Irrigation Water Allocation Using an Inexact Two‐Stage Quadratic Programming with Fuzzy Input under Climate Change

Agricultural irrigation accounts for nearly 70% of the total water use around the world. Uncertainties and climate change together exacerbate the complexity of optimal allocation of water resources for irrigation. An interval‐fuzzy two‐stage stochastic quadratic programming model is developed for determining the plans for water allocation for irrigation with maximum benefits. The model is shown to be applicable when inputs are expressed as discrete, fuzzy or random. In order to reflect the effect of marginal utility on benefit and cost, the model can also deal with nonlinearities in the objective function. Results from applying the model to a case study in the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, China, show schemes for water allocation for irrigation of different crops in every month of the crop growth period under various flow levels are effective for achieving high economic benefits. Different climate change scenarios are used to analyze the impact of changing water requirement and water availability on irrigation water allocation. The proposed model can aid the decision maker in formulating desired irrigation water management policies in the wake of uncertainties and changing environment.     

Coupling of the Water Cycle with Patterns of Urban Growth in the Baltimore Metropolitan Region,United States

Regional municipal water plans typically do not recognize complex coupling patterns or that increased withdrawals in one location can result in changes in water availability in others. We investigated the interaction between urban growth and water availability in the Baltimore metropolitan region where urban growth has occurred beyond the reaches of municipal water systems into areas that rely on wells in low‐productivity Piedmont aquifers. We used the urban growth model SLEUTH and the hydrologic model ParFlow.CLM to evaluate this interaction with urban growth scenarios in 2007 and 2030. We found decreasing groundwater availability outside of the municipal water service area. Within the municipal service area we found zones of increasing storage resulting from increased urban growth, where reduced vegetation cover dominated the effect of urbanization on the hydrologic cycle. We also found areas of decreasing storage, where expanding impervious surfaces played a larger role. Although the magnitude of urban growth and change in water availability for the simulation period were generally small, there was considerable spatial heterogeneity of changes in subsurface storage. This suggests that there are locally concentrated areas of groundwater sensitivity to urban growth where water shortages could occur or where drying up of headwater streams would be more likely. The simulation approach presented here could be used to identify early warning indicators of future risk.     

Water Management Decision Making in the Face of Multiple Forms of Uncertainty and Risk

In the Wasatch Range Metropolitan Area of Northern Utah, water management decision makers confront multiple forms of uncertainty and risk. Adapting to these uncertainties and risks is critical for maintaining the long‐term sustainability of the region's water supply. This study draws on interview data to assess the major challenges climatic and social changes pose to Utah's water future, as well as potential solutions. The study identifies the water management adaptation decision‐making space shaped by the interacting institutional, social, economic, political, and biophysical processes that enable and constrain sustainable water management. The study finds water managers and other water actors see challenges related to reallocating water, including equitable water transfers and stakeholder cooperation, addressing population growth, and locating additional water supplies, as more problematic than the challenges posed by climate change. Furthermore, there is significant disagreement between water actors over how to best adapt to both climatic and social changes. This study concludes with a discussion of the path dependencies that present challenges to adaptive water management decision making, as well as opportunities for the pursuit of a new water management paradigm based on soft‐path solutions. Such knowledge is useful for understanding the institutional and social adaptations needed for water management to successfully address future uncertainties and risks.     

Institutional Constraints on Cost‐Effective Water Management: Selenium Contamination in Colorado's Lower Arkansas River Valley

Ground and surface water selenium (Se) contamination is problematic throughout the world, leading to harmful impacts on aquatic life, wildlife, livestock, and humans. A groundwater reactive transport model was applied to a regional‐scale irrigated groundwater system in the Lower Arkansas River Basin in southeastern Colorado to identify management practices that remediate Se contamination. The system has levels of surface water and groundwater Se concentrations exceeding the respective chronic standard and guidelines. We evaluate potential solutions by combining the transport model with an assessment of the cost to employ those practices. We use a framework common in economics and engineering fields alike, the Pareto frontier, to show the impact of four different best management practices on the tradeoffs between Se and cost objectives. We then extend that analysis to include institutional constraints that affect the economic feasibility associated with each practice. Results indicate that although water‐reducing strategies have the greatest impact on Se, they are the hardest for farmers to implement given constraints common to western water rights institutions. Therefore, our analysis shows that estimating economic and environmental tradeoffs, as is typically done with a Pareto frontier, will not provide an accurate picture of choices available to farmers where institutional constraints should also be considered.     

