FEATURE
The Utah Water Research Laboratory: Empowering Water and Environmental Research in Utah and Around the World David Tarboton, Carri Richards, Mac McKee, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Bethany Neilson, Blake Tullis, David Rosenberg, David Stevens, Jeffery Horsburgh, Joan McLean, Michael Johnson, R. Ryan Dupont
When the first water flow experiments took place in 1957 along the Logan River at the future site of the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) at Utah State University (USU), who could have guessed that within 50 years, UWRL researchers would be flying computers in the sky, improving the design and function of dams around the world through physical and computer models, and developing hydrologic information systems to help manage and interpret huge volumes of data from a variety of sensors in a range of formats collected by and shared among a nationwide community of hydrologic researchers? Yet those types of research and many more are precisely what have made the Utah Water Research Laboratory a leader in water and environmental research and one of the most respected facilities of its kind. This article illustrates some of the history and research accomplishments at the UWRL addressing water problems disciplinary collaboration, as is promoted by the AWRA. Institutions such as the UWRL are an important part of the nation’s research infrastructure and are critical to generating the knowledge needed to solve those water problems. History The Utah legislature authorized the establishment of a water research in Utah and around the world and demonstrating the value of cross-
Utah Water Research Laboratory, Logan, Utah (Photo credit: Jessica Griffiths, UWRL)
laboratory can divert flows of up to 250 cfs (cubic feet per second) through the lab for detailed large-scale models of dams and spillways, along with other hydraulic testing.
laboratory at USU in 1959. The 80,000 ft 2 UWRL building was started in 1963 and dedicated in 1965, making it one of the oldest and largest university-based facilities in the United States, developed to research better ways to measure, monitor, model, understand and manage water resources. An environmental quality wing built in 1980 broadened the disciplinary capabilities of the lab to add chemistry, microbiology, and analytical instrumentation to the hydraulics and water resources facilities already present. The hydraulic modeling and testing facilities were expanded in 2009 with the addition of a new 11,000 ft 2 recirculating flow hydraulic modeling building. Hydraulic Modeling The UWRL uses numerical and scaled physical models to evaluate hydraulic structure design and performance (e.g., spillways, bottom outlets, pump stations), as well as identify and solve hydraulic deficiencies. State, national, and international projects have utilized the UWRL hydraulic structures modeling services to ensure proper function and public safety. Located adjacent to the Logan River, the UWRL hydraulics
Figure 1.(a) 1:45 scale model of Lake Isabella labyrinth spillway (Photo credit: UWRL, Blake Tullis)
Figure 1.(b) 1:50 scale model of the damaged Oroville Dam spillway (Photo credit: USU, Matt Jensen)
September 2019
VOLUME 21 - NUMBER 5 | 13
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