SOME GEOMORPHIC RELATIONSHIPS AND HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: First order drainage channels originate when the tractive force exerted by flowing water is sufficient to move surface sediment. The amount of runoff available to move sediment is a function of geologic and climatic characteristics. An experimental analysis showed that soils derived from fine grained rocks had lower infiltration rates and higher runoff volume than soils derived from coarser grained rocks in a semi-arid climate. Root density and penetration increased in a more humid climate and increased infiltration rates. The number of first order channels was inversely proportional to the infiltration capacity of the soil. Each first order channel acts as a source area for surface runoff. The distribution of first order channel distances from the gage determines the timing of the delivery of water to the gage. A comparison of the frequency histogram of first order channel distances for drainage basins in Pennsylvania and their hydxographs of runoff from general storms showed marked similarity. This close correspondence indicated the shape of the surface runoff hydrograph and was largely controlled by the distribution of first order channel distances.     

INTEGRATED MODELING FOR WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES AND SPATIAL EFFECTS1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an optimization framework for prioritizing sites for wetlands restoration on a watershed or landscape scale. The framework is designed for analyzing the potential environmental impacts of alternative management strategies while accounting for economic constraints, thereby aiding decision makers in explicitly considering multiple management objectives. The modeling strategy consists of two phases. First, relationships between the configuration of land use types in a watershed and valued ecosystem services are specified mathematically. Second, those functions are incorporated into a spatial optimization model that allows comparisons of the expected environmental impacts and economic costs of management strategies that change the configuration of land use in the watershed. By way of a stylized example, this paper develops the general structure of the framework, presents simulation results based on two production functions for ecosystem services, and discusses the potential utility of the methodology for watershed management.     

Habitat, Landscape and Bird Composition in Mountain Forest Fragments

The study attempts to separate the effects of forest fragmentation related to landscape (patch area, isolation) and habitat (altitude, vegetation structure) on bird community composition in a mountain pine forest. Bird composition was related, using a multivariate approach (canonical correspondence analyses), to either habitat or to landscape, eliminating the effect of habitat statistically. Bird composition and species richness varied with patch area and isolation from large pine stands, but this effect could be assigned principally to variation in vegetation structure and altitude. Another effect, that of increasing occurrence and numbers of Anthus trivialis with decreasing distance to nearest low-altitude forest, could be assigned to both habitat (grass cover) and landscape (connectivity effects). Management implications are drawn from the results.     

ASSEMBLY OF MAP‐BASED STREAM NARRATIVES TO FACILITATE STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Watershed stewardship activities throughout North America have evolved into a process that requires more involvement in planning and decision making by community stakeholders. Active involvement of all stakeholders in the process of watershed stewardship is dependent on effective exchange of information among participants, and active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders from “communities of place” as well as those from “communities of interest.” We developed a map‐based stream narrative tool as a means to: (a) assemble a wealth of incompletely documented, “traditional” ecological or natural history observations for rivers or streams; and (b) promote a higher level of active involvement by community stakeholders in contributing to information‐based, watershed management. Creation of stream narratives is intended for use as a tool to actively engage local stakeholders in the development of a more comprehensive information system to improve management for multiple stewardship objectives in watersheds. Completion of map‐based stream narrative atlases provides a valuable supplement to other independent efforts to assemble observations and knowledge about land‐based natural resources covering entire watersheds. We are confident that completion of stream narrative projects will make a valuable addition to the information and decision making tools that are currently available to the public and resource agencies interested in advancing the cause of community‐based approaches to watershed and ecosystem management.     

宁淮高速公路膨胀土边坡生态土壤稳定剂土质改性试验研究

介绍了STW型生态土壤稳定剂对宁淮高速公路边坡膨胀土的胀缩性、水稳性、强度、抗冲刷性等的改性试验研究,并结合现场试验,分析了STW型生态土壤稳定剂用于膨胀土边坡坡面防护的效果。试验结果表明:STW型生态土壤稳定剂改性膨胀土的胀缩性,随着稳定剂掺量的增大而减小;改性土的水稳性,随着稳定剂稀释浓度的增大而增强;同时,改性土的强度得到显著提高,抗冲刷性能得到明显增强,具有显著的防治水土流失、促进表层固化、提高坡面稳定的效果。     

