Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Background Reading: Department Of The Interior, 2013 Departmental Overview, United States. Department Of The Interior, Ken Salazar

The Future of Natural Resources Policy (December 6)

18 pages (DO-5 through DO-22).

"Background Reading"

The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years.

Safe Water For People In Low, Small Island Pacific Nations: The Rural-Urban Dilemma, Ian White, Tony Falkland, Taboia Metutera, Mourongo Katatia, Tererei Abete-Reema, Marc Overmars, Pascal Perez, Anne Dray

Professor Pascal Perez

The issue of ensuring that growing communities in small island countries have access to safe water and adequate sanitation is examined in Kiribati, whose islands are spread over three million square kilometres in the central Pacific. Its coral island communities have water supply and sanitation problems among the most difficult in the world. Formulaic developed-world approaches, models, techniques and toolboxes that do not consider the social and cultural context have had little success. Changes in approach at the international, national and local levels are called for, and the resourcing of village-level water and sanitation committees would return ownership and control …

Towards An Art And Science Of Decision Aiding For Water Management And Planning: A Participatory Modelling Process, Katherine A. Daniell, Ian White, Nils Ferrand, Alexis Tsoukias, Stewart Burn, Pascal Perez

Professor Pascal Perez

Planning and management of water resources are faced with increasingly high levels of complexity, uncertainty and conflict. Traditional technical and top-down management strategies have proved inadequate, forcing a move to more "integrated" forms of management, planning and decision making that can include stakeholders and communities, as well as technical experts and policy makers. These integrated forms of management require not only good technical or scientific ability, but a range of "art-like" skills including communication, creativity and the capacity to acknowledge and integrate diverse points of view. However, processes designed to aid such inter-organisational or multi-stakeholder decisionmaking are rare and in …

Slides: Colorado Law: Protecting Water Quantity And Quality, Alan E. Curtis

Monitoring and Protecting Groundwater During Oil and Gas Development (November 26)

Presenter: Alan E. Curtis, White & Jankowski, LLP

23 slides

Water. World Water, A Crisis Of Global Governance?, Robert Weiner

Robert Weiner

In a global world, how can water, a necessary and increasingly scarce resource, be managed? We understand that water is a basic need. Do we also share the belief that water is a basic right? Does the international community share beliefs about water that may be the foundation of an international regime or system of global governance for the equitable implementation of global water policy? And finally, what international body or bodies might handle the disputes that arise as our population and need for water increase? The author tackles these questions and looks at models to guide us.

Drinking Water Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This document is intended to help local and regional planning agencies, and their constituent water utilities, integrate drinking water infrastructure planning and investments into plans for sustainable development. Resources listed here provide guidance on making land use decisions that protect water resources, setting adequate and sustainable drinking water rates, controlling water loss, funding water infrastructure projects, and managing water utilities.

The directory was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Through this program, EFCN is providing capacity …

Sustainable Water Management On Brownfields Sites, Ryan Fenwick, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This practice guide was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Through a cooperative agreement with HUD, EFCN is providing capacity building and technical assistance to recipients of grants from the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an interagency collaboration that aims to help towns, cities, and regions develop in more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable ways.

Slides: Impacts Of Energy Deficits In Cooking, Illumination, Water, Sanitation, And Motive Power, Paul S. Chinowsky

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Paul Chinowsky, Director, Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities; Professor, University of Colorado

25 slides

Book Review: "Troubled Waters: Confronting The Water Crisis In Australia's Cities" By Patrick Troy (Ed.), Leah M. Gibbs

Leah Maree Gibbs

Troubled Waters is a collection of essays edited by Patrick Troy, Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University. The papers are contributed by a multidisciplinary group of authors, from the fields of economics, history, geography, environmental and social policy and law. As a result, the book does not present a single theoretical or methodological approach and in this regard it is refreshing. The book is published by the ANU E Press; a publisher that makes academic output from the ANU freely available from its website, as well as for purchase through …

A Review On The Visible Light Active Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysts For Environmental Applications, Miguel Pelaez, Nicholas Nolan, Suresh Pillai, Michael Seery, Polycarpos Falaras, Athanassios G. Kontos, Patrick S.M. Dunlop, Jeremy W.J. Hamiltone, J. Anthony Byrne, Kevin O’Shea, Mohammad H. Entezari, Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Articles

