“The Utah Water Research Lab is one of the few academic or institution based water research labs in the United States and that really drew me to come to the Utah Water research lab.”
That was USU Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student, Monika Madhiyan, who showed me around the Utah Water Research Laboratory during their 60th anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
The facility has been a pillar of water research since its opening in 1965, working with state and federal agencies to address critical water issues.
David Tarboton is the Director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory and has been at the facility for 35 years.
“We look at all aspects of water, from the hydrology, the quantity of water that's in the streams, the quality, whether it be harmful algal blooms, emerging contaminants such as forever chemicals, PFAs to the hydraulics of it. We are able to draw flow from the Logan river model dam spillways that need to be tested to make sure that they can safely carry the flows that they they need to.”
The facility hosts around 50-60 graduate students, along with numerous faculty and staff, all working on understanding and developing solutions to water-related issues.
“I think the research that we do in the lab is ultimately aimed to apply to the real world. So for example, I look at singlet oxygen generation from dissolved organic matter. And even though that is very chemistry heavy, the results from our research can be beneficial when someone is trying to model the fate and transformation of pollutants in water,” explained Madhiyan.
The Utah Water Research Lab hopes to bring many more years of research to the Utah community.
“I hope the lab continues to serve the state through water research that's practical, impartial, and can inform policy,” Tarboton shared.
