Faculty | Civil and Environmental Engineering
Niel Allen
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Division Head Irrigation
Associate Professor
Contact Information
Go toOffice Location: ENGR 227
DialPhone: 435-797-3926
SendEmail: n.allen@usu.edu
Educational Background
PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Idaho, 1991 Dissertation
Economic and Statistical Based On-Farm Irrigation Scheduling
MS, Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering, Utah State University, 1980 Thesis
Advance Rates in Furrow Irrigation of Cycled Flow
Licensures & Certifications
New Mexico Professional Civil Engineer, New Mexico Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers & Professional Surveyors, 2002
Nevada Professional Civil Engineer, Nevada Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, 1995
California Professional Civil Engineer, California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, 1994
Utah Professional Civil Engineer, Utah (Department of Commerce - Divsion of Occupation & Professional Licensing, 1987
Biography
I received my BS and MS from USU in Agriculture and Irrigation Engineering and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho. I worked in the irrigation business for 5 years, 8 years with Cooperative Extension, and 19 years with consulting engineering firms.
Teaching Interests
My teaching opportunities are in workshops to water users and water agency personnel, one-on-one teaching with farmers, landscapers, gardeners, and county agents, preparation of documents, and as invited to lecture in classes. My objective is to provide information to water users and managers to help solve water and irrigation problems and manage water resources in Utah. My career has provided me opportunities to work with water managers, attorneys, and water users in the resolution of complex water allocation and water rights conflicts. Irrigation as the largest water use in Utah is my primary focus.
Research Interests
My interest is to help facilitate the effective utilization of water resources in the State of Utah to benefit the citizens based on established water rights, current water uses, and future water use needs and opportunities. I am focused on 1) developing efficient irrigation management practices and technologies, 2) exploring opportunities for cooperation that mutually benefit agriculture, domestic, commercial, municipal, industrial, energy, and environmental water users, 3) integrating information from multiple disciplines that utilize or impact water and 4) implementing methods to disseminate information from researchers and industry to water users and managers. I am developing management practices that can be implemented by irrigation system operators, farmers, homeowners, landscapers, gardeners, and small acreage operators. My current research proposal concerns deficit irrigation of pasture to provide water for critical water uses for the growing population and during droughts or water shortages. I'm also interested in using remotely sensed information for estimating consumptive use for water administration and accounting.
Publications - Abstracts
Publications - Books & Book Chapters
- Steinitz, T., Wagner, K.M, Drost, D.T, Alston, D.G, Hunter, B., Nischwitz, C., Ramirez, R., Allen, L., Barnhill, J.V, Frame, D., Pace, M., Durward, C., Reeve, J., Jewkes, M., Heflebower, R.F, (2014). A Guide to Common Organic Gardening Questions. USU Extension *
Book Chapters
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Fact Sheets
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Wilde, T., (2016). Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing for Piute County.
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Wilde, T., (2016). Simple Sprinkler Testing for Wayne County.
- Maughn, T., Allen, L., Drost, D.T, (2015). Soil Moisture Measurement and Sensors for Irrigation Management. Utah State University Extension
- Allen, L., Creech, J.E, Pace, M., Israelsen, C.E, (2015). Irrigation of Safflower in Northern Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Pace, M., Israelsen, C.E, Creech, J.E, Allen, L., (2015). Growing Safflower in Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Maughan, T., Drost, D.T, Allen, L., Black, B.L, (2015). Vegetable Irrigation - Melon. USU Extension
- Pace, M., Israelsen, C.E, Allen, L., Creech, J.E, (2015). 2014 Dryland Safflower Variety Trial Results at Blue Creek, Utah. *
- Israelsen, C.E, Pace, M., Creech, J.E, Allen, L., (2015). Dryland Safflower Response to Dormant Seeding in Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Nelson, R., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Beaver County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Johnson, M.S, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Blanding, Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Pace, M., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Box Elder County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Beddes, T., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Cache County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Patterson, R., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Carbon County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Cooper, T.D, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Duchesne County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Worwood, D.R, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Emery County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Wilde, T., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Fillmore, Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Heaton, K., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Garfield County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Johnson, M.S, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Hanksville, Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Schaible, C., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Iron County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Heaton, K., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Kane County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Wilde, T., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Millard County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Johnson, M.S, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Moab, Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Johnson, M.S, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Monticello, Utah. