Modeling Flow,Nutrient, and Sediment Delivery from a Large International Watershed Using a Field‐Scale SWAT Model

A large international watershed, the St. Clair‐Detroit River System, containing both extensive urban and agricultural areas, was modeled using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The watershed, located in southeastern Michigan, United States, and southwestern Ontario, Canada, encompasses the St. Clair, Clinton, Detroit (DT), Sydenham (SY), Upper, and Lower Thames subwatersheds. The SWAT input data and model resolution (i.e., hydrologic response units, HRUs), were established to mimic farm boundaries, the first time this has been done for a watershed of this size. The model was calibrated (2007–2015) and validated (2001–2006) with a mix of manual and automatic methods at six locations for flow and water quality at various time scales. The model was evaluated using Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency and percent bias and was used to explore major water quality issues. We showed the importance of allowing key parameters to vary among subwatersheds to improve goodness of fit, and the resulting parameters were consistent with subwatershed characteristics. Agricultural sources in the Thames and SY subwatersheds and point sources from DT subwatershed were major contributors of phosphorus. Spatial distribution of phosphorus yields at HRU and subbasin levels identified locations for potential management targeting for both point and nonpoint sources and revealed that in some subwatersheds nonpoint sources are dominated by urban sources.     

Information processing style and decision making

Information processing style, often termed cognitive style, has gained prominence in the organizational behavior literature as researchers use it as a basis for studying decision making behavior, conflict, strategy development, and group processes. However, the many operational definitions and measures of cognitive style have produced inconsistent and confusing results. This study tested the interrelationship among four measures of this construct: the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, the Group Embedded Figures Test, the Learning Styles Inventory, and the Decision Style Inventory. Measures that appeared to be conceptually linked through their underlying theories were compared. Results indicate that the various measures are not strongly interrelated and appear to be measuring different aspects of information processing and decision making. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Justice constructs,negative affectivity,and employee deviance: a proposed model and empirical test

This study tests a model that uses organizational justice variables and the personality trait of negative affectivity to explain two forms of deviant employee behavior. Prior research suggests that deviance can be directed interpersonally or against organizations. We propose a model that links unfavorable perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice, as well as the dispositional trait of negative affectivity, to both types of deviant acts. To test the model, a survey was distributed to employees from a government agency and an international manufacturer of paper products. Responses to the survey were analysed using structural equation modeling to evaluate the fit of the theoretical model to the data. Results showed that the model fits the data well and that nearly all of the hypothesized relations among constructs were supported. Implications of the results for the prediction and control of deviant behavior are discussed and future research directions are offered. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Air‐Water Temperature Relationships in the Trout Streams of Southeastern Minnesota's Carbonate‐Sandstone Landscape

Carbonate‐sandstone geology in southeastern Minnesota creates a heterogeneous landscape of springs, seeps, and sinkholes that supply groundwater into streams. Air temperatures are effective predictors of water temperature in surface‐water dominated streams. However, no published work investigates the relationship between air and water temperatures in groundwater‐fed streams (GWFS) across watersheds. We used simple linear regressions to examine weekly air‐water temperature relationships for 40 GWFS in southeastern Minnesota. A 40‐stream, composite linear regression model has a slope of 0.38, an intercept of 6.63, and R² of 0.83. The regression models for GWFS have lower slopes and higher intercepts in comparison to surface‐water dominated streams. Regression models for streams with high R² values offer promise for use as predictive tools for future climate conditions. Climate change is expected to alter the thermal regime of groundwater‐fed systems, but will do so at a slower rate than surface‐water dominated systems. A regression model of intercept vs. slope can be used to identify streams for which water temperatures are more meteorologically than groundwater controlled, and thus more vulnerable to climate change. Such relationships can be used to guide restoration vs. management strategies to protect trout streams.     

Local communities' participation in decision-making processes through planning and budgeting in African countries

Community participation and community based management are topical themes in current policy and discussion revolving around decision-making processes especially those dealing with natural resources management.This review shows that while governments have accepted the need to either cede or devolve control and management of natural resources to the local communities,the communities are not part and parcel of the planning and budgeting which are crucial in decisionmaking.Communities were seen to be more involved in the implementation of natural resource management programs but lacked ownership of the projects.This causes lack of commitment to the programs and at times hostile reaction from the communities.The communities are always at the receiving end when it pertains to losses in the exchange.Community participation was shown to be effective when the local population is involved not as co-operating users but as natural resource managers or owner managers.     

River restoration: the fuzzy logic of repairing reaches to reverse catchment scale degradation

River restoration is an increasingly common approach utilized to reverse past degradation of freshwater ecosystems and to mitigate the anticipated damage to freshwaters from future development and resource-extraction activities. While the practice of river restoration has grown exponentially over the last several decades, there has been little empirical evaluation of whether restoration projects individually or cumulatively achieve the legally mandated goals of improving the structure and function of streams and rivers. New efforts to evaluate river restoration projects that use channel reconfiguration as a methodology for improving stream ecosystem structure and function are finding little evidence for measurable ecological improvement. While designed channels may have less-incised banks and greater sinuousity than the degraded streams they replace, these reach-scale efforts do not appear to be effectively mitigating the physical, hydrological, or chemical alterations that are responsible for the loss of sensitive taxa and the declines in water quality that typically motivate restoration efforts. Here we briefly summarize this new literature, including the collection of papers within this Invited Feature, and provide our perspective on the limitations of current restoration.     

A PROCESS FOR FEDERAL WATER PLANNING AT THE FIELD LEVEL1

ABSTRACT: A process for planning at the field offices of Federal water resources agencies is described. The process involve s both planners and publics in the following four planning activities: problem definition, formulation of alternatives, impact analysis and evaluation (or plan ranking). Evaluative factors are defied as the goals, concerns, constraints, etc. that affected publics and other decision makers consider in ranking alternative actions. These factors serve to drive the entire process and glue the four planning activities together. In contrast to other “models” of the planning process, the four activities are considered to be carried out simultaneously and continually from the beginning of the process. As the planning process proceeds, each activity is repeated a number of times at increasing levels of detail. Various aspects of the process are illustrated by means of an example involving water resources development in Carmel Valley, California.     

Evaluation of urban solid-waste generation and safety consciousness of waste collectors amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study investigates solid-waste handling practices by municipal waste collectors during COVID-19 pandemic period in Osogbo urban areas with the...     

Mechanical Evaluation of Solvent Casted Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Films Derived from the Storage Polyesters Produced by Halomonas elongata DSM 2581T

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a natural and biodegradable polyester which represents an alternative to replace conventional plastics in the packaging...