Series
Georgia Water Resources Conference

Permanent Link
https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70886
Series Type
Event Series
Description
Associated Organization(s)
Associated Organization(s)
Organizational Unit

Filters

2011 - 2013 5
5
5
5
5
Reset filters

Settings
Author: McKay, S. Kyle × End date: 2013 × Start date: 2010 ×

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Fish Passage in Georgia: Planning for the Future
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-04) McKay, S. Kyle ; Batt, Lynnette ; Bringolf, Robert B. ; Davie, Steven R. ; Elkins, Duncan ; Hoenke, Kathleen
    In 14 major watersheds and thousands of miles of rivers, Georgia’s waterways provide some of the highest levels of aquatic biodiversity in the United States. Hydrologic disconnection by dams, roads, water diversions, and other barriers have led to local declines in both migratory and resident fishes. To counteract these trends, numerous organizations and stakeholders have invested in fish passage structures and dam removal. Techniques for prioritizing barrier improvement, measuring passage efficacy, and designing passage structures are rapidly developing in both research and practice. We review the status of fish passage improvement in the state of Georgia as it relates to two key topics. First, what methods exist (or are being developed) to prioritize barrier improvement? Second, what lessons have been learned from recent fish passage and dam removal projects? We address these questions by way of example projects conducted by a variety of agencies and entities. We conclude by summarizing some emerging challenges and opportunities for future research in fish passage improvement.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Declaring Drought for Effective Water Management
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-04) McKay, S. Kyle ; Rasmussen, Todd C.
    Water managers are tasked with resolving conflicts between freshwater resource uses, which range from municipal water supply, to recreation, and to sustaining aquatic ecosystem integrity. Further complicating management, hydrologic processes experience numerous sources of periodic, quasi-periodic, and episodic variation. Water allocation tradeoffs are often most complex and contentious when availability is low. Drought is a “recurring extreme climatic event over land characterized by below-normal precipitation over a period of months to years” (Dai 2011). Water managers often apply indicators of climatologic and hydrologic conditions to identify when drought conditions are reached (e.g., Palmer Drought Severity Index, streamflow, respectively). These indicators inform drought declarations, with associated drought responses such as watering restrictions. Herein, we suggest techniques for predicting and declaring oncoming drought to improve the accuracy of drought declarations. We hypothesize that drought indicators in preceding months are predictive of future drought levels. Specifically, we develop predictive models using the Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index, a common drought indicator. We then demonstrate the utility of our model for drought declarations for the Middle Oconee River near Athens.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Integration of Stream Flow Duration with Hydraulic Geometry in the Southern Piedmont
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-04) Pruitt, Bruce A. ; McKay, S. Kyle
    Stream hydrology is often described based on five fundamental properties of a river’s flow regime: magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change. Flow duration curves provide a powerful tool for integrating magnitude, frequency, and duration. Though flow duration curves have been well established at regional scales, the correspondence between in-stream flow duration and the duration of flood events onto adjacent floodplains has not been adequately explored especially at subwatershed and stream reach scales. By combining flow duration curves with channel geometry, site-specific stage duration curves and flood duration can be created. Herein, flow duration curves are used in conjunction with channel hydraulic geometry to estimate flood duration of southern Piedmont floodplains.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evaluating Effects of Pump-Storage Water Withdrawals Using an Individual-Based Metapopulation Model of a Benthic Fish Species
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-04) Katz, Rachel A. ; McKay, S. Kyle
    As demand on freshwater resources increases, managers are increasingly tasked with identifying water withdrawal, storage, and management strategies that minimize impacts on aquatic species. Identifying critical features of the flow regime that sustain particular ecological processes can be difficult due to site and species-specific characteristics. Our goal was to simulate trade-offs between differing water withdrawal strategies for an off-channel, pump-storage reservoir and the ecological-flow requirements of flow-dependent taxa. Using a case study of a 30-km reach of the Middle Oconee River near Athens, we evaluated multiple demographic models for selecting a flow management strategy for maintaining abundance of a native fish species, the Turquoise darter (Etheostoma inscriptum). We developed and applied an individual-based metapopulation model to assess the relative influence of five alternative flow management strategies. Each strategy differed based on the magnitude and timing of water withdrawals. We explicitly incorporated uncertainty in the analysis by applying two alternative flow-survival relationships and stochastic variation in recruitment and survival. The influence of each flow management strategy on fish populations was evaluated based on the mean and standard deviation of darter abundance following a 20-year period of simulated water withdrawals. This evaluation demonstrates the utility of individual-based population models to inform a common freshwater flow management problem, balancing economic and ecological flow requirements
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Constructing a Conceptual Model Linking Drivers and Ecosystem Services in Piedmont Streams
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-04) McKay, S. Kyle ; Pruitt, Bruce A. ; Anderson, Christoper J. ; Curran, Joanna ; Del Arco Ochoa, Ana ; Freeman, Mary C. ; Rashleigh, Brenda ; Trawick, E. Dean
    Under rapid land use change, high demand on freshwater ecosystem services, and a growing appreciation for the value of functioning ecosystems, the Appalachian Piedmont has developed a multi-million dollar stream restoration industry. A comprehensive understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and process is necessary to effectively plan, design, monitor, and adaptively manage these projects. Furthermore, funding agencies must justify their restoration investments in terms of environmental benefits and ecosystem services provided by a single project as well as a suite of projects. To this end, this paper presents a Piedmont stream conceptual model mapping common system drivers and stressors to the ecosystem services they affect. We focus only on the supply of ecosystem services and not demand for those services. This paper will (1) discuss the role of conceptual modeling in stream restoration, (2) present a suite of conceptual models for Piedmont streams with increasing levels of detail, (3) briefly demonstrate application of the these models, and (4) highlight areas of need for future model development activities.