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.     

THE ARMA MODELS APPLIED TO THE FLOW OF KARSTIC SPRINGS1

ABSTRACT: Autoregressive moving average (ABMA) models have been applied to study the flow series of the karstic springs of La Villa, Fuente Mayor (Spain), and Aliou (France). The theoretical meaning of the parameters involved in the model upon applying it to a simplified scheme of the emptying of a karstic aquifer is first analyzed. The types of transformations necessary to apply these models to the flow series that lack normality and have strong periodic components are also indicated, as are the advantages of this type of model and the physical significance of the parameters obtained, with respect to the standpoint of hydraulics, ranging from rather homogeneous aquifers (La Villa) to extremely karstic (Aliou), including aquifers with intermediate characteristics (Fuente Mayor).     

陕西泾阳4.8级地震前后重力变化与断裂活动

本文对泾阳Ms4．8级地震前后陕西关中地区流动重力观测资料和有关断裂垂直形变资料进行了分析研究。结果表明：①波速比高值区很可能存在地下深部地幔物质的入侵，由此引发地震和重力场的显著下降；②用震源机制解和GPS所作的运动矢量图可以较好地解释泾阳地震前后重力场时空演化特征及有关断裂活动——其变化是北西向剪切应力带作用的结果．     

塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地沙尘暴特征--以塔中地区为例

塔克拉玛干沙漠是中国油气开发的重要区域，沙尘暴是该区域重要的灾害性天气，但以往相关的研究很少。为了了解塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地沙尘暴的发生规律，利用塔中气象站1997-2002年的气象资料，对塔中地区沙尘暴的强度、过程、类型和时间变化等特征进行了分析。研究结果表明：（1）塔中年平均沙尘暴日数为16．83d，较沙漠北缘的轮台和沙漠南缘的民丰、和田为多，体现出沙尘源对沙尘暴发生的影响；（2）沙尘暴发生之前出现明显的风速突然降低和风向转换；（3）同塔里木盆地其它区域一样，塔中沙尘暴也可分为5种类型，其主导类型为冷空气东灌型；（4）沙尘暴时间变化规律明显，且从20世纪90年代至21世纪初，塔中沙尘暴日数与持时明显下降，同全疆的变化趋势一致。     

关于煤矿安全法制化进程的几点思考

我国十一五规划对煤炭发展做出了新的要求,要建立和谐社会,煤矿安全是煤炭行业和谐发展的第一要务.煤矿安全立法相对滞后,现行法律缺乏针对性和可操作性,应加强煤矿安全立法.加强煤矿安全司法力度,对有效预防煤矿安全事故意义重大,同时应积极开展煤矿安全法制教育,提高煤矿从业人员的安全法治意识.强化煤矿安全执法力度,执法必严,是保障煤矿安全的关键环节.     

食品安全管理存在问题及其对策研究

食品是人类赖以生存和发展的重要物质基础。当前食品安全形势严峻,面临来自多方面的挑战。食物中毒、滥用杀虫剂、采用新技术和新工艺等带来的食品安全问题,还有生产流通环节的问题。笔者论述了食品安全的定义及内涵;介绍国内、外食品安全现状的基础上,分析了食品安全的重要性;进而提出了食品安全的可行性对策:完善我国食品安全法律法规与标准体系,建立和健全食品安全管理的专门机构,加强食品流通秩序的管理,构建系统的食品安全教育培训体系,加强社会监督,发挥消费者在食品安全问题中的积极作用等。     

变光焊接眼护具响应时间定义分析

通过对不同标准的变光焊接眼护具响应时间定义分析，提出各标准定义及计算值的区别，以利于帮助消费者进行产品选择和企业对产品设计的改进。     

一种DSP+FPGA实时信号处理系统

简要叙述了常用的信号处理系统的类型与处理机结构,介绍了正逐步得到广泛应用的DSP+FPGA处理机结构,在此基础上提出了一种实时信号处理的线性流水阵列,并举例说明了该结构的具体实现,最后分析说明了此结构的优越性。     

南充市空气中可吸入颗粒物污染水平分析

本文在连续1年又5个月同步采样的基础上，测得南充市市辖三城区5个采样监测点环境空气中PM10的浓度及其时空变化进行了分析。结果表明，PM10的日平均浓度范围为0．020～1．030mg／m^3，超标率达38．0％；周日均浓度在0.040～0．520mg／m^3之间，超标率达到了37．8％。空气污染最重为嘉陵城区，其次为高坪城区，再次为石油学院、炼油厂和市府二院。浓度季节变化特征表现为冬季最高，其次为秋季，再次为春季，最轻为夏季。     

Significant developments in sustainable development law and governance: A proposal

This article develops a practical proposal for progress on sustainable development law. It examines the prospects for an international sustainable development law to provide a framework for more effective, coherent governance. Sustainable development law is briefly defined and an analytical framework is provided. Different degrees of integration between economic, social and environmental law are described. Certain principles of international law related to sustainable development are also highlighted. It is argued that these principles may serve to guide law‐makers and jurists where social, economic and environmental law and policy conflict or overlap. Continuing, underlying questions of sustainable development governance are addressed and its global frameworks analysed. The article also focuses on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in August‐September 2002, and its specific mandate for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to take related legal developments into account. The article advances a proposal: that governments, economic, social and environmental intergovernmental organizations and other actors establish a ‘network of inquiry’ with members from relevant groups, including legal and academic organizations, and other expert groups, in order to follow, research, analyse and debate legal developments in a balanced way.