Book reviews

Environment Systems and Decisions -     

Reducing life-cycle environmental impacts: An industry survey of emerging tools and programs

Corporate environmental practices have been evolving quite rapidly in recent years, as consumers express their preferences for environmentally friendly products and practices, as manufacturers look “upstream” and inquire into their suppliers' environmental practices due to liability and marketing concerns, and as company operating costs increase as a result of new environmental regulations. New corporate efforts are made to anticipate (rather than respond to) outside environmental pressures, to internalize costs, and to find strategic opportunities or competitive advantages based on company or product environmental performance. This article describes a survey and research project designed to explore one aspect of these evolving corporate practices—the use of analytical tools and associated programs, such as life-cycle assessment and design-for-environment—by companies to account for impacts throughout a product'S life-cycle.     

Toward effective environmental auditing at the TVA: Management audits versus compliance audits

Companies that incorporate Total Quality Management into their operations are placing increased emphasis on identifying the root causes of deficiencies and problems. This is in keeping with the TQM principles identified by Deming in Out of the Crisis. Deming states that quality comes not from inspection or from management by objectives or results, but from improvements made in the process and products in order to meet customer needs. Deming's approach demands a shift in focus from addressing symptoms to addressing causes. In this article, environmental management audits are presented as the best means to assure that adequate management controls are in place to protect the company, its managers and its employees from penalties associated with civil and criminal enforcement actions.     

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF SALMONID SPAWNING HABITAT1

ABSTRACT: A simulation model [Salmonid Spawning Analysis Model (SSAM)] was developed as a management tool to evaluate the relative impacts of stream sediment load and water temperature on salmonid egg survival. The model is useful for estimating acceptable sediment loads to spawning habitat that may result from upland development, such as logging and agriculture. Software in common use in the USA were adapted for use in gravel bedded rivers and linked to simulate water temperature (the USFWS Instream Water Temperature, SNTEMP model) and water and sediment routing (the USAE Scour and Deposition in Rivers and Reservoirs, HEC-6 model, version 3.2). These models drive the redd (spawning nest) model (the USDA-ABS Sediment Intrusion Dissolved Oxygen SIDO model) which simulates sediment intrusion and dissolved oxygen concentration in the redd environment. The SSAM model predictions of dissolved oxygen and water temperature compared favorably with field data from artificial redds containing hatchery chinook salmon eggs.     

PROBABLE MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION FOR THE LOWER RIO GRANDE1

To aid in planning and design of additional flood protection on the Lower Rio Grande, the Hydroraeteorological Branch prepared a probable maximum precipitation study for the International Boundary and Water Commission (United States and Mexico) and the Republic of Mexico. Five drainages from 2,000 to over 17,000 square miles in area between Falcon and Anzalduas Dams including Rio San Juan and Rio Alamo in Mexico are the areas of concern. The great rains of hurricane Beulah, September 19–24, 1967 verified that additional protection is needed. Procedures for estimating probable maximum precipitation (PMP) are described. A particular problem was to estimate rainfall potential for the Sierra Madre Oriental in Rio San Juan and Alamo drainages. These mountains form a north-south windward-facing slope and barrier of over 7000 feet in elevation. A detailed study was made of rains from hurricane Beulah. The storm produced the greatest known rain depths in North America for 50,000 square miles or greater, and durations longer than 48 hours.     

A STATISTICAL SIMULATION TECHNIQUE FOR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY MONTHLY PRECIPITATION1

A 30-year record of monthly precipitation for Northern New Jersey was analyzed for its statistical components. With a weak annual periodicity eliminated, the series was found to be random. The data for each month were fit with a gamma distribution using Thom's suggested best estimates of the distribution parameters. A one-thousand-year simulated monthly precipitation series was generated using random values from the twelve gamma distributions. The statistical properties of the simulated and sample time series agreed well. Numerous anomalous precipitation regimes were observed in the simulated data.