AN ANTIDEGRADATION POLICY FOR PRESERVING SURFACE WATER QUALITY IN FLORIDA1

ABSTRACT: As part of its overall system for protecting aquatic systems from unnecessary degradation, the State of Florida provides special protection for water bodies of unusual importance. Such water bodies are designated as “Outstanding Florida Waters” (OFW5). New discharges to OFWs are possible only if certain stringent criteria are met. A new point source direct discharge to an OFW is usually not allowed if it would cause any lowering of ambient water quality. A new indirect discharge (upstream from an OFW boundary) may be allowed only if it would not significantly degrade the OFW. To date, the advantages of the OFW system have clearly outweighed the disadvantages, and OFW designations are helping to protect Florida's most valuable waters from additional degradation. Florida's system could be a useful model for other jurisdictions wanting to provide special protection to special water bodies.     

Restoring naturalness to national parks

National park resource management planning requires ecological information describing the objectives to be achieved. This information must be quantitative and unambiguous. Since most acts creating United States national parks, beginning with the Yellowstone National Park Act of 1872, specify that these parks should be maintained in a natural condition, resource management objectives for each national park must be defined in terms of quantitative standards of naturalness. Such quantitative standards of naturalness do not yet exist for any national park in the United States. Although this article focuses on US national parks, the same problem exists in national parks, reserves, and wilderness areas throughout the world. The physical evidence needed to develop quantitative standards of naturalness is rapidly disappearing because of the effects of management fires, wildfires, decomposition, successional changes, and other disturbances. Therefore, a nationwide rescue ecology program is recommended to recover as much remaining ecological information as possible before it is lost. This information is essential for developing quantitative standards to restore naturalness to national parks.     

Precursors of employee turnover: A multiple-sample causal analysis

Two models of the nature of linkages among precursors of voluntary turnover were examined using four distinct samples. A model which includes both job satisfaction and organizational commitment as exogenous variables leading to one's intention to resign was shown to provide results which support its usage in future research. Analyses of longitudinal data for precursors across two points in time, before turnover, however, provided only weak support for causality.     

Public opinion and interest group positions on open-space issues in Albuquerque,New Mexico,USA: Implications for resource management

The purpose of this research was to elicit and compare the open-space preferences of citizens and openspace experts in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. A randomly selected sample of 492 citizens and 35 open-space experts participated in a telephone survey during May 5–18, 1986. The following hypothesis was tested and used as a guideline for the study:HO1: There is no significant difference between respondents' status and preference for open space in Albuquerque, New Mexico.The hypothesis was rejected. Findings confirmed respondents' status affected preference for open space. Of the eight issues on which the citizen and expert groups were compared, five recorded significant differences in response profiles. The open-space expert group was significantly more supportive of using open space to accommodate offroad vehicle facilities, wildlife preserves, a citywide recreational trail, and a trail system along the arroyos and city ditches. The citizen sample was significantly more supportive of using open space to accommodate overnight camping facilities. Both groups equally supported using open space to accommodate an outdoor amphitheater, outdoor education facilities, and rafting, kayaking, and canoeing facilities.The finding indicated that expert preferences did not represent an aggregate of citizen preferences for managing open-space resources. Understanding both expert and citizen positions will facilitate decision-making processes and help resolve environmental disputes.     

Basic hydrologic studies for assessing impacts of flow diversions on riparian vegetation: Examples from streams of the eastern Sierra Nevada,California, USA

As the number of proposals to divert streamflow for power production has increased in recent years, interest has grown in predicting the impacts of flow reductions on riparian vegetation. Because the extent and density of riparian vegetation depend largely on local geomorphic and hydrologic setting, site-specific geomorphic and hydrologic information is needed. This article describes methods for collecting relevant hydrologic data, and reports the results of such studies on seven stream reaches proposed for hydroelectric development in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, USA. The methods described are: (a) preparing geomorphic maps from aerial photographs, (b) using well level records to evaluate the influence of streamflow on the riparian water table, (c) taking synoptic flow measurements to identify gaining and losing reaches, and (d) analyzing flow records from an upstream-downstream pair of gages to document seasonal variations in downstream flow losses. In the eastern Sierra Nevada, the geomorphic influences on hydrology and riparian vegetation were pronounced. For example, in a large, U-shaped glacial valley, the width of the riparian strip was highly variable along the study reach and was related to geomorphic controls, whereas the study reaches on alluvial fan deposits had relatively uniform geomorphology and riparian strip width. Flow losses of 20% were typical over reaches on alluvial fans. In a mountain valley, however, one stream gained up to 275% from geomorphically controlled groundwater contributions.     

