A NONLINEAR MULTILEVEL MODEL FOR REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: A nonlinear multilevel transportation model is developed to study large-scale allocations in a water resources system. The model uses a modified transportation matrix formulated with nonlinear cost functions as the basic subregional model and the goal coordination method for multilevel decomposition and optimization of the overall regional system. The model is applied to projected water requirements for Salt Lake County in 1985. Sources of water supply - surface water, ground water, import water, and reuse of reclaimed wastewater on a restricted basis - are available to satisfy water requirements for municipal, industrial, and agricultural sectors in four subregions. The conjugate gradient projection method is used to optimize the first level subregional models having cost functions of the form of C = aX^b, and the second level problem is solved using the conjugate gradient method.     

RESERVOIR OPERATION THROUGH OBJECTIVE TRADE-OFFS1

ABSTRACT: Water resource development has progressed to the stage where various human factors are now being considered in reservoir design and operation. The introduction of human factor objectives complicates the problem since they are noncommensurate with other objectives and they are difficult to identify quantitatively. Some of the problems that now arise concern the proper methods for consideration of several different, sometimes subjectively identified, objectives in reservoir planning. The classical systems analysis approach to decision making for multiple objective problems is outlined and the inherent difficulties associated with multiple objectives and subjective estimates are identified. Techniques being used in reservoir design and operation are reviewed and discussed. An alternate technique for considering noncommensurate, subjectively identified, objectives, which relates the objectives in terms of real trade-off costs and eliminates the need for a priori estimates of objective worth is then presented. The method is illustrated with three examples, including a reservoir operation problem and a cooling tower design problem.     

耕地资源非市场价值评价方法的研究进展与述评

论文系统梳理了国内外耕地资源非市场价值评价方法的研究进展,指明了今后该领域研究的努力方向。研究结果表明:国内评价耕地资源非市场价值的方法主要是CVM,研究方法单一,缺少同时运用其他非市场价值评价方法来对CVM的研究进行比较的案例,从而无法清晰辨识CVM的缺陷,并对其加以改进;而且,CVM方法本身存在一些不足,大多数CVM的应用尚停留在实施CVM实验并报告结果的初级阶段,对CVM的有效性与可靠性方面的相关研究不够。国外非市场价值评价方法表现出两个特点:一是研究方法不断拓展,Mixed Logit逐步得到应用;二是研究方法不断深化,对CVM的研究从调研内容与结果的报告,向检验结果的有效性、可靠性方向转变,进而转向CVM的经济学理论的探讨和研究;对CVM与预期不相符合的原因进行深入研究;对问卷的设计进行深入研究;并将非市场价值评价模型和方法与空间分析相结合。在此基础上,建议将CE模型引入中国的耕地资源非市场价值评价研究;加强耕地资源非市场价值的空间分异特征与分异规律,以及耕地资源非市场价值形成的空间分异机理和动态演变规律的研究;尝试调查问卷设计中的可视化研究。     

汕头港湾附近水域潮流特征和污染物扩散的数值计算 Ⅰ汕头港湾附近水域潮流特征及数值模拟

汕头港湾附近水域的潮流特征，由于拦沙堤的建成及港池附近河道变窄而发生了一些变化。本文在取得现场实测资料的基础上，采用沿深度平均的二维浅水潮波方程，对该水体的潮流场进行了数值模拟计算，重现出潮流场在一个潮周期中的变化过程，分析潮流对污染扩散的作用。     

基于水量变化的塔里木河统一管理成效评价

为科学明确评价塔里木河统一管理成效,论文基于源流及干流的来水与耗水量数据,利用非参数检验、周期叠加模型等构建人类活动对源流区水量影响分离模型,进而结合距平百分比和变异系数等参数,对比分析统一管理措施对塔里木河利用管理水平的影响,结果表明：1）人类活动对源流区水资源的影响程度在1994—2001、2002—2010、2011—2013年呈减弱趋势,流域过度引水的现象得到一定的好转,源流区水资源利用水平和管理效能提高;2）实施统一管理后,干流来水保证度提高,干流来水距平百分比的变异系数由-4.67减小至0.33,源流与干流来水距平百分比差异的平均值由-19.6%变为-4.9%,且源流干流来水差异值累积距平曲线由上升转为下降,源流和干流来水的波动性减弱,尤其是干流来水波动性要弱于源流,同时源流及干流来水更具协调性,管理部门对塔里木河径流的调度和管控能力明显提升,统一管理成效显著。     

