Conversion of a Missouri River Dam and Reservoir to a Sustainable System: Sediment Management1

Abstract: A present and future challenge for water resources engineers is to extend the useful life of our dams and reservoirs. Ongoing reservoir sedimentation in impoundments must be addressed; sedimentation in many reservoirs already limits project benefits and effective project life. Sustainability requires that incoming sediment be moved downstream past the impounding dam. We use Lewis and Clark Lake, the most downstream of the six Missouri River main stem reservoirs, to demonstrate how a reservoir in advanced stages of its project life could be converted to a sustainable system with local benefits exceeding costs by a factor of 1.5. Full consideration of benefits would further enhance project justification. The proposed strategy involves four phases that will take about 50 years to complete. Cost estimates for this potential project range from the quantitative to the plausible, but it is clear that the results justify a full engineering, environmental, and economic study of this model project. If implemented, the project will create scientific knowledge and develop technologies useful for achieving sustainability at many other reservoirs in the Mississippi River basin and beyond.     

Modeling the Hydrology of Climate Change in California’s Sierra Nevada for Subwatershed Scale Adaptation1

Young, Charles A., Marisa I. Escobar‐Arias, Martha Fernandes, Brian Joyce, Michael Kiparsky, Jeffrey F. Mount, Vishal K. Mehta, David Purkey, Joshua H. Viers, and David Yates, 2009. Modeling the Hydrology of Climate Change in California’s Sierra Nevada for Subwatershed Scale Adaptation. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1409‐1423. Abstract: The rainfall‐runoff model presented in this study represents the hydrology of 15 major watersheds of the Sierra Nevada in California as the backbone of a planning tool for water resources analysis including climate change studies. Our model implementation documents potential changes in hydrologic metrics such as snowpack and the initiation of snowmelt at a finer resolution than previous studies, in accordance with the needs of watershed‐level planning decisions. Calibration was performed with a sequence of steps focusing sequentially on parameters of land cover, snow accumulation and melt, and water capacity and hydraulic conductivity of soil horizons. An assessment of the calibrated streamflows using goodness of fit statistics indicate that the model robustly represents major features of weekly average flows of the historical 1980‐2001 time series. Runs of the model for climate warming scenarios with fixed increases of 2°C, 4°C, and 6°C for the spatial domain were used to analyze changes in snow accumulation and runoff timing. The results indicated a reduction in snowmelt volume that was largest in the 1,750‐2,750 m elevation range. In addition, the runoff center of mass shifted to earlier dates and this shift was non‐uniformly distributed throughout the Sierra Nevada. Because the hydrologic model presented here is nested within a water resources planning system, future research can focus on the management and adaptation of the water resources system in the context of climate change.     

Characteristics of azaarenes and dioxins in gases emitted from waste incinerators

In this study, we propose an analytical method to determine the fourteen of azaarenes present in flue gas samples collected according to Japanese Industrial Standard K 0311, which designates the method for the determination of dioxins in flue gas. Azaarenes can be analyzed using the acidic water phase after shaking extraction with dichloromethane, which is unnecessary for dioxin analysis. Flue gas samples were obtained from 24 waste incinerators in Japan, and azaarenes were detected in all the flue gas samples (0.21–3800 μg/m³ _N). The most abundant of the detected compounds were quinoline and isoquinoline. The concentration of azaarenes had a tendency to increase with that of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. The isomer distribution of heptachloro-dibenzofurans (HpCDFs) was calculated using the computed Gibbs energy of formation (ΔG _f ) obtained by the semiempirical molecular orbital method at various temperatures. The calculated isomer distribution was fitted to the measured value of HpCDFs. It seems that the temperature obtained from the fitting calculations is an indicator of the cooling capacity of the combustion gas in an incinerator. The computed ΔG _f also explained the measured isomer distributions of azaarenes. It is suggested that the isomer distribution of azaarenes in the combustion process is thermodynamically controlled. This work was presented in part at the International Conference on Combustion, Incineration/Pyrolysis, and Emission Control, 2006, Kyoto     

