Managing climate change risks in New York City’s water system: assessment and adaptation planning

Managing risk by adapting long-lived infrastructure to the effects of climate change must become a regular part of planning for water supply, sewer, wastewater treatment, and other urban infrastructure during this century. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), the agency responsible for managing New York City’s (NYC) water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems, has developed a climate risk management framework through its Climate Change Task Force, a government-university collaborative effort. Its purpose is to ensure that NYCDEP’s strategic and capital planning take into account the potential risks of climate change—sea-level rise, higher temperature, increases in extreme events, changes in drought and flood frequency and intensity, and changing precipitation patterns—on NYC’s water systems. This approach will enable NYCDEP and other agencies to incorporate adaptations to the risks of climate change into their management, investment, and policy decisions over the long term as a regular part of their planning activities. The framework includes a 9-step Adaptation Assessment procedure. Potential climate change adaptations are divided into management, infrastructure, and policy categories, and are assessed by their relevance in terms of climate change time-frame (immediate, medium, and long term), the capital cycle, costs, and other risks. The approach focuses on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC, but has wide application for other urban areas, especially those in coastal locations.     

Integrated Monitoring and Information Systems for Managing Aquatic Invasive Species in a Changing Climate

Abstract:  Changes in temperature, precipitation, and other climatic drivers and sea-level rise will affect populations of existing native and non-native aquatic species and the vulnerability of aquatic environments to new invasions. Monitoring surveys provide the foundation for assessing the combined effects of climate change and invasions by providing baseline biotic and environmental conditions, although the utility of a survey depends on whether the results are quantitative or qualitative, and other design considerations. The results from a variety of monitoring programs in the United States are available in integrated biological information systems, although many include only non-native species, not native species. Besides including natives, we suggest these systems could be improved through the development of standardized methods that capture habitat and physiological requirements and link regional and national biological databases into distributed Web portals that allow drawing information from multiple sources. Combining the outputs from these biological information systems with environmental data would allow the development of ecological-niche models that predict the potential distribution or abundance of native and non-native species on the basis of current environmental conditions. Environmental projections from climate models can be used in these niche models to project changes in species distributions or abundances under altered climatic conditions and to identify potential high-risk invaders. There are, however, a number of challenges, such as uncertainties associated with projections from climate and niche models and difficulty in integrating data with different temporal and spatial granularity. Even with these uncertainties, integration of biological and environmental information systems, niche models, and climate projections would improve management of aquatic ecosystems under the dual threats of biotic invasions and climate change.     

Understanding socio-cultural dimensions of environmental decision-making: A knowledge governance approach

Sociological critiques of scientific research processes and their application have developed nuanced understandings of the social, cultural and political forces shaping relationships between science and decision-making. Simultaneously, environmental researchers have sought to construct more engaged, dynamic modes of conducting research to facilitate the application of science in decision-making and action. To date, however, there are relatively few theoretically-oriented approaches that have been able to draw productive connections between the sociological critique and the practical applications that can aid in navigating this complex and diverse milieu. In this article, we propose that the concept of “knowledge governance” can bring together targeted inquiry into the socio-political context in which environmental science is situated, alongside analysis of specific interventions that change knowledge-to-action relationships. Drawing together Jasanoff’s (2005) concept of civic epistemology with Cash et al.’s (2003) knowledge systems for sustainability approach, this knowledge governance inquiry framework offers an integrative lens through which to critically reflect on knowledge-based processes, and incorporate that deeper understanding into intervention efforts. We briefly illustrate its application with reference to a pilot project examining conservation decision-making in the Western Pacific island nation of Palau.     

Integrated resource management systems: Coupling expert systems with data-base management and geographic information systems

Decision making in natural resource management is becoming increasingly information-intensive because of the rising public concerns about resource conservation and environmental quality. The volume of information that must be analyzed and the complexity of the decision-making process demands that computerized systems be developed to provide decision support services. An integrated systems approach that couples data-base management, geographic information systems, and expert systems is needed. We refer to such an approach as integrated resource management automation (IRMA) and describe a prototype system that is currently being tested in the Nicolet National Forest. This type of information system is likely to play an increasingly important role in the management of natural resources in the future.     

