Olivia is a valuable member of the Utah Water Science Center. Her current research focuses on spatial and temporal analysis of groundwater and surface water quality, and the relationship between land use, climate, and hydrology throughout the southwestern United States.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (2017)
M.S., Geology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (2013)
B.A., Earth and Environmental Science, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT (2009)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 14
A review of current capabilities and science gaps in water supply data, modeling, and trends for water availability assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is a critical water resource in the southwestern United States, supplying drinking water for 40 million people in the region and water for irrigation of 2.2 million hectares of land. Extended drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCOL) and the prospect of a warmer climate in the future pose water availability challenges for those charged with managing the river. Limited wat
Authors
Fred D. Tillman, Natalie K. Day, Matthew P. Miller, Olivia L. Miller, Christine Rumsey, Daniel Wise, Patrick Cullen Longley, Morgan C. McDonnell
Hydrologic modeling of a perennial firn aquifer in southeast Greenland
A conceptual model, based on field observations and assumed physics of a perennial firn aquifer near Helheim Glacier (southeast Greenland), is evaluated via steady-state 2-D simulation of liquid water flow and energy transport with phase change. The simulation approach allows natural representation of flow and energy advection and conduction that occur in vertical meltwater recharge through the un
Authors
Olivia Miller, Clifford I. Voss, D. Kip Solomon, Clément Miège, Richard Forster, Nicholas Schmerr, Lynn Montgomery
Effects of return flows on stream water quality and availability in the Upper Colorado, Delaware, and Illinois River Basins
Understanding effects of human water use and subsequent return flows on the availability and suitability of water for downstream uses is critical to efficient and effective watershed management. We compared spatially detailed estimates of stream chemistry within three watersheds in diverse settings to available standards to isolate effects of wastewater and irrigation return flows on the suitabili
Authors
Scott Ator, Olivia L. Miller, David A. Saad
Modelagem de qualidade da agua: Aplicação do SPARROW
No abstract available.
Authors
Flavio Hadler Tröger, Sérgio Rodrigues Ayrimoraes Soares, Diana Leite Cavalcanti, Marcelo Luiz de Souza, Daniel Edmund Restivo, Olivia L. Miller
How will baseflow respond to climate change in the Upper Colorado River Basin?
Baseflow is critical to sustaining streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Therefore, effective water resources management requires estimates of baseflow response to climatic changes. This study provides the first estimates of projected baseflow changes from historical (1984 – 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry climatic condi
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Matthew P. Miller, Patrick Cullen Longley, Jay R. Alder, Lindsay A. Bearup, Tom Pruitt, Daniel Jones, Annie Laura Putman, Christine Rumsey, Tim S. McKinney
Substantial declines in salinity observed across the Upper Colorado River Basin during the 20th century, 1929 to 2019
Salinity in the Colorado River Basin causes an estimated $300 to $400 million per year in economic damages in the U.S. To inform and improve salinity‐control efforts, this study quantifies long‐term trends in salinity (dissolved solids) across the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), including time periods prior to the construction of large dams and preceding the implementation of salinity‐control p
Authors
Christine Rumsey, Olivia L. Miller, Robert Hirsch, Thomas M. Marston, David Susong
Changing climate drives future streamflow declines and challenges in meeting water demand across the southwestern United States
Society and the environment in the arid southwestern United States depend on reliable water availability, yet current water use outpaces supply. Water demand is projected to grow in the future and climate change is expected to reduce supply. To adapt, water managers need robust estimates of future regional water supply to support management decisions. To address this need, we estimate future strea
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Annie Laura Putman, Jay R. Alder, Matthew P. Miller, Daniel Jones, Daniel Wise
The firn meltwater Retention Model Intercomparison Project (RetMIP): Evaluation of nine firn models at four weather station sites on the Greenland ice sheet
Perennial snow, or firn, covers 80 % of the Greenland ice sheet and has the capacity to retain surface meltwater, influencing the ice sheet mass balance and contribution to sea-level rise. Multilayer firn models are traditionally used to simulate firn processes and estimate meltwater retention. We present, intercompare and evaluate outputs from nine firn models at four sites that represent the ice
Authors
Baptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter Langen, Robert Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Lee, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey S. Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn J. Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael J. MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia L. Miller, Clifford I. Voss, Jason E. Box
