Research Projects

I am a hydrologist and geomorphologist with specific expertise in applied river science in the Intermountain West. I use field studies, computational modeling, geospatial analyses, and geochemical fingerprinting to better understand how rivers and watersheds work. 

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Current Projects: (see Student Research section for a list of student research related to these projects)

River channel morphodynamics in the western Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park

WesternGC_web

  • Collaborative project with USGS to investigate channel change and bank erosion of the Colorado River in western Grand Canyon where it flows through reservoir deposits of Lake Mead highstands.
  • The river is re-establishing its course in the former reservoir, leading to the formation of large sandbars and causing difficulty in boat navigation.

Streamflow hydrology of the Parowan Valley, Utah and its role in groundwater recharge

  • NSF-funded collaborative research project with Colorado State University
  • SUU role is to better understand mountain-block versus mountain-front recharge of the Parowan Valley aquifer through investigation of gaining versus losing reaches of streamflow within the Markagunt Plateau mountain block.

ParowanValley_Research

Hydrological and vegetation controls on historical channel change and geomorphology of streams and rivers in southern Utah

  • The San Juan River has undergone extensive channel narrowing since the mid-1900s, despite a relatively modest change in flow hydrology relative to other western rivers.

SanJuanFig

  • The Dirty Devil River starts at the confluence of Muddy Creek and the Fremont River. Channel change in these rivers occurs predominantly during large monsoon floods. GIS analysis by SUU student Alex Butler.

DirtyDevil

  • In both of these systems, vegetation encroachment and reduced snowmelt floods likely have contributed to narrowing, despite relatively frequent and large monsoon floods

The roles of snowmelt, monsoon rain, and rain-on-snow in the hydrology of streams and rivers in southern Utah

CoalCk_Fig

  • Regional analysis of streamflow hydrology in the context of different flood-producing mechanisms (snow vs. rain)
  • Evaluating snowmelt versus monsoon rain and the role of ENSO in the hydrology of the Coal Creek watershed
  • SUU student co-authored paper: Mueller et al., 2023

Recent Projects:

Controlled floods and sandbar dynamics in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River

R2_sandbar

  • Collaboration with USGS on morphodynamic modeling to evaluate long-term sandbar dynamics under different dam release scenarios and controlled flood frequency
  • AGU 2015; GSA 2016b; GSA 2016c; AGU 2017a; AGU 2020; Mueller et al., 2018; Chapman et al., 2021; Mueller and Grams, 2021; Hazel et al., 2022

Post-fire stream dynamics on the Markagunt Plateau

BrianHeadFigure

  • SUU undergraduate-driven research project on mountain stream response to the Brian Head Fire in 2017. SUU Geology Field Camp students evaluate the geomorphology of the watershed and stream system in the context of geological and hydrological controls.
  • Nickell and Mueller, GSA 2020
  • Related work: Sankey et al., 2017

Hydrology, river channel change, and riparian vegetation along the Green and Yampa Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument

R1_Dino

  • Collaboration with Colorado State University and USGS to understand fine-sediment dynamics, floodplain formation, and cottonwood establishment.
  • Mueller, Grams, Schmidt et al., 2014a and 2014b; Topping, Mueller, et al., 2018; Kemper et al., AGU 2020; Kemper et al., 2021, 2022

Crossing the land-sea divide: linking terrestrial sediment to beaches and submarine canyons

R3_Submarine

  • Collaboration with Northern Arizona University and others to understand the role of terrestrial sediment fluxes, downshore evolution of sediment during littoral transport, and the creation and maintenance of submarine canyons
  • GSA 2016e; GSA 2016f; Smith et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2018

Post-dam hydrology and geomorphic change in the Colorado River Delta

R5_Delta

  • Post-dam evolution of the Colorado River in its delta in response to flow regulation, periodic floods, and the 2014 Pulse Flow, United States and Mexico
  • Mueller, Schmidt, Topping et al., 2015 and 2017; GSA 2016a; AGU 2017b

Older Projects:

Geomorphology and sediment transport dynamics of braided streams
Pitlick, Mueller, Segura, 2012; Mueller and Pitlick, 2013 and 2014

Geologic, topographic, and climatic controls on river channels
Mueller and Pitlick, 2013; Mueller et al., 2016

Sediment routing and bed armoring in mountain stream networks
Mueller and Pitlick, 2005; Pitlick, Mueller et al., 2008

Weathering and sediment yields in modern vs. Eocene Rocky Mountains
Smith, Carroll, Mueller, 2008

Sediment transport thresholds in gravel-bed streams and rivers
Mueller et al., 2005

General Interests: 

  • Watershed hydrology and landscape-scale geomorphology of stream and river systems
  • Effects of managed flow and sediment transport regimes on large rivers in the Colorado River basin
  • Geologic and hydro-climatic controls on sediment yields and basin-scale fluvial dynamics
  • Quantitative morphometric analysis and geomorphic change detection using GIS
  • Hydro-ecology of streams and rivers in the context of dams and disturbance
  • Modeling of flow and sediment transport in simple and complex channels
  • Stream restoration and applied hydrology
  • Quaternary geology and landscape evolution