FEASIBILITY OF INTERBASIN WATER TRANSFER1

ABSTRACT: Interbasin water transfer is one of the most controversial water-resources-planning topics. Local communities, particularly those from which the water is to be taken (donor regions), generate enough opposition to doom many projects to failure. The opposition often arises because planners have traditionally considered excess water a free commodity rather than a marketable resource. To make transfer schemes mutually acceptable to donor and recipient regions, visible benefits must be offered. Agreement must be made on an acceptable purchase price and/or on other benefits such as a substantial amount of low flow augmentation or possibly some degree of flood control on the donor source stream. The hydrologic and economic feasibility of water transfer from the East Susquehanna River basin to the Delaware Reservoir System for supplemental supply to the New York City area was investigated. Nine alternative schemes for diversions up to 400 cfs and compensations in the form of low flow augmentation and/or flood control were considered resulting in unit costs to the recipient region between $90 and $380/mg. If only the minimum state-mandated flow is released to the Susquehanna River, the savings to the water recipients would be sufficient to pay a purchase price of about $21/mg, which would be equivalent to a total amount of $420,000/year for an average export of 100 cfs.     

REST-Rossendorf expert system for surface and sorption thermodynamics

This paper presents a digitized version of a thermodynamic sorption database, implemented as a relational database with MS Access. It is mineral-specific and can therefore be used for additive models of complex solid phases such as rocks or soils. An integrated user interface helps users to access selected mineral and sorption data, to extract internally consistent data sets for sorption modeling, and to export them in formats suitable for other modeling software. Data records comprise mineral properties, specific surface area values, surface binding sites' characteristics, sorption ligand information, and surface complexation reactions. An extensive bibliography is included, providing links not only to the above listed data, but also to background information concerning surface complexation model theories, evidence for surface species, and sorption experimental techniques.     

GROUND-WATER RECHARGE THROUGH ACTWE SAND DUNES IN NORTHWESTERN NEVADA1

ABSTRACT: Most water-resouree investigations in semiarid basins of the Great Basin in western North America conclude that ground-water recharge from direct precipitation on the valley floor is negligible. However, many of these basins contain large areas covered by unvegetated, active sand dunes that may act as conduits for ground-water recharge. The potential for this previously undocumented recharge was investigated in an area covered by sand dunes in Desert Valley, northwestern Nevada, using a deep percolation model. The model uses daily measurements of precipitation and temperature th determine energy and moisture balances, from which estimates of long-term mean annual recharge are made. For the study area, the model calculated a mean annual recharge rate of as much as 1.3 inches per year, or 17 percent of the long-term mean precipitation. Model simulations also indicate that recharge would be virtually zero if the study area were covered by vegetation rather than dunes.     

OBSERVATIONS ON KINEMATIC RESPONSE IN URBAN RUNOFF MODELS1

ABSTRACT: This paper first discusses the results of sensitivity analyses conducted on various parameters of the San Francisco Stormwater Model ta version of WREM) and the Penn State Runoff Model in terms of their impact on outflow hydrographs. The parameters considered within a idealized catchment include: basin shape, imperivous fraction, overland roughness and slope: deterntion depth; infiltration capacity; and hyetograph timing. Second, the results for the hypothetical catchment are extended to the lazzard laboratory surfaces (asphalt, grass, roofing material) as a mean of illustrating the need for changes in model structure, as opposed to continued parameter adjustment Finally the effect of altering the scale of hydraulic representation in the surface runoff and sewer transport calculations are demonstrated for two gaged watersheds in Hamburg, West Germany.     

Variability of tropospheric hydroperoxides at a coastal surface site in Antarctica

The annual cycles of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and methylhydroperoxide (MHP) have been investigated at a remote site in Antarctica in order to study seasonal variations as well as chemical processes in the troposphere. The measurements have been performed from March 1997 to January 1998 and in February 1999 at the German Antarctic research station Neumayer which is located at 70°39′S, 8°15′W. The obtained time series for hydrogen peroxide and methylhydroperoxide in near-surface air represents the first all-year measurements in Antarctica and indicates clearly the occurrence of seasonal variations. During polar night mean values of 0.054±0.046 ppbv (range<0.03–0.11 ppbv) for hydrogen peroxide and 0.089±0.052 ppbv (range<0.05–0.14 ppbv) for methylhydroperoxide were detected. At the sunlit period higher Mixing ratios were found, 0.20±0.13 ppbv (range<0.03–0.91 ppbv) for hydrogen peroxide and 0.19±0.10 ppbv (range<0.05–0.89 ppbv) for methylhydroperoxide. Occasional long-range transport of air masses from mid-latitudes caused enhanced peroxide concentrations at polar night. During the period of stratospheric ozone depletion we observed peroxide mixing ratios comparable to typical winter levels.