On the seventh [business] day of Christmas, the Iowa Water Center gave to me…descriptions for the breakout session Water Quantity.
The following presentations will take place at the Iowa Water Conference in Ames on the morning of Thursday, March 24, 2016. Registration for the conference will open in January.
Hydrologic Impacts of Drainage Systems
Kristie Franz, Associate Professor & Meteorology Program Director, Iowa State University
Drainage of soils using subsurface tiles and surface drainage through constructed ditches have been trademarks of the upper Midwest landscape for more than 100 years. In 2011, the Iowa Economic Development Authority funded a 2-year study of the Hydrologic Impacts of Drainage Systems- a joint effort between scientists at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. The study included a literature review examining methods and results of relevant studies and hydrologic analyses using computer-based models of example Iowa watersheds. Results of this study and recommendations for future studies will be discussed.
Are the Great Plains Going Dry?
Daniel L. Devlin, Ph.D., Director, Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment and Kansas Water Resources Institute, Kansas State University
The Ogallala Aquifer underground aquifer underlies 450,660 square kilometers in parts of eight states, that are some of the most productive regions in the United States for growing crops and provide cattle operations with feed for 40% of the feedlot cattle output in the United States. The success of large scale agriculture in areas of inadequate precipitation and lack of perennial surface water for diversion has depended upon pumping ground water for irrigation. Water level declines began in portions of the aquifer after extensive irrigation began using ground water. This presentation will give background on the issue and discuss possible new water use policies and irrigation technologies that will need to be implemented in the future to sustain the region.
Long-term and recent-term trend analysis results for floods, high flows, and low flows in Iowa
David Eash, Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
Results of Kendall’s Tau trend analyses are presented for floods, high flows, flow durations, and low flows for 55 streamgages in Iowa for the entire period of record and for the last 30-year period of record from 1984-2013.
New Data/Old Date – A Behind the Scenes Look at the Creation of a FEMA Floodplain Map
Kyle Riley, Water Resources Engineer, Snyder & Associates, Inc.
We count on FEMA Floodplain Maps help us design infrastructure, keep citizens out of harm’s way, and plan for the future. The story of how these maps are created is more interesting than the information on the maps themselves.