Determination of solid-liquid partition coefficients (Kd) for the herbicides isoproturon and trifluralin in five UK agricultural soils

Isoproturon and trifluralin are herbicides of contrasting chemical characters and modes of action. Standard batch sorption procedures were carried out to investigate the individual sorption behaviour of 14C-isoproturon and 14C-trifluralin in five agricultural soils (1.8-4.2% OC), and the soil solid-liquid partition coefficients (Kd values) were determined. Trifluralin exhibited strong partitioning to the soil solid phase (Kd range 106-294) and low desorption potential, thus should not pose a threat to sensitive waters via leaching, although particle erosion and preferential flow pathways may facilitate transport. For isoproturon, soil adsorption was low (Kd range 1.96-5.75) and desorption was high, suggesting a high leaching potential, consistent with isoproturon being the most frequently found pesticide in UK surface waters. Soil partitioning was directly related to soil organic carbon (OC) content. Accumulation isotherms were modelled using a dual-phase adsorption model to estimate adsorption and desorption rate coefficients. Associations between herbicides and soil humic substances were also shown using gel filtration chromatography.     

Risky, aggressive, or emotional driving: addressing the need for consistent communication in research

Problem. Researchers agree that a consistent definition for aggressive driving is lacking. Such definitional ambiguity in the literature impedes the accumulation of accurate and precise information, and prevents researchers from communicating clearly about findings and implications for future research directions. This dramatically slows progress in understanding the causes and maintenance factors of aggressive driving. Summary. This article critiques prevailing definitions of driver aggression and generates a definition that, if used consistently, can improve the utility of future research. Pertinent driving behaviors have been variably labeled in the literature as risky, aggressive, or road rage. The authors suggest that the term “road rage” be eliminated from research because it has been used inconsistently and has little probability of being clarified and applied consistently. Instead, driving behaviors that endanger or have the potential to endanger others should be considered as lying on a behavioral spectrum of dangerous driving. Three dimensions of dangerous driving are delineated: (a) intentional acts of aggression toward others, (b) negative emotions experienced while driving, and (c) risk-taking. Impact on Industry. The adoption of a standardized definition for aggressive driving should spark researchers to use more explicit operational definitions that are consistent with theoretical foundations. The use of consistent and unambiguous operational definitions will increase the precision of measurement in research and enhance authors' ability to communicate clearly about findings and conclusions. As this occurs over time, industry will reap benefits from more carefully conducted research. Such benefits may include the development of more valid and reliable means of selecting safe professional drivers, conducting accurate risk assessments, and creating preventative and remedial dangerous driving safety programs.     

IMPROVEMENT OF LEACHATE PREDICTION THROUGH MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LAYERS1

ABSTRACT: Existing leachate prediction models over- or underestimate leachate generation by up to three orders of magnitude. Practical experiments show that channeled flow in waste leads to rapid discharge of large leachate volumes and heterogeneous moisture distributions. In order to more accurately predict leachate generation, leachate models must be improved. To predict moisture movement through waste, the one-domain water balance model HELP, and two-domain PREFLO, are tested. Experimental waste and leachate flow values are compared with model predictions. When calibrated with experimental parameters, the HELP model yields reasonable predictions of cumulative leachate flow and PREFLO provides estimates of breakthrough time. In the short term, field capacity has to be reduced to 0.12 and effective storage and hydraulic conductivity of the waste must be increased to 0.2 and 2.2 cm/s respectively. In the long term, a new modeling approach must be developed to adequately describe the moisture movement mechanisms.     

Sustainable environmental careers and industries in the reengineering/EMS era

Environmental business and environmental professionals within industry will face unprecedented challenges in the late 1990s. The strategies of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) will require integrating environmental processes into mainstream business systems and reducing the role for “pure” environmental processes. This article describes some of the new skills that employees and consultants will need to learn in order to provide value to the customer's core business.     

