PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS IN WATER QUALITY EVALUATION1

ABSTRACT: A Visual Perception Test, consisting of photographic slides of water sites, was designed to examine laymen's water quality perceptions. The slides were taken at five water sites where the level of visual pollution was artifically altered by the investigator. Analysis of variance indicated that the water sites were evaluated differently for each of five pollution levels. Increases in water discoloration and the quality of litter were viewed as increases in level of pollution. Laymen not only evaluated visually polluted sites lower for uses such as picnicking, but they also evaluated the quality of the actual water lower. Stepwise multiple regression indicated that a combination of water color, scenic beauty appreciation, quality of the surrounding environment and industry as a pollution source explained 73 percent of the variance in predicting Overall Pollution. Application of factor analysis simplified the variables to an Overall Pollution Factor and a Boating Use Factor.     

AREWIDE WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN AN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AREA1

ABSTRACT: A Section 208, Areawide Waste Treatment Management Project, is attempting to develop an implementable water quality management plan for an energy impacted area. Staff members and consultants are investigating point and nonpoint sources. On a short-term basis, population growth and construction will have a greater impact on water quality than strip mining.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTIONS IN THE DETERMINATION OF INDIAN WATER RIGHTS1

ABSTRACT The American Indian occupies a unique place in the federal system of government There are indications that this relationship will continue and that Indian reservations are at the threshold of economic development. As this occurs, the nature and extent of Indian water rights becomes more important to Indian and non-Indian alike. The determination of these rights is a matter of more than judicial decisions. To a large degree the determination of these rights will rest in the non-judicial arena and will be influenced by the perceptions of those rights held by Indians and water allocation officials, both state and federal. If the perceptions of these political actors are not congruent, then political conflict will occur as the rights become more important. To depend solely upon the judicial system to resolve these conflicts entails risks and costs to both Indians and to allocating officials. Indians are taking seriously the federal policy of Indian self-determination, and water allocation officials run decided risks in failure to realize this. An alternative suggested is to include Indians as consulting parties when decisions are being made that affect Indian interests.     

A REVIEW OF APPLICATION ISSUES OF THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT-MAIN WATER FORECASTING SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the processes that occurred during an application of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD)-MAIN water use forecasting system for the City of Salinas, California. The review includes an analysis of sources of available data, methods for estimating input data, calibration, and verification of the MWD-MAIN System, and an evaluation of the reliability of system output. We found that inexperienced users can have difficulty understanding the level of skill, knowledge, and amount of data that are required to produce reliable forecasts. Some of the issues associated with application of the MWD-MAIN System include the following:

• ? All input data needed for accurate forecasts simply are not available for many cities and towns.
• ? The data requirements are more extensive than many users anticipate.
• ? Substantial requirements for manipulation of input data produces opportunity for error that creates major time demands in troubleshooting.
• ? Calibration and verification for specific uses can be substantially more difficult than is readily apparent from the guidance manual.
• ? Independent validity checks need to be done to validate system output.
• ? If specified calibrating procedures do not produce reasonable results, reestimating slope coefficients is an option, but this requires resources and expertise that can easily exceed the limits of most users.

These are problems typical of most complex models. Reviews such as this can help users to appreciate the level of data required, and to use the MWD-MAIN System in a more effective and efficient manner.     

PLANNERS AS A PUBLIC IN WATER RESOURCES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROGRAMS1

This paper suggests a number of benefits in identifying urban and regional planners as a public in public participation programs of water resources planning studies. A perspective on public participation is presented. Recent trends and developing concepts are identified: emphasis on the need to coordinate urban and regional planning activities with water resources planning, increasing system complexity, the goals and objectives orientation of planning, planning for multi-objectives, the evaluation of a broader range of alternatives, and the consideration of water alternatives as only one set of measures to further society's aspirations. One way to assist in capitalizing on these trends is to seek out participation of those in other planning efforts who are involved in planning but on a different level. Because of their intimate knowledge of an areas history, growth and development, political climate, local perceptions of needs and desires, and major problems and issues they are able to contribute a great deal of insight in making the water resources planning effort more responsive at the local level. The paper describes one of the first major efforts at working-level public-planner contact which was carried out as part of the Susquehanna River Basin Study. A regional survey team comprised of an engineer and an economist from a federal agency and a state water resources planner met informally with planners, city managers, and local planning commissions to discuss issues related to water resources and the growth and development of local areas. This effort while only part of the overall public participation program yielded a number of benefits and if expanded and refined would be a very useful experience in other studies.     

