A Question of Boundaries: The Importance of “Revenuesheds” for Watershed Protection1

Patterson, Lauren A., Jeffrey Hughes, Glenn Barnes, and Stacey I. Berahzer, 2012. A Question of Boundaries: The Importance of “Revenuesheds” for Watershed Protection. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 838‐848. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00655.x Abstract: Watersheds transcend jurisdictional boundaries; raising important questions of who should pay for watershed protection, and how can watershed governance be funded? The responsibility and cost for watershed protection has progressively devolved to local governments, resulting in additional negative externalities and financing challenges. Watershed governance structures have formed at the scale of the watershed, but they often lack the financing mechanisms needed to achieve policy goals. Financing mechanisms via local governments provide a reliable source of revenue and the flexibility to address watershed specific issues. We develop a “revenueshed” approach to access the initial challenges local governments face when seeking to finance trans‐jurisdictional watershed governance. The revenueshed approach engages local governments into discussion and implementation of financial strategies for collaborative watershed governance. Legislation places water quality regulations primarily on local governments inside the watershed. The revenueshed approach extends the financial and stewardship discussion to include local governments outside the watershed that benefit from the watershed. We applied the revenueshed approach to the Mills River and Upper Neuse watersheds in North Carolina. Mills River had a partnership governance seeking revenue for specific projects, whereas the Upper Neuse sought long‐term financial stability to meet new water quality legislation.     

System Dynamics to Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Under Water Supply Uncertainty1

Abstract: Water supply uncertainty continues to threaten the reliability of regional water resources in the western United States. Climate variability and water dispute potentials induce water managers to develop proactive adaptive management strategies to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts. The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in the state of Idaho is also facing these challenges in the sense that population growth and economic development strongly depend on reliable water resources from underground storage. Drought and subsequent water conflict often drive scientific research and political agendas because water resources availability and aquifer management for a sustainable rural economy are of great interest. In this study, a system dynamics approach is applied to address dynamically complex problems with management of the aquifer and associated surface‐water and groundwater interactions. Recharge and discharge dynamics within the aquifer system are coded in an environmental modeling framework to identify long‐term behavior of aquifer responses to uncertain future hydrological variability. The research shows that the system dynamics approach is a promising modeling tool to develop sustainable water resources planning and management in a collaborative decision‐making framework and also to provide useful insights and alternative opportunities for operational management, policy support, and participatory strategic planning to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts in human dimensions.     

Socio-Economic Stakes and Perceptions of Wetland Management in an Arid Region: A Case Study from Chott Merouane, Algeria

The objective of our study was to identify how actors from the main socio-economic sectors perceive their interactions and impacts on a sensitive wetland in an arid climate, specifically the salt pans of Chott Merouane in Algeria. The results revealed that there are three main economic stakes including agriculture, livestock production and salt mining, each activity providing a great benefit for local and national populations. The local population perceived that the current activities are conducted in such a way that they created conflict between socio-economic sectors and caused a threat for long term sustainability of the wetlands. The results highlighted the need to initiate an integrated management approach between the different sectors and to develop a shared vision for the territory.     

A Socio-Ecological Investigation of Options to Manage Groundwater Degradation in the Western Desert, Egypt

Under increasing water scarcity, collective groundwater management is a global concern. This article presents an interdisciplinary analysis of this challenge drawing on a survey including 50 large and small farms and gardens in a village in an agricultural land reclamation area on the edge of the Western Desert of Egypt. Findings revealed that smallholders rely on a practice of shallow groundwater use, through which drainage water from adjacent irrigation areas is effectively recycled within the surface aquifer. Expanding agroindustrial activities in the surrounding area are socio-economically important, but by mining non-renewable water in the surrounding area, they set in motion a degradation process with social and ecological consequences for all users in the multi-layered aquifer system. Based on the findings of our investigation, we identify opportunities for local authorities to more systematically connect available environmental information sources and common pool resource management precedents, to counterbalance the degradation threat.     

Phytotoxic activity of crop residues from Burdock and an active substance

Abstract

Problems related to weed management such as outbreaks of herbicide-resistant weeds have recently increased. An interesting approach to such problems is to use plant materials with phytotoxic activity. Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) is a biennial herb belonging to Asteraceae and is cultivated in several countries. The present study investigated the phytotoxic activity of burdock and its active substances. Extracts of both burdock leaves and roots inhibited the shoot and root growth of cress and barnyard grass, where the level of inhibition increased with increasing extract concentration. The leaf extracts had 2.0–2.5 times higher activity than the root extracts. Bioassay-guided separations of the leaf extracts led to isolation of a phytotoxic substance, onopordopicrin. Onopordopicrin significantly inhibited the shoot and root growth of cress and barnyard grass. The concentrations of the substance required for 50% growth inhibition were 0.27 and 0.26?mM for cress shoots and roots, respectively, and 1.86 and 0.35?mM for barnyard grass shoots and roots, respectively. The present results suggest that burdock leaves have high phytotoxic activity and onopordopicrin may play a major role in the activity. Burdock leaves may be a good resource for weed management.     

浅谈深圳市环境监督管理全覆盖移动执法系统的建设和应用

环境监督管理全覆盖移动执法系统,是利用现代无线通信技术、计算机技术等先进技术手段,利用手持终端(PDA)、手提电脑等设备,通过无线数字通信网的支持,实现在任何执法地点都可从后台业务系统中获取所需的业务数据、文字、图片、视频等信息,同时将现场执法的信息及时回传至后台系统中。本文介绍了移动执法系统的建设以及应用的情况。     

实例分析卫生防护距离和大气环境防护距离设置条件

卫生防护距离、大气环境防护距离,其定义相近、设定途径相似,但两者又有不同。故在环境影响评价大气环境预测分析时对大气环境防护距离、卫生防护距离的概念极易混淆。本文以某县殡仪馆建设项目为例,详细分析建设项目设置防护距离的设置条件,帮助环评工作者理解防护距离设置原则,防止出现"在环境保护法规和导则要求下盲目划定、划大防护距离"的技术错误。     

成都市餐厨垃圾产量分析预测及监管体系建设研究

整理汇总了成都市中心城区及郊县餐厨垃圾产生和收运现状,对其产量作出预测;在此基础上提出适合成都市自身情况的餐厨垃圾监管体系构建设想。     

基于多中心理论的辽宁沿海经济带环境治理模式研究

辽宁沿海经济带是我国沿海地区生态环境较为脆弱的地区之一,环境污染和破坏问题较突出。而环境治理直接关系到经济与社会的持续发展,环境治理模式则是决定环境治理绩效的重要因素之一。运用多中心模式分析辽宁沿海经济带环境治理存在的问题及其原因,构建该区域的多中心治理模式,并在此基础上提出相应的策略措施,为辽宁省沿海经济带发展规划的实施提供参考。