Resolving conflicting priorities in Ontario agriculture

Changes in global patterns of grain production have affected the profitability of commercial, cash-crop agriculture in North America. The current financial crisis has highlighted a perceived conflict between the priorities of (1) strengthening net farm profit, (2) maintaining the productive potential of the land base, (3) enhancing the health and cohesiveness of the agricultural community, and (4) addressing societal demands for safe foodstuffs. Reducing input costs by reducing the need for privately owned machinery can minimize the scale-dependence of agricultural practices, as illustrated with examples involving silage and intensively managed pasture in Ontario. This approach could improve farming opportunities for nontraditional, part-time farmers, and at the same time, create a niche for professional custom operators and managers. Enhancing the viability of nontraditional farm operations, a historically neglected component of the farming community, as well as commercial farms is viewed as one approach to sustaining and improving both the agricultural land base and the agricultural community. Applying resource-extensive rather than resource-intensive approaches to forage management reveals that these apparently divergent priorities are, in fact, interlocking pieces of the same puzzle.     

COLD-SHOCK RESISTANCE TO LARGEMOUTH BASS,BLUEGILL, AND CHANNEL CATFISH1

ABSTRACT: Juvenile specimens of largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish were tested to determine their ability to withstand abrupt temperature decreases simulating the environmental impact from a sudden shutdown of a nuclear reactor during the winter. Temperature reductions were administered over 2-hour and 24-hour periods to assess the importance of the rate of temperature change and hence the mitigative value of having a holding pond with a one-day retention time between the proposed cooling tower discharge and the receiving stream. Temperature decreases administered over a 2-hour period resulted in much greater mortality than decreases of the same magnitude administered over a 24-hour period. Thus, the value of a pond for mitigation from cold shock was substantiated. Results also indicated that adherence to the U.S. EPA temperature criteria for freshwater fish should provide adequate protection from cold shock.     

WATER POLICIES FOR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACF: Examination of a series of studies of the economically efficient water allocations in the Upper Colorado River, Yellowstone River, and Great Basins indicate that water is not a serious general physical constraint on the development of energy resources, so long as public institutions do not hinder the exchange of water rights in markets. Energy development will cause limited impacts on other water-using sectors, principally agriculture. There appears to be little reason to develop large-scale water storage facilities, even during periods of reduced water production. Water storage developments appear to be necessary only when institutional constraints severely restrict water rights markets and transfers.     

THE W-INDEX FOR RESIDENTIAL WATER CONSERVATION1

ABSTRACT: An index of residential water efficiency - a “W-Index” - can serve as a measure of effectiveness of water conservation features in the home. The index provides a calculated numerical value for each dwelling unit, derived from the number and kind of water-saving features present, including indoor and outdoor water savers and water harvesting or recycling systems. A W-Index worksheet, devised for on-site evaluation of single-family residences in the Tucson, Arizona, region shows that a nonconserving residence with all the water-using features would use 151,000 gallons per year or 148 gallons per capita per day (gpcpd), while the fully conserving model would use 35,300 gallons per year or 35 gpcpd and with water harvesting and graywater recycling systems would have a maximum W-Index of W-160. A Tucson water conservation demonstration home, Casa del Agua, received a rating of W-139, and field tests of about 30 homes in new Tucson subdivisions show values ranging from W-75 to W-100, indicating the incorporation of some water conservation in current new models. By adjustment of some climatic or water-use parameters, the W-Index format can be applied to various types of dwelling units or to other urban areas. The W-Index can be used by individual homeowners or builders to evaluate water efficiency of residential units, or by water providers or water management agencies as a device for promoting and achieving water conservation goals.     

DRY STREAM REACHES IN CARBONATE TERRANES: SURFACE INDICATORS OF GROUND-WATER RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: The method of identifying dry stream reaches in carbonate terrane as surface indicators of potential ground-water reservoirs offers a valuable exploration technique that is more rapid and less expensive than traditional exploration methods involving random test drilling. In areas where dry stream reaches occur, subsurface drainage successfully competes with surface drainage, and sheet-like dissolution openings have developed parallel to bedding creating the ground-water reservoir. The occurrence and hydraulic characteristics of such reservoirs are highly variable, as attested to by the wide range of well yields. Union Hollow in south-central Tennessee is the setting for a case study that illustrates the application of the dry stream reach technique. In this technique, dry stream reach identification is based on two types of readily acquired information: (1) remotely sensed black and white infrared aerial photography; and (2) surface reconnaissance of stream channel characteristics. Test drilling in Union Hollow subsequent to identification of the dry reach proved that a localized ground-water reservoir was present.     

EFFECTS OF RATE STRUCTURE KNOWLEDGE ON HOUSEHOLD WATER USE1

ABSTRACT: Socioeconomic determinants of individual household water use were estimated using regressions of these characteristics with actual household water use for winter and summer. Results were disaggregated between those consumers who were aware of an increasing block rate price structure and those who were not. Most of the informed group members believed that this price structure did result in significant reductions in water use. Nevertheless, overall water use was greater for the informed group. The determinants of water use were found to differ between informed and uninformed users as well as between winter and summer. The uninformed users were influenced by a larger set of variables in each season than the informed group. In winter, the informed group members with swimming pools and/or arid landscaping used less water than their uninformed counterparts. Summer water use increased with length of tenancy in home for the uninformed group but not for informed, while increasing with ownership for informed consumers.     

Some effects of teenagers' part-time employment: The quantity and quality of work make the difference

We investigated the associations of the quantity and quality of part-time employment with the school performance (amount of class cutting, homework, and average grades) and personal functioning (self-esteem and time use) of high-school students. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) working long hours would be associated with detrimental effects, but (b) the quality of employment would moderate these effects, such that employment quantity would be associated with detrimental effects only for low quality jobs. Data from 563 high school students (n = 233 in part-time employment) provided support for the hypotheses. Conceptual, practical and policy ramifications of these findings are considered.     

Developing and maintaining union commitment: A theoretical framework

This article presents a dynamic model of the process in which union commitment is developed and maintained. Central to the model is the fact that commitment occurs in a context of organizational rights which are provided by the union as well as organizational responsibilities or citizenship behaviors on the part of union members. Based on an integration of the literature on organizational citizenship behaviors, psychological contracts, and organizational socialization, specific hypotheses are proposed.     

Mercury cleanup: The commercial application of a new mercury removal/recovery technology

Efficient, economical treatment of mercury-contaminated soils and industrial wastes requires a treatment process that reduces mercury content to near background levels (<1 ppm) and recovers the removed mercury in pure recyclable form without producing liquid, solid, or gaseous secondary wastes. This article reviews the results achieved using a medium-temperature thermal desorption process developed and commercialized by Mercury Recovery Services, Inc. (MRS) that has successfully achieved these goals.