Prediction of Streamflow Regime and Annual Runoff for Ungauged Basins Using a Distributed Monthly Water Balance Model1

Moore, R.D. (Dan), J.W. Trubilowicz, and J.M. Buttle, 2011. Prediction of Streamflow Regime and Annual Runoff for Ungauged Basins Using a Distributed Monthly Water Balance Model. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 32‐42. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00595.x Abstract: Prediction of streamflow in ungauged basins is a global challenge, but is particularly an issue in physiographically complex regions like British Columbia (BC), Canada. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of a simple water balance model that can be run using existing spatial datasets. The model was developed by modifying an existing monthly water balance model to account for interception loss from forest canopy, glacier melt, and evaporation from lakes. The model was run using monthly climate normals from the ClimateBC application, which have a horizontal resolution of 400 m. Each ClimateBC grid cell was classified as forest, open land, glacier or water surface based on provincial scale digital maps of biogeoclimatic zones, glaciers, and water. The output was monthly mean runoff from each grid cell. These values were integrated within the catchment boundaries for streams gauged by the Water Survey of Canada. Annual runoff was predicted with modest accuracy: after updating the predicted runoff by interpolating errors from neighboring gauged streams, the mean absolute error was 25.4% of the gauged value, and 52% of the streams had errors less than 20%. However, the model appears to be quite robust in distinguishing between pluvial, hybrid, and melt‐dominated hydroclimatic regimes, and therefore has promise as a tool for catchment classification.     

An Ex Post Evaluation of Ohio’s Great Miami Water Quality Trading Program1

Newburn, David A. and Richard T. Woodward, 2011. An Ex Post Evaluation of Ohio’s Great Miami Water Quality Trading Program. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 156‐169. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00601.x Abstract: Market‐based approaches to address water quality problems have resulted in only limited success, especially in trading programs involving both point and nonpoint sources. We analyze one of the largest point‐nonpoint trading programs – the Great Miami Trading Program in Ohio, administered by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD). Our evaluation focuses on the economic and institutional aspects of the program, including cost effectiveness, efficiency of bidding, transaction costs, trading ratios, and innovation. We use a unique dataset consisting of all bids from agricultural nonpoint sources and interviews of soil and water conservation district (SWCD) agents in the watershed. We find that the MCD’s reliance on county‐level SWCD offices to recruit and advise farmers has been essential to achieve relatively high rates of farmer participation. Additionally, the MCD is able to partly free ride on the administrative costs that SWCD offices receive to assist federal conservation programs, which is helpful to lower costs for a fledgling trading program. However, the involvement of SWCD offices reduced the potential cost savings from the reverse auction structure because some agents were able to learn about the threshold price over the six rounds of bidding and help farmers bid strategically. Overall, the program structure serves as an effective model for future trading programs in other regions that seek to involve agricultural nonpoint sources.     

The Water Table: The Shifting Foundation of Life on Land

Hyperarid, arid, and semi-arid lands represent over a third of the Earth’s land surface, and are home to over 38 % of the increasing world population. Freshwater is a limiting resource on these lands, and withdrawal of groundwater substantially exceeds recharge. Withdrawals of groundwater for expanding agricultural and domestic use severely limit water availability for groundwater dependent ecosystems. We examine here, with emphasis on quantitative data, case histories of groundwater withdrawals at widely differing scales, on three continents, that range from the impact of a few wells, to the outcomes of total appropriation of flow in a major river system. The case histories provide a glimpse of the immense challenge of replacing groundwater resources once they are severely depleted, and put into sharp focus the question whether the magnitude of the current and future human, economic, and environmental consequences and costs of present practices of groundwater exploitation are adequately recognized.     

