Aditi Bhaskar News

Grant tackles sustainable alternatives for urban lawn irrigation

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 20:10:36 +0000

Grant tackles sustainable alternatives for urban lawn irrigation Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/22/2024 - 14:10

Susan Glairon

Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar

Assistant Professor Isabella Oleksy

It’s well-known that large amounts of municipal water are being used for residential lawn irrigation. But the solution to conserve water is not as simple as removing the grass and replacing it with other materials.

Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar, from CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, and Assistant Professor Isabella Oleksy, of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, received a $296,000 grant from the Colorado Water Board to investigate ground cover options that could replace turfgrass, studying their impact on water use, urban heat, water quality and flooding.

Titled “The Effects of Landscape Transformations on Urban Heat and Water Quality,” the project aims to quantify how landscape changes affect urban heat and water quality in the Denver metropolitan area. By achieving these goals, the project will help develop best practices for landscape transformations and turf replacement options in Colorado.

For example, replacing lawns with gravel can exacerbate the heat island effect, where urban areas experience higher temperatures due to human activities and infrastructure. The effect is caused by the absorption and retention of heat by man-made surfaces.

Through assessing turfgrass replacement options and other landscape transformations, the project aims to inform best practices for water conservation, climate adaptation and stormwater management.

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Jorge Santiago Ramírez Núñez receives graduate fellowship

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 00:32:47 +0000

Jorge Santiago Ramírez Núñez receives graduate fellowship Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/18/2024 - 17:32

Susan Glairon

Jorge "Santi" Santiago Ramírez Núñez, a second-year PhD student advised by Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar, was selected for the W. Mark Harty Memorial Engineering Fellowship Fund. The fund awards fellowships to graduate students enrolled in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering with a focus on water resources.

"Being selected for this fellowship encourages me as a member of the CU Boulder water resources community and motivates me to continue my research," Ramírez Núñez said.

Ramírez Núñez's research explores the impact of urban development on water resources, with part of his research addressing how urban development changes the streamflow regime in the Denver metro area. To achieve this, he and other researchers in the Bhaskar Research Group are monitoring streamflow in a watershed that will transition from rangeland to a developed site in Parker, Colorado. The group is also developing a predictive model to anticipate changes in streamflow while considering various watershed characteristics. The goal is to offer cities in the Denver metro area a valuable urban planning tool which would allow the cities to explore the potential effects of different future urban development scenarios on streamflow.

After completing his PhD, Ramirez Nunez plans to work in academia, continuing his involvement in citizen science and community outreach projects. He also plans to promote the implementation of green infrastructure in urban environments and the development of policies that support these initiatives.

Jorge "Santi" Santiago Ramírez Núñez, a second-year PhD student advised by Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar, received the W. Mark Harty Memorial Engineering Fellowship Fund, supporting graduate students in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering focusing on water resources.

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Graduate students participate in the Upper Colorado River Basin Forum

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 15:05:23 +0000

Graduate students participate in the Upper Colorado River Basin Forum Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/02/2023 - 09:05

Susan Glairon

Kaitlyn Bishay and Santiago Ramírez Núñez, graduate students specializing in hydrology water resources and environmental fluid mechanics at the �鶹��Ƶ, participated on a student panel during the 12th annual Upper Colorado River 2023 Water Forum on Oct. 30, 2023. The event was hosted by the Hutchins Water Center at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, and the panel was introduced by John Marshall, the university's president.

This year’s forum theme, "Reshaping the River: Reimagining Water Use & Management in the Upper Colorado River Basin," included topics such as innovative agricultural water management practices, resilient riverscapes, unpacking and understanding diminishing water supplies, reauthorization of recovery programs as well as updates from state agencies and networking events.

The forum seeks to promote dialogue between scholars, policymakers and water users on how to address the water challenges facing the Upper Colorado River Basin. The audience was comprised of water and river professionals, scholars and stakeholders from a wide spectrum of disciplines with a shared interest in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

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Infrastructure inventories help cities compare stormwater strategies

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:54:37 +0000

Infrastructure inventories help cities compare stormwater strategies Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/29/2023 - 09:54

“Cities with more resources can lead on advancing knowledge and practice by monitoring and evaluating stormwater control measure networks,” said Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar, the study's co-author. “These cities can also benefit from learning about the approaches used by other cities, for example, to share information on effectiveness of approaches.”

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Aditi Bhaskar investigates potential effects of urban water conservation on streamflow in western US

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:40:12 +0000

Aditi Bhaskar investigates potential effects of urban water conservation on streamflow in western US Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/27/2023 - 09:40

Susan Glairon

It’s widely recognized that reducing lawn irrigation is essential for water conservation, particularly in water-scarce regions like the western United States. Aditi Bhaskar is studying a lesser-known consequence of irrigation efficiency: the potential reduction in streamflow, which could have implications for urban stream health, recreation and downstream users.

“Downstream areas in the South Platte River, (which flows through Colorado), have agricultural users with senior water rights,” Bhaskar said. “Understanding how these conservation efforts affect the flow downstream is crucial.”

Bhaskar’s research is supported by her National Science Foundation CAREER award, granted in 2021 during her tenure at Colorado State University and since transferred to CU Boulder. She joined CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering as an associate professor in January 2023.

