MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND WATER RATES DRIVEN BY SEVERE DROUGHT: A CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes and interprets data pertaining to the evolution of average water revenue, water use, and the average cost of water supply in the City of Santa Barbara, California, from 1986 to 1996, a period which included one of the most devastating droughts in California this century. The 1987–1992 drought hit the study area particularly hard. The City of Santa Barbara was dependent exclusively on local sources for its water supply. That made it vulnerable as the regional climate is prone to extreme variability and recurrent droughts. The 1986–1992 drought provided a rare opportunity to assess the sensitivity of municipal water use to pricing, conservation, and other water management measures under extreme drought conditions. Our analysis indicates that the average cost of water rose more than three-fold in real terms from 1986 to 1996, while the gap between the average cost of supply and the average revenue per unit of water (= 100 cubic feet) rose in real terms from $0.14 in 1986 to $ 0.75 in 1996. The rise of $3.08 in the average cost of supplying one unit of water between 1986 and 1996 measures the cost of hedging drought risk in the study area. Water use dropped 46 percent at the height of the drought relative to pro-drought water use, and remains at 61 percent of the pre-drought level. The data derived from the 1987–1992 California drought are unique and valuable insofar as shedding light on drought/water demand adaptive interactions. The experience garnered on drought management during that unique period points to the possibilities available for future water management in the Arid West where dwindling water supplies and burgeoning populations are facts that we must deal with.     

SOUND POLICY OR SMOKE AND MIRRORS: DOES ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT MAKE SENSE?1

ABSTRACT: Protection of ecosystems as entities on the landscape has attracted a wide range of support. Ecosystem-based public policies are claimed to be more effective, efficient, and scientifically sound than other approaches to environmental and natural resource policy. The ecosystem concept was never intended to serve as a public policy guide or to determine landscape units for land management purposes. This paper critically examines the use of the ecosystem concept in public policy and land use management and analyzes the proposed rule to manage the National Forest System according to ecosystem management principles. The concept is found to be unsuitable as a basis for guiding environmental and natural resource public policies in general while the proposed rule to manage the national forests according to ecosystem management principles is shown to be incoherent.     

河南省综合自然景观旅游资源的区际比较研究

针对目前河南省综合自然景观旅游资源区域整体优劣定量评价不足的情况，选取了国家重点风景名胜区、国家水利风景区、国家自然保护区、国家森林公园和国家地质公园5类综合自然景观类旅游资源，采用绝对数量、地均数量、人均数量3种评价指标和定量分析方法，对河南省18个省辖市的综合自然景观旅游资源进行了比较，阐述了河南省综合自然景观旅游资源空间分布的基本状况和旅游资源的区域发展重点。     

甘肃省农业生产风险因素分析

农业生产风险主要受耕地生产潜力、播种面积、抵御自然灾害的能力及政策保障能力等因素的影响。根据甘肃省粮食产量统计资料，在甘肃省粮食综合生产能力评价研究的基础上，讨论了各类风险因素对粮食生产和粮食安全的影响，提出加强农田水利建设，提高抵御自然灾害风险的能力应是提高全省粮食综合生产能力的重要策略。     

城市绿地系统建设与城市减灾防灾

自然灾害往往给城市造成重大损失.在城市综合防灾减灾体系中,城市绿地系统占有十分重要的位置.城市绿地系统是城市规划和建设中的重要组成部分,它不仅具有美化城市环境、净化空气、平衡城市生态系统、为城市居民提供休憩游乐场所等作用,同时还具有防震、防火、防洪、减轻灾害的功能.从城市绿地的定义和分类人手,分析了城市绿地系统在城市综合防灾减灾中的作用,并通过介绍和分析日本防灾公园的规划建设,探讨了城市避灾绿地系统的规划方法.     

灰白银胶菊的开发利用

介绍了有关灰白银胶菊的一些生物学特征,探讨了作为天然橡胶资源的市场开发利用价值,以及可能对半干旱区生态环境的影响,并针对开发利用中可能出现的问题提出了建议.     

Application of tracer ratio and inverse dispersion methods with boat-based plume measurements to estimate ammonia emissions from seabird colonies

Ammonia emissions from two contrasting seabird colonies in Scotland were measured, based on the determination of atmospheric concentrations downwind of the colonies. Atmospheric concentrations of ammonia (NH₃) across the downwind plume were compared with the inverse application of a Gaussian dispersion model (ID) to calculate the modelled NH₃ emission that would generate the measured cross-wind-integrated plume concentration. In parallel, a tracer gas (sulphur hexafluoride, SF₆) was released from the colonies with air samples taken to allow determination of SF₆ concentrations. On the basis of the known emission rate of SF₆, the magnitude of ammonia emissions was estimated by the cross-wind-integrated tracer ratio (TR) of NH₃/SF₆ concentrations. Coupled with data on annual bird attendance, the measurements indicate annual emissions from the Isle of May and the Bass Rock of 18 and 132 tonnes NH₃-N year^–1, respectively. The measured NH₃ emissions were compared with estimates of seabird nitrogen excretion to estimate the proportion of excreted N that is volatilised as NH₃ (F_Nr). The emission estimates of the two methods compared favourably, giving 4 and 6 kg NH₃-N h^–1 (F_Nr = 15%) for the Isle of May for the ID and TR methods, respectively, and 21 and 25 kg NH₃-N h^–1 (F_Nr = 50%) for the Bass Rock for the ID and TR methods, respectively. The results provide the first measurement-based estimates to allow regional up scaling of ammonia emissions from seabirds.     

生态移民在保护自然生态环境中的重要作用及实施建议

在西部大开发中,生态环境保护与建设要先行,而生态移民则是落实该项政策的一项极重要措施。将自然保护区、交通和通讯不发达的边缘区、生态环境脆弱区和地质灾区的农牧民,移往自然环境条件较好,公路交通及通讯发达,接近城镇的地区,不但可改善和提高这些居民的生活水平,更重要的是对迁出区的自然生态环境保护,特别是珍稀野生动植物的生存和自然繁殖有十分积极的作用。而工业生产移民则是环境保护必要手段。该项政策的实施,不但具有重大社会政治、生态环境及经济效益,而且在我国自然保护史上是个重大创举。     

陕西佛坪、宁陕"6.9"山地自然灾害考察研究

2002年6月9日,陕西南部佛坪、宁陕等地因特大暴雨引发了极其强烈的泥石流、山洪等山地自然灾害.本文考察研究了这次泥石流、山洪等山地自然灾害产生的条件,分布与活动特点以及未来发展变化的趋势.     

灾难模型化及其国外主要开发商

简略分析了灾难模型化和它在保险业中的应用;介绍了当前国外从事灾难模型化的主要研发单位,包括独立的模型化公司、大学研究所、再保险公司、再保险中介经纪公司和政府机构。同时收集了一些最近灾难模型化些文献,希望这些信息能有助于同行在我国减灾保险方面的研究。