Prof. David Boutt
@davidboutt.bsky.social
Professor, @UMass-Amherst, Hydrogeologist, Groundwater in Catchment-Scale Hydrologic Processes, he/him #lithium #sustainability #water
https://www.boutthydro.com/
https://www.boutthydro.com/
Check out new work published recently documenting intensification of the hydrologic cycle across S. New England. Wet periods are becoming more intense, and so have droughts ... but wet periods are winning out!
www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
@umasscns.bsky.social
@umasshydro.bsky.social
www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
@umasscns.bsky.social
@umasshydro.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Check out new work published recently documenting intensification of the hydrologic cycle across S. New England. Wet periods are becoming more intense, and so have droughts ... but wet periods are winning out!
www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
@umasscns.bsky.social
@umasshydro.bsky.social
www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
@umasscns.bsky.social
@umasshydro.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Water density and the location of extraction play a crucial role in minimizing environmental impacts from lithium mining in sensitive salt flat ecosystems. Sustainable practices depend on prioritizing brine over freshwater use. doi.org/g93x7h
Water's density is key to sustainable lithium mining, study reveals
One of the biggest obstacles on the road to a low-carbon energy future is caused by the rare-earth element lithium, a critical component for the batteries that can store the abundant and sustainable energy from renewable sources.
phys.org
September 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Water density and the location of extraction play a crucial role in minimizing environmental impacts from lithium mining in sensitive salt flat ecosystems. Sustainable practices depend on prioritizing brine over freshwater use. doi.org/g93x7h
Explore our new manuscript on the response of salar aquifer systems to fresh and brine water abstraction. Density dependent behavior controls magnitude and location of system hydraulics agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... #lithium #water @umasscns.bsky.social @umasshydro.bsky.social
September 22, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Explore our new manuscript on the response of salar aquifer systems to fresh and brine water abstraction. Density dependent behavior controls magnitude and location of system hydraulics agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... #lithium #water @umasscns.bsky.social @umasshydro.bsky.social
As the 2025 drought continues here in the Northeast (not to be confused with the 2016, 2020, 2022, or 2024) terrestrial water storage anomalies respond in different environments in distinct ways. Take for example storage anomalies in the CT river valley of Western Mass compared to those on Cape Cod
September 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
As the 2025 drought continues here in the Northeast (not to be confused with the 2016, 2020, 2022, or 2024) terrestrial water storage anomalies respond in different environments in distinct ways. Take for example storage anomalies in the CT river valley of Western Mass compared to those on Cape Cod
Once again a significant drought beginning to develop here in S. NE. Our new groundwater storage deficit analysis shows that 5 out of the last 9 yrs in a drought state. Interestingly switching from record wet to very dry (see 18, 21, 23) and to some extent last spring. @climatechris.bsky.social
September 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Once again a significant drought beginning to develop here in S. NE. Our new groundwater storage deficit analysis shows that 5 out of the last 9 yrs in a drought state. Interestingly switching from record wet to very dry (see 18, 21, 23) and to some extent last spring. @climatechris.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Actually dry enough to qualify as one of the driest summers on record for portions of New England. We'll see if tomorrow's rain chance alters any of these rankings
Likely going to see early leaf drop/more browning of leaves than usual
Likely going to see early leaf drop/more browning of leaves than usual
August 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Actually dry enough to qualify as one of the driest summers on record for portions of New England. We'll see if tomorrow's rain chance alters any of these rankings
Likely going to see early leaf drop/more browning of leaves than usual
Likely going to see early leaf drop/more browning of leaves than usual
We are actively monitoring the developing drought on Cape Cod using USGS and @massdcr.bsky.social supported observation well data. Custom built codes and scripting by @umassamherst.bsky.social undergraduate Gabriel Olland to track trajectory of water storage. @umasshydro.bsky.social
August 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
We are actively monitoring the developing drought on Cape Cod using USGS and @massdcr.bsky.social supported observation well data. Custom built codes and scripting by @umassamherst.bsky.social undergraduate Gabriel Olland to track trajectory of water storage. @umasshydro.bsky.social
Same here in Mass.
The USGS office that monitors all metro Atlanta rivers (and much more) is set to close at the end of August.
Congress has just released a list of federal DOI offices to be closed under the ongoing massacre of our natural resource agencies -- it's extensive and includes many important NPS, BLM, USGS and USFWS facilities across the country. Truly horrific. democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/do...
March 2, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Same here in Mass.
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Congress has just released a list of federal DOI offices to be closed under the ongoing massacre of our natural resource agencies -- it's extensive and includes many important NPS, BLM, USGS and USFWS facilities across the country. Truly horrific. democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/do...
democrats-naturalresources.house.gov
March 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Congress has just released a list of federal DOI offices to be closed under the ongoing massacre of our natural resource agencies -- it's extensive and includes many important NPS, BLM, USGS and USFWS facilities across the country. Truly horrific. democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Yesterday was the darkest day of my professional life so far. Many of NSF’s best and brightest people fired indiscriminately. The terms of their firing cruel. My colleagues matter, they are valued and they make a difference. I have no words. www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...