Development of visible light active (VLA) titania photocatalysts

Fujishima and Honda (1972) demonstrated the potential of titanium dioxide (TiO 2) semiconductor mate-rials to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in a photo-electrochemical cell. Their work triggered the development of semiconductor photocatalysis for a wide range of environmental and energy applica-tions. One of the most significant scientific and commercial advances to date has been the development of visible light active (VLA) TiO2 photocatalytic materials. In this review, a background on TiO2 struc-ture, properties and electronic properties in photocatalysis is presented. The development of different strategies to modify TiO2 for the utilization …

Theoretical Approaches To The Characterization Of Water, Aqueous Interfaces, And Improved Sampling Of Protein Conformational Changes, Alexis J. Lee

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Methods to advance the understanding of water and other aqueous systems are devel- oped. This work falls into three areas: The creation of better interaction potentials for water, improved methods for sampling configurational space, and the applications of these methods to understand systems of interest. Charge transfer has been shown by ab initio methods to be important in the water–water and water–ion interactions. A model for treating charge transfer in liquid water and aqueous systems is presented in this manuscript. The model is called Discrete Charge Transfer (DCT) and is based on the commonly-used TIP4P/2005 model, which represents the charge …

Synthesis Of 1,1-Dialkyhydrazines And Their Hydroxyl Radical Degradation In Aqueous Environments, Benjamin F. Strong

Masters Theses

Determination of hydroxyl radical rate constants are essential to ensure adequate degradation of contaminants in wastewater. Hydrazines are an important class of organic contaminants and are the focus of this research. Ten 1,1-dialkylhydrazines are synthesized by the zinc reduction of the corresponding N-nitrosamines. Their hydroxyl radical rate constants are determined using the linear accelerator at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory at pH 4, 7, and 10.

Their rate constants are found to depend on the protonation state of the molecule. At pH 4 the molecules are fully protonated and hydrogen atom abstraction is favored from the alkyl chains. At …

Sp740-A Good Agricultural Practices Series: Testing Water For Fruit And Vegetable Production, Susannah Amundson, Grant Mccarty, Faith Critzer, Annette Wszelaki

Commercial Horticulture

No abstract provided.

Sp740-A Good Agricultural Practices Series: Testing Water For Fruit And Vegetable Production, Susannah Amundson, Grant Mccarty, Faith Critzer, Annette Wszelaki

Commercial Horticulture

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Enhanced De-Chlorination And Bio-Remediation: Molasses Injections Into Groundwater, Brent Anderson

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Model To Relate Environmental Variation To Npdes Permit Violations At Thermoelectric Facilities On The Taunton River, Seth Delevan Sheldon

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Large thermoelectric facilities are issued permits to discharge high volume, high temperature effluents as part of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Once-through cooled power plants are especially dependent on large quantities of cool water to operate. When ambient temperatures are high or streamflow is very low, power plant managers must reduce (i.e., "dial back") energy generation in order to avoid violating their NPDES permit limitations. Sudden dial-back can have human health impacts when electricity is no longer available to provide cooling or other vital services. A superior system of electricity and environmental management would reduce the probability of …

Dispersibility Of And Adsorption On Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes, Susana Addo Ntim

Dissertations

As the applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) proliferate, mass production and widespread use of these nanocarbons will continue to rise. While raw, unrefined, and hydrophobic carbon nanotubes tend to settle out of aqueous media/environments, water dispersible, functionalized CNTs (F-CNTs) will contaminate water resources and will also be highly bioavailable on exposure. Therefore, there is a need to develop an understanding of the fate of F-CNTs in aqueous media.

The colloidal behavior of aqueous dispersions of F-CNTs formed via carboxylation and polymer wrapping with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) is investigated. The presence of polymer on the nanotube surface provides steric stabilization, and …

Near Infrared-Red Models For The Remote Estimation Of Chlorophyll-Α Concentration In Optically Complex Turbid Productive Waters: From In Situ Measurements To Aerial Imagery, Daniela Gurlin

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Today the water quality of many inland and coastal waters is compromised by cultural eutrophication in consequence of increased human agricultural and industrial activities and remote sensing is widely applied to monitor the trophic state of these waters. This study explores near infrared-red models for the remote estimation of chlorophyll-a concentration in turbid productive waters and compares several near infrared-red models developed within the last 35 years.