Hydrologic properties of a highly permeable firn aquifer in the Wilkins Ice Shelf, Antarctica
We present measurements of the density, hydraulic conductivity, and specific discharge of a widespread firn aquifer in Antarctica, within the Wilkins Ice Shelf. At the field site, the aquifer is 16.2 m thick, starting at 13.4 m from the snow surface and transitioning from water‐saturated firn to ice at 29.6 m. Hydraulic conductivity derived from slug tests show a geometric mean value of 1.4 ± 1.2
Authors
Lynn Montgomery, C. Miege, Julie MIller, Bruce Wallin, Olivia L. Miller, Ted A. Scambos, D Kip Solomon, Richard Forster, Lora Koenig
Integrated borehole, radar, and seismic velocity analysis reveals dynamic spatial variations within a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland
Perennial water storage in firn aquifers has been observed within the lower percolation zone of the southeast Greenland ice sheet. Spatially distributed seismic and radar observations, made ~50 km upstream of the Helheim Glacier terminus, reveal spatial variations of seismic velocity within a firn aquifer. From 1.65 to 1.8 km elevation, shear‐wave velocity (Vs) is 1,290 ± 180 m/s in the unsaturate
Authors
Siobhan Killingbeck, N. C. Schmerr, L. N. Montgomery, A. D. Booth, P. W. Livermore, J. Guandique, Olivia L. Miller, S. Burdick, R. R. Forster, L. S. Koenig, Anatoly Legchenko, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, C. Miege, D. K. Solomon, L. J. West
Discharge and dissolved-solids characteristics and trends of Snake River above Jackson Lake at Flagg Ranch, Wyoming, 1986–2018
The headwaters of the Snake River are in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. Maintaining the recognized high quality of water in Grand Teton National Park is a National Park Service (NPS) priority. To characterize and understand the water resources of Grand Teton National Park, the NPS established a monitoring program to monitor the quality of area surface waters. Beginning in 2006, water was s
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller
Quantifying trends in arsenic, nitrate, and dissolved solids from selected wells in Utah
Groundwater makes up a primary portion of the water supply in many parts of Utah, with annual withdrawals estimated at more than 1,000,000 acre-feet per year. Increases to groundwater withdrawal and land use may negatively impact water availability. Ensuring availability of clean water requires understanding how water quality has changed over time and how natural and human activities and processes
Authors
Olivia L. Miller
Non-USGS Publications**
Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L., Forster, R., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R., Legchenko, A., Voss, C.I., Montgomery, L. and McConnell, J.R., 2020. Hydrology of a perennial firn aquifer in Southeast Greenland: an overview driven by field data. Water Resources Research, 56(8), https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026348.
Legchenko, A., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Schmerr, N., Montgomery, L., Ligtenberg, S., and Brucker, L., 2018, Estimating water volume stored in the south-eastern Greenland firn aquifer using magnetic-resonance soundings: Journal of Applied Geophysics, v. 150, p. 11–20.
Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L., Forster, R., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R.M., and Montgomery, L., 2018, Direct evidence of meltwater flow within a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 45, no. 1, p. 207–215.
Legchenko, A., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Schmerr, N., Montgomery, L., Ligtenberg, S., and Brucker, L., 2018, Investigating a firn aquifer near Helheim Glacier (South-Eastern Greenland) with magnetic resonance soundings and ground-penetrating radar: Near Surface Geophysics, v. 16, no. 4, p. 411–422.
Miller, O.L., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Montgomery, L.N., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R.M., Legchenko, A., and Brucker, L., 2017, Hydraulic conductivity of a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland: Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 5, p. 38.
Montgomery, L.N., Schmerr, N., Burdick, S., Forster, R.R., Koenig, L., Legchenko, A., Ligtenberg, S., Miège, C., Miller, O.L., and Solomon, D.K., 2017, Investigation of firn aquifer structure in southeastern Greenland using active source seismology: Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 5, p. 10.
Walsh, T.C., Miller, O.L., Bowen, B., Levine, Z.A., and Ehleringer, J.R., 2015, Sphere of sustainability: Lessons from the University of Utah’s Global Changes and Society Course: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, v. 141, no. 12.
Miller, O.L., Solomon, D.K., Fernandez, D.P., Cerling, T.E., and Bowling, D.R., 2014, Evaluating the use of strontium isotopes in tree rings to record the isotopic signal of dust deposited on the Wasatch Mountains: Applied Geochemistry, v. 50, p. 53–65.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Baseflow
The Colorado River has been identified as the most overallocated river in the world. Considering predicted future imbalances between water supply and demand and the growing recognition that base flow (a proxy for groundwater discharge to streams) is critical for sustaining flow in streams and rivers, there is a need to develop methods to better quantify present-day base flow across large regions...
