Comparative Evaluation of Groundwater Management Practices of the Ogallala Aquifer

Mining of groundwater, or extracting a larger quantity of water than what is naturally returned to the aquifer through recharge, has been occurring for more than fifty years. The minimal natural recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer makes sustainable use of this resource a daunting task for states across the High Plains that rely on it to support their well-established ways of life. This task is compounded when considering the different combinations of federal, state and local governance, as well as regional economic and social frameworks that each state overlaying the aquifer experiences. This project critically examines factors contributing to groundwater management successes and failures of three states that overlay the majority (87%) of this resource: Nebraska, Kansas and Texas.

Brewing Behind Barbed Wire: An Archaeology of Saké at Amache

After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast of the United States were forcibly removed from their home communities. These people were designated as "evacuees" by the U.S. Government and were incarcerated within a network of federal government facilities the largest of which were internment centers operated by the War Relocation Authority that held mostly U.S. citizens. The Granada Relocation Center (Amache) was the smallest of these internment centers. The presence of saké at Amache indicates that Japanese Americans continued important practices of daily life despite restrictions under confinement. This thesis investigates the practices of saké production and consumption at Amache and examines the importance of these practices in Japanese American daily life. In order to understand these practices, this research draws on multiple lines of evidence. This includes investigations of an assemblage of the material culture associated with saké, research into the history and methods of production and consumption, collection of oral histories, review of archival data, and the application of practice theory. These data provide insight into practices that are not well understood by researchers of Japanese American internment due to their illicit nature. This research endeavors to characterize how saké was produced and used at Amache and provides a way to understand how cultural practices maintain aspects of everyday life in ways that may have little to do with intentional resistance.

The Identification of Best Management Practices in a Materials Recovery Facility to Increase Solid Waste Diversion in the Department of Defense (DoD) Installations along the Front Range of Colorado to Satisfy the DoD Solid Waste Diversion Goal of 40 Percent

The five installations operated by the Department of Defense (DoD) in the Front Range region of Colorado do not meet the DoD non-hazardous solid waste diversion goal of 40 percent, further impacting landfills and generating greenhouse gases. This applied capstone project identifies and evaluates best management practices of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), qualitatively and quantitatively, to increase solid waste diversion at a DoD MRF. An environmental benefits model quantified the externalities of increasing solid waste diversion at the installations. By implementing best management practices at a MRF, the DoD would divert an additional 1,400 tons of solid waste per year, resulting in the equivalent of 1,502,567 gallons of gasoline being saved, among many benefits presented in this capstone.