Biography
With 35 years of field, lab and modeling experience, Dr. Grismer has developed methods to assess infiltration, runoff and erosion rates and the impacts of related vadose zone processes on soil salinity, water resources planning and groundwater availability for agriculture and forests.
In the Tahoe Basin, this work included assessment of the associated soil cover conditions including identification and use of compost and woodchip materials and a range of plant species. This field research enabled integration of soil functionality and hydrologic (water quality) response into watershed models. In addition, it was incorporated into the design of stormwater runoff treatment slopes and bio-retention terraces and is in the process of laboratory testing and field trials of these approaches for highways and urban development areas.
He has considered soil processes at the local scale of plot-specific microbial communities, aggregate stability, and surface hydrophobicity, while also initiating scaling-up to the basin processes associated with the range of soil functionality and associated stream loading. Similarly, modeled integration of flows across the vadose zone coupled with infiltration and groundwater level measurements has provided insights into the relative water demands of orchards, oak savannahs, riparian forests and vineyards required for successful restoration work or groundwater resources planning.
Dr. Grismer’s research also considerd the processes controlling performance of constructed wetlands used for treatment of wastewater from agricultural operations (e.g. wineries) and domestic wastewater. More recently, working with a former student, Dr. Grismer has expanded the wastewater treatment studies to include analyses and investigation of full-scale zeolite-anammox biofilm treatment systems.
Dr. Grismer also has over a decade of experience in desert agriculture, water use and runoff from a wide range of projects in the Central and Imperial Valleys of California. His work is documented in some 150 peer-reviewed publications, of which, several recent publications are listed below.