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Barnhill, J.V, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Morgan County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Wagner, K.M, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Salt Lake County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Palmer, M.D, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Sanpete County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Greenhalgh, L., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Tooele County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Seaver, M., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Utah County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Sulser, A.R, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Wasatch County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Goodspeed, J., (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Weber County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Hunter, B., Allen, L., (2013). Simpler Sprinkler Performance Testing for Davis County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Banks, J.E, (2013). Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing for Juab County. Utah State University Extension
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Gale, J.A, (2013). Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing for Sevier County. USU Cooperative Extension Service
- Banks, S.J, Kopp, K., Allen, L., (2013). Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing for Summit County. USU Extension Service
- Kopp, K., Allen, L., Kitchen, B.M, (2013). Simple sprinkler performance testing for Uintah County. Utah State University Extension
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Curriculum
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Journal Articles
- Aboutalebi, M., Torres-Rua, A., Allen, L., (2018). Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Precipitation and Effective Rainfall using Gauge Observations, Satellite, and Gridded Climate Data for Agricultural Water Management in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Remote Sensing/MDPI/ Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Vegetation, 10:12, 22. doi: 10.3390/rs10122058
- Pratt, T., Allen, L., Rosenberg, D.E, Keller, A., Kopp, K., (2018). Urban Agriculture and Small Farm Irrigation Efficiency: Case Studies and Trends from Cache Valley, Utah. Agricultural Water Management, 213, 24-35.
- Strong, C., Khatri, K.B, Kochanski, A.K, Lewis, C.S, Allen, L., (2017). Reference evapotranspiration from coarse-scale and dynamically downscaled data in complex terrain: sensitivity to interpolation, resolution and bias. Journal of Hydrology
- Strong, C., Khatri, K.B, Kochanski, A.K, Lewis, C.S, Allen, L., (2017). Reference evapotranspiration from coarse-scale and dynamically downscaled data in complex terrain: sensitivity to interpolation, resolution and bias. Journal of Hydrology548 (2017), 406-418.
- Lewis, C.S, Allen, L., (2017). Potential Crop Evapotranspiration and Surface Evaporation Estimates via a Gridded Weather Forcing Dataset. Journal of Hydrology546 (2017) , 450-463.
Academic Journal
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Literary Journal
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - MultiMedia
- Allen, L., (2015). Onion Furrow Irrigation (YouTube). USU Extension *
- Allen, L., Drost, D.T, (2015). Onion Drip Irrigation (YouTube). USU Extension *
Video
Web
Other Media
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Technical Reports
Research Reports
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Translations & Transcripts
Publications - Other
- Maughan, T., Allen, L., Drost, D.T, (2017). Drip Irrigation for Commercial Vegetable and Fruit Production. USU Cooperative Extension
- Maughan, T., Drost, D.T, Allen, L., (2015). Vegetable Irrigation - Tomato and Pepper. USU Cooperative Extension *
- Maughan, T., Drost, D.T, Allen, L., (2015). Vegetable Irrigation: Squash and Pumpkin. USU Cooperative Extension *
- Maughan, T., Drost, D.T, Allen, L., (2015). Vegetable Irrigation - Onion. USU Cooperative Extension *
- Allen, L., (2014). Irrigation Strategies for water-short years. Utah Farm Bureau News *
- Allen, L., (2014). Irrigation Strategies for Water-Short Years. Cache Conservation News and Conservation Connection for Box Elder County
- Allen, L., (2013). Water Settlements Involving Agriculture and Urban Water Users - An Engineer's Perspective. U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage
- Allen, L., (2013). Cache County Water Bank. Cache Conservation News & Conservation Connection for Box Elder County
- Allen, L., (2013). Water Markets. Cache Conservation News & Conservation Connection for Box Elder County
Bulletins
Newsletter
* Has not been peer reviewed
Extension
Agriculture (Irrigation) and Natural Resources (Water), 2009 - Ongoing
Graduate Students Mentored
Levi Manley, Civil & Environmental Engineering, November 2019
Ihsan Bugra Bugdayci, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2018
Hadia Akbar, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2017
Arthur Pratt, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2014 - August 2016
Manuel Diaz, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2015 - May 2016