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- Conventional Hydro
Exploring the use of temperature to understand recent drought and project future conditions in the Colorado River Basin
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Rebecca Smith
This project will systematically characterize and assess the available sources of CRB temperature information, resulting in a more organized view of the data that Reclamation has produced or collected over the course of multiple projects. The in-depth analysis of the observed record will increase Reclamation's understanding of how basin efficiencies may have shifted during the ongoing drought and how they may continue to shift. The evaluation of the different ensembles will result in experimental projections that demonstrate the utility of the CRB Projection Testbed, which was recently developed within Reclamation. Skillful midterm projections can provide a more accurate view of potential risks to the CRB system.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Drinking Water in Oregon
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kurt Carpenter
Drinking water sources serving significant portions of Oregon's population have large reservoirs in their headwaters, which are subject to Harmful Algal Blooms or that release nutrients downstream that support in-stream algal production, either of which can generate toxins affecting the drinking water safety. This study seeks to better evaluate risks to drinking water sources from HABs including the ways that reservoir operations affect algal toxin formation. Nutrient sources to the reservoirs from upstream land management, including wildfire and resource extraction are also included. Recent data collection efforts include lake profiling buoys and satellite imagery to help with situational awareness as blooms develop and provide real-time notification.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Impacts of Grade Control Structure Installations on Hydrology and Sediment Transport as an Adaptive Management Strategy
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Deborah Tosline
What are the impacts of Grade Control Structures (GCSs) installed in ephemeral drainages on storm flows, local hydrology, soil moisture, and sediment transport and do GCSs reduce sediment deposition in reservoirs, enhance local water resources, reduce stream velocities, support ecosystems and optimize watershed function?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Marine Energy
Lithium Seawater Electrochemical Extraction Technology
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Dongping Lu
Lithium (Li) is one of the critical industrial materials and an indispensable component in manufacturing Li-ion/Li batteries. However, Li resource is very limited and geographically uneven in earth’s crust and its mining is costly and not sustainable. Hence, cost-effective Li recovery (from brines, seawater or used cells) is desired but suffered from the low efficiency, poor ion-selectivity, and high processing cost. Here, we report a novel Li extraction and utilization technology to recover Li from low-Li solutions into a form of Li resource, which can be directly used for battery materials production. By using both Li-ion selective Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (LAGP) membrane and low-cost electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) host material, the costly steps of Li separation and refining were eliminated. Li-ion cathodes (e.g., spinel LiMn2O4 and layered LiNixMnyCozO2) synthesized through this approach have high phase purities and show significant economic superiorities (e.g., $12.8/kg for LiMn2O4) over other Li extraction methods and even commercial cathodes ($15/kg for LiMn2O4). This contribution provides a potential technical approach to overcome the challenges of both Li supply and battery cost for future electrification and decarbonization of socioeconomic system.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Low-Head, Short-Intake Flow Measurement Research
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Marshall Richmond
Completed projects with no scope descriptions
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2019
- Conventional Hydro
Measuring and Monitoring Sediment Transport in an Ephemeral Stream; Physical and Surrogate Data Collection
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- David Varyu
Is there a strong statistical regression between surrogate measurements and definitive (direct) measurements of sediment transport in ephemeral systems? Which surrogates are the most reliable to predict the discharge of bedload (e.g., seismic or acoustic)? What characteristic of the surrogate is most informative (e.g. total acoustic power or number of impacts for acoustic; amplitude at what frequency for seismic)? Can multiple calibrated turbidity sensors account for sandy suspended sediment concentrations to determine suspended load? Can LSPIV be useful to determine water velocity and discharge in flash-flood environments as shown elsewhere? River maintenance and other in-channel projects – whether for water delivery, public safety, habitat restoration, or other – need to be designed and implemented with a knowledge or river processes and channel morphology to ensure project success. Process and morphology are a result of the magnitude and timing of water and sediment delivery to the channel. A method to adequately quantify sediment delivery from ephemeral tributaries in a reliable and cost-effective manner does not exist. This research will benefit any office charged with rivers that have ephemeral tributaries.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Mercury Loading to Streams and Reservoirs: A Process-Based Approach
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Yong Lai
The proposed research aims to develop a process-based, watershed-scale numerical model that may be used to assess and predict mercury loading to streams and reservoirs. It will answer the following research questions: (1) Can a reliable and accurate process-based, watershed-scale mercury loading model be developed that will allow Reclamation to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of mercury management measures in its facilities such as reservoirs? (2) What are the key physical and biochemical processes, among many possibilities, that should be simulated more accurately than others for a reliable mercury delivery simulation? (3) Can we develop novel numerical methods to simulate mercury delivery more efficiently and reliably than existing models?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Marine Energy
Model Validation and Site Characterization for Early Deployment MHK Sites and Establishment of Wave Classification Scheme
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Zhaoqing Yang, PNNL
- Vince Neary, SNL
The project is designed to quantify and classify the physical conditions of wave and tidal resources, to provide classification schemes that reduce design costs and generation uncertainty, and to provide the data necessary for informed siting decisions. These outcomes also relate to the program’s other goals. First, detailed resource data helps to focus the locations where environmental research and risk mitigation is most needed. Second, improved resource models provide test-sites with better predictions, and classification schemes are a critical input to efficient test-site test protocols that evaluate both device performance and device reliability. Finally, high-fidelity resource models can be used as input to device simulation tools, to produce device simulations output that is based on realistic time-histories of resource conditions.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Monitoring Suspended Sediment: An Investigation Coincident with the Cherry Creek Reservoir Annual Flush
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Dombrowski
The focus of this proposal is to address the need for more comprehensive suspended sediment monitoring by exploring the capabilities and limitations of emerging techniques for suspended-sediment surrogate monitoring using acoustic technology. The use of suspended-sediment surrogate methods, such as turbidity, laser-diffraction, and acoustic methods, offer the benefits of continuous temporal monitoring, lower cost, and safer implementation than conventional hand-held methods. The benefit of developing the capability may be widespread within Reclamation; the acquired data could be used to refine computational and theoretical tools, as well as gauge the sediment-related effects of reservoir operations including sedimentation rates and downstream water quality.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
- Conventional Hydro
National Water Model Assessment for Reclamation’s Water Management Needs
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ken Nowak
Reclamation depends on streamflow forecasts across the temporal continuum of water management. As part of the recently launched NOAA National Water Initiative, the National Water Model (NWM) is being adopted. In the interest of being an informed user and exploring new potential water management utility of the NWM, Reclamation seeks to seize the opportunity to partner with NOAA at the outset of this new modeling framework. Understanding the NWM will be important for Reclamation as NOAA begins to use its output in forecasts.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org