A prototype expert system for fishway design

The design of structures for fish passage in rivers and streams provides an opportunity to apply expert system concepts to a design problem. Fishways contribute to the sustainable development of water resources projects by providing a path that allows fish migrations to be maintained. A prototype expert system (FDES) has been developed to recommend the most suitable fishway type for given design conditions. A recommendation is provided on the basis of fishway hydraulics, fish passage performance, and cost requirements. Fishway design demands expertise in various scientific disciplines such as hydrology, hydraulics, and fish biology. Expert system technology may be used to reduce design time requirements and to serve as a teaching aid to inexperienced engineers by organizing and accessing the cumulative knowledge of the most experienced designers. The rule-based expert system development tool, VP-Expert, supplies the backward chaining control structure for accessing the knowledge within the prototype.     

Application of a Sediment Quality Index to the Lower Laurentian Great Lakes

A sediment quality index (SQI) was developed using an equation incorporating three elements; scope--the % of variables that did not meet guidelines; area frequency--the % of failed tests divided by the total number of tests in a group of sites; and amplitude - the magnitude by which failed variables exceeded guidelines. The SQI calculation produces a numerical score with a maximum value of 100 representing the highest sediment quality. A modified SQI was also developed using only the scope and amplitude elements, which computed a score per site with no grouping. The SQI was applied to assessment of sediment quality in Lakes Erie and Ontario using Canadian Federal and Ontario Provincial guidelines for 34 compounds, Spatial trends in sediment quality in both lakes reflected overall trends for most individual contaminant classes, including mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls. In Lake Erie, there was a trend toward lower SQI values from the eastern basin to the western basin, and from the northern area to the southern area of the central basin. Sediment quality in the eastern basin and the northern area of the central basin was classified as excellent (>95); sediments in other areas of Lake Erie ranged from fair to good. In Lake Ontario, the poorest sediment quality was associated with the three major depositional basins; sediment quality among the three basins was quite consistent. The SQI values based on all three elements (scope, frequency and amplitude) for the Niagara basin. Mississauga Basin and Rochester Basin were 67 (fair), 65 (fair) and 70 (fair), respectively. Comparison of SQI values for all lower lake basins showed generally poorer sediment quality in Lake Ontario, compared to Lake Erie.     

Saturated and Unsaturated Water Flow in Inclined Porous Media

This paper considers the two-dimensional saturated and unsaturated flow of water through inclined porous media, namely a waste dump or hill slope. Since the partial differential equation governing this water flow transforms from being parabolic to elliptic as the water flow varies from unsaturated to saturated, an iterative, finite differencing scheme is used to develop a numerical solution. The model can be used to investigate the effects that hill slope angle, depth of soil cover and hilltop width have on water accumulation in the dump and the time required for saturation to occur at different areas in the dump domain. The accuracy and reliability of the computer based solution is tested for two different boundary conditions – (1) no flow on all boundaries (i.e., the internal redistribution of soil moisture to steady state) and (2) a constant rainfall flux on the dump surface. Numerical studies then show the effects of changing the hill slope angle, depth of layer, and dump geometry on the flow characteristics in the dump.     

Book reviews

The Economics of Art and Culture: An American Perspective

James Heilbrun & Charles M. Gray

New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 378 pp., £14.95 pb

Building Cities that Work

Edmund Fowler

Montreal & Kingston, McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1992, 315 pp.

Interactive Decision Making: The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution

Liping Fang, Keith W. Hipel & D. Marc Kilgour

New York, Wiley, 1993, 221 pp., £49.50

The Politics of Nature: Explorations in Green Political Theory

Andrew Dobson & Paul Lucardie (Eds)

London, Routledge, 1993, 240 pp. + xv, £37.50

Urban Transport in Asia: An Operational Agenda for the 1990s, World Bank

Technical Paper No. 224

Peter Midgley

Washington, DC, The World Bank, 1994, 98 pp.

