Contributor
Andrew Quicksall
Abstract
Socioeconomic growth and stability in rural regions of the United States where agriculture is the dominant industry are highly reliant on access to sufficient surface water supplies. The water quantity crisis experienced worldwide in recent years has introduced questions about how to best maintain the quality of our remaining resources. Ensuring adequate access to drinking and irrigation water mandates that we protect existing surface water sources and anticipate future threats to quality. The impact of climate change on surface water quality is not spatially uniform, introducing the need to study the water-atmosphere-land system comprehensively.
This research aims to study the impact of environmental variability on climate-surface water interactions Taos County, New Mexico. This county contains three distinct physiographic regions, each with varied elevations, land cover types, and geologies. This analysis explores the relationships present between climate and water quality in each region. The objectives of this study are as follow: (1) characterize the climate of Taos County, New Mexico; (2) describe the relationships present between climate and dissolved water chemistry/carbonate mineral stability; and (3) forward model the impact of future climate trends on surface water quality.
Degree Date
Summer 7-31-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Advisor
Andrew Quicksall
Number of Pages
125
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Eamma, Michaela, "Climate-Driven Changes in Water Quality by Physiographic Region: A Case Study of Taos County, New Mexico" (2023). Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations. 29.
https://scholar.smu.edu/engineering_civil_etds/29
