Water Management Decision Making in the Face of Multiple Forms of Uncertainty and Risk

In the Wasatch Range Metropolitan Area of Northern Utah, water management decision makers confront multiple forms of uncertainty and risk. Adapting to these uncertainties and risks is critical for maintaining the long‐term sustainability of the region's water supply. This study draws on interview data to assess the major challenges climatic and social changes pose to Utah's water future, as well as potential solutions. The study identifies the water management adaptation decision‐making space shaped by the interacting institutional, social, economic, political, and biophysical processes that enable and constrain sustainable water management. The study finds water managers and other water actors see challenges related to reallocating water, including equitable water transfers and stakeholder cooperation, addressing population growth, and locating additional water supplies, as more problematic than the challenges posed by climate change. Furthermore, there is significant disagreement between water actors over how to best adapt to both climatic and social changes. This study concludes with a discussion of the path dependencies that present challenges to adaptive water management decision making, as well as opportunities for the pursuit of a new water management paradigm based on soft‐path solutions. Such knowledge is useful for understanding the institutional and social adaptations needed for water management to successfully address future uncertainties and risks.     

Status of the Riparian Ecosystem in the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona: Application of an Assessment Model

A portion of Arizona’s San Pedro River is managed as a National Riparian Conservation Area but is potentially affected by ground-water withdrawals beyond the conservation area borders. We applied an assessment model to the Conservation Area as a basis for monitoring long-term changes in riparian ecosystem condition resulting from changes in river water availability, and collected multi-year data on a subset of the most sensitive bioindicators. The assessment model is based on nine vegetation bioindicators that are sensitive to changes in surface water or ground water. Site index scores allow for placement into one of three condition classes, each reflecting particular ranges for site hydrology and vegetation structure. We collected the bioindicator data at 26 sites distributed among 14 reaches that had similar stream flow hydrology (spatial flow intermittency) and geomorphology (channel sinuosity, flood-plain width). Overall, 39% of the riparian corridor fell within condition class 3 (the wettest condition), 55% in condition class 2, and 6% in the driest condition class. Condition class 3 reaches have high cover of herbaceous wetland plants (e.g., Juncus and Schoenoplectus spp.) along the perennial stream channel and dense, multi-aged Populus-Salix woodlands in the flood plain, sustained by shallow ground water in the stream alluvium. In condition class 2, intermittent stream flows result in low cover of streamside wetland herbs, but Populus-Salix remain abundant in the flood plain. Perennial wetland plants are absent from condition class 1, reflecting highly intermittent stream flows; the flood plain is vegetated by Tamarixa small tree that tolerates the deep and fluctuating ground water levels that typify this reach type. Abundance of herbaceous wetland plants and growth rate of Salix gooddingii varied between years with different stream flow rates, indicating utility of these measures for tracking short-term responses to hydrologic change. Repeat measurement of all bioindicators will indicate long-term trends in hydro-vegetational condition.     

高台位旱地石灰性紫色土培肥研究

本文研究了高台位旱地石灰性紫色土的肥力退化因子,并针对紫色母岩矿质养分丰富、易风化成土的特点,以一种培肥耕作法-聚土免耕耕作法培肥土壤。结果表明,采用此耕作法的土壤具有防蚀、抗旱、培肥和自调能力,能提高系统生产力。     

Domestic water conservation potential in Saudi Arabia

Domestic water conservation in arid climates can result in efficient utilization of existing water supplies. The impacts of conservation measures such as the installation of water-saving devices, water metering and pricing schemes, water rationing and public awareness programs, strict plumbing codes, penalties for wasting water, programs designed to reduce leakage from public water lines and within the home, water-efficient landscaping, economic and ethical incentives are addressed in detail. Cost savings in arid climates, with particular reference to Saudi Arabia, in relation to some conservation techniques, are presented. Water conservation technology and tentative demonstration and implementation of water conservation programs are discussed.     

AN EXAMINATION OF THE MECHANISMS CONTROLLING GROUNDWATER GRADIENTS IN HYPER-ARID REGIONAL SEDIMENTARY BASINS1

ABSTRACT: Although evidence of modern recharge in the North African and Arabian sedimentary basin aquifers exists, it is difficult to determine the volume of recharge. Also, from the evidence of regional groundwater gradients, the flow within the aquifers seems to be appreciably greater than one would intuitively expect. A hypotehtical model embodying the characteristics of the aquifers has been used to investigate the likely significance of various possible flow mechanisms. It is shown that while dewatering in the unconfined area can possibly contribute to flows for a considerable period of time, the maintenance of water levels in the unconfined zone must be the result of modern recharge. It is also shown that recharge depths of less than 10 mm per annum are sufficient given suitable aquifer parameters. Results for various combinations of aquifer parameters and configurations are given, including layered aquifers and the effects of restricted oufflows. Comparisons are made using a “bench mark” example. The work indicates that there is little point in carrying out conventional hydrological balance studies in hyper-arid areas and that, instead, more emphasis should be placed upon good groundwater hydrographic data and modeling.     

GROUND-WATER RECHARGE THROUGH ACTWE SAND DUNES IN NORTHWESTERN NEVADA1

ABSTRACT: Most water-resouree investigations in semiarid basins of the Great Basin in western North America conclude that ground-water recharge from direct precipitation on the valley floor is negligible. However, many of these basins contain large areas covered by unvegetated, active sand dunes that may act as conduits for ground-water recharge. The potential for this previously undocumented recharge was investigated in an area covered by sand dunes in Desert Valley, northwestern Nevada, using a deep percolation model. The model uses daily measurements of precipitation and temperature th determine energy and moisture balances, from which estimates of long-term mean annual recharge are made. For the study area, the model calculated a mean annual recharge rate of as much as 1.3 inches per year, or 17 percent of the long-term mean precipitation. Model simulations also indicate that recharge would be virtually zero if the study area were covered by vegetation rather than dunes.     

