Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

Ph.D. Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Research Summary: A large amount of water diverted into earthen irrigation canals is lost to seepage. These losses may be overcome by lining the canal with permanent canal liners such as concrete, etc. however, such methods require large capital investments. Alternatively, we propose the use of temporary polymer sealants to reduce canal seepage on an as-needed basis. In the past, we have achieved favorable results from our field experiments assessing synthetic polymers in Colorado, and, Pakistan. Currently, we are evaluating bio-derived alternatives to the synthetic polymers to reduce possible, though rare, agro-environmental damages associated with directly applying polymers to the canal water.