David Boutt
Professor of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
David Boutt's research focuses on the interplay of surface water and groundwater, and on sub-surface processes that impact it on its journey
Expertise (8)
Drought
Hydrogeology
Groundwater Recharge Processes
Groundwater
Water
Paleo Hydrology
Groundwater Hydrology
Watershed Hydrology
Biography
David Boutt provides expert commentary on issues related to groundwater and hydrology. He is especially interested in how lithium mining affects water quality. He has been featured in publication including the Boston Globe and ScienceNews.
Boutt's work focuses on how water becomes groundwater and the sub-surface processes that impact it along its journey. This includes understanding how groundwater contributes to streamflow generation and springs. He also works to understand how much water is available for a region at a given time in geologic history and where the source the source of this water is located.
He is also a member of the Climate Science Advisory Panel through the new Massachusetts Office of Climate Science, charged with providing expertise on statewide climate science and future projections used to inform state and local climate adaptation planning and projects.
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Education (3)
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology,: Ph.D., Hydrology
Michigan State University: M.S., Hydrogeology
Michigan State University: B.S., Geosciences
Links (4)
Select Recent Media Coverage (6)
Yes, New England is still in a drought. But December delivered a big helping of rainfall
The Boston Globe online
2025-01-03
David Boutt is quoted in an article about drought conditions in New England following recent precipitation. “If you look at the groundwater observation locations that are in the uplands or the recharge areas, the headwater streams, those areas have recovered pretty well,” he says.
What Makes the Eastern U.S. Drought Different from the West’s
Scientific American online
2024-11-27
David Boutt says that, unlike in the Western U.S., drought can develop very quickly in the East and last week’s rain and snow is not enough to restore water levels. Boutt says the soils are so dry that it will probably take precipitation amounts of 10 inches distributed over the next few months to get water levels back to normal.
Could Pennsylvania’s fracking wastewater hold the key to the country’s energy transition?
WHYY radio
2024-05-21
David Boutt comments on research into fracking wastewater containing lithium from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. “These are very high lithium concentrations. And some of them are approaching concentrations of lithium that we see in [South America],” says Boutt, who was not involved in the study. “So having a source of lithium in what is essentially a waste product is a really important step.”
Low-lying flood plains along the Connecticut River hit hardest in flooding
New England Public Media online
2023-07-11
David Boutt says recent heavy rainfall in the area that resulted in severe flooding of the Connecticut River and this event is unique because it wasn’t associated with a tropical storm system like Hurricane Irene in 2011 or with large snow melts.
'Flash droughts' and weather 'whiplash.' Welcome to New England’s climate future
WBUR online
2022-08-26
Over the last 150 years, UMass hydrology professor David Boutt says that records show the region tends to get a dry period like the one we’re experiencing this summer about once every ten years or so.
Much of Massachusetts in drought with drying likely to continue; Residents urged to take water conservation steps now
MassLive online
2021-04-12
David Boutt, geosciences, comments on the current drought in Massachusetts. He says that with the global climate crisis looming on the horizon, extreme weather patterns, like severe droughts mirrored by intense precipitation, will likely increase in the years to come.
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