MULTICRITERIA PROGRAMMING OF WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS FOR RURAL AREAS1

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to present a multicriteria methodology for decision aid at the stage of programming a water supply system (WSS) for a rural area. The programming stage is an intermediate one between planning and designing water supply facilities, and can be decomposed into two problems: (a) setting up a priority order of water users, taking into account socio-economic criteria; and (b) choosing the best technical variant of the WSS. Among the criteria considered for the latter problem, there is a criterion of distance between the socio-economic priorities of users and the precedence orders of users according to the technical programming, which plays a coordinating role between problems (a) and (b). All steps of the presented methodology are illustrated by a real case study.     

四川省自贡市蛋鸡场鸡粪处理工艺

本文主要阐述自贡市蛋鸡场在养鸡生产实践中面临着鸡粪处理这一难题，选用四川省农机所设计，并由四川省资中通风机械厂试剂的GZS-0.5型鸡粪干燥成套设备进行鸡粪加工的工作，本场对GZS-0.5型鸡粪干燥成套设备废气的净化处理有所改进创新。     

ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF LAND USE ON SEWER SERVICE AREA PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The density and distribution of land uses has important consequences for the planning of sewerage systems and for the costs of these systems. This paper examines these consequences using a simplified service area model. The model determines the area to be served by a central waste treatment plant, where alternative on-lot disposal systems are also available. The model is applied to various urban area configurations, which are summarized by their total populations and by their population density distributions. Both minimum regional cost and minimum local cost service area configurations are determined. In addition, the sensitivity of the model to the parameters of the cost and population density functions is assessed. It is found that the model is most sensitive to the parameters of the collection cost function.     

ANALYSIS OF NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN WATER PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The growing demands by the public for a more active role in planning have recently generated considerable interest among researchers and planners in the subject of public involvement techniques. Numerous surveys have found that standard public participation techniques (e.g., public hearings) by themselves are considered inadequate. Several techniques that have potential for overcoming some of the limitations of standard public involvement techniques have recently been developed. This paper describes several of these new techniques and analyzes each of them in terms of their potential utility in water resources planning.     

LINEAR PROGRAMMING APPLICATIONS IN WATER RESOURCES1

Applications of linear programming to water quality and water quantity problems are discussed, and a fairly comprehensive sample of recent literature in these areas is reviewed. Basic elements of linear programming are also discussed. Emphasis is placed on the elements of linear programming that make it a useful tool for analyzing water resource problems and the basic features of various water resource problems that render them amenable to meaningful analysis by linear programming.     

Weed manipulation for insect pest management in corn

Populations of insect pests and associated predaceous arthropods were sampled by direct observation and other relative methods in simple and diversified corn habitats at two sites in north Florida during 1978 and 1979. Through various cultural manipulations, characteristic weed communities were established selectively in alternate rows within corn plots.Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J. E. Smith) incidence was consistently higher in the weed-free habitats than in the corn habitats containing natural weed complexes or selected weed associations. Corn earworm (Heliothis zea Boddie) damage was similar in all weed-free and weedy treatments, suggesting that this insect is not affected greatly by weed diversity. Only the diversification of corn with a strip of soybean significantly reduced corn earworm damage.In one site, distance between plots was reduced. Because predators moved freely between habitats, it was difficult to identify between-treatment differences in the composition of predator communities. In the other site, increased distances between plots minimized such migrations, resulting in greater population densities and diversity of common foliage insect predators in the weed-manipulated corn systems than in the weed-free plots. Trophic relationships in the weedy habitats were more complex than food webs in monocultures.Predator diversity (measured as mean number of species per area) and predator density was higher in com plots surrounded by mature, complex vegetation than at those surrounded by annual crops. This suggests that diverse adjacent areas to crops provide refuge for predators, thus acting as colonization sources.     

Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems

Environmental degradation, competition for resources, increasing food demands, and the integration of agriculture into the international economy threaten the sustainability of many food production systems. Despite these concerns, the concept of sustainable food production systems remains unclear, and recent attempts to appraise sustainability have been hampered by conceptual inconsistencies and the absence of workable definitions. Six perspectives are shown to underpin the concept. Environmental accounting identifies biophysical limits for agriculture. Sustained yield refers to output levels that can be maintained continuously. Carrying capacity defines maximum population levels that can be supported in perpetuity. Production unit viability refers to the capacity of primary producers to remain in agriculture. Product supply and security focuses on the adequacy of food supplies. Equity is concerned with the spatial and temporal distribution of products dervied from resource use. Many studies into sustainable agriculture cover more than one of these perspectives, indicating the concept is complex and embraces issues relating to the biophysical, social, and economic environments. Clarification of the concept would facilitate the development of frameworks and analytical systems for appraising the sustainability of food production systems. LRRC Contribution No. 90–46.     

Environmental democracy in action: The Toxics Release Inventory

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) created by the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act initially received limited attention. During the early years of its implementation, the TRI has become the basis for a national experiment in voluntaristic problem solving among citizens and industry, but that process of environmental democracy hinges on citizens' ability to actually acquire, understand, and apply the new data on industrial toxic emissions. A national study of TRI-using organizations in the public and private sectors reveals that effective citizen access depends in part on the efforts of intermediary public interest groups to bridge individual needs and right-to-know data. Although the TRI has had early success as a supplement to conventional command and control regulation, questions exist about the extent to which state and federal government should or must provide special efforts to make environmental information access work for citizens.     

Improving lake riparian source area management using surface and subsurface runoff indices

Sensitivity indices, which rank factors pertinent to surface and subsurface runoff pathways, were used to identify phosphorus source areas in riparian zones of 15 northern Minnesota lakes. Watershed models were first developed using a geographic information system (GIS). Empirical models were then developed correlating water quality with land use, lake morphometry, and riparian sensitivity. Base models of forested, cultivated, pasture/open, wetland and residential land use within 100, 200, 400, and 2000 m of the study lakes were regressed on total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. Area-weighted groundwater and surface runoff sensitivity indices were then incorporated into each model and tested for significance. Within the 200-m buffer, the total phosphorus base model was improved by including the groundwater index alone. The chlorophyll-a base model at 200 m was improved by including: (1) the groundwater index alone, and (2) both the groundwater and surface runoff sensitivity indices. Results suggest that surface and subsurface runoff analysis of potential source areas can improve decision making for lake riparian management.