Everyone is invited to hear Kovas Zygas next week.

More Hall 230 at 3:30 pm on Thursday, October 30th

Title: Showcase of an Assortment of Environmental Projects in Seattle and the Puget Sound: An On-The-Ground Look

Abstract: From the perspective of an on-the-ground environmental technician and a junior field environmental geologist, this talk is about  sharing insight into the realm of applied environmental projects throughout the greater Seattle region. Hopefully, there’s something of interest to most in the department – students, faculty, and staff alike: from wetland and riparian restoration projects for salmon habitat improvement, to large-scale contaminant remediation in South Lake Union, to contamination investigations, groundwater monioring, and the environmental due diligence processes. This talk will focus on presenting an overall look at the types of environmental and ecological impacts that humans have on the natural geography (positive and negative) of the region, and provide an introduction to the not often celebrated underbelly of the beautiful Emerald City.

Bio: Kovas has been a Research Assistant in Dr. Jess Ray’s Aquatic Innovations in Materials Science (AIMS) Lab since December 2024 and he is currently finishing up his Master’s in Environmental Engineering focused on wastewater treatment. Prior to joining UW in Fall 2022 as a graduate student in the Professional Master’s Program, in 2016 Kovas graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota with B.A. degrees in Geology and in Physics. After undergrad, he completed an AmeriCorps term as a Habitat/Environmental Restoration Technician with EarthCorps in Seattle in 2017, and in 2018 continued working in Seattle as a Habitat Restoration Technician for a private company. He subsequently transitioned from environmental restoration to working for three different environmental engineering/consulting firms as a Staff Geologist. At these companies, he worked on environmental remediation and due diligence projects, focusing more on investigating, sampling, reporting and assisting in clean-ups in the field.  He’s worked on dozens of diverse environmental projects throughout the years and is looking forward to sharing an inside look!

Dear CEE Community:

A friendly reminder that the 2025 Edward Wenk, Jr. Endowed Lecture is confirmed onThursday, November 20 at 3:30pm. The lecture will be held in Alder Hall Auditorium, followed by a reception in Alder Hall commons.

This year’s speaker is Dr. Carlos Genatios, Director of Engineering, Technology and Design at Miami Dade College. More details about the lecture can be found here.

Add event to your calendar here!

Please join us this Thursday at 3:30 in More Hall 230 to hear our very own Sanchit Minocha talk about how to improve estimates of reservoir storage across the globe using remote sensing and AI

For upcoming seminars, see here: https://depts.washington.edu/watersem/

RECLAIM: A Machine Learning Approach to Estimating Reservoir Storage Loss from Sedimentation

Speaker – Sanchit Minocha, PhD student, CEE

Abstract:

Reservoirs are critical infrastructure for freshwater management, providing essential services such as flood control, water supply, and recreation. While designed to store water, these structures also trap sediment—gradually reducing their storage capacity and undermining their intended functions. As a result, the operational lifespan of many reservoirs is often limited more by sediment accumulation than by structural degradation. Traditional methods to estimate storage loss, such as bathymetric surveys, are costly, labor-intensive, and impractical for the millions of reservoirs worldwide.

In this talk, we will introduce RECLAIM (Reservoir Estimation of Capacity Loss using AI-based Model), a machine learning framework developed to estimate sediment-induced storage loss in reservoirs. RECLAIM is trained on a newly compiled global dataset—GRILSS (Global Reservoir Inventory of Lost Storage by Sedimentation). It combines static features (reservoir and catchment attributes) with dynamic variables such as satellite-derived reservoir operations, inflow, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) spanning four decades. By integrating AI with remote sensing and in-situ data, RECLAIM offers a scalable and cost-effective approach to assess reservoir storage loss globally. RECLAIM can serve as a screening tool to identify reservoirs most critically impacted by sedimentation, enabling targeted interventions and prioritization of costly sediment management strategies.

Bio: Sanchit is currently a PhD student working with Professor Faisal Hossain in the Civil and Environmental Engineering depratment of UW.  He received his MS from CEE in 2023, and prior to that he was a gold medalist at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. He worked as a data hub geoscientist for Schlumberger, and trained people at Cairn Oil and Gas to use machine learning models. Sanchit was the People’s Choice Graduate Winner in the 2022 AWRA Annual Conference Poster Competition. He was recognized for his work on developing a Reservoir Assessment Tool (RAT) that can monitor reservoirs worldwide through the use of remote sensing and hydrologic modeling.