INSTITUTIONAL INTERACTION IN METROPOLITAN WATER RESOURCE PLANNING1

ABSTRACT Methods of institutional coordination derived from the applied behavioral sciences have been useful in determining the policy planning, and implementation responsibilities that must be shared between local governments, watershed districts, and a regional planning body in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area. The confines of the traditional behavioral science models of organizations and institutional change processes, and the realities of administrative systems imbedded in political processes at both the local and state levels, have created conflicts between regional planners, watershed district staff and consultants, and municipal administrators. A conceptual framework based on work by Selznick on institutions was applied to two watershed districts, and the results evaluated for other research purposes as well as policy development for the 1973 Minnesota legislative session.     

REGIONAL IMPACT OF WATER RESOURCE INVESTMENTS IN A DEVELOPING AREA1

ABSTRACT: Regional development and industrialization patterns are investigated and related via regression analysis to water resource investments for the island of Puerto Rico. Although results of this study indicate such investments have little immediate or short-term impact, significant relationships and variations in regional responses appear over longer time periods. This is shown by applying a variation of Zellner's method of performing seemingly unrelated regressions jointly. By this method, subsets of parameter coefficients of specific economic variables were restricted across regional equations while unrestricted coefficients were interpreted as explaining systematic regional variations in response to public investment. Regional differences, obtained by using this method, are frequently neglected when simply examining the overall development process. Among the more interesting results in terms of policy implications is the apparent significant relationship, over the period considered, between changes in the distribution of income and the pattern of water resource development.     

SUPPLEMENTATION OF MISSING VALUES IN WATER QUALITY DATA1

ABSTRACT The problem of estimating missing values in water quality data using linear interpolation and harmonic analysis is studied to see which one of these two methods yields better estimates for the missing values. The data used in this study consisted of midnight values of dissolved oxygen from the Ohio River collected over a period of one year at Stratton station. Various hypothetical cases of missing data are considered and the two methods of supplementing missing values are evaluated using statistical tests. The results indicate that when the percentage of missed data points exceeded ten percent of the total number in the original sample, harmonic analysis usually yielded better estimates for both the regularly and irregularly missed cases. For data that exhibit cyclic variation, examples of which are dissolved oxygen concentration and water temperature, harmonic analysis as a data generation technique appears to be superior to linear interpolation.     

REGIONAL DETECTION OF CHANGE IN WATER QUALITY VARIABLES1

ABSTRACT: The detection of change in a hydrologic varaible, particularly water quality, is a current problem. A method is presented for testing whether there has been a shift in the mean of a hydrologic variable based on the well established bivariate normal distribution theory. In this technique, the dependent, or target, and the independent, or control, variables are formed as weighted linear combinations of the mean values at a number of locations in a selected target and control area. The weighting factors are determined based on a mathematical programming technique which minimizes the conditional coefficient of variation thereby minimizing the number of observations required to detect a change of a preselected magnitude in the mean of the target area. The result is a situation where a savings in the number of observations required to detect a change is a consequence of adding more stations: the space-time tradeoff. Two applications of the technique are presented, the first using electrical conductivity (EC) data from two sets of river basins and the second using EC data from a set of basins as the target variable and annual discharge as the control. The results indicate that a significant savings in time can be achieved by using this method.     

A WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE SENEGAL RIVER BASIN1

A study was made to determine the impact on water quality due to water resource development in a large river basin in a semi-arid region of West Africa. Mathematical modeling and the examination of case histories were used to project impacts. The impacts associated with changes in water quality were shown to be slight assuming that modern basin and agricultural management practices are adopted. Analytical techniques normally implemented in studies of more highly developed basins are useful for analysis of water quality impacts in relatively undeveloped basins.     

MANAGEMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN RELEASES FROM SOUTHWESTERN IMPOUNDMENTS1

ABSTRACT. The objective of this investigation was to determine the selectivity of withdrawal which is possible in southwestern reservoirs. Two stratified flow solutions were examined to test their applicability under field conditions. Although both appeared capable of accurate prediction of the outflow velocity profile, the Bohan-Grace solution, which required less input data, was utilized to predict the chemical constituents of single and simultaneous releases from several southwestern impoundments. Prediction of outflow water quality was within fifteen percent for southwestern reservoirs as shallow as fifty-five feet. The withdrawal layer thickness for the subject Texas impoundments included the entire hypolimnion or epilmnion depending on outlet location. The sensitivity of the velocity profile to seasonal changes, reservoir discharge rate and withdrawal port dimensions also is illustrated.     

IMPACT OF DROUGHT ON QUALITY IN A NEW JERSEY WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT. New Jersey, together with other states in the northeast, was stricken with drought during 1961-66. The effect of this drought was most severe in the northern part of the State. The water quality of the Passaic River, which drains the urban, industrialized northeast, perhaps deteriorated the most among the major drainage systems. This river system is used as a raw-water source by 10 water suppliers. The impact of the drought upon the water supply of the Passaic Valley Water Commission, the most downstream of the basin's suppliers, which supplies an average of about 90 million gallons a day to more than 650,000 persons, is evaluated herein. The drought's impact on the raw-water quality is appraised by the comparison of before-and-after qualities of dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, biochemical-oxygen demand, turbidity, and hardness. For example, at the worst point during the drought, monthly average dissolved-solids content in the raw water were about 210 percent, hardness, about 167 percent, and biochemical-oxygen demand about 270 percent higher than antecedent values. In general, the study concludes that the drought produced a deterioration in both raw and finished water quality, and is estimated to have increased chemical-treatment costs during the drought by about $650,000.     

A REVIEW ON DECISION MODELS IN ECONOMICS OF REGIONAL WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT The literature on decision models in economics of regional water quality management is reviewed and classified.     

CUMULATIVE IMPACTS OF LANDUSE ON WATER QUALITY IN A SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: Water quality variables were sampled over 109 weeks along Coweeta Creek, a fifth-order stream located in the Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina. The purpose of this study was to observe any changes in water quality, over a range of flow conditions, with concomitant downstream changes in the mix of landuses. Variables sampled include pH, HCO₃^2?, conductivity, NO₃^?_?-N, NH₄⁺-N, PO₄^3?-P, C1^?-, Na, K, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, SO₄^2?, 5iO₂, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, total and fecal coliform, and focal streptococcus. Landcover/landuse was interpreted from 1:20,000 aerial photographs and entered in a GIS, along with information on total and paved road length, building location and density, catchment boundaries, hydrography, and slope. Linear regressions were performed to relate basin and near-stream landscape variables to water quality. Consistent, cumulative, downstream changes in water quality variables were observed along Coweeta Creek, concomitant with downstream, human-caused changes in landuse. Furthermore, larger downstream changes in water quality variables were observed during stormflow when compared to baseflow, suggesting cumulative impacts due to landscape alteration under study conditions were much greater during storm events. Although most water quality regulations, legislation, and sampling are promulgated for baseflow conditions, this work indicates they should also consider the cumulative impacts of physical, chemical, and biological water quality during stormflow.     

IMPACTS OF RESIDENTIAL WATER REUSE IN THE TUCSON AREA1

ABSTRACT: Groundwater pumping constitutes approximately 100 percent of the water supply in the Tucson Active Management Area (AMA), Arizona. The current annual overdraft approaches 250,000 acre-feet, but the goal of the AMA is to eliminate the overdraft by the year 2025. Urban water reuse, if implemented by only 30 percent of the area's projected population, would reduce the annual ground-water overdraft by 25,000 acre-feet.     

