Potential for electricity savings by reducing potable water consumption in a city scale

Nowadays, it is very important that water and energy resources are used appropriately as this is a challenge to promote sustainable development. In some sectors, such as water and sewerage utilities, energy consumption depends on water consumption. The main objective of this work is to estimate the potential for electricity savings in a water and sewerage utility by reducing potable water consumption in the residential, commercial and public sectors in the city of Florianópolis, southern Brazil. These three sectors account for 98.9% of the total water consumption in the city. By using data related to energy consumption and costs that apply to the local water utility for water and sewage treatment, and also the potential for potable water savings over the three sectors, it is possible to estimate the potential for energy savings by reducing potable water consumption and sewage treatment. Potable water savings were estimated by using data available in the literature about water end-uses for different types of buildings located in Florianópolis. Three options were considered: installing dual-flush toilets, reusing greywater and using rainwater. The average potential for potable water savings were 30.0%, 53.4% and 60.3%, respectively, for the residential, commercial and public sectors. Thus, the average potable water savings amount to about 10,153,835 m³/year, and the electricity savings amount to 4.4 GW h/year, which would be enough to supply 1217 houses or flats in Florianópolis, with an average energy consumption of 300 kW h/month.     

中国流域水资源生态补偿的法律问题与对策

随着我国经济社会的不断发展,水资源不足和水质污染引起的水危机已经成为许多地区可持续发展中的重要制约因素。在这种背景下,为了平衡环境、社会和经济多元利益,寻求先进的法律机制来调节平衡、保护流域生态环境、促进流域的可持续发展已成为一种共识。开展流域水资源生态补偿是实现流域上下游之间等相关方利益公平的关键所在。但由于我国缺乏生态补偿立法和相应的制度安排,流域水资源生态补偿目前仍面临许多问题：我国流域水资源生态补偿进展缓慢、法律制度滞后、部分法律法规彼此之间矛盾和相互冲突、流域水资源生态补偿的法律制度缺位、立法模式不适合当今流域生态环境问题解决等。本文通过对我国有关涉水法律中存在问题的分析,提出一些有关流域水资源生态补偿法律制度建设和完善的对策,以期对中国流域水资源生态补偿的推进和进一步实现水资源的可持续利用有所帮助。     

便携式水质采样器的研制与应用

本文阐述了一种新型便携式水质采样器（实用新型专利ZL20082004001．9）的研制过程。介绍了采样器的工作原理、结构组成、技术特点,分析了其适用性。该采样器的主要优点是便携性好,使用方便,采样定位准确,所采水样均匀性好,并有效解决了低水位排污口的采样难题。     

大连市水资源与社会经济协调发展研究

选取大连2001-2008年的水资源利用和社会经济发展数据,引用协调发展度模型进行分析.评价结果表明,大连水资源与社会经济的协调度性由严重失调衰退向中级失调衰退发展,与大连的实际发展情况相符.对大连水资源与社会经济发展不协调的原因进行分析,为今后加大水利工程投资力度,优化用水结构,提高用水效率,实现水资源与社会经济的协调发展提供依据.     

峨眉山资源植物研究

按资源植物的用途与相似有机化学物质类群,将峨眉山资源植物分为5大类11小类.统计表明,绝对数量最高的大类资源植物依次为药用植物、园林植物和食用植物,而药用植物、芳香植物在我国同类资源中占较大的相对比重;绝对数量最高的小类资源植物依次为纤维、鞣质、油脂与蛋白植物资源种类,而淀粉、维生素与色素资源种类比重达到或超过全国同类资源植物数量的1/2.峨眉山资源植物的特点是:种类丰富,蓄积量小;珍稀度高,特有性强;品类齐全,潜力巨大.围绕峨眉山资源植物的有效保护和利用,提出了建立长效的科技合作与资源共享机制,提高资源编目与监测水平,建立"峨眉山植物园",逐步树立"峨眉山"资源植物品牌等建议.     

陕西旅游资源富集县县域经济发展模式研究——以华阴市为例

陕西省作为我国的旅游资源大省,通过着力发展比较优势明显的旅游产业来促进县域经济发展本是大势所趋,但目前旅游业与工农业发展的孤立性又是约束县域经济发展的一道"紧箍咒",如何在旅游大发展的背景下实现旅游产业与县域经济的互动发展具有极为重要的理论与实证意义.通过分析华阴市2002--2009年旅游产业对县域经济的贡献能力,切实考虑当前该市县域经济发展中存在的主要问题,从旅游产业的视角出发,归纳出陕西旅游资源丰富地区县域经济发展的模式,以期为陕西省县域经济的发展提供对策和建议.     

