Projected Freshwater Withdrawals Under Efficiency Scenarios for Electricity Generation and Municipal Use in the United States for 20301

Chen, Limin, Sujoy B. Roy, and Robert A. Goldstein, 2012. Projected Freshwater Withdrawals Under Efficiency Scenarios for Electricity Generation and Municipal Use in the United States for 2030. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐16. DOI: 10.1111/jawr.12013 Abstract: Water withdrawals in the United States (U.S.) have been relatively uniform over the past two decades on a nationally aggregated basis, although on a more highly resolved geographical basis, increases have occurred, largely associated with growth in population and the cooling needs for new electricity generation. Using recent county‐level water use data, we develop projections for five different scenarios, bracketing a range of future conditions, and representing different levels of efficiency in the municipal and electricity generation sectors, where the municipal sector includes public and self‐supplied domestic withdrawals. Starting with the 2005 estimate of 347 billion gallons per day (bgd) of freshwater withdrawal in the continental U.S., our analysis shows that under a business‐as‐usual scenario of growth, there will be a need for additional water over current levels: 11 bgd in the municipal sector, with a smaller requirement for new electricity generation (1 bgd). However, we also estimate that withdrawals could be reduced significantly over current levels, through increased water use efficiencies in the electric power and municipal sectors. The study shows that if water withdrawals are to be held at their current levels for the thermoelectric and municipal sectors individually at a county level over the next 25 years, large improvements in efficiency will be needed in many parts of the Southeast and Southwest.     

Evident but context-dependent mortality of fish passing hydroelectric turbines

Globally, policies aiming for conservation of species, free-flowing rivers, and promotion of hydroelectricity as renewable energy and as a means to decarbonize energy systems generate trade-offs between protecting freshwater fauna and development of hydropower. Hydroelectric turbines put fish at risk of severe injury during passage. Therefore, comprehensive, reliable analyses of turbine-induced fish mortality are pivotal to support an informed debate on the sustainability of hydropower (i.e., how much a society is willing to pay in terms of costs incurred on rivers and their biota). We compiled and examined a comprehensive, global data set of turbine fish-mortality assessments involving >275,000 individual fish of 75 species to estimate mortality across turbine types and fish species. Average fish mortality from hydroelectric turbines was 22.3% (95% CI 17.5–26.7%) when accounting for common uncertainties related to empirical estimates (e.g., handling- or catch-related effects). Mortality estimates were highly variable among and within different turbine types, study methods, and taxa. Technical configurations of hydroelectric turbines that successfully reduce fish mortality and fish-protective hydropower operation as a global standard could balance the need for renewable energy with protection of fish biodiversity.     

Experimental Verification of a New Method for Biotesting Freshwater Bodies by Determining Metallothionein Contents in the Organs and Tissues of Bivalve Mollusks

Russian Journal of Ecology -     

荷花不同部位浸出液对3种淡水藻类生长的影响

文章探讨了荷花不同部位(茎和叶)浸出液对铜绿微囊藻、蛋白核小球藻及四尾栅藻生长的影响,为利用荷花化感物质减少湖泊富营养化提供基础。结果表明荷花不同部位的浸出液对3种藻类均有抑制作用,荷花叶浸出液抑制效果好于荷花茎浸出液。荷花不同部位浸出液对藻类的半浓度效应(EC5)0各不相同,荷花叶浸出液对四尾栅藻的EC50为4.21 g/L,抑制效果最好;铜绿微囊藻及蛋白核小球藻的EC50值分别为5.35 g/L、9.92 g/L;荷花茎浸出液对铜绿微囊藻、蛋白核小球藻及四尾栅藻的EC50值分别为9.52 g/L、7.28 g/L、6.90 g/L。     