Nanofiltration of concentrated and salted tuna cooking juices

Tuna cooking juice from a Tunisian tuna-processing unit has a high level of polluting load: chemical oxygen demand (COD) is comprised between 4 and 20 g L⁻¹, nitrogen kjedahl (NK) between 0.6 and 3 g L⁻¹ and dry matter between 120 and 160 g L⁻¹. The juice has thus to be treated before being rejected into the environment. This paper considers the nanofiltration (NF) of these concentrated organic/inorganic mixtures using an AFC 30 (NF) membrane. The work focusses on the effect of organic and inorganic matters on the permeate flux and rejections of these matters. For this purpose, mixtures of salt and organic pollution (COD), used as model solutions, were prepared by the dilution of a typical industrial tuna cooking juice. The permeate flux was found to decrease when salt and organic matter concentrations increase. The recovery rate in organic matter decreases with increasing salt or organic matter content and the recovery rate of salt decreases when the COD concentration increases.     

垃圾焚烧飞灰处理处置研究进展

针对作为危险废物的垃圾焚烧飞灰,介绍了近年来国内外对其进行处理处置的研究情况.飞灰的固化/稳定化处理主要从水泥(沥青)固化、熔融固化及化学药剂固化几方面进行论述,飞灰中重金属的提取主要从酸碱浸提、生物浸提、螯合剂浸提及电渗析法提取几方面进行论述.     

用Ames试验检测水源水和自来水中的遗传毒性

用微伤寒沙门氏菌／哺乳动物微粒体酶系的Ａｍａｅｓ试验,研究了不同季节物水源水及管网自来水中的遗传毒性,以ＸＡＤ２树脂为吸附剂,以丙酮－甲醇的混合液为洗脱液,浓率水样中的有机物,并对部分阳性水样进行有机成分的定性分析。结果发现：１３个水样中有７个样品在淡需要代谢活化系统Ｓ９的情况下,可诱导鼠伤寒沙门氏菌碱基移码型菌株的回复突变;不同水样在不同季节不同的诱导作用;同时通过ＧＣ／ＭＳ方法分析,发现阳性水     

The value of the environment – Is it a matter of approach?

This paper discusses why estimates of the benefits of reduced air pollution differ in accordance with the approach used. Estimates based on bottom-up studies of the damage costs related to air pollution usually turn out much lower than estimates based on assessments of the utility of reduced air pollution, obtained for instance by willingness to pay assessments. This is usually explained by the fact that the willingness to pay approach includes the utility aspect of non-market values, and for this reason, it is often preferred to the damage cost approach. This is, however, not the whole story. The paper shows why alternative approaches should not be considered as being in conflict, but rather as means to get supplementary information necessary to put a value on environmental quality. Information from bottom-up assessments of damage costs and from studies of the willingness to pay is used in a macroeconomic model to carry out an evaluation of the social costs of energy saving measures in Hungary.     

G C/MS法测定环境空气中痕量POPs类有机氯农药及降解产物

采用快速溶剂萃取-氟罗里硅土柱净化-气相色谱/质谱联用法测定环境空气中POPs类有机氯农药及其降解产物.艾氏剂、狄氏剂、异狄氏剂、六六六、滴滴涕,七氯、氯丹、灭蚁灵及其降解产物的检出限为2.0 ng～4.6 ng,空白加标回收率为62.1%～118%,RSD为6.8%～15.2%.     

固相萃取- GC/MS法测定水中邻苯二甲酸酯类

采用固相萃取-GC／MS法测定水中6种邻苯二甲酸酯类有机污染物,比较了不同固相萃取柱对萃取效果的影响,优化了水样pH值、水样流量、穿透体积、洗脱溶剂、洗脱剂体积、洗脱流量等萃取条件。方法在0．050μg/L-800μg/L范围内线性良好,检出限为0．008μg/L～0．03μg／L,标准溶液测定的RSD≤10．5％,实际水样加标回收率为80．0％-100％。