ANALYSIS OF NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN WATER PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The growing demands by the public for a more active role in planning have recently generated considerable interest among researchers and planners in the subject of public involvement techniques. Numerous surveys have found that standard public participation techniques (e.g., public hearings) by themselves are considered inadequate. Several techniques that have potential for overcoming some of the limitations of standard public involvement techniques have recently been developed. This paper describes several of these new techniques and analyzes each of them in terms of their potential utility in water resources planning.     

DATA REQUIREMENTS OF A WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: Routine data collection currently consumes a large amount of the total resources devoted to water quality management. All too often data collection becomes an end in itself, with little thought given to the purpose of the data collection. The problem generally stems from a lack of proper routine surveillance system design and a failure on the part of the designers to initially identify the data needs of the management program. This study attempts, in a general way, to delineate the data needs of a water quality management program. This first required an identification of the activities involved in water quality management. The activities were then discussed in terms of the types of information needed to successfully complete their assigned tasks. Several detailed examples are given. The results of the discussion are summarized and several strategies are proposed to relate the results to surveillance system design.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMBINED WATER QUALITY INDEX1

ABSTRACT: Use-oriented benefits and treatment costs analysis has been incorporated into a water quality index to show an economically optimized concentration for the treatment of the pollutants and the resulting water quality. This combined water quality index can be used in decisionmaking at the federal and local government levels. Five major pollutants, i.e., coliforms, nitrogen, phosphorus, suspended solids, and detergent, have been considered for the municipal waste water. With each higher level of improvement the treatment costs increase accordingly and the benefits associated with the reuse of this treated waste water will increase too but not for the nutrient removal in agricultural use. The optimal concentration is determined when the marginal costs equal the marginal benefits. The combined water quality index is the combination of the maximum net benefits and the water quality index of the optimized residual concentrations. This water quality index is zero dollars for the Tucson region in this study. The possible reclaimed use of municipal waste water is for agricultural irrigation and recreational lakes for the Tucson region.     

ENFORCEMENT LIMITATIONS IN WATER QUALITY CONTROL1

The Federal role in the enforcement of water quality requirements is of recent development. It began with the enactment in 1956 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as permanent law. It has been expanded by successive amendments to the Act to cover the pollution of navigable as well as interstate waters which endangers the health or welfare of persons, and to cover violations of water quality standards established for interstate waters. Two different enforcement procedures are prescribed in the law to be followed in the two types of enforcement actions. While questions have arisen of jurisdiction, States' rights, and disregard or duplication of local efforts, such questions do not lastingly impede the exercise of Federal enforcement authority and are of value in establishing a body of precedents. Limitations have their basis in the statutory distinctions between interstate and intrastate pollution which govern the application of the enforcement authority, even though a case of intrastate pollution may be as serious or more serious than a case of interstate pollution. An additional limitation results from the statutory time intervals between procedural stages in an action. Lack of data is a limitation but can always be overcome and at most causes delay. State laws which protect the confidentiality of required reports are more of a limitation. Investigative teams may obtain the needed information, however, for consideration in public meetings. Public support for effective water quality control measures, especially enforcement, and for the expenditures needed to enhance the environment, is widespread. Such support may be instrumental in modifying or eliminating existing statutory limitations.     

WATER QUALITY IN MOUNTAIN RECREATIONAL AREAS1

ABSTRACT: Several seasons of water quality study in the eastern Sierra Nevada have provided much useful information. One study element focused in detail on a representative drainage: Bishop Creek, from sampled locations at 12,800 feet to the Owens River at 4,000 feet. Sub-studies ranged from geohydrology, through chemical and bacterial quality, to benthic ecology. A coordinated study also was made of spatial patterns of use. A second element focused on non-point source monitoring the length of the Inyo National Forest. From physical, chemical, and bacterial standpoints, water quality is generally very good. Strains of pathogenic bacteria have been confirmed, and substantial further work to establish the importance of their presence is needed. Recreational use survey results have been analyzed to produce a methodology permitting management of the resource as needed. In addition, basic policy recommendations to easily minimize risk have been developed.