between the coordinated database and hydrologic models. This Project was conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) under the direction of Zhuping Sheng of TAMU and J. Phillip King of New Mexico State University. It was developed to enhance the coordinated database, which was originally developed by the Paso del Norte Watershed Council with support of El Paso Water Utilities to fulfill needs for better management of regional water resources and to expand the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) to cover the river reaches between Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico, and Fort Quitman, Texas. In Phases I and II of this Project (TAES/03-PL-02), hydrological data needed for flow model development were compiled and data gaps were identified and conceptual model development. The objectives of this phase were to develop a physical model of the Rio Grande flow between Elephant Butte Dam and American Dam by using data collected in the first development phase of the PdNWC/Corps Coordinated Water Resources Database and to enhance the data portal capabilities of the PdNWC Coordinated Database Project. This report is Part I of a three part completion report for Phase III and describes the development of RiverWare model of Rio Grande flows and a coordinated database for water related resources in the Rio Grande watershed. The RiverWare physical model for Rio Grande flows included selected reaches between Elephant Butte Reservoir and El Paso using historical data from 1985 to 1999. A conceptual model for interaction of surface and groundwater was developed using an ARIMA time-series transfer function analysis. ARIMA transfer functions are used as a means to estimate the interactions of surface and groundwater. Forecasting drain flows from diversion flows is demonstrated as a statistically valid method, and provides results highly correlated with the historic values.Item The Development of a Coordinated Database for Water Resources and Flow Model in the Paso Del Norte Watershed (Phase III) Part II Availability of Flow and Water Quality Data for the Rio Grande Project Area(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2009) Tillery, Sue; Sheng, Zhuping; King, J. Phillip; Creel, Bobby; Brown, Christopher; Michelsen, Ari; Srinivasan, Raghavan; Granados, AlfredoThis report fulfills the deliverables required by the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Texas AgriLife Research (TAES/03-PL-02: Modification No. 3) on behalf of the Paso del Norte Watershed Council. Tasks accomplished in this phase include (a) assess the data availability for expansion of the URGWOM model, identify data gaps, generate data needed from historic data using empirical methods, compile and verify the water quality data for reaches between the Elephant Butte reservoir, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas; (b) develop the RiverWare physical model for the Rio Grande flow for the selected reaches between Elephant Butte Reservoir and El Paso, beginning with a conceptual model for interaction of surface water and groundwater in the Rincon and Mesilla valleys, and within the limits of available data; (c) implement data transfer interface between the coordinated database and hydrologic models. This Project was conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) under the direction of Zhuping Sheng of TAMU and J. Phillip King of New Mexico State University. It was developed to enhance the coordinated database, which was originally developed by the Paso del Norte Watershed Council with support of El Paso Water Utilities to fulfill needs for better management of regional water resources and to expand the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) to cover the river reaches between Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. In Phases I and II of this Project (TAES/03-PL-02), hydrological data needed for flow model development were compiled and data gaps were identified and conceptual model was developed. The objectives of this phase were to develop a physical model of the Rio Grande flow between Elephant Butte Dam and American Dam by using data collected in the first development phase of the PdNWC/Corps Coordinated Water Resources Database and to enhance the data portal capabilities of the PdNWC Coordinated Database Project. This report is Part II of a three part completion report that combines data compilation of the Phase I report prepared by Sue Tillery and J. Phillip King and part of the completion report for Phase III prepared by Z. Sheng, J.P. King and B. Creel. It identifies and evaluates the availability of historical flow and water quality data that has been collected at different sites along the Rio Grande between Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. This includes monitoring sites from associated canals, drains, and dams along the Rio Grande. Flow data for the years from 1908 through 2002 and water quality data for the years 1938 to 2005 collected periodically by different agencies include historic chemical analytical results and real-time monitoring values. This report includes a description of the agencies that collected water quality data, a summary of the sites found along the Rio Grande, and finally a data matrix and parameter summary for each site. Data downloaded were collected from