MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND WATER RATES DRIVEN BY SEVERE DROUGHT: A CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes and interprets data pertaining to the evolution of average water revenue, water use, and the average cost of water supply in the City of Santa Barbara, California, from 1986 to 1996, a period which included one of the most devastating droughts in California this century. The 1987–1992 drought hit the study area particularly hard. The City of Santa Barbara was dependent exclusively on local sources for its water supply. That made it vulnerable as the regional climate is prone to extreme variability and recurrent droughts. The 1986–1992 drought provided a rare opportunity to assess the sensitivity of municipal water use to pricing, conservation, and other water management measures under extreme drought conditions. Our analysis indicates that the average cost of water rose more than three-fold in real terms from 1986 to 1996, while the gap between the average cost of supply and the average revenue per unit of water (= 100 cubic feet) rose in real terms from $0.14 in 1986 to $ 0.75 in 1996. The rise of $3.08 in the average cost of supplying one unit of water between 1986 and 1996 measures the cost of hedging drought risk in the study area. Water use dropped 46 percent at the height of the drought relative to pro-drought water use, and remains at 61 percent of the pre-drought level. The data derived from the 1987–1992 California drought are unique and valuable insofar as shedding light on drought/water demand adaptive interactions. The experience garnered on drought management during that unique period points to the possibilities available for future water management in the Arid West where dwindling water supplies and burgeoning populations are facts that we must deal with.     

关于煤矿安全法制化进程的几点思考

我国十一五规划对煤炭发展做出了新的要求,要建立和谐社会,煤矿安全是煤炭行业和谐发展的第一要务.煤矿安全立法相对滞后,现行法律缺乏针对性和可操作性,应加强煤矿安全立法.加强煤矿安全司法力度,对有效预防煤矿安全事故意义重大,同时应积极开展煤矿安全法制教育,提高煤矿从业人员的安全法治意识.强化煤矿安全执法力度,执法必严,是保障煤矿安全的关键环节.     

食品安全管理存在问题及其对策研究

食品是人类赖以生存和发展的重要物质基础。当前食品安全形势严峻,面临来自多方面的挑战。食物中毒、滥用杀虫剂、采用新技术和新工艺等带来的食品安全问题,还有生产流通环节的问题。笔者论述了食品安全的定义及内涵;介绍国内、外食品安全现状的基础上,分析了食品安全的重要性;进而提出了食品安全的可行性对策:完善我国食品安全法律法规与标准体系,建立和健全食品安全管理的专门机构,加强食品流通秩序的管理,构建系统的食品安全教育培训体系,加强社会监督,发挥消费者在食品安全问题中的积极作用等。     

Significant developments in sustainable development law and governance: A proposal

This article develops a practical proposal for progress on sustainable development law. It examines the prospects for an international sustainable development law to provide a framework for more effective, coherent governance. Sustainable development law is briefly defined and an analytical framework is provided. Different degrees of integration between economic, social and environmental law are described. Certain principles of international law related to sustainable development are also highlighted. It is argued that these principles may serve to guide law‐makers and jurists where social, economic and environmental law and policy conflict or overlap. Continuing, underlying questions of sustainable development governance are addressed and its global frameworks analysed. The article also focuses on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in August‐September 2002, and its specific mandate for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to take related legal developments into account. The article advances a proposal: that governments, economic, social and environmental intergovernmental organizations and other actors establish a ‘network of inquiry’ with members from relevant groups, including legal and academic organizations, and other expert groups, in order to follow, research, analyse and debate legal developments in a balanced way.     

TNT当量法预测某石化设备爆炸后果评价

以烃化反应器为模拟发生泄漏事故源,泄漏的物料形成爆炸性气体,发生爆炸事故,采用TNT当量法预测爆炸事故后果,通过公式,计算出因爆炸冲击波导致肺出血而引起死亡的概率为0.5的半径.     

