Rob Runkel
Biography
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science, Summa Cum Laude, 1985, Computer Science and Environmental Studies, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Master of Environmental Management, 1987, Water Resources, Duke University: Monte Carlo Analysis of the Surface Water Component for Land Disposal Restriction Determinations
Doctor of Philosophy, 1993, Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado: Development and Application of an Equilibrium-based Simulation Model for Reactive Solute Transport in Small Streams
EMPLOYMENT
1987-1989 Hydrologist, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
1989-1992 Research Engineer, University of Colorado, Center for Advanced Decision Support in Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), Boulder, Colorado
1992-Present Research Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
MISC.
Associate Editor, Water Resources Research, 2006–2014
Member, American Geophysical Union
Member, Society for Freshwater Science
Science and Products
Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 12. Geochemical and reactive-transport modeling based on tracer injection-synoptic sampling studies for the Red River, New Mexico, 2001-2002
Reactive-transport processes in the Red River, downstream from the town of Red River in north-central New Mexico, were simulated using the OTEQ reactive-transport model. The simulations were calibrated using physical and chemical data from synoptic studies conducted during low-flow conditions in August 2001 and during March/April 2002. Discharge...
Ball, James W.; Runkel, Robert L.; Nordstrom, D. Kirk Quantification and simulation of metal loading to the Upper Animas River, Eureka to Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado, September 1997 and August 1998
Drainage from abandoned and inactive mines and from naturally mineralized areas in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado contributes metals to the upper Animas River near Silverton, Colorado. Tracer-injection studies and associated synoptic sampling were performed along two reaches of the upper Animas River to develop detailed profiles of...
Paschke, Suzanne S.; Kimball, Briant A.; Runkel, Robert L. Geochemistry of Red Mountain Creek, Colorado, under low-flow conditions, August 2002
Red Mountain Creek, an acid mine drainage stream in southwestern Colorado, was the subject of a synoptic study conducted in August 2002. During the synoptic study, a solution containing lithium chloride was injected continuously to allow for the calculation of streamflow using the tracer-dilution method. Synoptic water-quality samples were...
Runkel, Robert L.; Kimball, Briant A.; Walton-Day, Katherine; Verplanck, Philip L.
Conservative and reactive solute transport in constructed wetlands
The transport of bromide, a conservative tracer, and rhodamine WT (RWT), a photodegrading tracer, was evaluated in three wastewater‐dependent wetlands near Phoenix, Arizona, using a solute transport model with transient storage. Coupled sodium bromide and RWT tracer tests were performed to establish conservative transport and reactive parameters...
Keefe, Steffanie H.; Barber, Larry B.; Runkel, Robert L.; Ryan, Joseph N.; McKnight, Diane M.; Wass, Roland D. Reach-scale cation exchange controls on major ion chemistry of an Antarctic glacial meltwater stream
McMurdo dry valleys of Antarctica represent the largest of the ice-free areas on the Antarctic continent, containing glaciers, meltwater streams, and closed basin lakes. Previous geochemical studies of dry valley streams and lakes have addressed chemical weathering reactions of hyporheic substrate and geochemical evolution of dry valley surface...
Gooseff, Michael N.; McKnight, Diane M.; Runkel, Robert L. Load estimator (LOADEST): a FORTRAN program for estimating constituent loads in streams and rivers
LOAD ESTimator (LOADEST) is a FORTRAN program for estimating constituent loads in streams and rivers. Given a time series of streamflow, additional data variables, and constituent concentration, LOADEST assists the user in developing a regression model for the estimation of constituent load (calibration). Explanatory variables within the...
Runkel, Robert L.; Crawford, Charles G.; Cohn, Timothy A. Quantification of metal loading to Silver Creek through the Silver Maple Claims area, Park City, Utah, May 2002
The Silver Maple Claims area along Silver Creek, near Park City, Utah, is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. To quantify possible sources of elevated zinc concentrations in Silver Creek that exceed water-quality standards, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a mass-loading study in May 2002 along a 1,400-meter reach of Silver Creek...
Kimball, Briant A.; Johnson, Kevin K.; Runkel, Robert L.; Steiger, Judy I. Modeling hyporheic zone processes
Stream biogeochemistry is influenced by the physical and chemical processes that occur in the surrounding watershed. These processes include the mass loading of solutes from terrestrial and atmospheric sources, the physical transport of solutes within the watershed, and the transformation of solutes due to biogeochemical reactions. Research over...
Runkel, Robert L.; McKnight, Diane M.; Rajaram, Harihar Determining long time-scale hyporheic zone flow paths in Antarctic streams
In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, glaciers are the source of meltwater during the austral summer, and the streams and adjacent hyporheic zones constitute the entire physical watershed; there are no hillslope processes in these systems. Hyporheic zones can extend several metres from each side of the stream, and are up to 70 cm deep,...
Gooseff, M.N.; McKnight, Diane M.; Runkel, Robert L.; Vaughn, B.H. Transport and cycling of iron and hydrogen peroxide in a freshwater stream: Influence of organic acids
An in‐stream injection of two dissolved organic acids (phthalic and aspartic acids) was performed in an acidic mountain stream to assess the effects of organic acids on Fe photoreduction and H2O2 cycling. Results indicate that the fate of Fe is dependent on a net balance of oxidative and reductive processes, which can vary over a distance of...
Scott, Durelle T.; Runkel, Robert L.; McKnight, Diane M.; Voelker, Bettina M.; Kimball, Briant A.; Carraway, Elizabeth R. A new metric for determining the importance of transient storage
A review of various metrics used to characterize transient storage indicates that none of the existing measures successfully integrate the interaction between advective velocity and the transient storage parameters (storage zone area, storage zone exchange coefficient). Further, 2 existing metrics are related to mean travel time, a quantity that...
Runkel, R.L.
Using OTIS to model solute transport in streams and rivers
Solute transport in streams and rivers is governed by a suite of hydrologic and geochemical processes. Knowledge of these processes is needed when assessing the fate of contaminants that are released into surface waters. The study of solute fate and transport often is aided by solute transport models that mathematically describe the underlying...
Runkel, Robert L.