Ashley DeFrates ’25
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Understanding Watershed Processes in Complex Terrain: Mountain Hydrology at Snodgrass Hillslope
Streamflow in the Colorado River has declined in recent years, threatening water availability and hydropower in the Western United States. Because much of the Colorado River’s water originates from mountain snowmelt, an understanding of hydrological processes over complex terrain is crucial in assessing the causes of this streamflow decline. I collected hydrometeorological data to resolve the water balance over a mountainous micro-catchment in the Upper Colorado River Basin. By building and repairing instrumentation such as meteorological towers and streamflow weirs, this internship provided me with hands-on experience conducting field work. I also had the opportunity to conduct independent data collection, which focused on investigating how soil moisture varies with soil depth across an elevation gradient. Analyzing this data alongside measurements of evapotranspiration gave insights into the role of plant water use in downstream surface water decline. I hope to build upon these research questions and data as I develop my senior thesis to continue working towards a better understanding of hydrological processes over complex terrain.
2024
Water and Agriculture
Integrated GroundWater Modeling Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University - Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado
Reed Maxwell, William and Edna Macaleer Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Harry Stone, Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering