CONSTRUCTING A PROBLEM SOLVING ENVIRONMENT TOOL FOR HYDROLOGIC ASSESSMENT OF LAND USE CHANGE1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes the integration of a comprehensive hydrological model known as the Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) into a problem solving environment (PSE) for watershed management. The original PSE concept was a structure providing web‐based access to a suite of models, including HSPF and other models of in‐stream hydrodynamics, biological impacts and economic effects, for the watershed‐wide assessment of alternative land use scenarios. The present paper describes only the HSPF integration into the PSE program. Example applications to the 148 square kilometer (57 square mile) Back Creek subwatershed in the upper Roanoke River system (1,479 square kilometers or 571 square miles) in southwest Virginia are used to illustrate important concepts and linkages between land development and hydrological change using hypothetical' what if'scenarios. The features of HSPF and its limitations in this context are discussed. The paper as such is a proof‐of‐concept paper and not a completion report. It is intended to describe the PSE tool building process rather than analysis of the many possible simulation outcomes. However, the dominance of raw imperviousness as a contributor to hydrograph response is apparent in all the PSE simulations described in this paper.     

MULTISCALE RIVER ENVIRONMENT CLASSIFICATION FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: River Environment Classification (REC) is a new system for classifying river environments that is based on climate, topography, geology, and land cover factors that control spatial patterns in river ecosystems. REC builds on existing principles for environmental regionalization and introduces three specific additions to the “ecoregion” approach. First, the REC assumes that ecological patterns are dependent on a range of factors and associated landscape scale processes, some of which may show significant variation within an ecoregion. REC arranges the controlling factors in a hierarchy with each level defining the cause of ecological variation at a given characteristic scale. Second, REC assumes that ecological characteristics of rivers are responses to fluvial (i.e., hydrological and hydraulic) processes. Thus, REC uses a network of channels and associated watersheds to classify specific sections of river. When mapped, REC has the form of a linear mosaic in which classes change in the downstream direction as the integrated characteristics of the watershed change, producing longitudinal spatial patterns that are typical of river ecosystems. Third, REC assigns individual river sections to a class independently and objectively according to criteria that result in a geographically independent framework in which classes may show wide geographic dispersion rather than the geographically dependent schemes that result from the ecoregion approach. REC has been developed to provide a multiscale spatial framework for river management and has been used to map the rivers of New Zealand at a 1:50,000 mapping scale.     

Public opinion and siting solid waste landfills in Kuwait

Siting municipal solid waste landfills in Kuwait had not considered public concerns about the location of such facilities. Kuwait Municipality has disposed urban waste in abandoned sand quarries for the past 20 years in an unplanned fashion. Due to this improper siting criteria, environmental and health problems have risen from old landfills that are located in residential areas. In an effort to help responsible decision-makers in assessing public support for siting landfills a structured, yet simple, questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of heads of households. Statistical techniques were employed to examine trends and relationships between the sample public responses concerning landfill siting criteria. The findings of the research indicated that a significant percentage of the responding sample did not know about the various landfill impacts and less than 50% were aware of the negative impacts of landfills on the public health and the environment. The visual appearance of the landfill scored the lowest impact in the opinion of the sample public while the most important aspect in siting a landfill appeared to be its economic consideration. The research findings also directed attention to the important role that the media could play in increasing public awareness. Results from the cross-classification analysis demonstrated the existence of differences in awareness levels according to age, nationality, martial status, education, and occupation of the responding sample. Statistically, these differences were significant at the 95% significance level, as supported by the test of the χ-square.     

Appropriate water supply and sanitation technology for developing countries in tropical monsoon climates

Summary In the past, the water supply and sewage services for the urban regions of developing countries have been provided, in the main, only for the more affluent areas of these cities. This paper, dealing especially with those countries with tropical monsoon climates, advocates the construction of more comprehensive systems.Experience drawn from a wide range of projects and a review of the relevant literature provokes the authors to emphasise the need for suitable manuals of appropriate technology for use in these developing countries. These manuals should provide a full set of environmental guidelines for the design of water supply and sewage/sanitation systems for use in these countries.Dr Harvey F. Ludwig is Chairman and Greg Browder is Environmental Engineer for SEATEC International Consulting Engineers, Bangkok, Thailand.     

Book reviews

Environment Systems and Decisions -     

A GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF WATER-RELATED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IN TEXAS, 1985–19911

ABSTRACT: Texans participate directly in water policy decision-making through a referendum process involving amendment of the state's constitution. Prior to 1985, Texans voted on eight amendments. Five of these were ratified (1957, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1976), and collectively resulted in the creation of the Water Development Fund, with an authorization level of $600 million, and the Texas Water Development Board, the organization charged with administering the fund. Three other amendments were defeated in 1969, 1976, and 1981 by ever-increasing margins. From 1985 to 1991, six additional amendments were proposed and subsequently ratified, resulting in a $1.8 billion increase in Water Development Fund authorization and the creation of an agricultural water conservation fund and bond insurance program. County-level electoral data for the 1985–1991 referenda were mapped to assess sectional and regional factors underlying public opinion regarding these water resource development and funding programs. Regional contrasts were most pronounced for the 1989 and 1991 referenda that targeted economically distressed areas across the state, particularly the colonias located along the Rio Grande, and the 1989 amendment that removed a time limit on the issuance of agricultural water conservation bonds. As a specific case study, the Texas experience could serve as a guide in California where similar constitutional restrictions require tax and spending programs to be approved by voters, and in other states that may be considering the development of similar state-level financial programs for water projects.     

LANDSAT MID-INFRARED DATA AND GIS IN REGIONAL SURFACE SOIL-MOISTURE ASSESSMENT1

ABSTRACT: Landsat satellite Thematic Mapper (TM) data were used to assess regional soil moisture conditions. The mid-infrared (MIR) data of TM band 7 were overlain onto four principal land-use categories (Agricultural/Irrigated, Urban/Clearings, Forest/ Wetlands, Water) using a geographic information system (GIS). M data were used to assess four qualitative surface soil-moisture conditions (water/very wet, wet, moist, and dry) within each land-use category of a 208,354 ha southwestern Florida study area. The MIR response was inversely related to the qualitative surface soil-moisture content. Integration of Landsat TM MIR data with land use through GIS appears to be a useful technique for high-resolution regional soil moisture assessment, and further research to reline this technique is recommended.     

Selecting islands and shoals for conservation based on biological and aesthetic criteria

Consideration of biological quality has long been an important component of rating areas for conservation. Often these same areas are highly valued by people for aesthetic reasons, creating demands for housing and recreation that may conflict with protection plans for these habitats. Most methods of selecting land for conservation purposes use biological factors alone. For some land areas, analysis of aesthetic qualities is also important in describing the scenic value of undisturbed land. A method for prioritizing small islands and shoals based on both biological and visual quality factors is presented here. The study included 169 undeveloped islands and shoals ⩽0.8 ha in the Thousand Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River, New York. Criteria such as critical habitat for uncommon plant and animal species were considered together with visual quality and incorporated into a rating system that ranked the islands and shoals according to their priority for conservation management and protection from development. Biological factors were determined based on previous research and a field survey. Visual quality was determined by visual diagnostic criteria developed from public responses to photographs of a sample of islands. Variables such as elevation, soil depth, and type of plant community can be used to classify islands into different categories of visual quality but are unsuccessful in classifying islands into categories of overall biological quality.