SPARROW model inputs and simulated future baseflow for streams of the Upper Colorado River Basin
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model was used to estimate baseflow changes from historical (1984 - 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry climatic conditions. SPARROW is a spatially explicit hybrid statistical and process-based model that estimates mean baseflow ove
SPARROW model inputs and simulated streamflow, nutrient and suspended-sediment loads in streams of the Southwestern United States, 2012 Base Year
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model was used to aid in the interpretation of monitoring data and simulate streamflow and water-quality conditions in streams across the Southwestern Region of the Unites States. SPARROW is a hybrid empirical/process-based mass balance model that can be used to estimate the major sources and envi
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 14
A review of current capabilities and science gaps in water supply data, modeling, and trends for water availability assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is a critical water resource in the southwestern United States, supplying drinking water for 40 million people in the region and water for irrigation of 2.2 million hectares of land. Extended drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCOL) and the prospect of a warmer climate in the future pose water availability challenges for those charged with managing the river. Limited watAuthorsFred D. Tillman, Natalie K. Day, Matthew P. Miller, Olivia L. Miller, Christine Rumsey, Daniel Wise, Patrick Cullen Longley, Morgan C. McDonnellHydrologic modeling of a perennial firn aquifer in southeast Greenland
A conceptual model, based on field observations and assumed physics of a perennial firn aquifer near Helheim Glacier (southeast Greenland), is evaluated via steady-state 2-D simulation of liquid water flow and energy transport with phase change. The simulation approach allows natural representation of flow and energy advection and conduction that occur in vertical meltwater recharge through the unAuthorsOlivia Miller, Clifford I. Voss, D. Kip Solomon, Clément Miège, Richard Forster, Nicholas Schmerr, Lynn MontgomeryEffects of return flows on stream water quality and availability in the Upper Colorado, Delaware, and Illinois River Basins
Understanding effects of human water use and subsequent return flows on the availability and suitability of water for downstream uses is critical to efficient and effective watershed management. We compared spatially detailed estimates of stream chemistry within three watersheds in diverse settings to available standards to isolate effects of wastewater and irrigation return flows on the suitabiliAuthorsScott Ator, Olivia L. Miller, David A. SaadModelagem de qualidade da agua: Aplicação do SPARROW
No abstract available.AuthorsFlavio Hadler Tröger, Sérgio Rodrigues Ayrimoraes Soares, Diana Leite Cavalcanti, Marcelo Luiz de Souza, Daniel Edmund Restivo, Olivia L. MillerHow will baseflow respond to climate change in the Upper Colorado River Basin?
Baseflow is critical to sustaining streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Therefore, effective water resources management requires estimates of baseflow response to climatic changes. This study provides the first estimates of projected baseflow changes from historical (1984 – 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry climatic condiAuthorsOlivia L. Miller, Matthew P. Miller, Patrick Cullen Longley, Jay R. Alder, Lindsay A. Bearup, Tom Pruitt, Daniel Jones, Annie Laura Putman, Christine Rumsey, Tim S. McKinneySubstantial declines in salinity observed across the Upper Colorado River Basin during the 20th century, 1929 to 2019
Salinity in the Colorado River Basin causes an estimated $300 to $400 million per year in economic damages in the U.S. To inform and improve salinity‐control efforts, this study quantifies long‐term trends in salinity (dissolved solids) across the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), including time periods prior to the construction of large dams and preceding the implementation of salinity‐control pAuthorsChristine Rumsey, Olivia L. Miller, Robert Hirsch, Thomas M. Marston, David SusongChanging climate drives future streamflow declines and challenges in meeting water demand across the southwestern United States
Society and the environment in the arid southwestern United States depend on reliable water availability, yet current water use outpaces supply. Water demand is projected to grow in the future and climate change is expected to reduce supply. To adapt, water managers need robust estimates of future regional water supply to support management decisions. To address this need, we estimate future streaAuthorsOlivia L. Miller, Annie Laura Putman, Jay R. Alder, Matthew P. Miller, Daniel Jones, Daniel WiseThe firn meltwater Retention Model Intercomparison Project (RetMIP): Evaluation of nine firn models at four weather station sites on the Greenland ice sheet
Perennial snow, or firn, covers 80 % of the Greenland ice sheet and has the capacity to retain surface meltwater, influencing the ice sheet mass balance and contribution to sea-level rise. Multilayer firn models are traditionally used to simulate firn processes and estimate meltwater retention. We present, intercompare and evaluate outputs from nine firn models at four sites that represent the iceAuthorsBaptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter Langen, Robert Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Lee, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey S. Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn J. Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael J. MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia L. Miller, Clifford I. Voss, Jason E. BoxHydrologic properties of a highly permeable firn aquifer in the Wilkins Ice Shelf, Antarctica
