University of Idaho faculty Karen Humes and Russell Qualls, along with their students, analyzed 30 years of crop water use data in southern Idaho to understand variations in irrigation application needs. Their research examined how differences in wet versus dry years and cool versus warm years influence crop water use and irrigation needs. By considering forecasted climate conditions, farmers can make informed decisions about crop selection and irrigation allocation, optimizing water use and improving overall agricultural efficiency.
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OUR GEM: Understanding Water Quality Monitoring on Coeur d’Alene Lake
By Meg Wolf, Assistant Director of Idaho Water Resources Research Institute; Craig Cooper, Limnologist with Idaho Department of Environmental Quality; and Dale Chess, Senior Lake Limnologist with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Monitoring the health of Coeur d’Alene Lake is a collaborative effort involving multiple organizations, each contributing important pieces to the bigger picture of the lake’s condition. Four key groups — the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and volunteers…
BSU Team Develop New Approaches to Estimating Contributions to Streamflow
Boise State University faculty Anna Bergstrom and her team investigated rain and snowmelt contributions to streamflow in the Mores Creek Watershed spanning the rain-snow transition zone in southwestern Idaho. Researchers commonly use naturally occurring water isotopes to track water sources allowing for the quantification of if streams are sourced from rain or snow. By developing new approaches to define rain and snow isotopic signatures, Bergstrom and team found that streamflow contribution estimates can vary by up to 20%, depending on…
IWRRI Grant Recipients Work on Sediment Transport Physics
Gianluca Blois, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho’s Boise campus, works at the Center for Ecohydraulics Research (CER) with students to study how water moves through streams and rivers. Their research focuses on how stationary objects, like plants, affect water flow and the movement of sediments. This study used a specialized laboratory flume—a controlled stream environment—to measure water speed and pressure in aquatic systems. While scientists have long studied how landscape features like riverbanks and terrain…
Scientific Review of Coeur d’Alene Lake Water Quality Data to Begin this Month
What IS the future of Our Gem Coeur d’Alene Lake’s water quality? That is the question on the minds of many in northern Idaho, including state and tribal governments tasked with monitoring and improving water quality, elected officials with jurisdiction on the Lake, shoreline property owners, the local tourism industry, and many concerned citizens. Why? Historical mining activities deposited millions of tons of contaminated and potentially toxic sediment including zinc, cadmium, and lead into Coeur d’Alene Lake and its tributaries….