National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce
NSF fired 168 employees, leaving the agency less equipped to fund a wide range of scientific research.
www.npr.org
February 19, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Yesterday was the darkest day of my professional life so far. Many of NSF’s best and brightest people fired indiscriminately. The terms of their firing cruel. My colleagues matter, they are valued and they make a difference. I have no words. www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
I can only HIGHLY recommend this book by my good friend James McNamara (professor of hydrology) In The Wake: An 80 Day Canoe Odyssey into Canada's Northern Wilderness. In 1991 they loaded a canoe with food for 3 months and paddled into the canoe county of northern Canada. You can order via amazon.
February 7, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I can only HIGHLY recommend this book by my good friend James McNamara (professor of hydrology) In The Wake: An 80 Day Canoe Odyssey into Canada's Northern Wilderness. In 1991 they loaded a canoe with food for 3 months and paddled into the canoe county of northern Canada. You can order via amazon.
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Definitely a paper in my queue!
A little bit delayed, but I hear it's picking up over here so sending this out into the world: our Lafayette team including Rachel Hurley (now grad student at WPI), Dave Brandes, and me put out this piece on flashiness across the Mid-Atlantic: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Drivers and Buffers of Stream Flashiness in the Mid‐Atlantic United States
In this study, we investigated flashiness across 195 Mid-Atlantic sites, each within one of seven different physiographic regions. Our findings identified several drivers and buffers of flashiness, e...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Definitely a paper in my queue!
Make sure to check out the water and natural resources recordings! @hydromoranimal.bsky.social and @leeannmunk.bsky.social featured. #lithium #water #brines
US National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine have Ben hard at work producing 70+ reports, interactive resources, recorded workshops & webinars addressing critical aspects of climate change & justice in 2024. Explore them at
mailchi.mp/nationalacad...
mailchi.mp/nationalacad...
A Year in Review
mailchi.mp
December 23, 2024 at 3:40 PM
Make sure to check out the water and natural resources recordings! @hydromoranimal.bsky.social and @leeannmunk.bsky.social featured. #lithium #water #brines
Really cool work from my colleagues @umassamherst.bsky.social
Did NOT see this coming!!
Analysis of 2.9M rivers globally finds that, on avg 1984-2018, streamflow increased in headwaters & declined in downstream sections (1.7 times more upstream increases found than declines; ~4 times more downstream declines than increases).
www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Analysis of 2.9M rivers globally finds that, on avg 1984-2018, streamflow increased in headwaters & declined in downstream sections (1.7 times more upstream increases found than declines; ~4 times more downstream declines than increases).
www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...
More flow upstream and less flow downstream: The changing form and function of global rivers
We mapped daily streamflow from 1984 to 2018 in approximately 2.9 million rivers to assess recent changes to global river systems. We found that river outlets were dominated by significant decreases i...
www.science.org
December 14, 2024 at 2:37 PM
Really cool work from my colleagues @umassamherst.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Then on Thursday afternoon at #AGU24, come by Nicole Blin's Poster (H43O-1076) applying #GRACE and machine learning to assess terrestrial water storage changes in the largest #Lithiumbrine deposit in the world #SalardeAtacama @davidboutt.bsky.social @umasshydro.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social
December 10, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Then on Thursday afternoon at #AGU24, come by Nicole Blin's Poster (H43O-1076) applying #GRACE and machine learning to assess terrestrial water storage changes in the largest #Lithiumbrine deposit in the world #SalardeAtacama @davidboutt.bsky.social @umasshydro.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Lots of great work from our research group this week at #AGU24! UMass Hydrogeology @davidboutt.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social...
This afternoon check out Sarah Mcknight's poster (H23O-1188) assessing region-wide hydrological changes over the past 40 yrs in the #Lithium Triangle of S. America
This afternoon check out Sarah Mcknight's poster (H23O-1188) assessing region-wide hydrological changes over the past 40 yrs in the #Lithium Triangle of S. America
December 10, 2024 at 4:23 PM
Lots of great work from our research group this week at #AGU24! UMass Hydrogeology @davidboutt.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social...
This afternoon check out Sarah Mcknight's poster (H23O-1188) assessing region-wide hydrological changes over the past 40 yrs in the #Lithium Triangle of S. America
This afternoon check out Sarah Mcknight's poster (H23O-1188) assessing region-wide hydrological changes over the past 40 yrs in the #Lithium Triangle of S. America
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Do you use trail cameras to monitor streams, rivers or other water bodies? Looking for a platform to turn those images into relative flow or stage information? Or even just to look back through all of your images? Check out Flow Photo Explorer! www.usgs.gov/apps/ecoshed...