流域土地利用变化的水生态响应研究

流域土地利用变化造成水体物理、化学条件变化,并对诸多水生生物产生影响,进而破坏水系的生态系统结构和功能.研究显示:① 流域土地利用变化将引起水文、底质、生境改变等物理响应,以及水体营养盐、细菌、有毒有害物含量、溶解氧变化等化学响应,分布式水文模型成为研究物理和化学响应的重要工具;② 流域土地利用变化的生物响应表现为水生生物与自然用地类型呈正相关,而与农业用地、城镇用地呈负相关,并且存在明显的尺度效应,统计学分析是主要的研究方法;③ 大尺度的土地利用变化在水文过程下造成河段尺度上的外源物质输入、水文条件、底质结构等物理化学因子变化,是影响水生生物生境的直接原因.存在主要问题:① 流域土地利用变化的生物响应关系机制尚不明晰;② 流域土地利用变化的生物响应是通过物理响应、化学响应来间接作用的,但三者之间的非线性关系十分复杂;③ 水生生物对环境因子变化的敏感性和适用性存在较大差异.因此,未来研究应关注流域水文过程驱动下的物质迁移转化过程及由此带来的物理、化学和生物响应以及三者之间的关系,加强流域水文规律总结和参数率定,构建符合流域特征的参数数据库,并着力构建以保护水生态系统结构与功能为核心的流域山水林田湖系统综合管控模式.      

Optimization of an artificial neural network for identifying fishing set positions from VMS data: An example from the Peruvian anchovy purse seine fishery

The spatial behavior of numerous fishing fleets is nowadays well documented thanks to satellite Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS). Vessel positions are recorded on a frequent and regular basis which opens promising perspectives for improving fishing effort estimation and management. However, no specific information is provided on whether the vessel is fishing or not. To answer that question, existing works on VMS data usually apply simple criteria (e.g. threshold on speed). Those simple criteria generally focus in detecting true positives (a true fishing set detected as a fishing set); conversely, estimation errors are given no attention. For our case study, the Peruvian anchovy fishery, those criteria overestimate the total number of fishing sets by 182%. To overcome this problem an artificial neural network (ANN) approach is presented here. In order to set both the optimal parameterization and use “rules” for this ANN, we perform an extensive sensitivity analysis on the optimization of (1) the internal structure and training algorithm of the ANN and (2) the “rules” used for choosing both the relative size and the composition of the databases (DBs) used for training and inferring with the ANN. The “optimized” ANN greatly improves the estimates of the number and location of fishing events. For our case study, ANN reduces the total estimation error on the number of fishing sets to 1% (in average) and obtains 76% of true positives. This spatially explicit information on effort, provided with error estimation, should greatly reduce misleading interpretations of catch per unit effort and thus significantly improve the adaptive management of fisheries. While fitted on Peruvian anchovy fishery data, this type of neural network approach has wider potential and could be implemented in any fishery relying on both VMS and at-sea observer data. In order to increase the accuracy of the ANN results, we also suggest some criteria for improving sampling design by at-sea observers and VMS data.     

长江河口淡水资源利用与避咸蓄淡水库

开发利用长江口的淡水资源 ,首先要研究河口水质的污染程度以及咸潮入侵的时空变化规律。长江河口水质除边滩存在局部污染外 ,主槽水质良好。长江口南支、南港、北港盐水来源主要有北支倒灌和外海盐水直接入侵两种形式 ,盐水入侵具有周日、半月、季节和年际变化规律 ,由于北支倒灌咸水团的影响 ,低盐度值往往出现在大潮期和涨憩附近。通过修建边滩水库 ,达到控制引水时间、避咸蓄淡的目的。最长连续超标天数的推算是确定水库库容的关键问题 ,采用数理统计、二维数值模拟、ARMAX模型 +Markov模型等方法推算 ,几种方法相互印证 ,计算结果基本上符合实际情况。“避咸潮取水 ,蓄淡水保质” ,这是宝钢干部、科技人员总结出来的长江河口引水经验。长江口取水工程由取水系统、调蓄水库和输水系统等三大部分组成。长江口避咸蓄淡水库的成功经验 ,对沿海潮汐河口的淡水资源开发利用具有示范作用。     

