Evaluating agricultural nonpoint-source pollution programs in two Lake Erie tributaries

During the past three decades, numerous government programs have encouraged Lake Erie basin farmers to adopt practices that reduce water pollution. The first section of this paper summarizes these state and federal government agricultural pollution abatement programs in watersheds of two prominent Lake Erie tributaries, the Maumee River and Sandusky River. Expenditures are summarized for each program, total expenditures in each county are estimated, and cost effectiveness of program expenditures (i.e., cost per metric ton of soil saved) are analyzed. Farmers received nearly $143 million as incentive payments to implement agricultural nonpoint source pollution abatement programs in the Maumee and Sandusky River watersheds from 1987 to 1997. About 95% of these funds was from federal sources. On average, these payments totaled about $7000 per farm or about $30 per farm acre (annualized equivalent of $2 per acre) within the watersheds. Our analysis raises questions about how efficiently these incentive payments were allocated. The majority of Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) funds appear to have been spent on less cost-effective practices. Also, geographic areas with relatively low (high) soil erosion rates received relatively large (small) funding.     

A QUARTER CENTURY OF INDUSTRIAL WATER USE AND A DECADE OF DISCHARGE CONTROLS1

This paper explores the trends in industrial water intake, discharge, recycling, and gross water use to see whether or not the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) has had an impact on industrial effluent discharge. Quinquennial Census data indicate that the levels of discharge, both generally and per unit of product, have been falling for as long as these data have been gathered. Trends in gross water use and recycling ratios suggest that during the 25 years of record production processes were gradually modified so that less total water was discharged and less was used per unit of output. Untreated discharge as a percent of all discharge fell fairly steadily across all industries until 1973 and continued to fall in 1978 in the major BOD-discharging industries. By 1978, 75 percent of the pulp and paper effluent and 40 percent of the food processing effluent was treated. The consistent increase in treated discharge in the pulp and paper mills, with their large component of BOD-related process discharge, was not matched by parallel trends in the steel, petroleum, and chemicals industries with their relatively smaller amounts (and percents) of process discharge. This suggests that the CWA may have been responsible in part for the change in the former. In the pulp and paper industry, there is further evidence that the CWA has influenced wastewater discharge. Although, for the century as a whole, pulp and paper mills discharged less water, and more discharge was treated, in 1978 than in 1973, these trends were especially dramatic among firms in the Northeast where controls were likely to have been most stringent. Finally, using the only direct evidence we have, it appears that the drop in discharge levels and the increasing amounts of treatment had a significant effect on the amount of BOD discharged to surface and ground water. In 1973 the pulp and paper mills in Wisconsin discharged an average of about 868,000 lbs/day; by 1982, despite increased levels of production, they discharged less than 10 percent of that. There is no doubt that industrial water use changed over the 25 years of record. Although the evidence is circumstantial, it appears that the CWA and the environmental ethic which spawned it played an important part in some aspects of the shifts.     

REUSE OF AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE WATERS: AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT The profitability of reusing agricultural drainage water for crop production depends on the salt tolerance of the crop being grown the salt concentration of the drainage water, the cost of obtaining it and price of good water. In the this paper the economics of drainwater resue is examined for six crops in two areas of southern California. The results suggest that drainwater reuse is not profitable for the fruit and vegetable crops considered but is profitable for the field crops considered when the price of good water is relatively high and cost of obtaining the draingage water is low.     

农业生态环境污染监测技术探讨

农业生态环境污染监测是以农产品污染监测为中心的各环境要素的污染监测。依据农业区域中污染源排放危害农产品的特征污染物选择大气环境污染物、水环境污染物、土壤环境污染物、农产品污染物作为监测指标;依据农业区域中各类污染源的特点布设大气环境污染、水环境污染、土壤环境污染、农产品污染监测点位;在农产品生长期或生产期,大气环境污染及水环境污染同步监测一次,农产品污染在收获时监测一次,依据污染源污染物排放强度确定土壤环境污染监测频次。     

AN IMPLICIT APPROACH TO PRICING AGRICULTURAL WATER TRANSFERS TO URBAN USES1

ABSTRACT: The increased agricultural efficiency of the American farmer has been a substantial impetus to this nation's rapid urbanization. In many western regions where total water supplies are limited, urbanization has required the transfer of heretofore agricultural water rights to the urban use. A major problem in such transfers has been the value or price of the water. A management level model of a typical urban water system was developed to optimize water supply, distribution, and wastewater treatment alternatives. The values of agricultural transfers were determined as the cost advantages of increasing allowable reuse levels of urban effluents which imply the use of a downstream right. This procedure is justified by the economic theory of alternative cost. Results for a test application to the Denver, Colorado area indicate values on the order of $1,000 per acre-foot of transferable water depending on effluent water quality restrictions and operational policies.     