AN EXAMINATION OF RELATIVE PERMEABILITY RELATIONS FOR TWO-PHASE FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA1

ABSTRACT: A key parameter in modeling two-phase flow phenomena is relative permeability. It is important to understand which variables influence relative permeability, especially since so few measurements of relative permeability have been made for typical contaminants at hazardous waste sites. This paper focuses on the effect of five variables on relative permeability: intrinsic permeability, pore-size distribution, viscosity ratio, interfacial tension, and wettability, by critically reviewing previously published relative permeability experiments. The wide variability in the functional relationship between relative permeability and saturation should be considered in attempts to model two-phase flow.     

PATTERNS OF WATERSHED MONTHLY RUNOFF1

ABSTRACT: Two dimensional sliding polynomials were adapted to pattern analysis of watershed monthly rainfall and runoff. Contours of runoff in the two-dimensional space of time and rainfall are constructed on a grid of 16 nodes whose values are determined by least squares. This method is form free, hence derived patterns are not biased to selected functional forms, but can directly represent the smoothed data. Values of the nodes are localized averages of the data constrained by required mathematical continuity across the grid of values. An advantage of the method is that the standard deviation can be calculated for each node, thus producing patterns of uncertainty of the deterministic component revealed by the data.     

INFILTRATION CAPACITY OF DISTURBED SOILS: TEMPORAL CHANGE AND LITHOLOGIC CONTROL1

ABSTRACT: The hydrologic character and response of disturbed land is controlled, to a large degree, by soil infiltration characteristics. Reconstructed soils on surface mines (minesoils) of different age (1 to 4 years old) are used to investigate infiltration rates on disturbed landscapes. The data consist of soil/surface properties and runoff volumes fit to the Horton infiltration equation. Infiltration rates on newly reclaimed minesoils are an order of magnitude lower than adjacent, undisturbed soil. Few significant correlations exist between soil/surface properties and infiltration parameters for newly reclaimed soils. However, the correlation between infiltration and minesoil characteristics increases with soil age. Multiple regressions are used to explore relationships between infiltration parameters and soil/surface properties for each soil age. Regression models of 30-min infiltration volume and the steady-state rate consistently include the percent silt and clay, slope, bulk density, and vegetation. Mean infiltration volumes at different mines are equal in the first year following reclamation, but become significantly different with surface age. The magnitude of the increase is controlled by the soil texture, vegetation, slope, and bulk density. Soil characteristics are determined ultimately by the overburden lithology and its effect on mineralogy and grain size during physical redistribution of soil particles and initial weathering.     

A conceptual framework for assessing cumulative impacts on the hydrology of nontidal wetlands

Wetlands occur in geologic and hydrologic settings that enhance the accumulation or retention of water. Regional slope, local relief, and permeability of the land surface are major controls on the formation of wetlands by surface-water sources. However, these landscape features also have significant control over groundwater flow systems, which commonly play a role in the formation of wetlands. Because the hydrologic system is a continuum, any modification of one component will have an effect on contiguous components. Disturbances commonly affecting the hydrologic system as it relates to wetlands include weather modification, alteration of plant communities, storage of surface water, road construction, drainage of surface water and soil water, alteration of groundwater recharge and discharge areas, and pumping of groundwater. Assessments of the cumulative effects of one or more of these disturbances on the hydrologic system as related to wetlands must take into account uncertainty in the measurements and in the assumptions that are made in hydrologic studies. For example, it may be appropriate to assume that regional groundwater flow systems are recharged in uplands and discharged in lowlands. However, a similar assumption commonly does not apply on a local scale, because of the spatial and temporal dynamics of groundwater recharge. Lack of appreciation of such hydrologic factors can lead to misunderstanding of the hydrologic function of wetlands within various parts of the landscape and mismanagement of wetland ecosystems.     

Performance of an in situ passive sampling system for metals in stormwater

A passive sampler has been developed and is demonstrated in situ for urban runoff. The passive sampler is compared to conventional composite (time-dependent and flow-weighted) bottle sampling during and between storm events. The sampling was carried out at established stormwater stations; before and after a stormwater detention pond. In situ deployment of the passive sampler provides the metal concentrations, corresponding to the electrochemically available fraction of total metal, for time-dependent samples collected in parallel. The sampler provides improved accuracy compared to bottle sampling because contamination during sample transport and handling is minimised. Laboratory handling is reduced by direct analysis of the accumulated metals on the receiving membrane by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Passive sampling also solves the problem of metal speciation change during transport to the laboratory, which is a potential problem for bottle samples. The low cost and convenience of the passive sampler and subsequent analysis should allow significantly more extensive spatial and temporal monitoring of metals in the aquatic environment than has previously been possible.