Great Salt Lake Biology


Book Description

Great Salt Lake is an enormous terminal lake in the western United States. It is a highly productive ecosystem, which has global significance for millions of migrating birds who rely on this critical feeding station on their journey through the American west. For the human population in the adjacent metropolitan area, this body of water provides a significant economic resource as industries, such as brine shrimp harvesting and mineral extraction, generate jobs and income for the state of Utah. In addition, the lake provides the local population with ecosystem services, especially the creation of mountain snowpack that generates water supply, and the prevention of dust that may impair air quality. As a result of climate change and water diversions for consumptive uses, terminal lakes are shrinking worldwide, and this edited volume is written in this urgent context. This is the first book ever centered on Great Salt Lake biology. Current and novel data presented here paint a comprehensive picture, building on our past understanding and adding complexity. Together, the authors explore this saline lake from the microbial diversity to the invertebrates and the birds who eat them, along a dynamic salinity gradient with unique geochemistry. Some unusual perspectives are included, including the impact of tar seeps on the lake biology and why Great Salt Lake may help us search for life on Mars. Also, we consider the role of human perceptions and our effect on the biology of the lake. The editors made an effort to involve a diversity of experts on the Great Salt Lake system, but also to include unheard voices such as scientists at state agencies or non-profit advocacy organizations. This book is a timely discussion of a terminal lake that is significant, unique, and threatened.




Water Resources and Environmental History


Book Description

Water Resources and Environmental History is a collection of historical articles that cover the existence and function of early water projects and origins of some of today's greatest water systems. Water and sedimentation topics extend back to the Greek and Roman Eras, the ancestral Puebloans who lived in southwestern Colorado 1,200 years ago, and the Incas who constructed Machu Picchu. The unique diversity of topics covered include: construction of the Suez Canal, a photo essay of the Strawberry Valley Project, history of the Bureau of Reclamation's dam design, historical perspectives on existing hydrologic and hydraulic programs, hydraulic laboratories, and engineering libraries. Practicing engineers, students, historians, and anyone interested in the origins of some of today's greatest water systems will benefit from reading this book.




Principles of Water Resources


Book Description

Proper management of water resources can take many forms, and requires the knowledge and expertise to work at the intersection of mathematics, geology, biology, geography, meteorology, political science, and even psychology. This book provides an essential foundation in water management and development concepts and practices, dissecting complex topics into short, understandable explanations that spark true interest in the field. Approaching the study of water resources systematically, the discussion begins with historical perspective before moving on to physical processes, engineering, water chemistry, government regulation, environmental issues, global conflict, and more. Now in its fourth edition, this text provides the most current introduction to a field that is becoming ever more critical as climate change begins to threaten water supplies around the world. As geography, climate, population growth, and technology collide, effective resource management must include a comprehensive understanding of how these forces intermingle and come to life in the water so critical to us all.




The State Water Plan


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Irrigation in Utah


Book Description




Geology and Ground-water Chemistry, Curlew Valley, Northwestern Utah and South-Central Idaho, Implications for Hydrogeology


Book Description

This report (185 pages and 2 plates) presents new and compiled geologic, geophysical, hydrologic, and hydrochemical data to delineate the regional ground-water flow system in Curlew Valley. Decreased precipitation combined with increased agricultural pumping in the central part of Curlew Valley since the late 1960s caused a steady decline in discharge at the Locomotive Springs complex. The report includes a compiled geologic map of the Curlew Valley surface-drainage basin at 1:100,000 scale and new geologic and hydrochemical data.




Water Runs Through This Book


Book Description

Winner of: 2015 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award (SONWA) Through photographs, verse and narration, this book celebrates the most essential ingredient to life: water. Author and educator, Nancy Bo Flood and award-winning photographer, Jan Sonnenmair, combine imagination and information to explore this ever-changing and mysterious element. Water Runs Through This Book teaches how water runs through all aspects of our lives. Including everyday tips to help conserve, it will inspire children and adults to value water resources and to become better global citizens.