the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC), El Paso, Texas; US Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1, and Parsons Engineering Science, Inc. compiled for the New Mexico-Texas Water Commission by contract through El Paso Water Utilities.Item The Development of a Coordinated Database for Water Resources and Flow Model in the Paso Del Norte Watershed (Phase III) Part III GIS Coverage for the Valle de Juárez Irrigation District 009 (ID-009) (Distrito de Riego 009) Chihuahua, México(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2009) Sheng, Zhuping; King, J. Phillip; Creel, Bobby; Brown, Christopher; Michelsen, Ari; Srinivasan, RaghavanThis report fulfills the deliverables required by the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES/03-PL- 02: Modification No. 3) on behalf of the Paso del Norte Watershed Council. Tasks accomplished in this phase include (a) assessment of data availability for expansion of the URGWOM model, identification of data gaps, generation of data needed from historic data using empirical methods, compilation and verification of the water quality data for reaches between the Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas; (b) development of the RiverWare physical model for the Rio Grande flow for the selected reaches between Elephant Butte Reservoir and El Paso, beginning with a conceptual model for interaction of surface water and groundwater in the Rincon and Mesilla valleys, and within the limits of available data; and (c) implementation of data transfer interface between the coordinated database and hydrologic models. This Project was conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) under the direction of Zhuping Sheng of TAMU and J. Phillip King of New Mexico State University. It was developed to enhance the coordinated database, which was originally developed by the Paso del Norte Watershed Council with support of El Paso Water Utilities to fulfill needs for better management of regional water resources and to expand the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) to cover the river reaches between Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. In Phases I and II of this Project (TAES/03-PL-02), hydrological data needed for flow model development were compiled and data gaps were identified and a conceptual model developed. The objectives of this phase were to develop a physical model of the Rio Grande flow between Elephant Butte Dam and American Dam by using data collected in the first development phase of the PdNWC/Corps Coordinated Water Resources Database and to enhance the data portal capabilities of the PdNWC Coordinated Database Project. This report is Part III of a three part completion report for Phase III and provides information on water sources, uses, and GIS of the canals and ditches of the Valle de Juárez Irrigation District 009 (ID 009) in the Juárez Lower Valley, Chihuahua, México. The author explains that the water needs of this region have changed in recent years from being primarily for agricultural purposes to domestic and industrial uses currently. Also, the United States wanted to assess and identify new data sources on a GIS format for the Mexican side. Therefore, this project produced several maps with the location of channels and ditches along the Valle de Juárez Irrigation District. This information also will support water planning of the Valle de Juárez Irrigation District 009. The maps were produced from existing digital data regarding water resources and by adding thematic layers such as soil salinity and soil texture from analog maps. ASTER satellite imagery and official panchromatic aerial photography were used to produce the maps.Item Paso del Norte Watershed Council Coordinated Water Resources Database Project(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2004-01) Rich, Matt; Sheng, Zhuping; Brown, ChristopherThe Paso del Norte Watershed Council (PDNWC) is a quasi-governmental organization that serves in an advisory capacity to the New Mexico-Texas Water Commission regarding the selection, planning, and implementation of environmental enhancements and mitigations associated with the El Paso-Las Cruces Regional Sustainable Water Project. The Council recommends policies for cooperation, coordination, and the sharing of information concerning planning and management activities of projects affecting the Paso del Norte Watershed, this being defined as the Rio Grande Basin between Elephant Butte Dam/Reservoir in southern New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. In the last several years, the Watershed Council has discussed the development of a regional cooperative database project that would provide streamlined access to a range of water resource data in the Paso del Norte region. In August of 2002, the El Paso Water Utilities provided initial funding to the Paso del Norte Watershed Council to develop a pilot cooperative database project, and efforts toward the development of such a project have been ongoing. This document is the final report for this effort. In this report, we detail the following elements of the project, as specified in the initial Scope of Work: 1. The background, motivation, and intended outcomes of the project, 2. The specific tasks that were undertaken in project development efforts, 3. The specific