Mercury levels and trends (1993-2009) in bream (Abramis brama L.) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) from German surface waters

Mercury concentrations have been analysed in bream (Abramis brama L.) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) collected at 17 freshwater sites in Germany from 1993-2009 and 1994-2009, respectively, within the German Environmental Specimen programme. Mercury concentrations in bream ranged from 21 to 881 ng g⁻¹ wet weight with lowest concentrations found at the reference site Lake Belau and highest in fish from the river Elbe and its tributaries. Statistical analysis revealed site-specific differences and significant decreasing temporal trends in mercury concentrations at most of the sampling sites. The decrease in mercury levels in bream was most pronounced in fish from the river Elbe and its tributary Mulde, while in fish from the river Saale mercury levels increased. Temporal trends seem to level off in recent years. Mercury concentrations in zebra mussels were much lower than those in bream according to their lower trophic position and varied by one order of magnitude from 4.1 to 42 ng g⁻¹ wet weight (33-336 ng g⁻¹ dry weight). For zebra mussels, trend analyses were performed for seven sampling sites at the rivers Saar and Elbe of which three showed significant downward trends. There was a significant correlation of the geometric mean concentrations in bream and zebra mussel over the entire study period at each sampling site (Pearson’s correlation coefficient = 0.892, p = 0.00002). A comparison of the concentrations in bream with the environmental quality standard (EQS) of 20 ng g⁻¹ wet weight set for mercury in biota by the EU showed that not a single result was in compliance with this limit value, not even those from the reference site. Current mercury levels in bream from German rivers exceed the EQS by a factor 4.5-20. Thus, piscivorous top predators are still at risk of secondary poisoning by mercury exposure via the food chain. It was suggested focusing monitoring of mercury in forage fish (trophic level 3 or 4) for compliance checking with the EQS for biota and considering the age dependency of mercury concentrations in fish in the monitoring strategy.     

Photocatalytic degradation of five sulfonylurea herbicides in aqueous semiconductor suspensions under natural sunlight

In the present study, the photocatalytic degradation of five sulfonylurea herbicides (chlorsulfuron, flazasulfuron, nicosulfuron, sulfosulfuron and triasulfuron) has been investigated in aqueous suspensions of zinc oxide (ZnO), tungsten (VI) oxide (WO₃), tin (IV) oxide (SnO₂) and zinc sulfide (ZnS) at pilot plant scale under natural sunlight. Photocatalytic experiments, especially those involving ZnO photocatalysis, showed that the addition of semiconductors in tandem with the oxidant (Na₂S₂O₈) strongly enhances the degradation rate of the herbicides in comparisons carried out with photolytic tests. The degradation of the herbicides follows a first order kinetics according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. In our conditions, the amount of time required for 50% of the initial pesticide concentration to dissipate (t_½) ranged from 8 to 27 min (t_30W = 0.3-1.2 min) for sulfosulfuron and chlorsulfuron, respectively in the ZnO/Na₂S₂O₈ system. None of the studied herbicides was found after 120 min of illumination (except chlorsulfuron, 0.2 μg L⁻¹).     

Eichhornia crassipes capability to remove naphthalene from wastewater in the absence of bacteria

The aim of the current study was to investigate the potential of an aquatic plant, the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) devoid rhizospheric bacteria, to reduce naphthalene (a polyaromatic hydrocarbon) present in wastewater and wetlands.The capability of sterile water hyacinth plants to remove naphthalene from water and wastewater was studied in batch systems. Water hyacinths enhance the removal of pollutants through their consumption as nutrients and also through microbial activity of their rhizospheric bacteria.Experimental kinetics of naphthalene removal by water hyacinth coupled with natural rhizospheric bacteria was 100% after 9 d. Plants, decoupled of rhizospheric bacteria, reduced naphthalene concentration up to 45% during 7 d. Additionally, naphthalene uptake by water hyacinth revealed a biphasic behavior: a rapid first phase completed after 2.5 h, and a second, considerably slower rate, phase (2.5-225 h). In conclusion, water hyacinth devoid rhizospheric bacteria reduced significantly naphthalene concentration in water, revealing a considerable plant contribution in the biodegradation process of this pollutant.     