Bhaskar studies the impact of urban development on water resources, and the goal of her CAREER award is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between urban conservation and streamflow in the Denver-metro area. Her research utilizes a variety of approaches including monitoring current conditions and modeling landscape transformations.

Bhaskar and her team are particularly interested in the impact of reduced outdoor water use on stream flow because the Colorado Water Plan focuses on changing how residents use water outdoors to bridge the projected water supply-demand gap.

The research is closely integrated with an educational initiative aimed at promoting diversity in Colorado’s urban water workforce.

CU Boulder sat down with Bhaskar to learn more about the project.

What interests you most about this topic?

Most irrigation systems are programmed based on a set number of days per week, regardless of the weather. We want to explore the impact of conservation practices such as those that utilize soil-moisture based irrigation systems. The systems detect soil moisture levels and water accordingly. These systems are not widely used, but they offer a potential technology for more efficient irrigation and water conservation.

We are also exploring landscape changes – particularly with the state’s approval of funding for turf grass replacement programs. Under that program, individuals can replace their lawns with lower water-use landscapes, such as xeric grasses and plants, or alternative materials like mulch, rock and artificial turf.

We’re also interested in alternative water supply conservation strategies, such as harvesting rainwater for outdoor irrigation.

What are you currently working on?

We recently published a paper that focused on our 2019 data concerning naturally occurring water stable isotopes. We completed sampling in 2021 and 2022 and we’re now analyzing the data. We’re utilizing the distinct isotopic signatures from high elevation source watersheds and locally derived sources at lower elevations to determine the water’s origin. One of the next steps involves using modeling techniques to explore how lawn irrigation return flows might change under different types of water-wise landscaping practices.

Another monitoring approach focuses on tracking stream flow in a rangeland watershed located south of Denver in Parker, Colorado. This stream rarely flows. Later this year, the watershed will undergo development designed to preserve the stream network. We are interested in monitoring this stream throughout the development process. We have three years of predevelopment data during which the stream flowed once. We anticipate that as people begin irrigating their lawns, the streams will flow all summer, allowing us insights into temporal patterns and connections between base flow and the watershed’s development.

Which education components of your recent NSF CAREER award are you most excited about?

We have several different programs. One is at Colorado State University, and my goal is to bring it to CU Boulder. It provides fellowship support to a cohort of juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds who are interested in pursuing water-related careers. It also offers them networking opportunities, including interacting with water professionals, participation in conferences and access to professional development and research opportunities.

Another aspect involves collaboration with my CSU partners. They received a grant focused on incorporating equity into engineering education across disciplines and content. The objective is to integrate the social context of engineering into technical classes, enabling engineers to recognize the societal implications of their designs.

Our aim with that project is to understand and share best practices with educators teaching water-related subjects, which are closely connected to societal concerns and social contexts.

Can you give an example of what factors the students might take into account and what that looks like in an education setting?

In Denver and many other cities impervious surface cover is related to race. Wealthier white neighborhoods tend to have more tree cover, lower population density, larger lot sizes and a high prevalence of single-family homes. The presence of impervious surfaces contributes to issues such as increased flooding and urban heat islands. Wealthier neighborhoods are cooler in the summer. We see these things in research, and we are beginning to integrate them into education practices.

In another course, students explore water quality violations in the U.S. and how they are disproportionately distributed based on race and income. Students analyze data, interpret graphs and gain understanding of journal articles. They delve into the root causes of these disparities and reflect on their role as water resource or environmental engineers in either contributing or mitigating these issues. Combining data analysis and calculations has been successful in helping students grasp these concepts. They recognize the connection between what they are learning about water resources and the broader social context.

Water Resources Associate Professor Aditi Bhaskar is studying a lesser-known consequence of irrigation efficiency: the potential reduction in streamflow, which could have implications for urban stream health, recreation and downstream users.

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Aditi Bhaskar receives funding from The Water Research Foundation

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:28:50 +0000

Aditi Bhaskar receives funding from The Water Research Foundation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/16/2023 - 11:28 Susan Glairon

Aditi Bhaskar, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded $66,501 in funding from The Water Research Foundation (WRF) for the research project, "Advancing Adaptive Wet Weather Management Approaches to Meet Emerging Challenges for Extreme Snowstorm Events and Cold Climate Impacts."

Bhaskar's research aims to develop guidance on the state-of-the-practice for adapting rainstorm-based management approaches for extreme snowstorms and cold climate events.

Cities that receive high amounts of precipitation as snow face different challenges for wet weather management than precipitation as rain, both in terms of managing wet weather quality and quantity including runoff volume, timing and deicer pollution, Bhaskar says. Furthermore, the pattern of precipitation as snow is projected to increase with climate change for the same reason that rainfall intensity is projected to increase, due to warmer air holding more moisture that can be released at once. Snowstorms are being seen in areas not prepared for them, and other regions are seeing transitions in the amount of precipitation as rain versus snow.

These challenges, as well as climate change impacts, necessitate a focus on wet weather management tailored for snow and cold climate impacts, she said.

WRF is the leading research organization advancing the science of all water to meet the evolving needs of the water sector.

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Welcoming two new faculty to CU Boulder Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 17:14:41 +0000

Welcoming two new faculty to CU Boulder Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/26/2022 - 11:14

The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the �鶹��Ƶ is welcoming two new faculty members for the 2022-2023 academic year. Meet the team and see why we're excited about these talented new hires:

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