人口,资源与环境协调发展的综合模式研究（Ⅱ）：资源配置新论

本文在文献[3]的基础上,提出了广义资源配置的目标就是兼顾经济增长与持续发展。为了使经济理论内核中包括持续发展问题,认为系统经济学应以资源空间、商品空间和价格空间作为出发点,进而提出了系统经济学的理论框架,在此基础上运用非线性理讨论了资源配置的模式问题。     

ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS FOR WATER SUPPLY ALTERNATIVES1

ABSTRACT Providing adequate water supplies of good quality is becoming a serious problem in many areas of the United States. Some of the alternatives proposed for meeting the growing shortage of clean-water or cheap-water are reallocation, reuse, and importation. This paper outlines a methodology to assess all of these water supply alternatives by examining the amount and time-staging for development of water sources. In conceptualizing the problem, sources of supply are classified in three categories: primary or base supplies, secondary or effluent supplies, and supplementary or imported supplies. A model of the water system is formulated as a “transportation problem” in linear programming depicting the possible sources of supply which can be used to satisfy the requirements of various water users. The optimizing objective in the model is to minimize the cost of water under various assumptions for operating the system. A case study of the Salt Lake Qty, Utah, area is used to illustrate the application of the model in obtaining optimal water supply allocations for projected future demands. Assessment of alternatives in the study include redistribution of supplies, time-staging of supplies and related treatment facilities, and sensitivity of allocations to changes in costs.     

One-year survey of opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens and free-living amoebae in the tap-water of one northern city of China

In this study, qPCR was used to quantify opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) and free-living amoebae in 11 tap water samples collected over four seasons from a city in northern China. Results demonstrated that the average numbers of gene copies of Legionella spp. and Mycobacterium spp. were significantly higher than those of Aeromonas spp. (p?<?0.05). Legionella spp. and Mycobacterium spp. were 100% (44/44) positively detected while P. aeruginosa and Aeromonas spp. were 79.54% (35/44) and 77.27% (34/44) positively detected. Legionella pneumophila was only detected in 4 samples (4/44), demonstrating its occasional occurrence. No Mycobacterium avium or Naegleria fowleri was detected in any of the samples. The average gene copy numbers of target OPPPs were the highest in summer, suggesting seasonal prevalence of OPPPs. Average gene copy numbers of OPPPs in the taps of low-use-frequency were higher than in taps of high-use-frequency, but the difference was not significant for some OPPPs (p?>?0.05). Moderate negative correlations between the chlorine concentration and the gene copy numbers of OPPPs were observed by Spearman analysis (r_s ranged from ? 0.311 to ? 0.710, p?<?0.05). However, no significant correlations existed between OPPPs and AOC, BDOC, or turbidity. Moderate positive correlations were observed between the target microorganisms, especially for Acanthamoeba spp., through Spearman analysis (p?<?0.05). Based on our studies, it is proposed that disinfectant concentration, season, taps with different-use frequency, OPPP species, and potential microbial correlations should be considered for control of OPPPs in tap water.     

Modeling iron release from cast iron pipes in an urban water distribution system caused by source water switch

Significant iron release from cast iron pipes in water distribution systems (WDSs), which usually occurs during the source water switch period, is a great concern of water utilities because of the potential occurrence of “red water” and customer complaints. This study developed a new method which combined in-situ water stagnation experiments with mathematical models and numerical simulations to predict the iron release caused by source water switch. In-situ water stagnation experiments were conducted to determine the total iron accumulation in nine cast iron pipes in-service in Beijing when switching the local water to treated Danjiangkou Reservior water. Results showed that the difference in the concentration increment of total iron in 24 hr (ΔCI_TI,24), i.e. short-term iron release, caused by source water switch was mainly dependent on the difference in the key quality parameters (pH, hardness, nitrate, Larson Ratio and dissolved oxygen (DO)) between the two source waters. The iron release rate (R_Fe) after switch, i.e. long-term iron release, was closely related to the pipe properties as well as the DO and total residual chlorine (TRC) concentrations. Mathematical models of ΔCI_TI,24 and R_Fe were developed to quantitatively reveal the relationship between iron release and the key quality parameters. The R_Fe model could successfully combine with EPANET-MSX, a numerical simulator of water quality for WDSs to extend the iron release modeling from pipe level to network level. The new method is applicable to predicting iron release during source water switch, thus facilitating water utilities to take preventive actions to avoid “red water”.     

Water–energy–greenhouse gas nexus of urban water systems: Review of concepts,state-of-art and methods

Water supply and wastewater services incur a large amount of energy and GHG emissions. It is therefore imperative to understand the link between water and energy as their availability and demand are closely interrelated. This paper presents a literature review and assessment of knowledge gaps related to water–energy–greenhouse gas (GHG) nexus studies in an urban context from an ‘energy for water’ perspective. The review comprehensively surveyed various studies undertaken in various regions of the world and focusing on individual or multiple subsystems of an urban water system. The paper also analyses the energy intensity of decentralized water systems and various water end-uses together with the major tools and models used. A major gap identified from this review is the lack of a holistic and systematic framework to capture the dynamics of multiple water–energy–GHG linkages in an integrated urban water system where centralized and decentralized water systems are combined to meet increased water demand. Other knowledge gaps identified are the absence of studies, peer reviewed papers, data and information on water–energy interactions while adopting a ‘fit for purpose water strategy’ for water supply. Finally, based on this review, we propose a water–energy nexus framework to investigate ‘fit-for-purpose’ water strategy.