Project and Water News

Water managers and researchers have a new tool for running simulations of complex water systems. A product of CI-WATER’s multi-institution collaboration, The Parleys Creek Management Tool combines models from multiple fields, including hydrology, climate, reservoir and storm water systems and more.

“The goal is to gather these data in one place,” says Erfan Goharian, a CI-WATER research assistant at the University of Utah (UU). “For sustainability, we need to look at water resource management in an integrated way.”

Erfan developed the Parleys Creek Management Tool as part of his doctoral project. Housed on University of Utah servers, it combines models developed by CI-WATER researchers at Utah State University, Brigham Young University (BYU) and the UU.

To access the tool, users input values via Tethys, a web platform created by Nathan Swain, a CI-WATER research assistant and doctoral student at BYU. Named for the titan goddess of the oceans, the Tethys platform is a user-friendly, cloud-hosted interface that sends submitted information to the Parleys Creek Management Tool. When the results of the simulation are available, they are sent back to Tethys which displays the results.

For busy water managers, the advantage is clear: the easy-to-use interface allows them to use multiple, robust models without having to earn a degree in computer science.

While the Parleys Creek Management Tool is tailored to a single, though complex, water system in Utah, the successful integration of multiple models and functionality of the Tethys interface has positive implications for integrated modeling of other watersheds. Additionally, Erfan is at work on a “Sustainability Index” which will score scenarios on the standard criteria for water resources—Vulnerability, Reliability and Resiliency—plus Cost and Lifecycle to provide a single sustainability score that makes it easier to identify solutions that minimize negative impacts while meeting water needs now and well into the future.

CI-WATER partner Wyoming EPSCoR sponsored the Big Horn General Stream Adjudication on September 10-12. The event marked the conclusion of a 37 year stream adjudication in the Wind-Bighorn River basin.

For Jocelynn Anderson, it's all about water. Growing up with access to pristine lakes in Canada and Washington, the CI-WATER research assistant knew early on she wanted to make sure these resources remained available well into the future. Frustrated that many waterways have been polluted due to poor planning—as when landfills were located over aquifers in her home state—she looked for a career path where she'd be able to make a difference.

 "Everybody deserves a nice, clean lake to swim in. Everyone should be able to enjoy their water, not be afraid of it."

CI-WATER research assistant Jocelyn Anderson finds Civil Engineering is a good balance for her Environmental focus.

Majoring in Civil & Environmental Engineering

That path started with a one-week Summer Scholars program at Brigham Young University (BYU) which opened her eyes to the possibilities of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She returned to BYU to earn a Bachelor’s in the major and has continued on into the Master’s program. She had at one time considered focusing only on Environmental Engineering, but is glad she didn’t.

“I’m really grateful for the Civil Engineering background,” she says, citing a greater understanding of the dynamic relationship between built and natural environments and their impact on water resources.

CI-WATER Research Assistantship

She’s also entered the realm of web app creation with her work on CI-WATER. Though she had some experience coding through her major, her research assistantship has given her an opportunity to gain fluency in Python. Graduate courses in the programming language and hydroinformatics have helped her develop competencies she applies to building an app that allows users to access and edit land use maps needed for running CI-WATER simulations.

In addition to her research assistantship, Jocelynn is an intern with the engineering firm J-U-B, citing her experience presenting on CI-WATER and her Hydroinformatics course project at conferences as an extra her employers were looking for.

Tips for STEM Success

When asked whether she has any advice for other students considering majoring in STEM, Jocelynn has a lot to say. One of the hardest aspects of majoring in STEM can be maintaining a social life on par with that of other undergraduates.

“My roommates would be going out to have fun and I still needed to work,” she says. Her solution? “I made friends with other STEM majors.” One way to do this is to participate in extracurriculars like the famed Concrete Canoe Challenge (Jocelynn participated three seasons) and organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers. These activities have allowed Jocelynn to combine socializing with skill-building.

She also encourages people to look at midterm and final exams positively. “It’s usually when I’m studying for these exams that I see how miscellaneous things come together, and I realize how much I’ve learned.”

Most of all, she says, “Don’t be afraid of pursuing a STEM major.” Too often, she hears someone say they aren’t good at something, like physics, and so they throw out the idea of majoring in a STEM field, even though they’d otherwise love it.

“If you have a passion, you’ll find a way to get better at whatever you need to do.”

That word, “passion,” comes up a lot in conversations about Jocelynn. Dr. Jim Nelson remembers first meeting her years ago, when she told him she wanted to work on water resource issues.

“I remember how bold she was about it—this is what she wanted to do,” Jim says. He suggested some classes and waited to see what would happen. Years later, it was clear she would be a good fit for CI-WATER: “She prepared herself.”

“When you find the brightest people who are super-passionate about the subject, that’s the best,” Jim says. “That’s what we look for and that’s what Jocelynn possesses.”

Congratulations to Nathan Swain and Adel Abdallah, winners of the CI-WATER solo spotlight viewership contest! Their videos are part of a set featuring researchers and project staff explaining why they chose careers in STEM. The contest was a good-natured challenge to encourage project participants to view and share their stories, with prizes going to the two most-watched videos.

Watch other CI-WATER videos...