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR IRRIGATION PROJECT PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: This study presents three optimization techniques for on‐farm irrigation scheduling in irrigation project planning: namely the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing and iterative improvement methods. The three techniques are applied to planning a 394.6 ha irrigation project in the town of Delta, Utah, for optimizing economic profits, simulating water demand, and estimating the crop area percentages with specific water supply and planted area constraints. The comparative optimization results for the 394.6 ha irrigated project from the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, and iterative improvement methods are as follows: (1) the seasonal maximum net benefits are $113,826, $111,494, and $105,444 per season, respectively; and (2) the seasonal water demands are 3.03*10³ m³, 3.0*10³ m³, and 2.92*10³ m³ per season, respectively. This study also determined the most suitable four parameters of the genetic algorithm method for the Delta irrigated project to be: (1) the number of generations equals 800, (2) population size equals 50, (3) probability of crossover equals 0.6, and (4) probability of mutation equals 0.02. Meanwhile, the most suitable three parameters of simulated annealing method for the Delta irrigated project are: (1) initial temperature equals 1,000, (2) number of moves equal 90, and (3) cooling rate equals 0.95.     

ANALYZING CORRELATIONS BETWEEN STREAM AND WATERSHED ATTRIBUTES1

ABSTRACT: Bivariate correlation analysis has been widely used to explore relationships between stream and watershed attributes that have all been measured on the same set of watersheds or sampling locations. Researchers routinely test H₀: ρ= 0 for each correlation in a large table and then go on to discuss only those that are declared “significant.” Such test results are inaccurate because no allowance is made for multiple testing, and also because the tests are not mutually independent. This paper reviews the Bonferroni approach to controlling the overall error rate in multiple testing and shows how the approach becomes impractical for large correlation tables. The Hotelling/Williams test is introduced for comparing two dependent correlations that share a variable, and numerical constraints for two such correlations are illustrated. References are also given for testing other hypothesized patterns among dependent correlations, and links to dependent correlation software are provided. The methods are illustrated for watershed and stream variables sampled in 23 small agricultural watersheds of the Willamette Valley, Oregon.     

SEDIMENT OXYGEN DEMAND IN THE ARROYO COLORADO RIVER1

ABSTRACT: The lower reaches of the Arroyo Colorado have historically failed to meet their use under subsection 303(b) of the U.S. Clean Water Act due to fecal coliform bacteria and low dissolved oxygen (DO). Fish kills, especially at the tidal confluence at the Port of Harlingen, Texas, have been reported. Oxygen demand from sediment (SOD) for a river typically has two states‐diffusion limited SOD (SOD) and potential SOD (pSOD), expressed when sediment is resuspended through increased flow or other disturbances. The objective of this research was to measure SOD in the Arroyo Colorado River in situ, estimate pSOD ex situ, and evaluate the relationship between SOD and the depositional environment. We measured SOD and pSOD in the Arroyo Colorado River at up to eight sites over three sampling events. We identified the sample sites based on a modified Rosgen geomorphic index for streambed stabilization. Sites with high sediment deposition potential had high SOD. The average values of SOD between sites were 0.62 g/m²/day (standard deviation 0.38 g/m²/day) and ranged from 0.13 to 1.2 g/m²/day. Potential SOD values ranged from as low as 19.2 to as high as 2,779 g/m³ sediment/ day. Potential SOD can serve as an indicator of the possible impact of SOD from resuspended sediment in stream systems.     

INCREASED BASEFLOW IN IOWA OVER THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY1

ABSTRACT: Historical trends in annual discharge characteristics were evaluated for 11 gauging stations located throughout Iowa. Discharge records from nine eight‐digit hydrologic unit code (HUC‐8) watersheds were examined for the period 1940 to 2000, whereas data for two larger river systems (Cedar and Des Moines Rivers) were examined for a longer period of record (1903 to 2000). In nearly all watersheds evaluated, annual base flow, annual minimum flow, and the annual base flow percentage significantly increased over time. Some rivers also exhibited increasing trends in total annual discharge, whereas only the Maquoketa River had significantly decreased annual maximum flows. Regression of stream discharge versus precipitation indicated that more precipitation is being routed into streams as base flow than as storm flow in the second half of the 20th Century. Reasons for the observed stream flow trends are hypothesized to include improved conservation practices, greater artificial drainage, increasing row crop production, and channel incision. Each of these reasons is consistent with the observed trends, and all are likely responsible to some degree in most watersheds.