Scientist and Policy-Maker Response Types and Times in Suburban Watersheds

Differences between scientist and policy-maker response types and times, or the “how” and “when” of action, constrain effective water resource management in suburbanizing watersheds. Policy-makers are often rushed to find a single policy that can be applied across an entire, homogeneous, geopolitical region, whereas scientists undertake multiyear research projects to appreciate the complex interactions occurring within heterogeneous catchments. As a result, watershed management is often practiced with science and policy out of synch. Meanwhile, development pressures in suburban watersheds create changes in the social and physical fabric and pose a moving target for science and policy. Recent and anticipated advances in the scientific understanding of urbanized catchment hydrology and pollutant transport suggest that management should become increasingly sensitive to spatial heterogeneities in watershed features, such as soil types, terrain slopes, and seasonal watertable profiles. Toward this end, policy-makers should encourage funding scientific research that characterizes the impacts of these watershed heterogeneities within a geopolitical zoning and development framework.     

Landscape change: Perceptions and physical measures

This paper addresses questions of affective responses of residents of rural Arizona to changes in proximate community and riparian landscapes and the congruence of their perceptions of change with physical measures of change in those landscapes. Based on findings and concepts from previous studies, perceptions of change were assessed using a mail survey. Physical measures of land use and vegetation change were obtained from aerial photography for two points in time spanning approximately 13 years and were analyzed using a geographic information system. Significant differences were found in perceptions of change in the community and riparian landscapes. In contrast with previous findings, a majority of respondents found the changes as either improving or having no effect on landscape quality. Those who were more frequent users of the riparian landscape tended to be more aware of changes in it. The findings also suggest challenges for planners and resource managers working in rural areas adjacent to riparian landscapes.     

DROUGHT INDICATED IN CARBON-13/CARBON-12 RATIOS OF SOUTHWESTERN TREE RINGS1

ABSTRACT: Stomatal closure during periods of moisture deficiency should theoretically lead to elevated ¹³C/¹²C ratios as reduction of available CO₂ leads to diminished photosynthetic discrimination against ¹³C in favor of ¹²C. Stable-carbon isotope ratio chronologies developed from 5-yr tree-ring groups at 17 sites in six southwestern states were tested for a drought relationship by first fitting a spline curve to each chronology to remove the long-term trend and calculating indices as the ratio of actual to spline curve value. The time series of “Del Indices” so developed are significantly correlated with 5-yr mean Palmer Hydrological Drought Indices (post-1930 period) and reconstructed July Palmer Drought Severity Indices from respective areas. Overall, in the period since 1790, the driest pentads were 1900–04 and 1960–64, whereas the wettest were 1980–84 and 1915–19. Maps of drought represented for two pentads seem to be reasonable representations, although spatial correlations of Del Indices with PHDI were generally not significant. These Del Index drought reconstructions may provide a useful measure of past physiological response to drought (stomatal closure), although the present cost of analysis would prevent this from being a routine method.     

IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES OF A DOLOMITE AQUIFER IN NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS1

ABSTRACT: Irrigation development of the dolomite aquifer in eastera Kankakee and northern Iroquois Counties, Illinois, is extensive and increasing. Interruptions of domestic supplies have been reported with increasing frequency during the 1980's. To address this issue, a regional assessment of the ground-water resources of the region was conducted in 1987 and 1988. Options for managing the dolomite aquifer were also investigated. Hydrogeology of the dolomite aquifer was determined using five aquifer tests. Tranamissivity values of the dolomite aquifer ranged from 14,000 to 50,000 gpd/ft (168 to 600 m³/m/day). Storage coefficients were between 0.0001 and 0.0002, within the range of a confined (artesian) aquifer. Based on flow-net analyses, recharge of the dolomite aquifer ranged from 85,000 to 285,000 gpd/mi² (124.4 to 417.0 m³/day/km²). Water levels of the dolomite aquifer were mapped during five periods in 1987 and 1988 by measuring up to 226 wells completed in the dolomite aquifer. Maximum regional water-level declines because of irrigation pumpage were 44 feet (13.4 m) in 1987 and 72 feet (21.9 m) during the drought of 1988. Based on ground-water use data, precipitation records, and hydrogeologic information, the magnitude of water-level declines can be attributed more to differing hydrogeologic conditions than to pumpage or climatic changes. Existing ground-water management methods for resolving conflicts over the ground-water resources of the study area are reviewed and alternative management options explored.     