Physical and Temporal Isolation of Mountain Headwater Streams in the Western Mojave Desert,Southern California1

Abstract: Streams draining mountain headwater areas of the western Mojave Desert are commonly physically isolated from downstream hydrologic systems such as springs, playa lakes, wetlands, or larger streams and rivers by stream reaches that are dry much of the time. The physical isolation of surface flow in these streams may be broken for brief periods after rainfall or snowmelt when runoff is sufficient to allow flow along the entire stream reach. Despite the physical isolation of surface flow in these streams, they are an integral part of the hydrologic cycle. Water infiltrated from headwater streams moves through the unsaturated zone to recharge the underlying ground‐water system and eventually discharges to support springs, streamflow, isolated wetlands, or native vegetation. Water movement through thick unsaturated zones may require several hundred years and subsequent movement through the underlying ground‐water systems may require many thousands of years – contributing to the temporal isolation of mountain headwater streams.     

Geographic range size and extinction risk assessment in nomadic species

Geographic range size is often conceptualized as a fixed attribute of a species and treated as such for the purposes of quantification of extinction risk; species occupying smaller geographic ranges are assumed to have a higher risk of extinction, all else being equal. However many species are mobile, and their movements range from relatively predictable to‐and‐fro migrations to complex irregular movements shown by nomadic species. These movements can lead to substantial temporary expansion and contraction of geographic ranges, potentially to levels which may pose an extinction risk. By linking occurrence data with environmental conditions at the time of observations of nomadic species, we modeled the dynamic distributions of 43 arid‐zone nomadic bird species across the Australian continent for each month over 11 years and calculated minimum range size and extent of fluctuation in geographic range size from these models. There was enormous variability in predicted spatial distribution over time; 10 species varied in estimated geographic range size by more than an order of magnitude, and 2 species varied by >2 orders of magnitude. During times of poor environmental conditions, several species not currently classified as globally threatened contracted their ranges to very small areas, despite their normally large geographic range size. This finding raises questions about the adequacy of conventional assessments of extinction risk based on static geographic range size (e.g., IUCN Red Listing). Climate change is predicted to affect the pattern of resource fluctuations across much of the southern hemisphere, where nomadism is the dominant form of animal movement, so it is critical we begin to understand the consequences of this for accurate threat assessment of nomadic species. Our approach provides a tool for discovering spatial dynamics in highly mobile species and can be used to unlock valuable information for improved extinction risk assessment and conservation planning.     

阿拉善高原生态环境退化研究进展

区域生态环境退化问题是当前研究的热点内容,分析其研究现状及存在问题能更好地把握其核心领域并开展更进一步的研究。本文以典型生态环境脆弱区——阿拉善高原为研究对象,系统梳理了该区域土地沙漠化、沙尘暴演化、土地利用/覆被变化、绿洲退化、水量减少与水质恶化等与生态环境退化相关领域的研究进展。在分析已有研究成果的基础之上,就不同生态环境退化问题研究存在的不足进行了归纳总结,并提出了今后需要重点开展的研究内容,以期为阿拉善高原乃至其他生态环境脆弱区生态系统的研究提供参考。     

基于稳定碳同位素技术的干旱区绿洲土壤有机碳向无机碳的转移

应用稳定碳同位素技术测定土壤无机碳稳定碳同位素组成(soil inorganic carbonδ13C,SICδ13C),并对干旱区绿洲土壤无机碳进行区分,结合土壤有机碳(soil organic carbon,SOC)与SIC含量关系进一步探讨SOC向SIC转移的碳量.结果表明,4种类型土壤SICδ13C值差异性极显著(P0.01),风沙土SICδ13C值最高且为正,均值为(0.32±0.04)‰,随土层深度增加而增加,说明风沙土原生性碳酸盐占绝对优势;灌漠土、棕漠土和盐碱土SIC的δ13C均值分别(-0.30±0.24)‰、(-1.96±0.66)‰和(-1.24±0.49)‰,随土层变化均呈先降低后逐渐增大的趋势,说明灌漠土原生性碳酸盐占优势,棕漠土和盐碱土发生性碳酸盐相对前者占优势.风沙土、灌漠土、棕漠土和盐碱土的发生性碳酸盐占SIC比例均值分别为1.33%、4.72%、15.01%、35.71%,均小于50%,说明干旱区绿洲土壤发生性碳酸盐比例总体水平较低.风沙土、灌漠土、棕漠土和盐碱土在土壤发生性碳酸盐形成或重结晶过程中固定土壤CO2的量分别为0.30、2.44、4.96、12.40 g·kg~(-1),其中固定来自大气CO2量平均为0.18、0.79、1.45、8.67 g·kg~(-1),来自SOC氧化分解转化为CO2的量分别为0.06、0.83、1.62、1.86g·kg~(-1),说明盐碱土、棕漠土SOC的贡献相对较高,灌漠土、风沙土较低;对土壤固定CO2量的来源比较发现,风沙土、盐碱土固定土壤CO2的量来自大气CO2量较高,SOC的贡献较低,而灌漠土、棕漠土固定来自SOC氧化分解CO2的量较高,大气贡献较低.研究区整体SOC向SIC的碳转移量介于0.03~2.38 g·kg~(-1)之间,平均每千克土壤固定1.09 g的CO2,说明干旱区绿洲土壤发生性碳酸盐所占比例较低,SOC的贡献较少.