Research Paper

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wn92t97QxDy1Rp1DshNnakP2XTjonKNMcBL9unihR8Y/edit?hl=en_US

The TexPREP research group is responsible for the organized presentation of all of the other TexPREP groups' data, purpose, and results in a closely defined research paper. This paper, along with the aid of the other group presentations, are designed to focus the attention of both the communities of Dallas and the nation as a whole on the importance of the conservation of our watersheds.

Outline

 * Introduction - This section is for general information about the topic:
 * What is a watershed?
 * What are the parts of the hydrological cycle which affect the watershed?
 * What is the watershed which includes UNT Dallas?
 * What previous studies exist about watersheds in general, and about our watershed in particular?
 * Methodology - This section is for a discussion of what methods the class has used to research the watershed:
 * Modelling, with Vensim. Detail types of object in the model (stocks, flows, etc.), as well as what they represent (watershed, rivers/creeks, etc.). What is Vensim?
 * Data collection. Where was data found for each part of the model? Why use the data we're using, as opposed to alternatives? What are the alternatives? What data was unavailable? What are the conversions used?
 * Results - This section is for a discussion of the modelling results.
 * Image of model.
 * Graphs resulting from model, with text explaining what each graph is and what results have been found.
 * Discussion - This section is for qualitative thoughts about the results.
 * What conclusions can be drawn from the model?
 * How might the model be improved for future research?
 * What additional data is needed for a better model?
 * (Miscellaneous Topics) - Ethics, Diorama, other class projects:
 * What are the ethical ramifications?
 * What community groups exist which are involved with the watershed?
 * How was the diorama constructed, and what does it model? What materials were used? What is the scale of the model? What does the diorama demonstrate, re: pollution?
 * What else has the class done during TexPREP to learn about the watershed?
 * Concluding Thoughts - Summarize the key findings of the paper.

Introduction
''Editorial comments: Write in third person past tense, formal language. Be descriptive - don't just give definitions, show what you know.'' A watershed is a place where the water in an area and the drainage of the rivers and streams are stored. The water cycle affects the watershed is very different ways. The inputs and outputs affect it. In other words, the more input you have and the less output you have then more water will be stored. This year, Year 4, is doing a project on the watershed in this area which is the Five Mile Creek.

The upper five mile creek watershed encompasses a large area of northeast Texas, past 35E and stopping just before Mountain Creek Lake in Grand Prairie. This watershed includes the majority of Dallas County. The UNT at Dallas campus falls within this watershed, just outside the area of Downtown Dallas. Being in such proximity to the area of Dallas and being a part of the Trinity River water makes this the area in which Dallas past flooding problems have occurred. Our study has shown that [ ].

The hydrological cycle consists of many components. Those components are precipitation, condensation, evaporation, infiltration, transpiration, run-off, evapotranspiration, and groundwater. Precipitation occurs when water, in the form of rain hail sleet of snow, falls from the sky and reaches the ground. And when it falls as snow and the sun heats it up something called sublimation occurs, whih means that the ice or snow is turned into water vapor without going through the liquid state. It is a good thing for it to rain so that the plants could get water to grow, but on the other hand it can also be a downfall to too much raining, such as flooding. If you have a massive amount of rainfall and not enough evaporation then it could cause the area to flood. Evaporation is the processes in which the liquid water is converted into water vapor do to heating which causes condensation, which is the transformation of water vapor to liqid droplets in the air, forming clounds and fog. Evaporation helps your area from flooding, but if you have too much evaporation then you could develop another problem. Too much evaporation could cause your area to have a drought or become really dry. Aproximately 505,000 km^3 of water falls each year and 398,000 km^3 of it falls over the ocean. When it gets to earth it doesnt just sit there it moves do to different leveles of the earth and that produces run-off. Run-off is the different ways in which water moves on earth. That process falss right into something called infiltration. Infiltration is when the water from the surface flows down through the soil into the ground. The water cycle affects you and your environment in just the slightest way. Different comonents play a part in a diffferent way.

Methodology
''Editorial comments: The modeling and data groups should draft a summary of what they have done, answering the questions in the outline. Be thorough - pretend your audience doesn't know anything about what you're doing or why you're doing it.''

The Year 4 students of the Texas Pre-Freshman Engineering Program have been focusing on a water science project that revolves around the following concept: the impact the water cycle has on the water level of the Trinity River and the Upper Five Mile Creek watershed. One of the basic goals of the water science project is to explain the definition of a watershed. A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

Another goal is to construct a model of the inflows and outflows of the Trinity River. The data collection group has been assigned to gather information, statistics, and data on factors that affect the amount of water in the Trinity River for the past months of June and July. The data collection group has been approaching the task of finding data on the Trinity in a systematic way. A system is composed of parts that work together as a whole to accomplish a common purpose or goal. This goal cannot be accomplished without some form of communication. Similarly, the goals of the Year 4 students of the TexPrep program cannot be reached without communication between the students. The data group interacts with the Vensim model group every single day. The data collection group bases their research on data and information the Vensim model group needs to complete the model of the Trinity’s inflows and outflows.

