Mitigating Groundwater Impacts of Residential Wells through Small‐Scale Distributed Storage in the Skagit River Basin

The exemption for groundwater wells for residential uses from the prior appropriations system, common in the western United States, has eroded in Washington State since about 2000 due to a series of legal cases. Water markets can allow the transfer of an existing water right, typically from an agricultural use, to compensate for the effect of a new residential well. But water must be legally and physically available in a way suitable to satisfy mitigation requirements. A recent court case in the Skagit basin in Northwestern Washington State has effectively halted residential development in rural areas of the basin because no suitable water rights are available to purchase for mitigation. This paper presents and examines the cost‐effectiveness of various water supply mitigation strategies. We find a small‐scale, distributed stream‐side storage system for augmenting instream flow purchased from downstream sources is relatively cost‐effective to mitigate against the effects of domestic groundwater use compared to more common alternatives. We consider transporting water to storage sites by both small‐gauge pipe and by truck. Overall, trucking water to stream‐side storage and release points tends to be more cost‐effective to mitigate against indoor‐use only given current subbasin housing densities, whereas piping for direct streamflow augmentation is more cost‐effective for higher mitigation needs associated with indoor and outdoor use and higher housing densities.     

亚热带典型小流域总氮最大日负荷(TMDL)及影响因子研究——以金井河流域为例

本研究以亚热带红壤丘陵区为研究区域,选取10个典型小流域,根据土地利用和畜禽养殖密度分为4种类型(森林、森林-种植、养殖和种植-养殖小流域),并基于近3年小流域把口站的原位观测数据,采用负荷历时曲线模型(LDC)计算了不同类型小流域水体总氮(TN)的最大日负荷(TMDL),运用灰度分析法定量研究了不同流量阶段小流域主要因子对TN负荷消减率的影响.结果表明,小流域TN负荷特征与流域类型密切相关,10个小流域TN年均负荷为739.0~2798.4 kg·km-2·a-1,由小到大依次为森林、森林-种植、养殖、种植-养殖小流域,其中,养殖、种植-养殖小流域水质整体超标严重,且应针对中、低流量条件下(秋、冬季节)负荷进行消减,而森林-种植小流域TN负荷超标情况略好,但高流量阶段(春、夏)超标率过高.灰度分析结果表明,TN负荷消减率在高、中流量阶段下主要受农田面积比例影响,而低流量阶段受畜禽密度影响.农田面积比例对高、中流量段TN消减率影响显著,而畜禽养殖密度在低流量段具有更大影响,小流域景观越破碎、类型越丰富、斑块分布越零散、形状越复杂,TN负荷通量则越大.     

草海湿地小流域土地利用与景观格局对氮、磷输出的影响

识别主要污染物和污染源对草海湿地生态系统的保护与管理具有重要的现实意义.基于2012年5—10月6个小流域的水质观测数据、土地利用结构与景观格局指数,研究了草海湿地入湖小流域氮、磷输出的时空变化规律及其与景观格局的关系,以期为草海湿地综合治理提供参考.结果表明,草海湿地北面建设用地面积比例呈西北、东南方向逐渐降低和景观破碎度逐渐减小的趋势,具有明显的城市-城郊-农村的景观格局梯度,景观格局影响流域水质.多元统计分析表明,小流域氮磷输出受景观组成属性和空间属性综合影响,城镇建设用地百分比与TN、TP和COD呈显著正相关关系(r分别为0.995、0.978和0.996,p0.01),景观破碎度(CONTAG、ED、MPS)和多样性(SHDI)与水质(TN、TP、COD)具有显著的相关关系,CCA的第一排序轴解释了建设用地面积比例、景观指数与水质指标相关性的96.0%.可见,威宁城镇化快速发展威胁了草海湿地生态安全,需进行草海周边城镇化进程的调整和控制.     

Management Implications of Snowpack Sensitivity to Temperature and Atmospheric Moisture Changes in Yosemite National Park,CA

In order to investigate snowpack sensitivity to temperature increases and end‐member atmospheric moisture conditions, we applied a well‐constrained energy‐ and mass‐balance snow model across the full elevation range of seasonal snowpack using forcing data from recent wet and dry years. Humidity scenarios examined were constant relative humidity (high) and constant vapor pressure between storms (low). With minimum calibration, model results captured the observed magnitude and timing of snowmelt. April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) losses of 38%, 73%, and 90% with temperature increases of 2, 4, and 6°C in a dry year centered on areas of greatest SWE accumulation. Each 2°C increment of warming also resulted in seasonal snowline moving upslope by 300 m. The zone of maximum melt was compressed upward 100–500 m with 6°C warming, with the range reflecting differences in basin hypsometry. Melt contribution by elevations below 2,000 m disappeared with 4°C warming. The constant‐relative‐humidity scenario resulted in 0–100 mm less snowpack in late spring vs. the constant‐vapor‐pressure scenario in a wet year, a difference driven by increased thermal radiation (+1.2 W/m²) and turbulent energy fluxes (+1.2 W/m²) to the snowpack for the constant‐relative‐humidity case. Loss of snowpack storage and potential increases in forest evapotranspiration due to warming will result in a substantial shift in forest water balance and present major challenges to land management in this mountainous region.     

Addressing Declining Appropriations for Bureau of Reclamation Infrastructure: Policies Needed for Enabling Private Finance

Western water infrastructure was funded in the early and mid‐20th Century through federal financing through the Bureau of Reclamation. Over the past 30 years, federal financing has been less forthcoming, which has been commensurate with an increase in the need for financing rehabilitation and replacement of western irrigation infrastructure. As federal appropriations have declined, there has been increased interest in alternative approaches to infrastructure including public–private partnerships (P3s), loan guarantees, or title transfer of federal infrastructure. However, two of these approaches — P3s and loan guarantees — are precluded by existing federal budgetary policies, particularly Office of Management and Budget (OMB) scoring practices. If the OMB changed its policies for P3s or loan guarantees, private capital could play an important role in recapitalizing aging Reclamation infrastructure.     