Three of these near infrared-red models were calibrated for a dataset with chlorophyll-a concentrations from 2.3 to 81.2 mg m^-3 and validated for independent and statistically significantly different datasets with …

Water Infrastructure Challenges In Urbanizing Environments: A Case Study Of The 2009 Logan Canal Landslide, Kathryn Davis Henderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In July, 2009 in Logan, Utah, a wet, steep hillside failed, leveling a home below and destroying an irrigation canal that ran along the hill. Three people were killed. The event and the resulting policy changes present an opportunity to uncover how frames, or social constructions, play into the policy development cycle. This case also uncovers the nuances involved when old infrastructure takes on new social meanings. Planners and policymakers that pay attention to frames and social dimensions may be able to minimize conflict.

The landslide received immediate media attention and spurred state legislation on canal safety. The event had …

Measured Rates Of D2 Abstraction In H2o+ , D2 Substitution In H2do+ And Charge Transfer Of He2+ With Noble And Other Gases At <1ev, Chrysanthos Kyriakides

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Experimental determination of the rate coefficient values of deuterium abstraction in water ions and deuterium substitution in hydronium ions can improve the understanding of D/H in water at planetary atmospheres, cometary atmospheres, and interstellar medium. Using a cylindrical ion trap, (CIT) and time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, a number of measurements at energies below 1 eV have been performed. The deuterium abstraction rate coefficient in water ions, H₂O⁺, and an upper limit for the hydrogen-deuterium substitution rate coefficient in monodeuterated hydronium ion, H₂DO⁺, have been measured. Both the abstraction and substitution …

Agenda: A Life Of Contributions For All Time: Symposium In Honor Of David H. Getches, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law, University Of Colorado Law Review

A Life of Contributions for All Time: Symposium in Honor of David H. Getches (April 26-27)

On April 26-27, 2012, Colorado Law honored David H. Getches with a symposium to celebrate his life and legacy of trailblazing scholarship. “A Life of Contributions for All Time” featured a keynote address by Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson entitled, “Hero for the People, Hero for the Land and Water: Reflections on the Enduring Contributions of David Getches.” Top scholars in the fields of natural resources, water, and American Indian law reflected on Dean Getches’ contributions and their own insights into these fields, including Professor John Leshy, John Echohawk, Professor Carole Goldberg, Professor Joe Sax, Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Justice Greg Hobbs, …

Process-Evaluation Of Tropospheric Humidity Simulated By General Circulation Models Using Water Vapor Isotopologues: 1. Comparison Between Models And Observations, Camille Risi, David Noone, John Worden, Christian Frankenberg, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Bernd Funke, Kaley Walker, Peter Bernath, Matthias Schneider, Debra Wunch, Vanessa Sherlock, Nicholas M. Deutscher, David W. Griffith, Paul O. Wennberg, Kimberly Strong, Dan Smale, Emmanuel Mahieu, Sabine Barthlott, Frank Hase, Omar Garcia, Justus Notholt, Thorsten Warneke, Geoffrey Toon, David Sayres, Sandrine Bony, Jeonghoon Lee, Derek Brown, Ryu Uemura, Christophe Sturm

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

[1] The goal of this study is to determine how H2O and HDO measurements in water vapor can be used to detect and diagnose biases in the representation of processes controlling tropospheric humidity in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). We analyze a large number of isotopic data sets (four satellite, sixteen ground-based remote-sensing, five surface in situ and three aircraft data sets) that are sensitive to different altitudes throughout the free troposphere. Despite significant differences between data sets, we identify some observed HDO/H2O characteristics that are robust across data sets and that can be used to evaluate models. We evaluate …

The Occurrence Of Illicit And Therapeutic Pharmaceuticals In Wastewater Effluent And Surface Waters In Nebraska, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow, Teyona Damon, Johnette Shockley, Kyle Hoagland

Daniel D Snow

Passive samplers were used to develop semi-quantitative estimates of pharmaceutical concentrations in receiving waters influenced by wastewater effluent. The occurrence and estimated concentration of twenty illicit and therapeutic pharmaceuticals and metabolites in surface waters influenced by wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge and in wastewater effluents in Nebraska were determined using Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS). Samplers were installed in rivers upstream and downstream of treated WWTP discharge at four sites and in a discharge canal at a fifth location. Based on differences in estimated concentrations determined from pharmaceuticals recovered from POCIS, WWTP effluent was found to be a significant …

Slides: Natural Gas: Game Changer Or Runner Left On Base? Working To Get It Right In Co!, Gary Graham

Drawing the Blueprint for a Sustainable Natural Gas Future (January 18)

Presenter: Dr. Gary Graham, Director, Lands Program, Western Resource Advocates

21 slides

Sustainable Water Management In The University Of Texas At El Paso, Cora Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis showed how to improve water and financial savings for UTEP and El Paso by improving water conservation and sustainability of the UTEP campus. The goals of this research were successfully accomplished by focusing in three principal objectives.

