Cal State L.A. Receives Three Grants to Fund Hydrogeology Research


California State University, Los Angeles recently received funding for three grants that will examine trace element and nutrient loading in the San Diego Creek Watershed and Upper Newport Bay. South Pasadena resident Barry Hibbs, associate professor of geology at Cal State L.A., is principal investigator for the three grant projects.

The largest grant, totaling $218,000, was authorized by the 2000 California State Costa-Machado Water Act (Proposition 13). Hibbs and project partner, Thomas Meixner of UC Riverside (UCR), will compare multiple methods for removal of dissolved and particle-bound selenium in San Diego Creek and Upper Newport Bay watersheds, including constructed treatment wetlands, in-channel sedimentation basins, and vegetated buffer strips. They will develop a numerical model to simulate fluxes of selenium between surface water and shallow ground water under existing and assume management scenarios.

A $45,000 grant from UCR will quantify the upstream sources of selenium, arsenic, mercury, and nutrients in San Diego Creek Watershed. This project will require extensive field studies to determine concentrations and transformations of pollutants in surface and ground waters. A $42,000 grant from USC Sea Grant Program will assess selenium and nutrient loading to the San Diego Creek Watershed and Upper Newport Bay. Both projects will interface closely with selenium bioaccumulation studies conducted by Alex Horne of UC Berkeley and M. James Allen and Doris Vidal of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.

Dr. Hibbs, who received his Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin, teaches classes in Basic and Advanced Hydrogeology, Contaminant Hydrogeology, Watershed Analysis, Vadose Zone Hydrology, and Environmental Geology. His research interests include numerical groundwater flow and solute transport modeling, watershed and urban stormwater runoff analysis, surface/groundwater interactions, aqueous geochemistry and isotope hydrology, and water resources and environmental assessment along the U.S./Mexican border.

Contact: Margie Yu, Public Affairs Specialist (323) 343-3047