insights that we have gained in this pilot effort, 4. Specific recommendations for new water quality monitoring sites and equipment, and 5. An outline of tasks that should be undertaken in future phases of the project. All deliverables specified in the project have been completed, and we also note the following recommendations for future project work, as detailed in the latter part of this report: * Complete migration of the Project website and related databases to the ArcIMS software, * Installation of new monitoring stations and equipment as detailed above, and inclusion of these monitoring sites in future ArcIMS map products, * Enhanced levels of funding to be directed to support more active participation of regional volunteer data providers and to bring new providers into the project, * Exploration of scripting and automated FTP routines or a batch mode of data transfer to allow progress on the "user interface plateau" discussed in the report, * Inclusion of groundwater data into future phases of the project, * Linking the EPWU-funded project to USACE-supported database efforts, and * Additional funding to be provided to lend institutional support to the Watershed Council and also to fund future Cooperative Database Project activities.Item Phase II Final Project Report Paso del Norte Watershed Council Coordinated Water Resources Database and GIS Project(Texas Water Resources Institute, 2007-11) Bourdon, Marc; Sheng, Zhuping; Brown, ChristopherThe Coordinated Water Resources Database and GIS Project (Project) was developed to provide improved access to regional water resources data in the Paso del Norte region for regional water stakeholders to make timely decisions in water operations and flood control. Tasks accomplished in Phase II include the complete migration of the Project Website and related databases to the ArcIMS software, which provides a better spatial query capacity. The database was enhanced by incorporating more gauge stations, limited groundwater data (well information, water levels, water quality, and pumpage) and other new data, and strengthened data sharing by implementing FGDC classic metadata. Protocols were explored for data sharing and spatial queries and opportunities for more active participation of volunteer regional data providers in the Project. The linkage of the PdNWC database with future groundwater and surface water model development was also assessed. Based on the experiences gained in the Project, the following recommendations for future Project work include: * Continued compilation of new data sources not yet included in the Project to enhance data sharing, * Installation of additional new monitoring stations and equipment and inclusion of these monitoring sites in future ArcIMS map products to fill data gaps and provide additional real-time data, * Strengthening the links with the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) being advanced by the USACE. Special focus will be given to serving DEM and orthophoto data recently transferred from the USACE to NMWRRI and enhancing direct Web linkages with USACE and URGWOM project activities to improve model development capacity and enhance sharing of modeling results, * Development and implementation of a user needs survey focusing on new data sets of interest, enhanced access mechanisms, and other suggestions to improve the Project Website, * Development and making available online for download a Microsoft Access database of Project water resource data to provide search and query functions, * Development of an online help tutorial that would support online searches of the database, making the site easier for end users to navigate and utilize, and * Continuity in the exploration of future funding opportunities for Project activities, especially through linkages with other regional data compilation and modeling projects. Part I of this report presents major historical and technical components of the Phase II development of the Database and GIS prepared by C. Brown, Z. Sheng, and M. Bourdon. Groundwater elements of interest, relevant to the development of the coordinated database and to the integral comprehension of the watershed’s mission and planning are also included as Part II of this report. This part, prepared by Z. Sheng and others, presents the sources of regional groundwater resources data compiled by different federal and state entities and outlines suggestions for regional groundwater data to be implemented with an ArcIMS interface so that this data can be shared and accessed by all Paso del Norte Watershed Council stakeholders. Part III, prepared by R. Srinivasan, presents the technical challenges posed to data sharing by multiple data collectors and sources and summarizes the different protocols available for an effective transfer and sharing of data through a GIS ArcIMS interface. Part IV, prepared by Z. Sheng and D. Zhang, explores the possibility to link the Database Project to a comprehensive development of regional hydrological models within the Rio Grande reach between Elephant Butte Dam, in New Mexico, and Fort Quitman, Texas. Finally, Part V, prepared by C. Brown, Z. Sheng, and M. Bourdon, presents closing comments as well as a summary of the recommendations made throughout the document. Dr. Hanks provided assistance in summarizing preliminary user survey results