Water Resource Management Commons^™

Wicked Tools: The Value Of Scientific Models For Solving Maine’S Wicked Problems, Tim Waring

Timothy M Waring

“Wicked problems” are urgent, high-stake socioeconomic-environmental challenges that often involve ideological conflict and have no “best solutions.” Using examples from Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative projects, Tim Waring describes how scientific models can be used to address these kinds of problems. When well-constructed and tested models are used to address policy-relevant issues, include input from stakeholders, and integrate social, economic and environmental dynamics, they can become “wicked tools” to address some of society’s biggest challenges.

Enhanced Adaptive Management: Integrating Decision Analysis, Scenario Analysis And Environmental Modeling For The Everglades, Matteo Convertino, Christy Foran, Jeffrey Keisler, Lynn Scarlett, Andrew Loschiavo, Greg Kiker, Igor Linkov

Jeffrey Keisler

Individual And Combined Effects Of Land Use/Cover And Climate Change On Wolf Bay Watershed Streamflow In Southern Alabama, Ruoyu Wang

Ruoyu Wang

Introduction, Tor Hundloe

Tor Hundloe

ExtractAsk people to think of a catchment and they tend to think of large geographical areas and extensive communities, for example the Nile River and all the people who work on and around it and benefit from it. As the Nile catchment illustrates, many large catchments extend beyond the boundaries of one nation. For some of the world’s largest river basins, not just two, but many more countries can have some or all of their territory in the basin. National boundaries dissect catchments. A variety of different land uses and human occupations make diversity the norm of catchment economies and …

Turning Water Into Wine: The Political Economy Of The Environment In Southern California's Wine Country, Jason Simms

Jason L Simms

This dissertation examines questions of water sustainability in contexts of wine production and state-led neoliberal development in the Temecula Valley, southern California, where wine tourism is at present being harnessed as an engine of economic growth. Natural and anthropogenic forces, such as global climate change, desertification, urban development, and the marketization and commodification of natural resources, affect the distribution and availability of water throughout the globe. As a result, the use of water, and associated political and environmental processes and consequences, in the production of global commodities, including wheat, citrus, and coffee, recently have come under increased scrutiny. Given wine's …

Pilot Study Of Greater Boston Drinking Water Quality Changes - Impacts Of Ozonation And Distribution System, Irvine W. Wei, Xin (Cindy) Huang, Windsor Sung

Irvine W. Wei

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) provides drinking water to 2.2 million people in Greater Boston. To ensure good water quality without filtration, the MWRA is about to replace chlorination with ozonation as the primary disinfection at the new Walnut Hill Water Treatment Plant, scheduled to be on-line in 2005. The objective of this study was to understand the influence of ozonation on monochloramine decay and pH change in the MWRA system. The influence of the distribution system, which consists of old cast-iron pipes, on the ozonated water was also investigated. A pilot plant, including a simulated distribution system with …

Cyclic Heating To Inhibit Bacterial Growth In Activated Carbon Point-Of-Use Treatment Devices, Irwin Silverstein, Irvine W. Wei

Irvine W. Wei

The effectiveness of using heat treatment on a cyclic basis as a means of inhibiting bacterial growth in activated carbon point-of-use treatment devices was examined. Heat treated and non-heat treated devices were compared in a controlled experiment with respect to parameters such as standard plate count, total organic carbon, total residual chlorine and head loss. The results of the study indicated that cyclic heat treatment can inhibit bacterial growth on the surface of granular activated carbon without compromising total organic carbon and total residual chlorine removal efficiencies or accelerating head loss. Microbiological testing verified that the control device had become …

Advanced Chemical Oxidation Of 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol By Using Fenton's Reagent - Dechlorination And Toxicity Reduction, Kuang-Wei (Stone) Chen, Irvine W. Wei

Irvine W. Wei

Chlorinated phenols are priority pollutants, regulated by stringent discharge limits. The presence of chlorine increases the toxicity of these phenolic compounds and decreases their biodegradability. This study is to examine the removal of a priority chlorinated aromatic pollutant, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP), in aqueous solution by using Fenton's Reagent (a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and fenous iron catalyst), in terms of dechlorination and toxicity reduction. Test results indicate that the higher the molar ratio of H₂O₂ to TCP, the faster the release of chloride from TCP. However, the chloride released in all runs eventually approach the same level of theoretical chloride concentration, …

Port Fairy Flood Warning Assessment Project (Report), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