Focusing biodiversity research on the needs of decision makers

The project on Biodiversity Uncertainties and Research Needs (BURN) ensures the advancement of usable knowledge on biodiversity by obtaining input from decision makers on their priority information needs about biodiversity and then using this input to engage leading scientists in designing policy-relevant research. Decision makers articulated concerns related to four issues: significance of biodiversity; status and trends of biodiversity; management for biodiversity; and the linkage of social, cultural, economic, legal, and biological objectives. Leading natural and social scientists then identified the research required to address the decision makers' needs and determined the probability of success. The diverse group of experts reached consensus on several fundamental issues, helping to clarify the role of biodiversity in land and resource management. The BURN participants identified several features that should be incorporated into policy-relevant research plans and management strategies for biodiversity. Research and assessment efforts should be: multidisciplinary and integrative, participatory with stakeholder involvement, hierarchical (multiple scales), and problem- and region-specific. The activities should be focused regionally within a global perspective. Meta-analysis of existing data is needed on all fronts to assess the state of the science. More specifically, the scientists recommended six priority research areas that should be pursued to address the information needs articulated by decision makers: (1) characterization of biodiversity, (2) environmental valuation, (3) management for sustainability—for humans and the environment (adaptive management), (4) information management strategies, (5) governance and stewardship issues, and (6) communication and outreach. Broad recommendations were developed for each research area to provide direction for research planning and resource management strategies. The results will directly benefit those groups that require biodiversity research to address their needs—whether to develop policy, manage natural resources, or make other decisions affecting biodiversity.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Which Birds Are Useful Bioindicators of Mining and Grazing Impacts in Arid South Australia?

Significant annual variations in population size of most species were evident with greater abundance of most species in wet years. Habitat variables, particularly vegetation structure, were also an important determinant of the abundance of most bird species and tended to mask the impacts of the land use under investigation. Several bird species had benefited from the provision of permanent water at mining and pastoral sites. Other species utilized increased nesting or feeding opportunities associated with the mining operation and increased food supply at the pastoral sites. Crested bellbirds and mixed-feeding flocks of small insectivorous birds were apparently disadvantaged by mining and hence may be useful bioindicators of mining impacts. No bird species or community parameters were identified which could serve as useful early warning bioindicators of pastoral impacts.     

Towards sustainability management systems in three Swedish local authorities

This paper explores the development towards sustainability management systems (SMSs) in three Swedish local authorities. Many local authorities have extensive experience in using standardised Environmental Management Systems (EMSs). Recently EMSs have extended their reach by widening the scope of the systems including other dimensions of sustainable development. Case studies have been performed in three of the most EMS-experienced local authorities in Sweden. These authorities have extended their EMSs into a sustainability management approach in different ways. This paper discusses the development, possible contributions, and constraints with this development. Expanding EMSs into SMSs can be seen as a learning process in which a larger systems perspective leads to increased awareness that the management system becomes limited by only managing environmental issues. Expanding the EMSs into SMSs may lead to a more complete view of the organisation's total impact on nature and society, and issues that need to be managed.     

TUGAI: An Integrated Simulation Tool for Ecological Assessment of Alternative Water Management Strategies in a Degraded River Delta

The development of ecologically sound water allocation strategies that account for the needs of riverine ecosystems is a pressing issue, especially in semiarid river basins. In the Aral Sea Basin, a search for strategies to mitigate ecological and socioeconomic deterioration has been in process since the early 1990s. The Geographic Information System–based simulation tool TUGAI has been developed to support the policy determination process by providing a simple, problem-oriented method to assess ecological effects of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya River. It combines a multiobjective water allocation model with simple, spatially explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics. Changes in environmental conditions are evaluated by a fuzzy habitat suitability index for Populus euphratica, which is the dominant species of the characteristic riverine Tugai forests. Water management scenarios can be developed by altering spatiotemporal water distribution in the delta area or the amount of water inflow into the delta. Outcomes of scenario analysis are qualitative comparisons of the ecological effects of different options for a time period of up to 28 years. The given approach utilizes different types of knowledge, from quantitative hydrological data to qualitative local expert knowledge. The main purpose of the tool is to integrate the knowledge in a comprehensive way to make it available for discussions on alternative policies in moderated workshops with stakeholders. In this article, the modules of the tool, their integration, and three hypothetical scenarios are presented. Based on the experience gained when developing the TUGAI tool, we propose that the general framework can be transferred to other areas where tradeoffs in water allocation between the environment and other water users are of major concern. The potential for a simulation tool to structure and inform a complex resource management situation by involving local experts and stakeholders in the development of possible future scenarios will become increasingly valuable for transparent and participatory resource management.