Bureau of Economic Geology

Brad D. Wolaver Research Associate Bureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas at Austin
University Station, Box X
Austin, Texas 78713-8924 E-mail: brad.wolaver@beg.utexas.edu Telephone: 512-471-1368 Fax: 512-471-0140

Professional Summary
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My research focuses on sustainable groundwater management for people and the environment, particularly in semiarid and arid regions, and is grouped into three unified research themes:

Water, Energy, and Minerals: Effective groundwater management for energy and mining;
Sustainable Aquifer Management: Groundwater flow, transport, and recharge processes; and
Ecohydrology: Springs, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and surface-groundwater interactions.

The hydrogeologic techniques I employ integrate and synthesize structural, stratigraphic, hydrochemical, hydrogeophysical, potentiometric, and environmental tracer data to create conceptual models that facilitate the understanding of groundwater and surface water processes.

Research Interests

Applied research in sustainable groundwater management for people and the environment, particularly in semiarid and arid environments.

Sustainable aquifer management: groundwater flow, transport, and recharge processes.

Water, energy, and minerals: effective groundwater management for energy and mining.

Ecohydrology: springs, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and surface-groundwater interactions.

Education

Ph.D. Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2008

M.S. Hydrology, The University of Arizona, 1999

B.S. with Honors Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1995

Professional History

Research Associate, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin (August 2011 - Present).

UTemps Consulting Research Hydrogeologist, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin (2011 - 2011).

Research Fellow, Earth Sciences Department, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (2008 - 2010).

Geohydrologist, Geoscience Support Services, Inc., Claremont, California (2002 - 2004)

Hydrogeologist, Montgomery Watson Harza, Inc., Pasadena, California (1999 - 2002)

Selected Publications

Wolaver, B. D., Cook, C. E., Sunding, D. L., Hamilton, S. F., Scanlon, B. R., Young, M. H., Xu, X., Reedy, R. C., 2013, Potential Economic Impacts of Environmental Flows for Central Texas Freshwater Mussels: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, final report prepared for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Report [PDF] Supporting Information [PDF].

Wolaver, B.D., Crossey, L.J., Karlstrom, K.E., Banner, J.L., Cardenas, M.B., Ojeda, C.G., and Sharp, J.M., 2013, Identifying origins of and pathways for spring waters in a semiarid basin using He, Sr, and C isotopes: Cuatrociénegas Basin, Mexico: Geosphere, v. 9, p. 113-125. doi:10.1130/GES00849.1 [link]

Wolaver, B. D., and Diehl, T. M., 2011, Control of regional structural styles and faulting on Northeast Mexico spring distribution: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 62, no. 7, p. 1535–1549. doi 10.1007/s12665-010-0639-7 [link]

Wolaver, B. D., Sharp, J. M., Jr., Rodriguez, J. M, and Ibarra, J. C., 2008, Delineation of regional arid karstic aquifers: an integrative data approach: Ground Water, v. 46, no. 3, p. 396–413. doi 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2007.00405.x [link]

Wolaver, B. D., and Sharp, J. M., Jr., 2007, Thermochron iButton: important limitations of an inexpensive, small-diameter temperature logger: Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation, v. 27, no. 3, p. 127–128. doi 10.1111/j.1745-6592.2007.00158.x [link]