OPTIMIZING NONPOINT SOURCE CONTROLS IN WATER QUALITY REGULATION1

ABSTRACT: A stochastic programming framework is developed to evaluate the economic implications of reliability criteria and multiple effluent controls on nonpoint source pollution. An integrated watershed simulation model is used to generate probability distributions for agricultural effluents in surface and ground water resulting from agricultural practices. Results from the planning model indicate that reliability and multiple effluent constraints significantly increase the cost of nonpoint controls but the effects vary by control alternative. The analysis indicates that an evaluation of multiple water quality objectives can be an important planning tool for designing nonpoint source controls for innovative programs to promote cost-effective water quality regulation.     

四川省农业生产环境压力分析

研究主要采用产排污系数法,分析了2012年四川省农业投入品使用量及残留量,以及主要农业残留物产量,以咨环境管理参考。结果发现,四川全省化肥施用强度、农药使用强度和农用塑料薄膜残留量较大,化肥施用强度超标;年末作物秸秆产量3504.2万吨,焚烧(焚烧比20%)排放的细颗粒物质和总悬浮颗粒物超过4.0万吨;主要粪便污染物是COD与总氮,粪肥年施氮量及总磷均超过还田限值。农业稳定增产条件下,农业环境压力将持续增加。     

MANAGING GROUND WATER QUALITY IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURAL ACTiVITIES1

ABSTRACT: Ground water quality is an environmental issue of national concern. Agricultural activities, because they involve large land areas, often are cited as a major contributor of ground water contaminants. It appears that some degree of ground water contamination from agricultural land use is inevitable, especially where precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration. For this reason, and because agriculture differs significantly from point sources of pollution, farmers, policymakers, and scientists need alternative management strategies by which to protect ground water. Mathematical models coupled to geographic information systems to form expert systems can be important management tools for both policymakers and agricultural producers. An expert system can provide farmers, researchers, and environmental managers with information by which to better manage agricultural production systems to minimize ground water contamination. Significant research is necessary to perfect such a system, necessitating interim ground water management strategies that include not only a strong research program, but educational and public policy components as well.     

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF PHOSPHORUS LOADING POLICIES FOR PASTURE LAND APPLICATIONS OF POULTRY LITTER1

ABSTRACT: Non-point source pollution created by agriculture is one of the major issues of intensive production. Recent studies indicate that the eutrophication from agricultural non-point source pollution, especially from phosphorus, is of growing concern. The objectives of this paper are to measure the economic opportunity costs of a proposed phosphorus management policy that targets soils with elevated phosphorus levels and examine the impacts of alternative policies such as Pigouvian taxes on the optimal use of litter. The study focuses on land applications of poultry litter in the Muddy Fork watershed of the Illinois River in Northwest Arkansas. The analysis indicates that restriction of litter applications on soils with elevated phosphorus levels will significantly reduce the net returns generated from forage production, resulting in an environmental policy with a high opportunity cost for producers. An analysis of alternative Pigouvian tax policies shows that a smaller tax per ton of litter applied can achieve the same litter control as that of a larger tax on a per acre basis.     

WATER TRANSFER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

An aspect of water resource development that has currently generated a good deal of interest among economists relates to the ‘economics of water transfer.’ Some recent investigations in this connection have studied the impact of transferring water from conventional uses (mainly agricultural) to newly emerging uses (e.g., pollution abatement, recreational, and industrial). The results of these studies indicate that water transfer contributes to economic growth, both directly and indirectly.     

Financial viability of reforesting reclaimed surface mined lands, the burden of site conversion costs, and carbon payments as reforestation incentives

