College of Engineering

Civil and environmental engineering professor David Stevens was first intrigued by water at age 7, and is now devoted to numerous research projects that analyze, monitor and protect water quality, as well as improve the direct impact water has on surrounding organisms.

His research also involves constructing models of water support structures, such as dams. Stevens is one of the leading researchers at the Utah Water Research Laboratory.Though Stevens started his education as a civil engineer, he became more fascinated by questions he pondered as a child, including “Why does water become colder the deeper it is?” While backpacking in his youth he recognized the essential nature of having clean water to drink. This lead him to take measurements of many bodies of water and question the way variables in water content improve or weaken its quality.

Working closely with UWRL research technician Jim Milleson, Stevens is guiding a project for the city of Logan that tests the quality of Cache Valley rivers and Cutler Reservoir. The city needs a permit to discharge waste water into Cutler Reservoir and attaining this permit requires the phosphorous levels in the water to be below the established amount. Stevens’ project deciphers how much phosphorous is in the rivers and reservoir, and then determines the factors causing the high levels of this element. Researchers involved in this project investigate geological sources that water gathers as it moves. They also consider the management of nearby farms--mainly those that care for livestock--and urban run-off, such as fertilizer. This is a 3-year project funded $150,000.

“If I’ve got to spend money how should I do it?” Stevens said. “The policy questions and sociological questions are interesting. We deal with public problems all the time.”

Stevens’ Twin Lakes Canal Company project is most representative of his work, he said, and is reaching its end after more than two years of work. The project aims to build a second reservoir on Bear River’s Oneida Canyon in Preston, Idaho. This part of the river is narrow and the dam that exists there now, which is used for power and irrigation, is more than 70 years old. A second dam will be placed below the first to store more water for irrigation and produce power. Before the dam is constructed it must undergo an environmental assessment to predict its potential impact on the surrounding habitat. Oneida Dam is an important habitat for fish spawning, so this step is especially important, and Stevens has a team working on stabilizing the flow of the river so the spawning ground is not effected. Secondly, the team must test the temperature, as well as oxygen that dissolved into the water. This research project was funded a total of $150,000 by the Twin Lakes Canal Company.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation funded Stevens’ 6-year project on California’s Trinity River with $250,000 in support of his project that helps maintain a habitat where salmon lay their eggs. His role in maintaining the habitat is managaging gathered data. Due to hydraulic mining, a technique that requires blasting soil with water, the gravel salmon lay their eggs in was mixed with fine soil, destroying the habitat for the spawning fish. A crew has been working to restore the habitat by covering the base of the river with more gravel in hopes of attracting the fish back to their previous spawning location. Stevens said managing this data can be a difficult task to cope with, so he is working with a consultant to create computer tools that will restore and retrieve the collected data. A key player in this research is Mark Schmelter.

A test-bed project is underway funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This 3-year, $350,000 project is a campus collaborative effort that focuses on the science and social elements of watershed management. More specifically, Stevens is looking to better understand the monitoring of watersheds including:

• River flow rates
• Amounts of rainfall and run-off
• The quality of river water

People who have been major contributors in Stevens’ research are Jeffery Horsburgh, a UWRL research professor, Nancy Mesner, associate professor in the watershed science department, and researchers Ruba Mohamed and Ana Ovalle.

David K. Stevens, PhD
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Utah State University
4100 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-4100
Office: EL-262
Phone: (435) 797-3229
Fax: (435) 797-1185
Email: David.Stevens@usu.edu