RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANNUAL RUNOFF AND WATERSHED AREA FOR THE EASTERN UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT: As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's effort to determine the long-term effects of acidic deposition on surface water chemistry, annual runoff was estimated for about 1000 ungaged sites in the eastern U.S. using runoff contour maps. One concern in using contour maps was that a bias may be introduced in the runoff estimates due to the size of the 1000 ungaged sites relative to the size of the watersheds used in developing the maps. To determine if a bias was present the relationship between the annual runoff (expressed as depth) and the watershed area for the Northeast (NE) and Southern Blue Ridge Province (SBRP) was tested using five regional data bases. One short-term data base (1984 Water Year, n = 531) and two long-term data bases (1940–57, n = 134 and 1951–80, n = 342) were used in the NE. In the SBRP one short-term database (1984 Water Year, n = 531) and one long-term data base (1951–80, n = 60) were used. For the NE and the SBRP, runoff was not directly correlated with watershed area using the five regional databases. Also, runoff normalized by precipitation was not related to watershed area.     

MUNICIPAL RESPONSES TO VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WISCONSIN GROUND WATER1

ABSTRACT: Contamination of ground water supplies with volatile organic compounds is a new and significant problem. Municipalities and their community water systems are often the first to discover ground water contamination because of the monitoring programs they are required to carry out. When contamination exceeds standards, some action is required. The responses of Wisconsin municipalities to volatile organic compounds that exceed standards in their ground water sources is described. Actions to protect human health are prompt, but the survey results indicate plumes of contaminated ground water are usually not treated. They may continue to migrate and contaminate other private and public wells.     

Case study: Using soil washing/leaching for the removal of heavy metal at the twin cities army ammunition plant

COGNIS TERRAMET® soil leaching and Bescorp soil washing systems have been successfully combined to remediate an ammunition test burn area at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP), New Brighton, Minnesota. This cleanup is the first in the country to successfully combine these two technologies, and it offers a permanent solution to heavy metal remediation. Over 20,000 tons of soil were treated in the project. The cleaned soil remained on-site, and the heavy metal contaminants were removed, recovered, and recycled. Eight heavy metals were removed from the contaminated soil achieving the very stringent cleanup criteria of <175 ppm for residual lead and achieving background concentrations for seven other project metals (antimony, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, and silver). Initial contaminant levels were measured as high as 86,000 ppm lead and 100,000 ppm copper, with average concentrations over 1,600 ppm each. In addition, both live and spent ordnance were removed in the soil treatment plant to meet the cleanup criteria. By combining soil washing and leaching, COGNIS and Bescorp were able to assemble a process which effectively treats all the soil fractions so that all soil material can be returned on-site, no wastewater is generated, and the heavy metals are recovered and recycled. No hazardous waste requiring landfill disposal was generated during the entire remedial operation.     

A hierarchical approach to fisheries planning and modeling in the Columbia River Basin

The Columbia River Basin is the scene of a massive effort to restore populations of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and steelhead (O. mykiss). Efficient restoration is confounded by a high level of complexity, competing sociopolitical goals and values, and uncertainty about key system properties. Simulation models and other tools of systems analysis are important to development of a comprehensive, regionally acceptable strategy. Hierarchy theory provides a useful paradigm for organized complexity within the Columbia Basin and the basis for a trilevel hierarchical structure for organizing and integrating models. Life-stage models compose the most basic simulation units at the lowest level in the proposed hierarchical modeling structure. Each life-stage model simulates a distinct period in the life cycle of anadromous salmonids. Population models at the intermediate level simulate the complete life cycles of salmon and steelhead populations. At the highest level in the hierarchy, interpopulation models simulate extensive, long-term processes that affect multiple species and stocks. A hierarchical system of models is preferable to a single model or to a group of models lacking formal structure. A principal advantage is that models have the correct spatial and temporal resolution for analyzing questions at different scales. A hierarchical structure also facilitates the flow of information among models, and aids in understanding the impacts of uncertainty. Constructing a hierarchy of models should involve both bottom-up and top-down perspectives that maintain logical consistency among models, while allowing unique model structures appropriate for each level in the hierarchy.     

Metals recycling in the United States

Twenty-two metals for which secondary recovery is important, in terms of quantity and/or value, were compared and ranked for rate and efficiency of recycling, and availability of recycled metal. In general, their recycling rates trended upward over the period 1970–1993. Iron, aluminum, copper, gold, platinum, and lead accounted for most of the value of all secondary metal produced, while iron and steel dominated in terms of quantity produced and exported. The factors most influential on recycling rates are profitability, public support, organization of infrastructure, sortability, legislative support, and scrap purity. The share of supply accounted for by secondary metals is expected to surpass that of primary metals sometime in the next decade.     

WATER MARKETS AND DECENTRALIZED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES1

ABSTRACT: Because of its importance and the perceived inability of private sector sources to meet water demands, many countries have depended on the public sector to provide water services for their populations. Yet this has resulted in many inefficient public water projects and in inadequate supplies of good quality and reliable water. Decentralization of water management, including the use of water markets, cannot solve all of these water problems, but it can improve the efficiency of water allocation. When given adequate responsibility and authority, water user associations have effectively taken over water management activities at a savings to tax payers. Moreover, water markets add the potential benefit of improving water efficiency within a sector as well as providing a mechanism for reallocating water among sectors. The key question involves developing innovative mechanisms for reducing the transaction costs of organizing water users and of making water trades. Water rights need to be established which are recorded, tradable, enforceable, and separate from land if markets are to operate effectively. Also, institutions are needed that effectively resolve conflicts over water rights, including third party impacts and water quality concerns.     

DESIGN BASIS FOR EVERGLADES STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS1

ABSTRACT: The State of Florida (1994) has adopted a plan for addressing Everglades eutrophication problems by reducing anthropogenic phosphorus loads. The plan involves implementation of Best Management Practices in agricultural watersheds and construction of regional treatment marshes (Stormwater Treatment Areas or STA's). This paper describes the development, testing, and application of a mass-balance model for sizing STA's to achieve treatment objectives. The model is calibrated and tested against peat and water-column data collected in Water Conservation Area-2A (WCA-2A), where phosphorus dynamics and eutrophication impacts have been intensively studied. The 26-year-average rate of phosphorus accretion in peat is shown to be proportional to average water-column phosphorus concentration, with a proportionality constant of 10.2 m/yr (90 percent Confidence Interval = 8.9 to 11.6 m/yr). Spatial and temporal variations in marsh water-column data suggest that drought-induced recycling of phosphorus was important during periods of low stage in WCA-2A. Maintaining wet conditions will be important to promote phosphorus removal in STA's. Sensitivity analysis of STA performance is conducted over the range of uncertainty in model parameter estimates to assess the adequacy of the model as a basis for STA design.     

THE LAW OF THE COLORADO RIVER: COPING WITH SEVERE SUSTAINED DROUGHT1

ABSTRACT: The waters of the Colorado River are divided among seven states according to a complex ‘Law of the River’ drawn from interstate compacts, international treaties, statutes, and regulations. The Law of the River creates certain priorities among the states and the Republic of Mexico, and in the event of a severe sustained drought, the Law of the River dictates the distribution of water and operation of the elaborate reservoir system. Earlier work indicated that there is remarkable resilience in the system for established uses of water in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River. This work shows, based on an application of the Law of the River using computer modeling of operations of facilities on the Colorado River, that there may be serious environmental consequences and related legal restraints on how the water is used in times of shortage and that the existing legal and institutional framework governing the Colorado River does not adequately address all the issues that would be raised in a severe sustained drought. Several possible legal options for dealing with drought in the context of the Law of the River are identified.