US Federal law mandates that mined land be returned by mine operators to a condition capable of supporting its pre-mining use or a higher use. Previously forested lands have commonly been reclaimed to hayland/pasture or wildlife habitat, and most of these lands have been abandoned from management and rendered non-productive. This situation has left landowners in the position of converting these reclaimed mined lands to forests at a later date, if they choose to make them economically productive. Such land-use conversion, however, comes with a substantial up-front cost to the landowner, which makes the financial viability of such a conversion questionable. We examine the financial viability of reforestation of these previously reclaimed mine lands by calculating land expectation value (LEV) under a range of conditions that include forest type, site quality, and reforestation intensity. We find that conversion to white pine is viable on higher quality sites under low to moderate interest rates with low or high timber prices, but conversion to mixed hardwoods is only profitable under the high price scenario with low interest rates, and only on higher quality sites. We also consider the implications of a shift in reforestation burden from the landowner to the mine operator, and results suggest that including costs of reforestation as part of the mining operation creates a financially viable forest enterprise for landowners under all scenarios for both white pine and mixed hardwoods. Two forms of carbon payments that could encourage reforestation of previously reclaimed mined lands also are examined: an annual payment based upon the total accumulated carbon found on-site in a given year, and an annual payment based on only the increment of carbon storage each year. Our carbon payment results indicate that annual values of up to $5.17 per ton of carbon stored in hardwoods and $9.39 per ton of carbon stored in pines would be required to make reforestation profitable under the poorest conditions (high interest rates, low prices, and poor quality site) when the payment is based on accumulated on-site carbon, although lower values are required under more favorable scenarios. Payments that are based upon the annual increment of carbon must fall in the range of $8.66–$71.88 per ton of carbon stored in hardwoods and $0–$83.29 per ton of carbon stored in pines to make reforestation financially viable.     

MODELING AND CONTROL OF THE POLLUTION OF WATER RESOURCES SYSTEMS VIA MULTILEVEL APPROACH1

ABSTRACT. The problem of modeling and control of water pollution is considered. A general mathematical model, where the pollution effluent is discharged directly into the river, into the lake, or into a bypass pipe leading to an advanced Waste Water Treatment (AWT) plant, is developed. The Water Resource System (WRS) under consideration is decomposed into N subsystems. The pollution effluent input vector to each subsystem includes the water quantity and different water characteristics such as BOD, DO, pH, conductivity, temperature, algae, phosphates, nitrates, etc. Treatment cost functions and quality transition functions as well as system model constraints are introduced, where all functions can be nonlinear. A system Lagrangian is formed to incorporate the system constraints and coupling. The Lagrangian is decomposed into N independent subsystems, and a two level optimization methodology is introduced. Each subsystem is independently and separately minimized at the first level assuming known Lagrange multipliers. At the second level, the total Lagrangian is maximized with respect to the Lagrange multipliers using optimal values for effluent inputs from all subsystems obtained from the first level. Economic interpretation on the Lagrange multipliers reveals that they are merely prices imposed by the central authority (second level) for the pollution caused by the subsystems. Advantages of the multilevel approach are discussed.     

The cost of crop damage caused by ozone air pollution from motor vehicles

The effects of ozone air pollution on the agricultural sector are an important environmental challenge facing policy makers. Most studies of the economic impact of air pollution on agriculture have found that a 25% reduction in ambient ozone would provide benefits of at least $1–2 billion annually in the United States. This paper extends existing research by estimating the benefits of a reduction in emissions from a major source of ozone formation: motor-vehicle emissions. An agricultural production model is combined with an analysis of motor-vehicle emissions and air quality to estimate the impacts of emissions from six different motor-vehicle classes, at both the regional and national level. The benefits to the agricultural sector from completely eliminating ozone precursor emissions from motor vehicles ranges between $3·5 and $6·1 billion annually.     

Wastewater effects on a waterhyacinth marsh and adjacent impoundment

A waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) marsh occupying two-thirds of the basin of a small Florida impoundment has received sewage effluent for nearly 20 years. Water from the marsh flows into an area that is maintained free of waterhyacinths, and is discharged through wells at the far end of the impoundment. A water budget for the basin was estimated, and phosphorus concentrations were measured monthly at three stations in the marsh and at the discharge wells in the lake. Productivity levels were measured monthly where the marsh joins the lake and at the discharge wells. Only 16% of the phosphorus that enters the basin is stored. Gross primary productivity levels in the open-water areas are very high (22 gO₂m²day), but high respiration rates appear to keep the lake in steady-state.     