重庆华蓥山山脉药用植物资源调查研究

通过野外考察、标本采集、资料查阅整理及标本鉴定,对重庆华蓥山山山脉药用植物资源进行了调查.结果表明,重庆华蓥山共有药用植物240科1017属2251种(含变种和亚种),其中地衣植物5科8属11种、苔藓植物23科30属36种、蕨类植物40科82属190种、裸子植物9科17属25种、被子植物163科880属1989种.对其种类组成、分布、药用部位、疗效等进行了统计分析,对民间习用药物做了简要介绍,并对其开发利用提出了建议.     

海南尖峰岭自然保护区野生观赏植物资源开发利用

概述了海南尖峰岭的自然条件与植被现状。通过全面深入的野外调查与标本采集,根据不同的园林应用,对调查区域内野生植物资源的观赏特性进行分类,提出开发利用尖峰岭自然保护区内野生植物资源的建议。     

Ecosystem states: Creating a data-derived, ecosystem-scale ecological response model that is explicit in space and time

Increasing difficulties associated with balancing consumptive demands for water and achieving ecological benefits in aquatic ecosystems provide opportunities for new ecosystem-scale ecological response models to assist managers. Using an Australian estuary as a case study, we developed a novel approach to create a data-derived state-and-transition model. The model identifies suites of co-occurring birds, fish, benthic invertebrates and aquatic macrophytes (as ‘states’) and the changing physico-chemical conditions that are associated with each (‘transitions’). The approach first used cluster analysis to identify sets of co-occurring biota. Differences in the physico-chemical data associated with each state were identified using classification trees, with the biotic distinctness of the resultant statistical model tested using analysis of similarities. The predictive capacity of the model was tested using new cases. Two models were created using different time-steps (annual and quarterly) and then combined to capture both longer-term trends and more-recent declines in ecological condition. We identified eight ecosystem states that were differentiated by a mix of water-quantity and water-quality variables. Each ecosystem state represented a distinct biotic assemblage under well-defined physico-chemical conditions. Two ‘basins of attraction’ were identified, with four tidally-influenced states, and another four independent of tidal influence. Within each basin, states described a continuum of relative health, manifest through declining taxonomic diversity and abundances. The main threshold determining relative health was whether freshwater flows had occurred in the region during the previous 339 days. Canonical analyses of principal coordinates tested the predictive capacity of the model and demonstrated that the variance in the environmental data set was well captured (87%) with 52% of the variance in the biological data set also captured. The latter increased to >80% when long- and short-term biological data were analysed separately, indicating that the model described the available data for the Coorong well. This approach thus created a data-derived, multivariate model, where neither states nor transitions were determined a priori. The approach did not over-fit the data, was robust to patchy or missing data, the choice of initial clustering technique and random errors in the biological data set, and was well-received by local natural resource managers. However, the model did not capture causal relationships and requires additional testing, particularly during future episodes of ecological recovery. The approach shows significant promise for simplifying management definitions of ecological condition and, via scenario analyses, can be used to assist in manager decision-making of large, complex aquatic ecosystems in the future.     

A Perspective on Nonstationarity and Water Management1

Hirsch, Robert M., 2011. A Perspective on Nonstationarity and Water Management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(3):436‐446. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00539.x Abstract: This essay offers some perspectives on climate‐related nonstationarity and water resources. Hydrologists must not lose sight of the many sources of nonstationarity, recognizing that many of them may be of much greater magnitude than those that may arise from climate change. It is paradoxical that statistical and deterministic approaches give us better insights about changes in mean conditions than about the tails of probability distributions, and yet the tails are very important to water management. Another paradox is that it is difficult to distinguish between long‐term hydrologic persistence and trend. Using very long hydrologic records is helpful in mitigating this problem, but does not guarantee success. Empirical approaches, using long‐term hydrologic records, should be an important part of the portfolio of research being applied to understand the hydrologic response to climate change. An example presented here shows very mixed results for trends in the size of the annual floods, with some strong clusters of positive trends and a strong cluster of negative trends. The potential for nonstationarity highlights the importance of the continuity of hydrologic records, the need for repeated analysis of the data as the time series grow, and the need for a well‐trained cadre of scientists and engineers, ready to interpret the data and use those analyses to help adjust the management of our water resources.