GEOLOGIC INFERENCE FROM “FLOW NET” TRANSMISSIVITY DETERMINATION: THREE CASE STUDIES1

A graphical inverse method for determining the regional transmissivity distribution was applied to three field problems. The study areas were the Hanford Site, Washington; the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colorado; and the Nevada Test Site, Nevada. This method can aid in flow system conceptualization by revealing the location of bedrock controls for groundwater flow. It is a valuable tool for aiding the hydrogeologist in asking questions about the nature of trends in the pattern of transmissivity values. Quantitative estimates of regional transmissivities can be used as starting points for further parameter refinement. Sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation shows that quantitative estimates of transmissivity can be obtained when measurement error in the hydraulic head does not cause a large error in the hydraulic gradient.     

VARIABILITY IN THERMAL STRATIFICATION IN A RESERVOIR1

ABSTRACT: The thermal stratification characteristics of a flow-augmentation reservoir, Round Valley Reservoir, New Jersey, and attendant driving conditions were documented and analyzed for portions of three years. Substantial differences in the thermal stratification regime of the reservoir occurred in response to the documented changes in meteorological, operating, and light penetration conditions. The features of stratification that were affected included: the depth of the upper mixed layer, the average temperature of the epilimnion, the temperature gradient in the metalimnion, and the average temperature in the hypolimnion.     

A TAU-LIKE TEST FOR TREND IN THE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE CENSORING POINTS1

ABSTRACT: A common problem arises in testing for trends in water quality when observations are reported as “less than detection limit.” If a single detection limit is used for the entire study, existing non-parametric statistical methods, modified for ties, are applicable. If, however, the detection limit varies during the course of the study, resulting in multiple detection limits, then the commonly used trend detection methods are not appropriate. A statistic similar to Kendall's tau, but based on expected ranks, is proposed. Monte Carlo simulations show that the normal approximation to the distribution of this statistic is quite good, even for small samples and a large proportion of censored observations. The statistic is also shown to have greater power than the ad-hoc method of treating all observations less than the target censored observation as tied.     

Woody plant roots fail to penetrate a clay-lined landfill: Managment implications

In many locations, regulatory agencies do not permit tree planting above landfills that are sealed with a capping clay, because roots might penetrate the clay barrier and expose landfill contents to leaching. We find, however, no empirical or theoretical basis for this restriction, and instead hypothesize that plant roots of any kind are incapable of penetrating the dense clays used to seal landfills. As a test, we excavated 30 trees and shrubs, of 12 species, growing over a clay-lined municipal sanitary landfill on Staten Island, New York. The landfill had been closed for seven years, and featured a very shallow (10 to 30-cm) soil layer over a 45-cm layer of compacted grey marl (Woodbury series) clay. The test plants had invaded naturally from nearby forests. All plants examined—including trees as tall as 6 m—had extremely shallow root plates, with deformed tap roots that grew entirely above and parallel to the clay layer. Only occasional stubby feeder roots were found in the top 1 cm of clay, and in clay cracks at depths to 6 cm, indicating that the primary impediment to root growth was physical, although both clay and the overlying soil were highly acidic. These results, if confirmed by experimental research should lead to increased options for the end use of many closed sanitary landfills.     

FREQUENCY-DURATION ANALYSIS OF DISSOLVED-OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN TWO SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN STREAMS1

ABSTRACT: Historically, dissolved-oxygen (DO) data have been collected in the same manner as other water-quality constituents, typically at infrequent intervals as a grab sample or an instantaneous meter reading. Recent years have seen an increase in continuous water-quality monitoring with electronic dataloggers. This new technique requires new approaches in the statistical analysis of the continuous record. This paper presents an application of frequency-duration analysis to the continuous DO records of a cold and a warm water stream in rural southwestern Wisconsin. This method offers a quick, concise way to summarize large time-series data bases in an easily interpretable manner. Even though the two streams had similar mean DO concentrations, frequency-duration analyses showed distinct differences in their DO-concentration regime. This type of analysis also may be useful in relating DO concentrations to biological effects and in predicting low DO occurrences.