OPTIMIZATION MODELING OF A NEW FACILITY FOR THE CALIFORNIA STATE WATER PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: A non-linear optimization model is applied to the California State Water Project (SWP) and portions of the Central Valley Project (CVP). The model accounts for the major hydrologic, regulatory, and operational features of both projects. The model maximizes long-term SWP yields over a 70-year period, using a quarterly time step. The potential for increased yield associated with a proposed facility improvement is evaluated with the model. The proposed facility is an extension of the Folsom-South Canal, which would allow water to be conveyed from the American River below Folsom Reservoir into New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River or into the California Aqueduct. Model results indicate that extension of the Folsom-South Canal has the potential to increase SWP yields by 13 percent.     

Consequences of communal gall occupation and a test for kin discrimination in the aphid Tamalia coweni (Cockerell) (Homoptera: Aphididae)

This study investigated the consequences of communal gall induction on individual and group fitness in the aphid Tamaliacoweni. The possibilities that kin discrimination and foundress density are factors favoring communal gall occupation were examined. Clonally produced aphid foundresses were collected to create two treatments: clonal groups and groups of less closely related individuals. These were confined on suitable host plant tissue to compare their respective propensities towards communal behavior. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of communal gall occupation; therefore, active kin discrimination by T.coweni foundresses apparently does not play a role in their communal behavior, within the context of this experiment. In a second experiment, aphid foundress density on the host plant was manipulated in three treatments and was correlated with the frequency of communal gall occupation. Individual fitness was inversely related to the mean number of foundresses per gall. These results suggest that communal gall occupation does not necessarily represent mutual cooperation but may instead be the outcome of competition for limited gall sites on the host plant. However, natural selection at the clonal level may favor communal gall occupation under the conditions of resource limitation and high within-group relatedness. Received: 26 September 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 March 1998     

The development of effects-based air quality management regimes

This paper considers the evolution of attempts to control and manage air pollution, principally but not exclusively focussing upon the challenge of managing air pollution in urban environments. The development and implementation of a range of air pollution control measures are considered. Initially the measures implemented primarily addressed point sources, a small number of fuel types and a limited number of pollutants. The adequacy of such a source-control approach is assessed within the context of a changing and challenging air pollution climate. An assessment of air quality management in the United Kingdom over a 50-year timeframe exemplifies the range of issues and challenges in contemporary air quality management. The need for new approaches is explored and the development and implementation of an effects-based, risk management system for air quality regulation is evaluated.     

Element immobilization in refuse incinerator ashes by solidification in glass, ceramic or cement

Incineration of municipal refuse results in the production of massive quantities of fly ash and bottom ash. Toxic elements in the original refuse may be concentrated up to 40-fold in the resultant ash. There is concern that burial of such ash in landfills could result in leaching of these elements downward into groundwater. In this study, refuse ashes were incorporated into glass, ceramic and cement composites to immobilize such toxic elements. The EP Toxicity Test (1986) was used to show that extraction of such elements by simulated acid rain is effectively blocked in these new solid materials.     

EuroBionet: a pan-European biomonitoring network for urban air quality assessment

EuroBionet, the 'European Network for the Assessment of Air Quality by the Use of Bioindicator Plants', is an EU-funded cooperative project currently consisting of public authorities and scientific institutes from 12 cities in 8 countries. In 2000, the bioindicator plants tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum Bel W3), poplar (Populus nigra 'Brandaris'), spiderwort (Tradescantia sp. clone 4430), Italian rye grass (Lolium multiflorum italicum) and curly kale (Brassica oleracea acephala) were exposed to ambient air at 90 monitoring sites according to standardised methods. Visible injuries and growth parameters were assessed and the accumulation of toxic substances in leaves determined. The exposure of tobacco resulted in a gradient with low levels of ozone-induced foliar injury in N and NW Europe, and medium to high values in the southern and central regions. The results of heavy metal and sulphur analyses in rye grass samples generally showed low to very low sulphur and low to medium heavy metal concentrations in leaves. In some cities, however, local hot spots of heavy metal contamination were detected. Analyses of the PAH contents in curly kale leaves gave low to medium values, with locally elevated levels at traffic-exposed sites.     

Effects of cadmium on sediment processing on members of the Capitella species-complex

The effect of cadmium on sediment processing by laboratory-cultured specimens of Capitella sp I and Capitella sp B was investigated. Specimens were exposed to 0, 60, 90 and 140 microg Cd g(-1) dry weight sediment for a 10 day period (two census days) to observe effects of cadmium on their feeding activity. Under unstressed conditions, Capitella sp I specimens were larger, had higher biomass and produced more fecal pellets than Capitella sp B. Cadmium concentrations had no effect on pellet production and body mass of the studied populations. However, cadmium exposure time significantly affected Capitella sp B pellet production and body mass of both populations following different trends: after 10 days of exposure, the average processed sediment per unit worm mass decreased in Capitella sp I but increased in Capitella sp B. The latter population did not reduce its feeding activity in the presence of cadmium maybe related to the fact that it is derived from a highly polluted environment. This study has shown an unimpaired response of Capitella sp I and Capitella sp B to cadmium in their sediment processing activity, which indicates the potential importance of this species complex in the trophic transfer of metals from sediments to other marine organisms.     

Single-laboratory evaluation and modification of U.S. EPA methods 7470 and 7471 for the determination of mercury in aqueous and solid hazardous wastes

The current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) protocols for mercury determinations in aqueous and solid waste samples (SW-846 Methods 7470 and 7471) using recirculating cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) have been evaluated. The U.S. EPA methods are not sufficiently flexible to permit special quality control (QC) measures, have limited detectability for low-level mercury concentrations, and are plagued by spectral interferences caused by the nonspecific absorption of primary mercury radiation by volatile organic vapors. The U.S. EPA protocols have been modified in a single-laboratory study to facilitate additional QC measures, to enhance detectability for low-level mercury concentrations, and to eliminate nonspecific vapor absorption interferences. Volumetric manipulations for additional QC measures, if required, are facilitated by performing the sample digestions in Erlenmeyer flasks rather than in the current Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) reduction-aeration bottles. Typical manipulations for additional QC measures that are now feasible include dilution of concentrated samples and multiple aliquot sampling for post-digestion spike and replicate analyses. Instrument detectability is improved 10-fold by using a gas sparging bottle as a dedicated reduction-aeration vessel and a silver wool-amalgamation CV-AAS system operated in an open configuration. The on-line amalgamation/thermal desorption process of the modified CV-AAS system eliminates interfering water and organic matrix vapors prior to the mercury absorption measurement. Good accuracy and precision have been obtained with the amalgamation CV-AAS system for the analyses of four reference sediment materials. The amalgamation CV-AAS measurements on the reference sediment digests have been successfully performed at absolute mercury concentration levels that are only 1 to 4 times above the instrumental detection limit of the U.S. EPA recirculating CV-AAS method.