Global Urban Growth and the Geography of Water Availability,Quality, and Delivery

Globally, urban growth will add 1.5 billion people to cities by 2030, making the difficult task of urban water provisions even more challenging. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework of urban water provision as composed of three axes: water availability, water quality, and water delivery. For each axis, we calculate quantitative proxy measures for all cities with more than 50,000 residents, and then briefly discuss the strategies cities are using in response if they are deficient on one of the axes. We show that 523 million people are in cities where water availability may be an issue, 890 million people are in cities where water quality may be an issue, and 1.3 billion people are in cities where water delivery may be an issue. Tapping into groundwater is a widespread response, regardless of the management challenge, with many cities unsustainably using this resource. The strategies used by cities deficient on the water delivery axis are different than for cities deficient on the water quantity or water quality axis, as lack of financial resources pushes cities toward a different and potentially less effective set of strategies.     

三峡工程建设期库区生态环境保护措施及效果评价

针对三峡工程建设过程中可能引发的生态与环境问题,基于三峡工程建设前后库区生态环境变化,对17年工程建设过程中,库区及上游开展的各项生态环境保护措施及其效果进行总结评价。结果表明三峡库区各项生态环境保护措施有力得当,移民及工矿搬迁环境压力降低,干流水质基本稳定,地质灾害防控得当,库区及上游生态恢复加速,库底清理清漂彻底,媒介生物密度下降,人居环境逐步改善,库区生态环境质量总体趋好。鉴于库区“限制开发区域”的国家主体功能区定位、生态环境的复杂性及相关影响因素的滞后性,生态环境保护工作仍需要进一步加强,特从管理、技术与经济三方面对三峡水库运行管理期内的库区生态环境保护工作提出建议,旨在为相关管理部门提供决策参考依据     

三峡工程蓄水运用期库区干流水质分析

分析了三峡库区蓄水前后（1998～2009年）干流水质的变化及原因。结果表明,同蓄水前相比,蓄水后库区干流水质变好,库区干流断面月度达标率均值由蓄水前的623%变为蓄水后的783%,库区干流超标污染物主要为高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等。蓄水后水质时空分布出现新的特点,近坝水体悬浮物、浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等可吸附污染物浓度显著降低。蓄水后年内悬浮物及浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷和铅浓度仍然是丰水期＞平、枯水期,但近坝水体不同水期间浓度差别比蓄水前明显减小。蓄水后,库区干流浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度整体上表现为从库尾至库首沿程下降,尤以丰水期沿程下降最为突出。浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度以上变化特征主要缘于库区水位抬高后,流速减小导致的澄清作用,即高锰酸盐指数所代表污染物、磷、铅等随泥沙发生了不同程度的沉降。蓄水前后清样高锰酸盐指数和总磷未发生明显变化,156 m蓄水后至今,清样铅浓度明显低于蓄水前。     

OHS风险控制方法在烟气排放控制工程中的应用

介绍了烟气排放控制工程中OHS风险控制的方法,并以香港青山“B”电厂4X680MW机组排放控制工程（CPBEC）为例,阐述了目前国内外环保项目在OHS风险管理方面的差距和改进措施。     

环境监测能力建设项目管理思路与实现

近年来,环境监测能力建设项目资金投入不断加大,项目规模增长迅速,实施任务日益繁重,项目绩效考核要求越来越高,但项目管理还处于比较粗放的状态。在分析环境监测能力建设项目管理现状和需求的基础上,提出通过转变项目管理模式、强化信息支撑手段、完善制度建设、培养管理人才等多种手段,提高项目管理的科学性和时效性,实现重点项目管理的精细化、科学化和规范化。     

Use of Habitats as Surrogates of Biodiversity for Efficient Coral Reef Conservation Planning in Pacific Ocean Islands

Abstract: Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been highlighted as a means toward effective conservation of coral reefs. New strategies are required to more effectively select MPA locations and increase the pace of their implementation. Many criteria exist to design MPA networks, but generally, it is recommended that networks conserve a diversity of species selected for, among other attributes, their representativeness, rarity, or endemicity. Because knowledge of species’ spatial distribution remains scarce, efficient surrogates are urgently needed. We used five different levels of habitat maps and six spatial scales of analysis to identify under which circumstances habitat data used to design MPA networks for Wallis Island provided better representation of species than random choice alone. Protected‐area site selections were derived from a rarity–complementarity algorithm. Habitat surrogacy was tested for commercial fish species, all fish species, commercially harvested invertebrates, corals, and algae species. Efficiency of habitat surrogacy varied by species group, type of habitat map, and spatial scale of analysis. Maps with the highest habitat thematic complexity provided better surrogates than simpler maps and were more robust to changes in spatial scales. Surrogates were most efficient for commercial fishes, corals, and algae but not for commercial invertebrates. Conversely, other measurements of species‐habitat associations, such as richness congruence and composition similarities provided weak results. We provide, in part, a habitat‐mapping methodology for designation of MPAs for Pacific Ocean islands that are characterized by habitat zonations similar to Wallis. Given the increasing availability and affordability of space‐borne imagery to map habitats, our approach could appreciably facilitate and improve current approaches to coral reef conservation and enhance MPA implementation.     

