Water and Life
Biological considerations are important when considering the overall health of watersheds, lakes, and streams. Using unique facilities like SAFL's Outdoor StreamLab and the EcoFlume, SAFL researchers are able to conduct a wide range of experiments and field campaigns that look to better understand the interactions between physical, chemical, and biological stream processes. Projects that include observing young life stages of endangered fish in a laboratory environment, bringing in native mussels to study how they respond to differences in flow and sediment concentrations, working to understand the best environmental conditions under which wild rice can grown, and even mapping the swimming signatures of microalgae to determine how to promote the best biofuel production are but a small subset of examples of how SAFL research looks to promote healthier lakes, rivers, and streams.
SAFL Affiliated Faculty
Xue Feng
Jacques Finlay
Miki Hondzo
Crystal Ng
SAFL Researchers
Matt Hernick
Jessica Kozarek
Read more about SAFL water and life related projects/research:
(filter "Water and Life" if needed)
Broadway Pump Station Physical Model
Posted
After a 2011 flood caused extensive damage in Minot, North Dakota, MWH Americas, Inc. was hired to design a pumping station as part of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Plan, to pump stormwater over the river levee during flood events. The applied engineering team at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory was then tasked to build a physical model of the proposed pumping station to identify and mitigate unanticipated/unacceptable flow patterns prior to construction.
Long-throated U-flume study
Posted
SAFL researchers built a scale model of a round-bottomed long-throated flume, in order to validate Winflume software for this specific flume geometry.