Pesticide Impact Rating Index – A Pesticide Risk Indicator for Water Quality

Pesticide users, natural resource managers, regulators, government agencies and many others are concerned about the off-site impact of pesticides on the environment. Systematic methods of the assessment of potential risk of pesticides to environmental components can serve as valuable tools in decision making and policy formulation. Simple risk indicators have been developed which cover a range of scenarios such as toxicity to organisms, health of farm workers, consumer health, and residues in harvested produce. The authors have developed a software package named Pesticide Impact Rating Index (PIRI) that outputs an improved pesticide risk indicator for water quality. PIRI is a standalone, user-friendly, platform-independent program. It can be used to (i) rank pesticides in terms of their relative pollution potential to groundwater or surface water, and (ii) to compare different land uses in a catchment or at a regional scale in terms of their relative impact on water quality. It is based on pesticides use; the pathway through which the pesticides are released to the water resources (drift, runoff, erosion, leaching) and the value of the water resources threatened. Each component is quantified using pesticide characteristics (including toxicity to organisms at different trophic levels, i.e. fish, daphnia, algae, etc.), environmental and site conditions (e.g. organic carbon content of soil, water input, slope of land, soil loss, recharge rate, depth of water table, etc.). This paper describes two case studies of the application of PIRI in Australia. The comparison of the risk assessment by PIRI on these revealed that PIRI correctly estimated the pollution potential of pesticides in greater than 80% of cases. A GIS version of PIRI is described in a companion paper in this volume. An erratum to this article is available at .     

地下水水质评价的多元线性回归分析模型研究

运用回归分析理论和方法,建立了一个基于多元线性回归分析法的地下水水质评价模型,并将该模型用于遵义市海龙坝地下水水质评价.结果表明,建立的模型较符合本研究区的实际情况.     

企业可持续发展评价指标体系的选定原则及构建框架

为了制定企业可持续发展的战略决策,须制定可持续发展的指标体系,并依据这一体系对数据和资料进行收集、整理和分析,从而确定可靠而有效的政策方针。文中论述了可持续发展指标体系的定义、选定标准、原则和可持续发展的评价指标体系,提出了压力-状态-响应框架模型以及不同层次的指标体系框架。该指标体系分为总体层、系统层、状态层、变量层和要素层五个等级。对于持续发展的表征指标及对目前发展的可持续性评估,还需要长时间和切合实际的探讨。     

我国油气企业环境会计核算及信息披露的探讨

在国民经济中占有主导地位的油气企业同时也是造成环境污染的主体之一。因此,建立油气企业环境会计制度有极其重要的现实意义。文章针对我国油气企业环境会计制度应用现状,运用环境会计基本理论,对企业环境会计核算方法及信息传播模式进行了探讨,以期为油气企业环境会计制度的实施提供一些理论依据和具体方法,推动油气企业环境会计制度的发展。     

大气环境影响评价工作分级要求要点

根据大气环境影响评价工作的分级要求,提出了针对性的工作要点,以满足大气环境评价工作的需要.     

Estimating the Recreational-Use Value for Hiking in Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia

The recreational-use value of hiking in the Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia has been estimated using a zonal travel cost model. Multiple destination visitors have been accounted for by converting visitors’ own ordinal ranking of the various sites visited to numerical weights, using an expected-value approach. The value of hiking and camping in this national park was found to be $AUS 250,825 per year, or $AUS 144,45 per visitor per year, which is similar to findings from other studies valuing recreational benefits. The management of the park can use these estimates when considering the introduction of a system of user pays fees. In addition, they might be important when decisions need to be made about the allocation of resources for maintenance or upgrade of tracks and facilities.     

BIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CONSERVATION PRACTICES ON SOIL EROSION AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES1

ABSTRACT: Farmers can generate environmental benefits (improved water quality and fisheries and wildlife habitat), but they may not be able to quantify them. Furthermore, farmers may reduce their incomes from managing lands to produce these positive externalities but receive little monetary compensation in return. This study simulated the relationship between agricultural practices, water quality, fish responses to suspended sediment and farm income within two small watersheds, one of a cool water stream and one of a warm water stream. Using the Agricultural Drainage and Pesticide Transport (ADAPT) model, this study related best management practices (BMPs) to calculated instream suspended sediment concentrations by estimating sediment delivery, runoff, base flow, and streambank erosion to quantify the effects of suspended sediment exposure on fish communities. By implementing selected BMPs in each watershed, annual net farm income declined $18,000 to $28,000 (1 to 3 percent) from previous levels. “Lethal” fish events from suspended sediments in the cool water watershed decreased by 60 percent as conservation tillage and riparian buffers increased. Despite reducing suspended sediments by 25 percent, BMPs in the warm water watershed did not reduce the negative response of the fisheries. Differences in responses (physical and biological) between watersheds highlight potential gains in economic efficiency by targeting BMPs or by offering performance based “green payments.”     

ARE RURAL RESIDENTS WILLING TO PAY ENOUGH TO IMPROVE DRINKING WATER QUALITY?1

ABSTRACT: The concentrations of iron and sulfate in community water supplies are a concern for a number of areas in southwestern Minnesota. This study used the contingent valuation method to determine how much consumers would be willing to pay to improve their drinking water quality. On average, individuals were willing to pay US$5.25 per month (in 1995 U.S. dollars) to reduce the level of iron and US$4.33 per month to reduce the level of sulfate in their water to the USEPA's secondary standards for drinking water quality. Respondents with negative perceptions of their drinking water quality were willing to pay more to improve water quality. The aggregate annual willingness to pay (WTP) for all consumers in community water systems in southwestern Minnesota that were out of compliance with water quality standards were estimated to be US$2.4 million and US$2.0 million (in 1995 dollars) for reducing the levels of iron and sulfate, respectively. Yet the total WTP of consumers who use small community water systems may not be enough to pay the full cost of providing improved water in those systems. Economies of scale in water treatment and difficulties in financing improvements mean that technical innovation, government assistance, or institutional changes may be needed to improve water quality in these areas.     

Simulation of vegetation dynamics and management strategies on south Texas, semi-arid rangeland

In this paper, we describe a model designed to simulate seasonal dynamics of warm and cool season grasses and forbs, as well as the dynamics of woody plant succession through five seral stages, in each of nine different plant communities on the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Refuge. The Welder Wildlife Refuge (WWR) is located in the Gulf Coastal Prairies and Marshes ecoregion of Texas. The model utilizes and integrates data from a wide array of research projects that have occurred in south Texas and WWR. It is designed to investigate the effects of alternative livestock grazing programs and brush control practices, with particular emphasis on prescribed burning, the preferred treatment for brush on the WWR. We evaluated the model by simulating changes in the plant communities under historical (1974-2000) temperature, rainfall, livestock grazing rotation, and brush control regimes, and comparing simulation results to field data on herbaceous biomass and brush canopy cover collected on the WWR over the same period. We then used the model to simulate the effects of 13 alternative management schemes, under each of four weather regimes, over the next 25 years. We found that over the simulation period, years 1974-2000, the model does well in simulating the magnitude and seasonality of herbaceous biomass production and changes in percent brush canopy cover on the WWR. It also does well in simulating the effects of variations in cattle stocking rates, grazing rotation programs, and brush control regimes on plant communities, thus providing insight into the combined effects of temperature, precipitation, cattle stocking rates, grazing rotation programs, and brush control on the overall productivity and state of woody plant succession on the WWR. Simulation of alternative management schemes suggests that brush canopy removal differs little between summer and winter prescribed burn treatments when precipitation remains near the long-term average, but during periods of low precipitation canopy removal is greater under winter prescribed burning. The model provides a useful tool to assist refuge personnel with developing long-term brush management and livestock grazing strategies.     

突发事件机理体系与现代应急管理体制设计

本文为了增加对突发事件的科学认识,提升应急管理的能力水平,首先对突发事件和应急管理的内在机理进行剖析。通过分阶段、划层次地构建"4L-5S"机理分析模型,将二者划归为统一体系,以理清其逻辑内涵;然后,为顺应时代发展特征,满足应急管理的更高要求,实现应急管理工作从非常态协同应对转为常态化职能管理,对现代应急管理体制加以总体设计。从而,突发事件机理体系设计使得我国的突发事件机理研究逐渐过渡至具有阶段性和层次性,现代应急管理体制设计使得我国应急管理整合出具备现代思维理念的逻辑框架。