We present measurements of the density, hydraulic conductivity, and specific discharge of a widespread firn aquifer in Antarctica, within the Wilkins Ice Shelf. At the field site, the aquifer is 16.2 m thick, starting at 13.4 m from the snow surface and transitioning from water‐saturated firn to ice at 29.6 m. Hydraulic conductivity derived from slug tests show a geometric mean value of 1.4 ± 1.2AuthorsLynn Montgomery, C. Miege, Julie MIller, Bruce Wallin, Olivia L. Miller, Ted A. Scambos, D Kip Solomon, Richard Forster, Lora KoenigIntegrated borehole, radar, and seismic velocity analysis reveals dynamic spatial variations within a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland
Perennial water storage in firn aquifers has been observed within the lower percolation zone of the southeast Greenland ice sheet. Spatially distributed seismic and radar observations, made ~50 km upstream of the Helheim Glacier terminus, reveal spatial variations of seismic velocity within a firn aquifer. From 1.65 to 1.8 km elevation, shear‐wave velocity (Vs) is 1,290 ± 180 m/s in the unsaturateAuthorsSiobhan Killingbeck, N. C. Schmerr, L. N. Montgomery, A. D. Booth, P. W. Livermore, J. Guandique, Olivia L. Miller, S. Burdick, R. R. Forster, L. S. Koenig, Anatoly Legchenko, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, C. Miege, D. K. Solomon, L. J. WestDischarge and dissolved-solids characteristics and trends of Snake River above Jackson Lake at Flagg Ranch, Wyoming, 1986–2018
The headwaters of the Snake River are in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. Maintaining the recognized high quality of water in Grand Teton National Park is a National Park Service (NPS) priority. To characterize and understand the water resources of Grand Teton National Park, the NPS established a monitoring program to monitor the quality of area surface waters. Beginning in 2006, water was sAuthorsOlivia L. Miller, Cheryl A. Eddy-MillerQuantifying trends in arsenic, nitrate, and dissolved solids from selected wells in Utah
Groundwater makes up a primary portion of the water supply in many parts of Utah, with annual withdrawals estimated at more than 1,000,000 acre-feet per year. Increases to groundwater withdrawal and land use may negatively impact water availability. Ensuring availability of clean water requires understanding how water quality has changed over time and how natural and human activities and processesAuthorsOlivia L. MillerNon-USGS Publications**
Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L., Forster, R., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R., Legchenko, A., Voss, C.I., Montgomery, L. and McConnell, J.R., 2020. Hydrology of a perennial firn aquifer in Southeast Greenland: an overview driven by field data. Water Resources Research, 56(8), https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026348.Legchenko, A., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Schmerr, N., Montgomery, L., Ligtenberg, S., and Brucker, L., 2018, Estimating water volume stored in the south-eastern Greenland firn aquifer using magnetic-resonance soundings: Journal of Applied Geophysics, v. 150, p. 11–20.Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L., Forster, R., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R.M., and Montgomery, L., 2018, Direct evidence of meltwater flow within a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 45, no. 1, p. 207–215.Legchenko, A., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Miller, O., Solomon, D.K., Schmerr, N., Montgomery, L., Ligtenberg, S., and Brucker, L., 2018, Investigating a firn aquifer near Helheim Glacier (South-Eastern Greenland) with magnetic resonance soundings and ground-penetrating radar: Near Surface Geophysics, v. 16, no. 4, p. 411–422.Miller, O.L., Solomon, D.K., Miège, C., Koenig, L.S., Forster, R.R., Montgomery, L.N., Schmerr, N., Ligtenberg, S.R.M., Legchenko, A., and Brucker, L., 2017, Hydraulic conductivity of a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland: Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 5, p. 38.Montgomery, L.N., Schmerr, N., Burdick, S., Forster, R.R., Koenig, L., Legchenko, A., Ligtenberg, S., Miège, C., Miller, O.L., and Solomon, D.K., 2017, Investigation of firn aquifer structure in southeastern Greenland using active source seismology: Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 5, p. 10.Walsh, T.C., Miller, O.L., Bowen, B., Levine, Z.A., and Ehleringer, J.R., 2015, Sphere of sustainability: Lessons from the University of Utah’s Global Changes and Society Course: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, v. 141, no. 12.Miller, O.L., Solomon, D.K., Fernandez, D.P., Cerling, T.E., and Bowling, D.R., 2014, Evaluating the use of strontium isotopes in tree rings to record the isotopic signal of dust deposited on the Wasatch Mountains: Applied Geochemistry, v. 50, p. 53–65.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
- Science
Baseflow
The Colorado River has been identified as the most overallocated river in the world. Considering predicted future imbalances between water supply and demand and the growing recognition that base flow (a proxy for groundwater discharge to streams) is critical for sustaining flow in streams and rivers, there is a need to develop methods to better quantify present-day base flow across large regions... - Data
SPARROW model inputs and simulated future baseflow for streams of the Upper Colorado River Basin
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model was used to estimate baseflow changes from historical (1984 - 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry climatic conditions. SPARROW is a spatially explicit hybrid statistical and process-based model that estimates mean baseflow oveSPARROW model inputs and simulated streamflow, nutrient and suspended-sediment loads in streams of the Southwestern United States, 2012 Base Year
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model was used to aid in the interpretation of monitoring data and simulate streamflow and water-quality conditions in streams across the Southwestern Region of the Unites States. SPARROW is a hybrid empirical/process-based mass balance model that can be used to estimate the major sources and envi - News