基于不同毒性终点的壬基酚生态风险评价

NP（nonylphenol,壬基酚）作为一种具有雌激素效应的持久性有机污染物,可对水生态系统产生不可忽视的有害影响,并且随着生产及使用量的增加,NP在国内外水环境中被不同程度地检测出来,引起较大关注,因此有必要对其生态风险进行研究.通过综述部分淡水水体中NP的污染现状,采用物种敏感性分布法（SSD）和联合概率曲线法（JPC）对NP的生态风险进行分析;构建基于生长和发育、生物化学、繁殖和细胞毒性终点的物种敏感度分布曲线;基于4个毒性终点数据,采用联合概率曲线法评估国内外部分淡水水体中NP的生态风险.结果表明:①我国辽河、珠江和骆马湖的ρ（NP）均高于国内平均水平,且总体上我国ρ（NP）平均值为0.709 μg/L.②基于生长和发育、生物化学、繁殖和细胞毒性终点推导的HC₅（5%物种受损有害浓度）值分别为0.694、0.589、0.142和0.317 μg/L.③在所调查水体中,以生长和发育为毒性终点的生态风险相对较小,处于可接受水平;以繁殖、细胞和生物化学为毒性终点的生态风险较高,应采取相关措施保障水生生物的安全.因此,NP对水生生物繁殖的毒性较明显,应持续关注其长期危害.      

Reach‐Scale Comparison of Habitat and Mollusk Assemblages for Select Sites in the Clinch River with Regional Context

Several hypotheses, including habitat degradation and variation in fluvial geomorphology, have been posed to explain extreme spatial and temporal variation in Clinch River mollusk assemblages. We examined associations between mollusk assemblage metrics (richness, abundance, recruitment) and physical habitat (geomorphology, streambed composition, fish habitat, and riparian condition) at 10 sites selected to represent the range of current assemblage condition in the Clinch River. We compared similar geomorphological units among reaches, employing semi‐quantitative and quantitative protocols to characterize mollusk assemblages and a mix of visual assessments and empirical measurements to characterize physical habitat. We found little to no evidence that current assemblage condition was associated with 54 analyzed habitat metrics. When compared to other sites in the Upper Tennessee River Basin (UTRB) that once supported or currently support mollusk assemblages, Clinch River sites were more similar to each other, representing a narrower range of conditions than observed across the larger geographic extent of the UTRB. A post‐hoc analysis suggested stream size and average boundary shear stress at bankfull stage may have historically limited species richness in the UTRB (p < 0.001). Associations between mollusk assemblages and physical habitat in the UTRB and Clinch River currently appear obscured by other factors limiting richness, abundance, and recruitment.     

Gillnet illumination as an effective measure to reduce sea turtle bycatch

The growing demand for fish around the world is an immediate threat to marine megafauna that are unintentionally captured in commercial and artisanal fishery operations. Bycatch mitigation strategies, such as turtle excluder devices, circle hooks, and net illumination, have successfully reduced this risk in some fisheries. We explored the effectiveness of gillnet illumination to reduce sea turtle captures in 2 artisanal fisheries (Mankoadze and Winneba, Ghana) under normal fishing conditions. We first quantified sea turtle bycatch in Ghana's artisanal gillnet fishery from 15 boats for 12 months. We then quantified catch of targeted species and sea turtle bycatch from 20 boats for 15 months (7427 net sets). For 10 of these boats, we placed a Centro Economy green light (1 LED) at each 10-m interval on the net. We also quantified target catch and sea turtle bycatch from 30 boats for 8 months (2250 net sets). In 15 of these boats, a Centro Deluxe green light (3 LEDs) was installed at 15-m intervals. Boats with economy lights and those with deluxe lights both exhibited an 81% decrease in sea turtle captures (W = 1, p < 0.001, n = 20; W = 215, p < 0.001, n = 30, respectively) compared with control boats without lights. Illuminated nets resulted in fewer turtle catches for leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) (p < 0.05 for all species). Target catch (mass) (W = 53, p = 0.853 n = 20; W = 76, p = 0.449, n = 23) and value (W = 50, p = 1, n = 20; W = 69, p = 0.728, = 23) were not different across treatments. Our study affirms net illumination can reduce capture rates of 3 species of sea turtles, including the imperiled leatherback. Gear modification methods can successfully reduce bycatch if they are affordable and have broad applications for multiple species in different fisheries.