December 5, 2024 at 6:49 PM
Do you use trail cameras to monitor streams, rivers or other water bodies? Looking for a platform to turn those images into relative flow or stage information? Or even just to look back through all of your images? Check out Flow Photo Explorer! www.usgs.gov/apps/ecoshed...
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
Going to the #AGU24 Fall Meeting? Interested in new results from the SWOT satellite over oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands? We have you covered! here's a cheat sheet for SWOT-specific sessions, plus other presentations. Thanks to UNC grad student Marissa Hughes for putting this together. 🧪
December 4, 2024 at 4:12 PM
Going to the #AGU24 Fall Meeting? Interested in new results from the SWOT satellite over oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands? We have you covered! here's a cheat sheet for SWOT-specific sessions, plus other presentations. Thanks to UNC grad student Marissa Hughes for putting this together. 🧪
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
If you're working in urban or disturbed landscapes in #LatinAmerica or the #Caribbean with a focus on #isotopes and other geochemical tools consider submitting to this special issue.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...
Hydrological Processes Call for Papers - Hydrological Processes in Urban and Peri-Urban Landscapes of Latin America and the Caribbean: Tracer and Hydrometric Perspectives
Hydrological Processes is an international hydrology journal publishing high-impact, process-oriented manuscripts in all the main areas of hydrology.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 30, 2024 at 8:21 PM
If you're working in urban or disturbed landscapes in #LatinAmerica or the #Caribbean with a focus on #isotopes and other geochemical tools consider submitting to this special issue.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...
Great piece by @andreatweather.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social on the recent Eastern US drought compared to the West. Key msg here is short but impactful droughts here in East leaving region vulnerable and resilient b/c of distributed water supplies www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
What Makes the Eastern U.S. Drought Different from the West’s
Drought is more synonymous with the western U.S., but the eastern part of the country can descend into such conditions surprisingly quickly
www.scientificamerican.com
November 28, 2024 at 3:12 PM
Great piece by @andreatweather.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social on the recent Eastern US drought compared to the West. Key msg here is short but impactful droughts here in East leaving region vulnerable and resilient b/c of distributed water supplies www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
Lots of really shocking information here on where academic publishing has evolved into.
The strain on scientific publishing: we set out to characterise the remarkable growth of the scientific literature in the last few years, in spite of declining growth in total scientists. What is going on?
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
November 25, 2024 at 1:23 PM
Lots of really shocking information here on where academic publishing has evolved into.
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
NEW: This week's climate graphic looks at the ongoing drought conditions in the north-eastern US, which have sparked numerous wildfires and reduced reservoir levels.
Read @aimewilliams.bsky.social and @janatausch.bsky.social's report
ft.com/content/533b...
#dataviz
Read @aimewilliams.bsky.social and @janatausch.bsky.social's report
ft.com/content/533b...
#dataviz
November 24, 2024 at 2:55 PM
NEW: This week's climate graphic looks at the ongoing drought conditions in the north-eastern US, which have sparked numerous wildfires and reduced reservoir levels.
Read @aimewilliams.bsky.social and @janatausch.bsky.social's report
ft.com/content/533b...
#dataviz
Read @aimewilliams.bsky.social and @janatausch.bsky.social's report
ft.com/content/533b...
#dataviz
Local piece on where things are at with the 2024 Fall New England drought @carriehealy.bsky.social
www.nepm.org/regional-new...
www.nepm.org/regional-new...
Rains could assist with the firefighting, hydrogeologist says
David Boutt, a hydrogeologist at UMass Amherst, said the rainfall this week likely won't quash wildfires already in progress — but it will provide some moisture to help reduce the risk.
www.nepm.org
November 22, 2024 at 8:58 PM
Local piece on where things are at with the 2024 Fall New England drought @carriehealy.bsky.social
www.nepm.org/regional-new...
www.nepm.org/regional-new...
Check out this excellent post by Neil on fire in the "Northeast'
If prolonged dry spells, flash droughts, and a return to pre-1970s hydroclimate occurs in the future, we likely need to adjust to more fires in the Nottheastern US, esp around piney & coniferous ecosystems.
(But, oh, that title)
(But, oh, that title)
November 21, 2024 at 2:18 PM
Check out this excellent post by Neil on fire in the "Northeast'
Reposted by Prof. David Boutt
If prolonged dry spells, flash droughts, and a return to pre-1970s hydroclimate occurs in the future, we likely need to adjust to more fires in the Nottheastern US, esp around piney & coniferous ecosystems.
(But, oh, that title)
(But, oh, that title)
November 21, 2024 at 1:46 PM
If prolonged dry spells, flash droughts, and a return to pre-1970s hydroclimate occurs in the future, we likely need to adjust to more fires in the Nottheastern US, esp around piney & coniferous ecosystems.
(But, oh, that title)
(But, oh, that title)