The assessment examined the following components of the Total Flood Warning System (TFWS) guided by the Australian Government’s Manual 21 – Flood Warning: 1. Understanding of flood risks and hazards 2. Emergency management planning 3. Community flood education 4. Data collection 5. Flood prediction and interpretation 6. Message construction 7. Message communication 8. Response 9. Review of the TFWS 10. Community and stakeholder consultation 11. Integration of the TFWS components. The assessment estimated that a TFWS at Port Fairy would provide reduction in damages of $400,274 over a 20 year life cycle. Moreover, it would improve public safety by markedly …

Russells Creek Total Flood Warning Scoping Study Project (Report), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

The assessment examined the components of the Total Flood Warning System (TFWS) based on the Australian Government’s Manual 21 – Flood Warning. The TFWS components examined were: 1. Understanding of flood risks and hazards 2. Emergency management planning 3. Community flood education 4. Data collection 5. Flood prediction and interpretation 6. Message construction 7. Message communication 8. Response 9. Review of the TFWS 10. Community and stakeholder consultation The assessment found that due to a very short warning time of up to one hour it is not possible to build a TFWS across all of the above components. The best …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Jonathan G. Cooper

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Concentration Of Selected Priority Organic Contaminants In Fish Maintained On Formulated Diets In Lake Ontario Waters, Joseph Buttner, Joseph Makarewicz, Theodore Lewis

Joseph C Makarewicz

Fish were grown in Lake Ontario water under conditions simulating commercial aquaculture and then analyzed for 10 priority organic contaminants. Black bullheads (Ameiurus meias) were grown in cages placed in a bay of Lake Ontario. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were grown in terrestrial raceways served with Lake Ontario water. Yearlings were reared on a commercial ration in these systems, which partially isolated them from the contaminant-laden food web and bottom sediments, to an average weight of 93 g for black bullheads (range, 31-220 g) and 213 g (29-558 g) for rainbow trout. Concentrations of contaminants in skinless fillets of both …

Phytoplankton And Zooplankton: In Lakes Erie, Lake Huron And Lake Michigan: 1984, Joseph Makarewicz

Joseph C Makarewicz

With the acknowledgement that biological monitoring was fundamental to charting ecosystem health (Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement 1978), EPA's program was developed for Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan to: 1) monitor seasonal patterns, ranges of abundance and, in general, structure of the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities; 2) relate the biological components to variations in the physical, nutrient and biological environment; and 3) assess the annual variance to allow better long-term assessments of trophic structure and state. Several offshore stations (9-11) on several cruises (9-11) during the spring, summer and autumn of 1984 and winter of 1985 were sampled. By examining …

The Reclamation Of Boston Harbor: A Scientist's Perspective, Gordon T. Wallace Jr.

Gordon Wallace

A major effort, costing in the neighborhood of $2 billion, is under way to restore the environmental quality of Boston Harbor. While Boston Harbor is unquestionably one of the most polluted urban estuaries in the world, it is also one of the least understood with respect to the basic physics, chemistry, and biology involved. This information is essential for the purpose of identifying processes that control the transport, effect, and fate of contaminants entering the estuary. Failure to obtain this information may lead to continued inappropriate and unnecessarily expensive solutions to a complex environmental problem. An effective solution will require …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Variation Of Hyporheic Temperature Profiles In A Low Gradient Third-Order Agricultural Stream – A Statistical Approach, Vanessa Beach, Eric Wade Peterson

Eric Wade Peterson

Sediment size governs advection, controlling the hydraulic conductivity of the stratum, and conduction, influencing the amount of surface area in contact between the sediment particles. To understand the role of sediment particle size on thermal profiles within the hyporheic zone, a statistical approach, involving general summary statistics and time series cross-correlation, was employed. Data were collected along two riffles: Site 1: gravel (d50 = 3.9 mm) and Site 2: sand (d50 = 0.94 mm).Temperature probe grids collected 15-minute temperature data at 30, 60, 90, and 140 cm below the streambed surface over a 6-month period. Surface water and air temperature …

Chapter 7: Freshwater And Sanitation, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Input–Output Analysis Of Virtual Water Transfers: Case Study Of California And Illinois, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Virtual Water Trade And Water Footprint Of U.S. States, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Water Withdrawals And Freshwater Ecosystem Water Scarcity Quantified At Multiple Scales For A Great Lakes Watershed, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.