Fuzzy-based wastewater quality indices for pollution classification: a case study in the United Arab Emirates

This paper presents a fuzzy logic-based tool for assessing the pollution concentration of effluents generated by various industrial and commercial activities. The study proposes a fuzzy overall pollution compliance index (FOPCI) (range 0–100) to classify the wastewater discharged from various types of properties present in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. The work mainly focused on three types of pollution that can occur at the inlets of the wastewater treatment plant of Ajman, due to discharge of industrial and commercial effluents, namely pH pollution, salt pollution, and organic pollution. The proposed FOPCI integrates six characteristics, namely pH, Cl^?, SO₄ ^2?, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG) values into a readily understandable scale. The FOPCI is developed by using the Fuzzy Inference System Toolbox available in MATLAB in two steps, in which during the first step, three sub-indices, namely fuzzy pH compliance index, fuzzy salt compliance index, and fuzzy organic compliance index are developed. It is then processed in the second stage to develop the FOPCI. Fuzzy rules are used to classify effluents quality into six categories based on the concentration of pollutant in the effluent, namely “Excellent Quality”, “Good Quality”, “Acceptable Quality”, “Moderately Polluting”, “Highly Polluting”, and “Extremely Polluting”. This linguistic classification using fuzzy logic will be helpful as a decision support system to provide an outline for the prioritization of plans for wastewater management based on the values of the indices developed.     

Contribution of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents to Nutrient Dynamics in Aquatic Systems: A Review

Excessive nutrient loading (considering nitrogen and phosphorus) is a major ongoing threat to water quality and here we review the impact of nutrient discharges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to United States (U.S.) freshwater systems. While urban and agricultural land uses are significant nonpoint nutrient contributors, effluent from point sources such as WWTPs can overwhelm receiving waters, effectively dominating hydrological characteristics and regulating instream nutrient processes. Population growth, increased wastewater volumes, and sustainability of critical water resources have all been key factors influencing the extent of wastewater treatment. Reducing nutrient concentrations in wastewater is an important aspect of water quality management because excessive nutrient concentrations often prevent water bodies from meeting designated uses. WWTPs employ numerous physical, chemical, and biological methods to improve effluent water quality but nutrient removal requires advanced treatment and infrastructure that may be economically prohibitive. Therefore, effluent nutrient concentrations vary depending on the particular processes used to treat influent wastewater. Increasingly stringent regulations regarding nutrient concentrations in discharged effluent, along with greater freshwater demand in populous areas, have led to the development of extensive water recycling programs within many U.S. regions. Reuse programs provide an opportunity to reduce or eliminate direct nutrient discharges to receiving waters while allowing for the beneficial use of reclaimed water. However, nutrients in reclaimed water can still be a concern for reuse applications, such as agricultural and landscape irrigation.     

PDW-Ⅱ型石油钻井污水处理机的研制与应用

本文介绍了PDW-Ⅱ型石油钻井污水处理机的开发研究及现场试验结果。该机采用一步絮凝沉淀的工艺过程，适用于低色度、低浊度石油钻井污水的处理。试验表明：处理后出水达到国家综合污水二级排放标准，可以排放或回用于井场。     

环境污染对农业生产的影响

农业和农村环境是人类生存、经济发展和社会安定的基础和根本保证。但是,随着经济的发展和人口的增长,各种工业废弃物和农用化学物质不断地涌入农业环境,使得农业环境的污染负荷增加,农业本身产生的污染问题也日益严重,农业环境正面临一系列严重的环境污染和生态破坏的问题。环境各个要素的污染都会影响正常的农业生产,主要介绍了大气污染、水污染、土壤污染的基本特征及其对农业生产的影响。     

Pollution performance of firms from pulp and paper industries

The water pollution emissions by 13 of the largest pulp and paper companies, developed on the basis of monthly reports filed with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by these companies, indicate a wide disparity in the amount of pollution discharged by them into the nation's waterways. Furthermore, the net discharge of pollution in waterways by all firms is positive, which indicates that all the firms in the study pollute the nation's waterways to some degree. Information presented in this study will be useful for public issues, such as evaluating the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act, government's water pollution policy and abatement strategy, and management's effectiveness in abating water pollution.     

Wastewater management in small- and medium-size enterprises: case studies

Wastewater management in small and medium-sized enterprises representing the chemical and food industries was investigated. The results showed that wastewater discharged from an ink-production factory was highly contaminated with organic pollutants. Anaerobic biological treatment followed by chemical coagulation using ferric chloride aided with lime proved to be very effective and produced an effluent that complied with national regulatory standard for wastewater discharge into public sewage network. Also, management of wastewater from a confectionery factory representing the food sector was carried out. Aerobic biological treatment using plastic-packed trickling filter proved to be an effective treatment method. However, application of in-plant control measures alleviated the requirement for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant. The applied pollution prevention and cleaner production measures involved good housekeeping, recovery of spent chocolate, modification of floor cleaning and installation of suction devices for the removal of sugar and starch powders. All improvement measures were documented by cost/benefit analysis.