基于FLO-2D模型的红椿沟泥石流工程治理效果研究

汶川地震带来了众多地质灾害,给当地灾民造成了严重的生命和财产损失。为了更好地预防地质灾害的发生,保护灾后重建成果,对地质灾害防护工程的效果分析研究就显得尤为重要。文章选取了汶川红椿沟流域中的甘溪铺沟、大水沟、新店子沟3条泥石流沟为研究对象,采用二维流变模型FLO-2D,经连续方程与运动方程,结合网络化的数字高程模型,通过DEM在ArcGIS中转换为ASCII格式输入至FLO-2D软件中,建立流域模型,分析计算出红椿沟泥石流沟在工程治理条件下,遭遇50、100年一遇暴雨时,泥石流冲出物的堆积深度和流动速度。通过计算机数值模拟方法对治理效果进行分析研究,从而确定工程治理效果和进一步的工作方法。     

FLOW ANALYSIS OF LANDSLIDE DAMMED LAKE WATERSHEDS: A CASE STUDY1

Abstract: The Chi-Chi earthquake, which occurred on September 21, 1999, and had a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale, resulted in an extensive landslide that blocked the Ching-Shui Creek in Taiwan, forming a large lake with a storage volume of 40 million m³. This paper describes an analytical procedure used to perform flow analysis of the Tsao-Ling watershed, which includes the new landslide dammed lake. In this study, a digital elevation model was applied to obtain the watershed geomorphic factors and stage-area storage function of the landslide dammed lake. Satellite images were used to identify the landslide area and the land cover change that occurred as a result of the earthquake. Two topography-based runoff models were applied for long term and short term streamflow analyses of the watershed because the watershed upstream of the landslide dam was ungauged. The simulated daily flow and storm runoff were verified using limited available measured data in the watershed, and good agreement was obtained. The proposed analytical procedure for flow analysis is considered promising for application to other landslide dammed lake watersheds.     

WATERSHED SCALE INVENTORY OF EXISTING RIPARIAN BUFFERS IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI USING GIS1

An observational study was conducted at the watershed scale using land cover (vegetation) data to assess the absence or presence of riparian buffers in three northeastern Missouri watersheds. Forests and grasslands lying within a 61 m (200 ft) parallel band directly adjacent to streams were considered “buffers” for improving or protecting water quality and were characterized according to their length, width, and vegetation type. Results indicated that riparian buffers were abundant throughout the watersheds but were typically narrow along first‐order and second‐order streams; in many cases they may not have been wide enough to provide adequate stream protection. At least 90 percent of all streams had buffer vegetation immediately adjacent to the streambanks, but as few as 31 percent of first‐order streams had buffers extending to 61 m from the stream on at least one side. On‐site evaluations are needed to determine the condition of these forests and grasslands and their ability to process nonpoint source pollutants. The results will be useful for providing natural resource managers with knowledge of current watershed conditions as well as in identifying specific locations for future conservation efforts within each watershed.     

HABITAT AND FISH RESPONSES TO MULTIPLE AGRICULTURAL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN A WARM WATER STREAM1

ABSTRACT: Thirteen years of annual habitat and fish sampling were used to evaluate the response of a small warm water stream in eastern Wisconsin to agricultural best management practices (BMPs). Stream physical habitat and fish communities were sampled in multiple reference and treatment stations before, during, and after upland and riparian BMP implementation in the Otter Creek subwatershed of the Sheboygan River watershed. Habitat and fish community measures varied substantially among years, and varied more at stations that had low habitat diversity, reinforcing the notion that the detection of stream responses to BMP implementation requires long term sampling. Best management practices increased substrate size; reduced sediment depth, embeddedness, and bank erosion; and improved overall habitat quality at stations where a natural vegetative buffer existed or streambank fencing was installed as a riparian BMP. There were lesser improvements at locations where only upland BMPs were implemented. Despite the habitat changes, we could not detect significant improvements in fish communities. It is speculated that the species needed to improve the fish community, mainly pollution intolerant species, suckers (Castomidae), and darters (Percidae), had been largely eliminated from the Sheboygan River watershed by broadscale agricultural nonpoint source pollution and could not colonize Otter Creek, even though habitat conditions may have been suitable.     

A FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTITATIVE SMART GROWTH IN LAND DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACT: Increasing awareness about the problems brought on by urban sprawl has led to proactive measures to guide future development. Such efforts have largely been grouped under the term “Smart Growth.” Although not widely recognized as such, the “smart” in Smart Growth implies an optimization of some quantity or objective while undertaking new forms of urban development. In this study, we define Smart Growth as that development plan that leads to the optimal value of a precisely defined measure identified by a stakeholder or stakeholders. To illustrate a formal, quantitative framework for Smart Growth, this study develops definitions of optimal development from the perspectives of four different types of stakeholders: a government planner, a land developer, a hydrologist, and a conservationist subject to certain development constraints. Four different objective functions are posed that are consistent with each of these stakeholders’perspectives. We illustrate the differences in consequences on future development given these different objective functions in a stylized representation for Montgomery County, Maryland. Solutions to Smart Growth from the individual perspectives vary considerably. Tradeoff tables are presented that illustrate the consequences experienced by each stakeholder depending on the viewpoint that has been optimized. Although couched in the context of an illustrative example, this study emphasizes the need to apply rigorous, quantitative tools in a meaningful framework to address Smart Growth. The result is a tool that a range of parties can use to plan future development in ways that are environmentally and fiscally responsible and economically viable.