A model is a visual or physical structure that displays data and additional information that supports a certain topic one is seeking a solution for. The information and data on the Trinity River and the Upper Five Mile Creek was modeled with a Vensim-based graph. Vensim is a type of simulation software used to give appropriate solutions and analyses on the given data (Ventana Systems, Inc.).Vensim is used for developing, analyzing, and packaging high quality dynamic feedback models. Models are constructed graphically or in a text editor. Features include dynamic functions, subscripting (arrays), Monte Carlo sensitivity, optimization, data handling, application interfaces, and much more. Along with Vensim, we also modeled the data with a Stella-based graph. Stella is also a simulation software used to communicate input and output, and demonstrate outcomes (see Systems, Inc.). Hoewver, Stella provides a model that is superior to the model produced by Vensim, in that, the model produced in Stella provides a more realistic representaion than the model produced by Vensim.

In Vensim, out main stock on the chart is the Trinity River and the Upper Five Mile Creek. The streams that flow into the Trinity River and the different flow rates for each stream were modeled. The model for the Upper Five Mile Creek was slightly more challenging than that of the Trinity due to the fact that there were limited information on the Upper Five Mile Creek. However, the model for the Upper Five Mile Creek was proportional to the Trinity in terms of surface area.

The data collection group a wide variety of data and information. This includes types of water usage (human consumption of water), contaminants in the water (pollution), surface areas of the Trinity River Basin, Trinity River, and the Upper Five Mile Creek, precipitation (e.g. rainfall), flow rates of different steams, and facts and information on the water cycle. Basically, the primary goal of the data collection group is to find out what comes into the Trinity River and what comes out of it.

A. Human Consumption

More than 5.5 million people are dependent on the Trintiy River as a main source of water. Water use generally falls into three dominant categories: municipal, industrial, and agricultural. Municipal use is expected to increase.Statewide irrigation use will likely shrink from 57% to 43% of total water consumption, while municipal use is expected to grow from 25% to 35% by 2050. However, the rural aspect of the Trinity River remains important because total cropland and improved pasture are greater than 10,000 square miles (55% of the total land area of the Trinity River Basin).

B. Contaminants in the Water (Pollution)

There are different types of pollutants in the Trinity River. These pollutants can be divided into two main categories: inorganic and organic. Inorganic contaminants include barium, fluoride, nitrate, bromate, arsenic, thallium, and gross beta emitters. Organic contaminants include atrazine and simazine. Sources of these pollutants include discharge of drilling waste, erosion of natural deposits, by-product of drinking water disinfection, runoff from glass and electronics production waste, leaching from ore processing sites, decay of natural or man-made deposits, and by product of drinking water disinfection.

C. Surface Areas

The surface area of the Trinity River Basin 15, 589 square miles The surface area of the Trinity River is 355 square miles. The surface area of the Upper Five Mile Creek is 60 square miles.

D. Precipitation

The Dallas region received approximate 3.75 inches in the past 30 days.

E. Sample Flow Rates of Different Streams that lead into the Trinity River

=
Real-Time Data for Texas: Streamflow. USGS, 2011. 13 Jun 2011. http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/current/?type=flow&period=33&site_no=08057000=====

Discharge is the volume of water that passes a given location within a given period of time, which is usually expressed in cubic feet per second.

F. The Water Cycle

The water cycle has no starting point. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air. Ice and snow can sublimate directly into water vapor. The vapor is transported up into the atmosphere by rising air currents, along with water from evapotranspiration, which is water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil. The vapor rises into the air where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds. Water particles in clouds begin to collide to form bigger water particles. This will eventually lead to precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers. Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land, where, due to gravity, the precipitation flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with streamflow moving towards the oceans. Runoff, and ground-water seepage, accumulate and are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers, though. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which store huge amounts of freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge, and some ground water finds openings in the land keeps moving, some to reenter the ocean, where the water cycle begins again. <p style="text-align: center;">Bibliography

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. USGS 08057000 Trintiy Rv at Dallas, Tx. USGS, 2011. 13 Jun. 2011. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&cb_00045=on&format=gif_stats

Summary of the Water Cycle. Usgs, 2011. 13 Jun. 2011. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html

Cathey, James C. Linking Water Conservation and Natural Resource Stewardship in the Trinity River Basin. Corporate Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, 2011. 13 Jun. 2011. http://www.scribd.com/doc/15895014/Trinity-River-SP318

Trinity River (Texas). Wikipedia: The Free Encylopedia, 2011. 13 Jun. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_River_(Texas)

Lawrence, Don. Flood Control. Dallas City Water Utilities, 2011. 13 Jun. 2011. http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/sts/html/fc.html

Real-Time Data for Texas: Streamflow. USGS, 2011. 13 Jun 2011. http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/current/?type=flow

Results
Editorial comments: To be added later, but the research group should communicate with the modeling group to get an idea of what type of results to expect.

Discussion
Editorial comments: Everyone should be able to contribute to this; perhaps a class discussion once we have some preliminary results?

Daisy Garcia, Erik Flores,

Cesar Monsivais, Christian Rosas,

Alexis Madrigal, Rosa Munoz,

Santiago Diaz, Oscar Hernandez,

Emmanuel Cortes

Diorama Group

The Summary Report

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The main purpose of the diorama is to represent a smaller version of how our watershed is affected by human activities. By building a mountain on the end of a piece of plywood, water will be represented running off the side of a mountain downhill, and the main purpose of this is to represent runoff off mountains. By doing this we as a class could contaminate the water with food coloring to represent pollution in our watershed. When the water is being pumped out of the mountain and into a clear container, a series of food coloring will represent a series of pollutants. The tube and the pump help demonstrate how the water goes around in the watershed. This diorama will help us see how we are affecting our environment and its factors.

Presentation
Editorial comments: The individual groups responsible for presenting the research should contribute here; how has your group informed the public of the class' research?