Visualization and localization of bromotoluene distribution in Hedera helix using NanoSIMS

Some plants are known as indoor air purifiers. A large number of studies report kinetic purification results for an extensive panel of plants, i.e. the pollutant concentration (volatile organic compounds, as known as VOC, most of the time) is continuously monitored by gas chromatography. However, only a few papers describe the mechanisms involved in such processes. This study deals with the use of secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging as an efficient tool to locate atmospheric pollutant as bromotoluene within the Hedera helix plant (leaf, roots) and the substrate on which it was previously grown. Hedera helix plants have been placed in a pollution chamber with control of the exposure parameters. Plant and soil samples excised were transferred into a fixative solution of glutaraldehyde and paraformaldehyde for a few days, were dehydrated using ethanol and were embedded with resin. Cross sections were made from the pale brown solids obtained. Then, a device using a cathodic pulverization device capable of depositing a few nanometers of gold atoms over the sample was used to make the surface electronically conductive for the NanoSIMS. Hence, polluted and unpolluted samples of Hedera helix and substrates were obtained following a careful procedure that allowed for the discrimination between polluted and nonpolluted ones. Nanoscale spatial resolution was an invaluable tool (NanoSIMS) to achieve this, and proved that VOCs, such as bromotoluene, were actually trapped by plants such as Hedera helix.     

Influence of Suwannee River humic acid on particle properties and toxicity of silver nanoparticles

Adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) on nanoparticles can have dramatic impacts on particle dispersion resulting in altered fate and transport as well as bioavailability and toxicity. In this study, the adsorption of Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) on silver nanoparticles (nano-Ag) was determined and showed a Langmuir adsorption at pH 7 with an adsorption maximum of 28.6 mg g⁻¹ nano-Ag. It was also revealed that addition of <10 mg L⁻¹ total organic carbon (TOC) increased the total Ag content suspended in the aquatic system, likely due to increased dispersion. Total silver content decreased with concentrations of NOM greater than 10 mg TOC L⁻¹ indicating an increase in nanoparticle agglomeration and settling above this concentration. However, SRHA did not have any significant effect on the equilibrium concentration of ionic Ag dissolved in solution. Exposure of Daphnia to nano-Ag particles (50 μg L⁻¹ and pH 7) produced a linear decrease in toxicity with increasing NOM. These results clearly indicate the importance of water chemistry on the fate and toxicity of nanoparticulates.     

Recent progress on application of UV excilamps for degradation of organic pollutants and microbial inactivation

Excilamps as modern mercury-free sources of narrow-band UV radiation represent an attractive alternative in environmental applications. This review focuses on recent studies on the water and surface decontamination with excilamps by means of direct photolysis and advanced oxidation processes. To date, direct photolysis and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as UV/H₂O₂, UV/Fenton and UV/O₃ have been applied for degradation of organic compounds (mainly, phenols, dyes and herbicides) in model aqueous solutions. Special emphasis is placed on studies combining UV irradiation (as a pre-treatment or post-treatment step) with biological treatment. In this review, the efficiencies of direct UV, UV/H₂O₂ and UV/TiO₂ processes for inactivation of a variety of pathogenic microorganisms in water and on surfaces are discussed. The analysis of the literature shows that more works need to be done on scaling up the processes, degradation/mineralization of target pollutant(s) in real effluents and evaluation of energy requirements.     

苏南某市河流水质参数时空变异性研究

以苏南某市区320km2内的河流为研究对象,基于对高锰酸盐指数、NH3-N、TP3个主要水质参数的监测,应用地质统计学的变差函数球状模型和Kriging插值法,对河流有机污染指标、富营养化指标进行了空间插值,用以揭示其时空分布特征及变化趋势,并绘制了时空分布等值线图。结果表明,受不同区域污染物来源的差异、不同河道自身条件的差异和不同水期水生植物、入流水量、河水流动性的差异等因素的影响,研究区河流水质参数呈现出不同的时空变异特征;各水质参数污染均相当严重,尤以富营养化指标氮磷最为显著。