Publications

Continued large-scale public investment in declining ecosystems depends on demonstrations of “success”. While the public conception of “success” often focuses on restoration to a pre-disturbance condition, the scientific community is more likely to measure success in terms of improved ecosystem health. Using a combination of literature review, workshops and expert solicitation we propose...

The introduction of iterative ensemble smoothers (IES) for parameter calibration opens avenues for expanding parameter space in surface water hydrologic modeling. Here, we have introduced independent parameters into a model calibration experiment to estimate errors in rainfall forcing data. This approach has the potential to estimate rainfall errors using other hydrological observations...

Lake thermal dynamics have been considerably impacted by climate change, with potential adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. To better understand the potential impacts of future climate change on lake thermal dynamics and related processes, the use of mathematical models is essential. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of lake water temperature modeling. We begin by...

We used quantitative microbial risk assessment to estimate ingestion risk for intI1, erm(B), sul1, tet(A), tet(W), and tet(X) in private wells contaminated by human and/or livestock feces. Genes were quantified with five human-specific and six bovine-specific microbial source-tracking (MST) markers in 138 well-water samples from a rural Wisconsin county. Daily ingestion risk (probability...

Increases in fluxes of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the environment have led to negative impacts affecting drinking water, eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Because of the importance, scale, and complexity of these issues, it may be useful to consider methods for prioritizing nutrient research in representative drainage basins within a...

This study characterizes hydroclimatic variability and change in peak streamflow and daily streamflow in Wisconsin from water years 1921 through 2020. Nonstationarity in peak streamflow in Wisconsin can include monotonic trends, change points, and autocorrelation. Spatial patterns of nonstationarity in peak streamflow, daily streamflow, and monthly precipitation, temperature, and...

Flood-frequency analysis, also called peak-flow frequency or flood-flow frequency analysis, is essential to water resources management applications including critical structure design and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for doing flood-frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within...

Groundwater flow and particle tracking models are critical tools to simulate the natural system, contaminant fate and transport, and effects of remediation. Constrained optimization uses models to systematically explore the interplay between remedial design and contaminant fate, considering uncertainty. Sequential Linear Programming (SLP) provides a design alternative addressing a single...

No abstract available.

Decision makers are often confronted with inadequate information to predict nutrient loads and yields in freshwater ecosystems at large spatial scales. We evaluate the potential of using data mapped at large spatial scales (regional to global) and often coarse resolution to predict nitrogen yields at varying smaller scales (e.g., at the catchment and stream reach level). We applied the...

Fluvial erosion is increasingly responsible for infrastructure and building damages associated with floods as the intensity of extreme rainfalls hit rural and urban rivers in a variety of climate settings across the United States. Extreme floods in 2016 and 2018 caused widespread culvert blockages and road failures, including extensive damage along steep tributaries and ravines in the...

The entire Lower Fox River and inner bay of Green Bay, in northeastern Wisconsin, have been listed as impaired by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for low dissolved oxygen and degraded habitat, with total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations listed as the likely causes of these impairments. To restore the Fox River and Green Bay, total...