Browsing by Author "Locklier, Katie"
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Item Open Access Benefits, Costs, and Distributional Impacts of a Groundwater Trading Program in the Diamond Valley, Nevada(2016-10-17) Zeff, Harrison; Characklis, Greg; Jeuland, Marc; Kaczan, David; Murray, Brian; Locklier, KatieIn Nevada’s Diamond Valley, unsustainable groundwater pumping has decreased the aquifer’s water level, raising irrigators’ pumping costs and threatening the viability of existing wells and springs. Continued extraction in excess of natural recharge will trigger a legally required curtailment of water rights in the valley, which was recently declared a critical management area (CMA). The extent of rights curtailment is not mandated, but it could be as high as 64%, the amount required to reach the estimated natural recharge rate. The default policy for curtailment of water rights will occur according to the principle of prior appropriation, whereby rights are revoked in reverse order of their date of issuance. Rights granted most recently will be canceled first, and the revocation will proceed in order of increasing seniority until the government’s desired level of total water extraction is reached. Nevada law requires this intervention to occur within 10 years of the CMA declaration. By law, irrigators and other stakeholders can propose alternative policies for reducing groundwater over-extraction. Because sudden rights curtailment could have detrimental economic impacts, such policies are under discussion. This report analyzes the economic outcomes of sudden and alternative curtailment policies. Using a hydro-economic model tailored to conditions in the region to examine alternative extraction scenarios, the analysis finds that, with no action, the depth to the water table will exceed 200 feet by 2045; with policy action, aquifer levels can be stabilized at 170–180 feet and at higher depths with more gradual curtailment. Across all policy scenarios, net agricultural profit is lowest under the default curtailment policy, and it increases with more gradual curtailment. Under curtailment, allowing parties to trade rights to extract water modestly increases economic benefits relative to no-trade alternatives.Item Open Access Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Water Quality and Landscape Characteristics for Albemarle Sound, North Carolina(2014-04-23) Locklier, Katie; McGee, Heather; Zhang, HanAlbemarle Sound, a lagoonal estuarine system on the North Carolina coast, has experienced a large decline in recreational and commercial fisheries over the years and managers are concerned about water quality, including the impacts of nutrient enrichment, or eutrophication. In an effort to help the United States Geological Survey improve its water quality monitoring network, this report compiles and analyzes over 40 years of historic data for the sound using three approaches. Based on the current monitoring program and available historic data collected, five chemical and biological water quality parameters were chosen to characterize the water quality in Albemarle Sound: chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity, inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and nitrate) as N and phosphate-phosphorus as P. This project 1) statistically analyzes the relationships between water quality parameters within and among sub-sections of the Sound; 2) combines multiple sources of LULC data into sub-sections to better understand water quality drivers; 3) develops a GIS-based user interactive toolkit to identify the sensitive location(s). Statistical and geospatial analyses show: 1) Overall, water quality in Albemarle Sound is good over time. 2) Seasonal effects may influence parameter values in some parts of the sound. 3) In light of inorganic nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus levels, we may pay more attention to the North and South sections, as these two sections were more vulnerable to nutrient problems in history. 4) There are major differences in landscape characteristics between sections, offering some explanation for differences in water quality, and 5) There are some signals in the average concentrations of the five water quality parameters from 2006-2013, indicating that terrestrial drivers such as CAFO animal density and percent cultivated area could be important for water quality in the Albemarle Sound. This report provides fundamental guidance that can be used to inform both management plans and future studies in Albemarle Sound.