PLANNING LEVEL ESTIMATES OF THE VALUE OF RESERVOIRS FOR WATER SUPPLY AND FLOW AUGMENTATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE1

: In general, the choice among reservoirs for water supply or flow augmentation is a multiobjective problem. Choices are based in part on the yield available from water supply reservoirs or, in the case of flow augmentation reservoirs, on the increase in low flows at downstream locations. Detailed estimates of these effects may be too costly for basin planning purposes. Thus this paper presents methods for rapid estimation of those quantities for New Hampshire. For water supply reservoirs, a composite empirical relation between Y95 (the draft available 95 percent of the time) and storage ratio, S*, is developed from previous studies in the region. For flow augmentation reservoirs, empirical relations between S* and degree of regulation, R*, are applied to each upstream regulating reservoir. Values of regulation arc then summed and divided by the mean flow at the downstream reach of interest. This parameter, (ΓR)*, is then related to increase in flow available 95 percent of the time by an empirical relation.     

Adapting to changing climate risk by local government in New Zealand: institutional practice barriers and enablers

Adaptation to climate change has been reviewed in several developed nations, but in none where consideration of the effects of climate change is required by statute and devolved to local government. We examine the role of institutional arrangements, the players operating under them, the barriers and enablers for adaptation decision-making in the developed nation of New Zealand. We examine how the roles and responsibilities between national, regional and local governments influence the ability of local government to deliver long-term flexible responses to changing climate risk. We found that the disciplinary practices of law, engineering and planning, within legal frameworks, result in the use of static mechanisms which create inflexible responses to changing risk. Several enablers are identified that could create greater integration between the different scales of government, including better use of national policy instruments, shared professional experience, standardised information collection and risk assessment methods that address uncertainties. The framing of climate risk as dynamic and changing that differentiates activities over their lifetime, development of mechanisms to fund transitions towards transformational change, are identified as necessary conditions for delivering flexible responses over time.     

Dispersal: an alternative mating tactic conditional on sex ratio and body size

Summary Small male milkweed beetles are less successful at obtaining mates than are larger males. Larger males usually win fights and prevent smaller males from obtaining mates and from choosing larger more fecund females as mates. When sex ratios are male-biased, smaller males are particularly likely to experience these mating disadvantages. It follows that smaller males should be especially responsive to their local competitive environment and behave so as to minimize the mating disadvantages of their smaller size. This paper tests the hypothesis that smaller males disperse from host plant patches with male-biased sex ratios and remain in patches with female-biased sex ratios more readily than larger males.Results show both larger and smaller males disperse from patches with male-biased sex ratios more frequently than from patches with femalebiased sex ratios. As predicted, however, small males are more likely to disperse from patches with male-biased sex ratios and remain in patches with female-biased sex ratios than are larger males.The data also show that smaller males dispersing from patches with male-biased sex ratios obtain more matings than non-dispersing males.For milkweed beetles, moving between patches can be viewed as an alternative mating tactic conditional on male body size and local sex ratio.     

The top ten reasons why phase I environmental assessment reports miss the mark

Recently, there has been considerable professional concern over many of the issues associated with environmental assessments, including report writing. Unfortunately there still are no nationally recognized published guidelines on what constitutes an acceptable report. In this article the authors show how reports can be vastly improved to help companies evaluate risks and make better business decisions. Their guidance can be applied to a broad range of auditing and assessment activity to improve environmental quality performance.     

SYNTHESIS OF FLOW-DURATION CURVES FOR UNREGULATED STREAMS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE1

ABSTRACT: Flow-duration curves are concise pictures of flow variability at a point on a stream, and provide essential information for all water-resource planning. In New Hampshire, useful estimates of flow-duration curves for ungaged points on unregulated streams can be made using only information readily available from contour maps: 1) area of the basin above the point of interest; and 2) either the measured mean basin elevation or the elevations of the highest and lowest points in the basin. Measured or estimated mean basin elevation is then used in regression equations to estimate mean flow QC and the flow exceeded 95% of the time, Q₉₅. QC is assumed to occur at the 27% exceedance frequency. Q₀₂, Q₀₅, and Q₃₀ are estimated as multiples of QC. Equations are provided for calculating 95% confidence intervals for future estimates using the method. The dependence of mean flow on elevation is due to positive vertical precipitation gradients and negative vertical evapotranspiration gradients. The dependence of Q₉₅ on elevation appears to be due largely to the fact that it rains more often, that snowmelt takes longer, and that evapotranspiration is reduced at higher elevations.     

The behavioral component in the meaning of places

How do people think about the physical setting in the world around them? Part of the answer to this question may be in terms of the behaviors that occur there. To explore people's knowledge of behavior—place associations, twenty places (shown via color photographs) were assessed in five ways: (a) ratings of the place's suitability for each of eleven behaviors, (b) ratings of the expected frequency of occurrence of the eleven behaviors, (c) free listings of reasons for going to each place, (d) free listings of activities-while-there and (e) free listings of activities associated with the place. Results showed that people can distinguish places on the basis of behaviors, that the behavioral component of place meaning is composed of distinct aspects, and that knowledge of behavior is related to a global, overall representation of a place.