Landscape Ecology: Theory and Application, 2nd edition

Zev Naveh & Arthur Lieberman

New York, Springer‐Verlag, £34.50     

The Role of Biological Indicators in a State Water Quality Management Process

State water quality agencies are custodians of water quality management programs under the Clean Water Act of which the protection and restoration of biological integrity in surface waters is an integral goal. However, an inappropriate reliance on chemical/physical stressor and exposure data or administrative indicators in place of the direct measurement of ecological response has led to an incomplete foundation for water resource management. As point sources have declined in significance, the consequences of this flawed foundation for dealing with the major limitations to biological integrity (nonpoint sources, habitat degradation) have become more apparent. The use of biocriteria in Ohio, for example, resulted in the identification of 50% more impairment than a water chemistry approach alone and other inconsistencies of a flawed monitoring foundation are illustrated in the national 305(b) report statistics on waters monitored, aquatic life use attainment, and habitat degradation. Biological criteria (biocriteria) incorporates the broader concept of water resource integrity to supplement the roles of chemical and toxicological approaches and reduces the likelihood of making overly optimistic estimates of aquatic life condition. A carefully conceived ambient monitoring approach comprised of biological, chemical, and physical measures ensures all relevant stressors to water resource integrity are identified and that the efficacy of administrative actions can be directly measured with environmental results. New multimetric indices, such as the IBI, ICI, and BIBI represent a significant advancement in aquatic resource characterization that have allowed the inclusion of biological information into many States water quality management programs. Ohio adopted numerical biocriteria in the Ohio water quality standards regulations in May 1990 and, through multiple aquatic life uses that reflect a continuum of biological condition, represents a tiered approach to water resource management. Biocriteria provide the impetus and opportunity to recognize and account for natural, ecological variability in the environment, something which previously was been lacking in state water quality management programs. The upper Great Miami River in Ohio illustrates a case study where bioassessment data documented the efficacy of efforts to permit, fund, and construct municipal treatment systems in restoring aquatic life. In contrast, in the Mahoning River similar administrative actions were inadequate to restore aquatic life in an environment with severe sediment contamination and impacts from combined sewer overflows. A biocriteria-based goal of restoring 75% of aquatic life uses by the year 2000 in Ohio has led to the use of biological data to identify trends and forecast the status and the causes and sources of impairment to Ohio streams, an effort that should affect the strategic focus of our water resource management efforts. A biocriteria-based approach has profoundly influenced strategic planning and priority setting, water quality based permitting, water quality standards, basic monitoring and reporting, nonpoint source assessment, and problem discovery within Ohio EPA.     

What are the implications of sea-level rise for a 1.5, 2 and 3 °C rise in global mean temperatures in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and other vulnerable deltas?

Even if climate change mitigation is successful, sea levels will keep rising. With subsidence, relative sea-level rise represents a long-term threat to low-lying deltas. A large part of coastal Bangladesh was analysed using the Delta Dynamic Integrated Emulator Model to determine changes in flood depth, area and population affected given sea-level rise equivalent to global mean temperature rises of 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 °C with respect to pre-industrial for three ensemble members of a modified A1B scenario. Annual climate variability today (with approximately 1.0 °C of warming) is potentially more important, in terms of coastal impacts, than an additional 0.5 °C warming. In coastal Bangladesh, the average depth of flooding in protected areas is projected to double to between 0.07 and 0.09 m when temperatures are projected at 3.0 °C compared with 1.5 °C. In unprotected areas, the depth of flooding is projected to increase by approximately 50% to 0.21–0.27 m, whilst the average area inundated increases 2.5 times (from 5 to 13% of the region) in the same temperature frame. The greatest area of land flooded is projected in the central and north-east regions. In contrast, lower flood depths, less land area flooded and fewer people are projected in the poldered west of the region. Over multi-centennial timescales, climate change mitigation and controlled sedimentation to maintain relative delta height are key to a delta’s survival. With slow rates of sea-level rise, adaptation remains possible, but further support is required. Monitoring of sea-level rise and subsidence in deltas is recommended, together with improved datasets of elevation.