1. Analyze historical data of water consumption of the UTEP campus for the past decade.

2. Evaluate water consumption to quantify water consumption by buildings and type of use, as well as provide recommendations for water and cost savings.

3. Synthesize a water management framework within the UTEP Facilities' Geographic Information System (GIS) for long-term monitoring and evaluation

Are Competitive Effects Of Native Species On An Invader Mediated By Water Availability?, Tanya J. Mason, Kristine French, Ken Russell

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Question: Climate change processes could influence the dynamics of biotic interactions such as plant competition, especially in response to disturbance phenomena such as invasional processes. Are competitive effects of native species on an invadermediated bywater availability?

Location: Glasshouse facility, New SouthWales, Australia.

Methods: We constructed competitive hierarchies for a representative suite of species from coastal dune communities that have been invaded by the Asteraceae shrub, bitou (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata). We used a comparative phytometer approach, where the invader species was grown with or without a suite of native species in glasshouse trials. This was used to construct competition hierarchies …

Synthesis, Properties And Water Permeability Of Swnt Buckypapers, L J. Sweetman, L Nghiem, I Chironi, G Triani, Marc In Het Panhuis, St F. Ralph

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The ability of macrocyclic ligands to facilitate formation of dispersions of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was investigated using a combination of absorption spectrophotometry and optical microscopy. Vacuum filtration of aqueous dispersions containing SWNTs and various macrocyclic ligands (derivatised porphyrin, phthalocyanine, cyclodextrin and calixarene) afforded self-supporting membranes known as buckypapers. Microanalytical data and energy dispersive X-ray spectra were obtained for these buckypapers and provided evidence for retention of the macrocyclic ligands within the structure of the membranes. The electrical conductivities of the membranes varied between 30 ± 20 and 220 ± 60 S cm−1, while contact angle analysis revealed they all …

Temporal And Spatial Assessment Of Pahs In Water, Sediment, And Oysters As A Result Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Meghan Christina Dailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On April 20, 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded leaking over 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 84 days. Exposure to oil-associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the water and sediment could severely impact the aquatic organisms inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico (i.e. developmental defects, reproductive effects, death, etc.). Therefore, water, sediment and oyster, Crassostrea virginica, samples were collected approximately bimonthly between May 26 and November 30, 2010 from multiple sites along the Gulf Coast, namely, two sites in Mobile Bay (Denton and Sand Reefs at 1 or 0.1 m above the bay …

Evaluation Of Soil Sustainability Along The Rio Grande In West Texas: Changes In Salt Loading And Organic Nutrients Due To Farming Practices, Christine L. Cox

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Growing populations demand an increase in the amount of food being produced, which in turn, puts pressure on the productivity and sustainability of soils. The use of flood irrigation from the Rio Grande has greatly increased the salinity, sodicity, and enhanced leaching of nutrients in the Rio Grande Basin soils. To evaluate soil health, water and soil samples were collected from two pecan, one cotton, and one alfalfa field in western Texas. Each site was equipped with sensors to measure soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity (EC), along with lysimeters at depths of 15, 30, and 60 cm to collect …

Water Mass Balances For The Rio Grande/Bravo From Fort Quitman, Texas To Foster Ranch Near Langtry, Texas: An Assessment Of Factors, Ramiro Lujan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Water availability is declining in many regions of the planet, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Water bodies located in these regions, like the Rio Grande/Bravo at the U.S. - Mexico border, are subjected to high water demands. This research project makes an assessment of the spatial and temporal variability of elements intervening in the water mass balance for the section of the Rio Grande/Bravo between Fort Quitman and Langtry, Texas during the time period extending from January 1990 through December 2005. This document mentions the main Rio Grande/Bravo stakeholders from the U.S. and Mexico, and describes issues related …