WATER SAVINGS FROM LAWN WATERING RESTRICTIONS DURING A DROUGHT YEAR,FORT COLLINS,COLORADO1

ABSTRACT: During the drought year of 1977, unusually low river flows during the summer caused the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, to institute lawn watering restrictions for six weeks as a conservation measure. Water use during the restriction period decreased 41 percent below the previous year. The effectiveness of the restrictions, however, has been unclear because abnormally wet weather also appeared to reduce evapotranspiration rates during the period the restrictions were in effect. The statistical analysis indicates that the reduction in water use due to lawn watering restrictions was 603 acre-feet and that abnormal weather reduced use by an additional 659 acre-feet during the same period. During a period of normal evapotranspiration rates, such restrictions would be expected to reduce Fort Collins municipal water usage by 19.7 percent.     

Approaches and initial findings of a state-sponsored research programme on population exposure to toxic substances

Summary Population exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment has become one of the most important, if not the most important, environmental issue of the 1980's. In response to finding high cancer mortality rates, the State of New Jersey organized an extensive program of research to determine public exposure to toxic substances in the environment. Three parts of that research are described. One focusing on toxic substances in the water has detected very low concentrations of many substances. These substances tend to be found in three distinct chemical groups: pesticides, light chlorinated hydrocarbons, and heavy metals. Gross pesticide contamination tends to occur in agricultural and forest areas; gross light chlorinated hydrocarbon pollution is in urban areas. The second component of the research is toxic substances in the air. Like the water studies, low levels of contamination have been found. Limited sampling to date has found groupings of ubiquitous organic chemicals in urban areas, two groups of specialized organic chemicals near industrial sites, and high lead levels near major highways. The third project is developing a computerized information bank about the use and disposal of 155 chemicals and will look for associations between industrial disposal practices and contamination of the environment.     

Brushland fire-management policies: A cross-impact simulation of southern California

A cross-impact simulation computer language, UW-KSIM, is presented as a potentially useful technique for assessing the consequences of resource policies. Cross-impact simulation is used to estimate trends in a set of variables that result from interactions produced from hypothesized relationships among the members of the set. This technique is illustrated with an example that simulates the likely impacts of a 20-year rotation burn policy in southern California's brushland watersheds and that compares the results to a simulated representation of the observed effects of the fire-exclusion policy. Simulated losses under the fire-exclusion policy were up to 300% higher than those produced by the rotation burn policy. Similarly, the simulated average area burned per year was reduced from 5.6% of the study area under the fire-exclusion policy to 2% of the study area under the rotation burn policy. A corresponding reduction in simulated appropriations for fighting wildfires was also demonstrated.     

IMPACT OF THERMAL STANDARDS ON POWER PLANT WATER CONSUMPTION1

Power plant water consumption (evaporative water loss) for various river temperature standards is presented for existing and proposed power plants located along the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Rivers in the MAPP geographical area. Thermodynamic and economic models are combined to evaluate the cooling related water consumption at various river thermal standards. The existing thermal standards and a number of other hypothetical thermal regulations including the extreme cases of no thermal standards and no allowable heated discharges are examined to show the dependence on thermal standards of power production related water consumption. A critical appraisal of the cost of thermal standards in terms of water consumption is thereby possible so that subjective assessments of the standards can proceed with full knowledge of the tradeoffs involved between the “water costs” of power production and environmental enhancement.     

SCS URBAN CURVE NUMBERS FROM A LANDSAT DATA BASE1

Estimating the Curve Numbers used in the Soil Conservation Service hydrologic models is a tedious and costly task. Recent advances in remote sensing and data processing have led to the development of readily available land cover data bases for many areas of the United States. This study evaluated the potential of using a Landsat data base to make the Curve Number estimation process more cost-effective and less tedious. Ten watersheds in the Washington, D.C., area were evaluated using a Landsat land cover data base developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Results showed that these data can be useful. Predictions can be improved if ancillary data on residential lot size are included. It was concluded that this type of data base must be examined carefully before implementation.     

PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND COST ESTIMATING FOR RESERVOIR PROJECTS1

ABSTRACT: In estimating the costs of a reservoir project, it is difficult to produce accurate costs without performing a detailed design and quantity takeoff. The computerized procedure presented in this article provides a method for determining these planning level costs quickly and easily, while maintaining reasonable accuracy.     

FIELD EVALUATION OF SOME PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT TECHNIQUES1

ABSTRACT: Public involvement in water resources planning is receiving much current attention, and there is a need to examine systematically how different public involvement techniques work in practice. The following techniques were among those used to involve the public in a recent Corps of Engineers’study of flooding on San Pedro Creek in Pacifica, California: a public workshop, citizen information bulletins (CIBs) and questionnaries. Interviews were held with 75 study participants to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques. The interviews indicated that various study participants felt positively about the particular workshop format employed and about the use of a communications specialist to train workshop leaders. There were mixed reactions to the effectiveness of the CIBs and questionnaires. Although many individual citizens felt that the CIBs and questionnaires were useful, some of the Corps planners felt that CIBs and questionnaires would only be “cost-effective” on large studies and/or where the questionnaire response rate was high. The interviews led to a number of specific suggestions regarding how the extent of public involvement could be increased in future water resources planning studies.     

EVALUATION OF A DEPTH PROPORTIONAL INTAKE DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC PUMPING SAMPLERS1

ABSTRACT: A depth proportional intake boom for portable pumping samplers was used to collect suspended sediment samples in two coastal streams for three winters. The boom pivots on the stream bed while a float on the downstream end allows debris to depress the boom and pass without becoming trapped. This equipment modifies point sampling by maintaining the intake nozzle at the same proportion of water depth regardless of stage. Data taken by pumping samplers with intakes mounted on the boom were compared with depth integrated hand samples. Pumped samples showed higher concentrations than depth integrated hand samples. Results suggested that cross-sectional sampling can give high precision with proper placement and calibration of a boom mounted intake.     

MONTANA'S EXPERIENCE IN RESERVING YELLOWSTONE RIVER WATER FOR INSTREAM BENEFICIAL USES - LEGAL FRAMEWORK1

ABSTRACT: The Yellowstone River historically has produced an ample supply of high quality water which is widely used for irrigation, municipal and industrial purposes, recreation, and fish and wildlife. Recently, energy companies have attempted to obtain water rights in the Yellowstone basin for energy conversion facilities in coal-rich southeastern Montana. Existing users fear that energy diversions will impair their rights, preclude expansion of present beneficial users, degrade water quality, and adversely effect fish and aquatic life. In response to these concerns, the Montana Legislature enacted several laws to regulate water appropriations in the Yellowstone River basin, including means by which state and federal agencies could apply for reservations of water for future beneficial uses. Thereafter, both the Montana Fish and Game Commission and the State Water Quality Bureau formally requested relatively large instream flows to protect fish and wildlife and to maintain water quality. This paper describes Montana's experience through December of 1977 with the administration of water in the Yellowstone basin under these laws; emphasis is placed on the major requests for instream flows. The final resolution of the reservation applications, and the related ramifications, will be discussed in a future paper.     

A RESERVOIR OPERATING MODEL WITH INORGANIC QUALITY CONSTRAINTS FOR THE TRUCKEE RIVER1

ABSTRACT: This study investigated low flow augmentation as a means of meeting inorganic water quality standards for the Truckee River at the California-Nevada state line. A digital inorganic water quality model was combined with a deterministic dynamic reservoir operating model in an iterative process which allowed the optimization of releases subject to selected inorganic water quality constraints as well as downstream demands. Results from model runs with varied flow and river loading data indicate that flow augmentation may be a feasible and relatively inexpensive way of meeting standards for this system except in time of severe drought.