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.     

螺旋升流反应器氧传递性能的试验研究

本文主要针对螺旋升流反应器技术特性，对工艺的好氧反应器进行了氧传递性能的试验研究，考察了反应器水深、曝气量等对螺旋升流反应器氧转移过程的影响；并对试验数据进行回归，得到了氧传质总系数与螺旋升流反应器内表现气速的数学关系。试验结果表明，螺旋升流反应器具有良好的氧传递特性，是一种新型的高效、节能的污水处理反应技术。     

Study of Pollution of the Plitvice Lakes by Water and Sediment Analyses

The process of eutrophication in form of intense plant growth has been observed in some lakes and water streams at the Plitvice Lakes National Park in central Croatia. Here we investigate whether this phenomenon is a consequence of anthropogenic pollution or due to naturally produced organic matter in the lakes. We applied chemical analysis of water at two springs and four lakes (nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), trace elements) and measurements of surface lake sediments (mineral and organic fraction analyses, trace elements) in four different lakes/five sites. The chemical composition of water does not indicate recent anthropogenic pollution of water because the concentrations of most trace elements are below detection limits. The concentrations of DOC and nutrients are slightly higher in the area of increased eutrophication-plant growth. Also the content of organic matter in the sediment is at the highest level in areas with highest C/N ratio indicating that the organic fraction of this sediment is mainly of terrestrial origin. There is no significant difference among the trace element concentration in the upper segment of all cores, deposited approximately during last 50 years when higher anthropogenic influence is expected due to development and touristic activity, and the lower part of the cores, corresponding to the period approximately 100–200 years before present. The content of trace elements and organic matter in sediments decreases from the uppermost lake downstream. According to our results there is no indication of recent anthropogenic pollution in water and sediment. Higher concentrations of DOC in water as well as phosphorus and some other elements in the lake sediment can be a consequence of input of natural organic matter to the lake water.     

Development of Layered Sediment Structure and its Effects on Pore Water Transport and Hyporheic Exchange

Hyporheic exchange is known to provide an important control on nutrient and contaminant fluxes across the stream-subsurface interface. Similar processes also mediate interfacial transport in other permeable sediments. Recent research has focused on understanding the mechanics of these exchange processes and improving estimation of exchange rates in natural systems. While the structure of sediment beds obviously influences pore water flow rates and patterns, little is known about the interplay of typical sedimentary structures, hyporheic exchange, and other transport processes in fluvial/alluvial sediments. Here we discuss several processes that contribute to local-scale sediment heterogeneity and present results that illustrate the interaction of overlying flow conditions, the development of sediment structure, pore water transport, and stream-subsurface exchange. Layered structures are shown to develop at several scales within sediment beds. Surface sampling is used to analyze the development of an armor layer in a sand-and-gravel bed, while innovative synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography is used to observe patterns of grain sorting within sand bedforms. We show that layered bed structures involving coarsening of the bed surface increase interfacial solute flux but produce an effective anisotropy that favors horizontal pore water transport while limiting vertical penetration.     

典型装饰织物在不同氧浓度下热分析研究

人民生活水平的提高使人民对室内环境的舒适程度提出了更高要求 ,室内装饰织物的用量迅速增加 ,室内装饰织物在燃烧时会释放出大量有毒物质和热量 ,对人及环境构成了巨大危害。因此 ,研究装饰织物的燃烧特性非常重要。笔者利用热重 -差热 (TG -DTA)分析仪对纯棉、棉麻和腈纶这几种典型的装饰织物在不同的氧气浓度 (10 % ,15 % ,2 1% )和升温速率 (10K/min ,30K/min)条件下进行了热重分析 (TG)和差热分析 (DTA)实验 ,研究了它们的燃烧特性 ,并着重进行了不同氧浓度下的对比研究 ,发现试样的燃烧分为两个阶段。建立了以一级反应模型为主的动力学方程 ,并得出了各阶段的动力学参数、表观活化能和频率因子。     

EFFECTS OF WATERSHED REPRESENTATION ON RUNOFF AND SEDIMENT YIELD MODELING1

ABSTRACT: This paper evaluates the effects of watershed geometric representation (i.e., plane and channel representation) on runoff and sediment yield simulations in a semiarid rangeland watershed. A process based, spatially distributed runoff erosion model (KINEROS2) was used to explore four spatial representations of a 4.4 ha experimental watershed. The most complex representation included all 96 channel elements identifiable in the field. The least complex representation contained only five channel elements. It was concluded that oversimplified watershed representations greatly influence runoff and sediment yield simulations by inducing excessive infiltration on hillslopes and distorting runoff patterns and sediment fluxes. Runoff and sediment yield decrease systematically with decreasing complexity in watershed representation. However, less complex representations had less impact on runoff and sediment‐yield simulations for small rainfall events. This study concludes that the selection of the appropriate level of watershed representation can have important theoretical and practical implications on runoff and sediment yield modeling in semiarid environments.     

TraK装置测定废水中的BOD_5

在对废水中的BOD5进行常规分析时,采用化学稀释法操作繁琐,对稀释倍数估计易发生错误。而利用TraK装置测试样品时,无须进行稀释和化学分析。用该装置对标准样品BOD5的测定结果表明:准确度相对误差为-3.3%～4.3%,精密度的相对误差为-3.5%～5.6%。该仪器测试性能可靠,数据准确度、精密度合格。与化学法对照分析表明,相对误差都在容许范围内,即在可接受范围内。     

近断层地震动考虑能量损伤效应的非弹性强度需求

由于靠近断层处地震地面运动中速度脉冲作用的存在,导致传统的基于瞬时加速度反应谱的抗震设计,不能有效考虑由此带来的巨大能量耗散和位移需求。笔者采用代表性的脉冲型实际近场地震记录和人工模拟三角函数地震动时程,在分析累积输入地震动耗能和结构位移间关系基础上,提出了等效速度比的表达式;给出了近场地震动的等效变形需求表达式;提出了等价延性系数的概念,来考虑由于地震动能量耗散对结构的强度需求;经非线性时程分析方法对其稳定性进行了验证比较,有利于增强结构的安全性。     

关于我国能源安全稳定供应的思考

简要介绍了中国的能源供求现状,指出中国能源的两大特征:①煤炭消费为主;②人均消费低、能源利用率低。笔者强调,中国能源对外依存增大,已成为能源输入国;提出逐步调整以煤为主的能源结构,实现能源替代,构建优质化、多元化的能源结构的策略;着重从5个方面进行调整———重点解决石油供不应求的能源结构性矛盾、加强煤炭资源的清洁和优质开发利用、发展以利用洁净煤技术为基础的电力工业、提高核电的比例、加强新能源和可再生能源的开发利用,确保我国能源的安全稳定供应和可持续发展。     

数字消防--消防信息化的开放模式

针对当前消防信息化建设中存在的开放性不足的问题,提出了一种开放的建设模式--数字消防.在探讨数字消防的性质和特点的基础上,对我国数字消防的功能需求进行了系统分析,并对实践中出现的"由总队主导的数字消防模式"和"由民防主导的数字消防模式"进行了探讨分析.最后,针对需要进一步解决的问题提出了相应的建议.