COST SHARING IN TRANSITION: THE CASE OF PLAN 6, CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: In the past, development of Federal water resource projects depended heavily or exclusively on Federal financing of construction costs. However, pressures on the Federal budget, environmental issues, and the notion that there are economic efficiency gains when beneficiaries of Federal water resource projects increase their cost share are causing changes. The case of the Central Arizona Project Plan 6 is a noteworthy example of the transition to more non-Federal participation in water resource development. This is because the non-Federal financing is to be provided for a project already under construction. The negotiation and terms of the Plan 6 financing agreement between the Department of the Interior and multiple interests in Arizona are used as an example of how Federal water project cost sharing is in a state of transition. The negotiation process is described, a financial analysis is provided, and the terms of the agreement and policy issues that were deliberated in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government are discussed.     

MODELS FOR WATER AND POWER SCHEDULING FOR THE CALIFORNIA STATE WATER PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: A large-scale simulation/optimization model provides schedules for operation of water and power for the California State Water Project (SWP). The SWP consists of a series of reservoirs linked by rivers, pumping plants, canals, tunnels, and generating plants and is operated by the California Department of Water Resources. The Department provides water to municipal and agricultural users, and manages its electrical loads and resources. The model, therefore, performs hydraulic and electrical computations leading to optimal operation of the entire system. It consists of hydraulic network programming components to meet the storage objectives at all the reservoirs, a linear programming component to determine the schedules at pumping and generating plants, an electrical network programming component to balance electrical loads and resources, and a number of other simulation components. It operates on yearly, weekly, and daily bases. It is primarily used for real-time operation of the SWP and can provide hourly detail schedules which are implemented by the SWP staff via a computerized system.     

Territorial planning,environmental issues and social appraisal: some general implications of ‘new’ assessment methodologies

The paper attempts to conceptualise a range of problems arising from project appraisals. The author presents some general considerations concerning the role of social appraisal in territorial planning, the theoretical weaknesses of cost‐benefit analysis in assessing the effects of projects on territorial resources and some questions relating to assessment methodologies and the welfare foundations of social appraisal within planning practices. The author moves away from evaluation as a technical process towards one which also incorporates ‘practical’ knowledge in a process of argumentation.     

Linking rights and standards: the process of developing "rights-based" minimum standards on food security, nutrition and food aid

This article examines the recent revision of the Sphere Minimum Standards in disaster response relating to food security, nutrition and food aid. It describes how the revision attempted to incorporate the principles of the Humanitarian Charter, as well as relevant human rights principles and values into the Sphere Minimum Standards. The initial aim of the revision was to ensure that the Sphere Minimum Standards better reflected the principles embodied in the Humanitarian Charter. This was later broadened to ensure that key legal standards and principles from human rights and humanitarian law were considered and also incorporated, in part to fill the "protection gap" within the existing standards. In relation to the food security, nutrition and food aid standards, it was agreed by participants in the process that the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger should be incorporated. In relation to more general principles underlying the Humanitarian Charter, itself drawn largely from human rights and humanitarian law, it was agreed that there was a need to strengthen "protection" elements within the standards and a need to incorporate the basic principles of the right to life with dignity, non-discrimination, impartiality and participation, as well as to explore the relevance of the concept of the progressive realisation of the right to food. The questions raised in linking rights to operational standards required thought, on the one hand, about whether the technical standards reflected a deep understanding of the values expressed within the legal instruments, and whether the existing standards were adequate in relation to those legal rights. On the other hand, it also required reflection on how operational standards like Sphere could give concrete content to human rights, such as the right to food and the right to be free from hunger. However, there remain challenges in examining what a rights-based approach will mean in terms of the role of humanitarian agencies as duty-bearers of rights, given that the primary responsibility rests with state governments. It will also require reflection on the modes and mechanisms of accountability that are brought to bear in ensuring the implementation of the Minimum Standards.