The role of scientists in statutory interpretation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Like many federal statutes, the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) contains vague or ambiguous language. The meaning imparted to the ESA's unclear language can profoundly impact the fates of endangered and threatened species. Hence, conservation scientists should contribute to the interpretation of the ESA when vague or ambiguous language contains scientific words or refers to scientific concepts. Scientists need to know at least these 2 facts about statutory interpretation: statutory interpretation is subjective and the potential influence of normative values results in different expectations for the parties involved. With the possible exception of judges, all conventional participants in statutory interpretation are serving their own interests, advocating for their preferred policies, or biased. Hence, scientists can play a unique role by informing the interpretative process with objective, policy‐neutral information. Conversely, scientists may act as advocates for their preferred interpretation of unclear statutory language. The different roles scientists might play in statutory interpretation raise the issues of advocacy and competency. Advocating for a preferred statutory interpretation is legitimate political behavior by scientists, but statutory interpretation can be strongly influenced by normative values. Therefore, scientists must be careful not to commit stealth policy advocacy. Most conservation scientists lack demonstrable competence in statutory interpretation and therefore should consult or collaborate with lawyers when interpreting statutes. Professional scientific societies are widely perceived by the public as unbiased sources of objective information. Therefore, professional scientific societies should remain policy neutral and present all interpretations of unclear statutory language; explain the semantics and science both supporting and contradicting each interpretation; and describe the potential consequences of implementing each interpretation. A review of scientists’ interpretations of the phrase “significant portion of its range” in the ESA is used to critique the role of scientists and professional societies in statutory interpretation.     

官方媒体参与下不同风险感知群体竞争模型及其演化规律

为识别公众风险感知的演化规律和官方媒体参与的作用机制，首先，根据公众的行为表现划分不同风险感知群体，并分析群体间的相互竞争和官方媒体的扰动作用；然后，通过扩展Lotka Volterra模型建立群体间的相互竞争模型；在此基础上，通过推导模型平衡点及其稳定性分析模型演化规律；最后，运用数值仿真考查了官方媒体的参与对模型演化的影响。研究结果表明:模型演化具有3种结果情景，官方媒体参与能够显著改变模型演化的速度和结果。     

PLC控制系统在钢渣热焖工艺中的应用

利用PLC控制系统,实现在钢渣热焖工艺中的恒压供水和钢渣热焖定时定量喷水的自动控制要求,具有国际先进水平,取得了良好的经济效益、社会效益和环境效益.     

Differences in rheological and fractal properties of conditioned and raw sewage sludge

Rheological tests for raw and conditioned activated sludge(AS) or anaerobic digested sludge(ADS) show that power-law relationships can be used to describe the evolution of several rheological parameters,i.e.,limiting viscosity(η∞),yield stress(τy),cohesion energy of the sludge network(Ec),and storage modulus(G’),with total suspended solid(TSS) content in raw and conditioned sludge.A gel-like structure that behaves similar to weak-link flocs/aggregates was observed in AS and ADS.As derived from the double-logarithmic plots of G’-TSS content,the mass fractal dimensions of the raw and conditioned AS or ADS flocs/aggregates were 2.70 and 2.53 or 2.85 and 2.79,respectively.The rheological tests also indicate that both polymer conditioning and increased TSS content led to improved elastic behavior,cohesion energy,and yield stress of the sludge network,as well as expanded the corresponding linear viscoelastic range.The porosity of AS or ADS flocs/aggregates will be improved by polymer conditioning.     

Degradation of monofluorophenols in water irradiated with gaseous plasma

Decomposition of aqueous monofluorophenols (MFPs) was investigated by contact glow discharge electrolysis (CGDE). During CGDE, both MFPs and the corresponding total organic carbon (TOC) in water were consumed smoothly, suggesting that carbon atoms of benzene nucleus could be eventually mineralized to inorganic carbon (IC). And all the fluorine atoms in the MFPs were equally converted to fluoride ions. Based on the primary intermediates from each starting materials, it showed that aromatic hydroxylation preferentially occurred at the para- or ortho- position to the phenolic OH group of each MFPs. The disappearance of both MFPs and TOC followed the first-order rate law. The apparent rate constants for the decay of MFPs were independent from the pK_a values of MFPs.