Impacts of Changes in Precipitation Amount and Distribution on Water Resources Studied Using a Model Rainwater Harvesting System

Water supply reliability is expected to be affected by both precipitation amount and distribution changes under recent and future climate change. We compare historical (1951‐2010) changes in annual‐mean and annual‐maximum daily precipitation in the global set of station observations from Global Historical Climatology Network and climate models from the Inter‐Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI‐MIP), and develop the study to 2011‐2099 for model projections under high radiative forcing scenario (RCP8.5). We develop a simple rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) model and drive it with observational and modeled precipitation. We study the changes in mean and maximum precipitation along with changes in the reliability of the model RWHS as tools to assess the impact of changes in precipitation amount and distribution on reliability of precipitation‐fed water supplies. Results show faster increase in observed maximum precipitation (10.14% per K global warming) than mean precipitation (7.64% per K), and increased reliability of the model RWHS driven by observed precipitation by an average of 0.2% per decade. The ISI‐MIP models show even faster increase in maximum precipitation compared to mean precipitation. However, they imply decreases in mean reliability, for an average 0.15% per decade. Compared to observations, climate models underestimate the increasing trends in mean and maximum precipitation and show the opposite direction of change in reliability of a model water supply system.     

Highly efficient conversion of sugarcane bagasse pretreated with liquid hot water into ethanol at high solid loading

Liquid hot water (LHW), an environmental-friendly physico-chemical treatment, was applied to pretreat the sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Tween80, a non-ionic surfactant, was used to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated SCB. It found that 0.125 mL Tween80 /g dry matter could make the maximum increase (33.2%) of the glycan conversion of the LHW-pretreated SCB. A self-designed laboratory facility with a plate-and-frame impeller was applied to conduct batch hydrolysis, fed-batch hydrolysis, and the process of high-temperature (50°C) fed-batch hydrolysis following low-temperature (30°C) simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) which was adopted to overcome the incompatible optimum temperature of saccharification and fermentation in the SSF process. After hydrolyzing LHW-pretreated SCB for 120 h with commercial cellulase, the total sugar concentration and glycan conversion obtained from fed-batch hydrolysis were 91.6 g/L and 68.3%, respectively, which were 9.7 g/L and 7.3% higher than those obtained from batch hydrolysis. With Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y2034 fermenting under the non-sterile condition, the ethanol production and theoretical yield obtained from the process of SSF after fed-batch hydrolysis were 55.4 g/L and 88.3% for 72h, respectively, which were 15.5 g/L and 24.7% higher than those from separate fed-batch hydrolysis and fermentation. The result of this work was superior to the reported results obtained from the LHW-pretreated SCB.     

太湖流域水环境保护目标责任考核机制研究

建立科学规范的环境保护目标责任考核机制是实现我国环境保护目标的重要手段之一。作为一个自上而下的制度典范,基层环境保护管理部门是环境管理目标的落实者也是被考核的对象。本研究以太湖流域水环境保护基层管理部门面临的水环境保护目标责任考核机制为研究对象,从水环境保护考核指标的设定、考核评价的实施以及考核结果的应用三个方面分析太湖流域水环境保护目标考核机制的实施现状。结果表明,现阶段的考核体系存在考核指标设置不合理、考核过程实施过程成本较高,以及考核结果缺乏对管理部门的激励性等问题。最后,本文从提高现阶段太湖流域水环境保护考核指标设定的科学性、协调不同部门之间的关系以及加强考核结果的公开与合理应用方面对太湖流域水环境保护目标责任考核机制提出了政策建议。     

Molecular tools for bathing water assessment in Europe: Balancing social science research with a rapidly developing environmental science evidence-base

The use of molecular tools, principally qPCR, versus traditional culture-based methods for quantifying microbial parameters (e.g., Fecal Indicator Organisms) in bathing waters generates considerable ongoing debate at the science–policy interface. Advances in science have allowed the development and application of molecular biological methods for rapid (~2 h) quantification of microbial pollution in bathing and recreational waters. In contrast, culture-based methods can take between 18 and 96 h for sample processing. Thus, molecular tools offer an opportunity to provide a more meaningful statement of microbial risk to water-users by providing near-real-time information enabling potentially more informed decision-making with regard to water-based activities. However, complementary studies concerning the potential costs and benefits of adopting rapid methods as a regulatory tool are in short supply. We report on findings from an international Working Group that examined the breadth of social impacts, challenges, and research opportunities associated with the application of molecular tools to bathing water regulations.     

Valuation of ecotoxicological impacts from tributyltin based on a quantitative environmental assessment framework

In the scientific literature, few valuations of biodiversity and ecosystem services following the impacts of toxicity are available, hampered by the lack of ecotoxicological documentation. Here, tributyltin is used to conduct a contingent valuation study as well as cost–benefit analysis (CBA) of measures for improving the environmental status in Swedish coastal waters of the Baltic Sea. Benefits considering different dimensions when assessing environmental status are highlighted and a quantitative environmental assessment framework based on available technology, ecological conditions, and economic valuation methodology is developed. Two scenarios are used in the valuation study: (a) achieving good environmental status by 2020 in accordance with EU legislation (USD 119 household⁻¹ year⁻¹) and (b) achieving visible improvements by 2100 due to natural degradation (USD 108 household⁻¹ year⁻¹) during 8 years. The later scenario was used to illustrate an application of the assessment framework. The CBA results indicate that both scenarios might generate a welfare improvement.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0682-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

中国虚拟水贸易的测算及影响因素研究

本文测算2005年、2007年与2010年3个年度中国虚拟水进出口贸易量,采用投入产出及IO-SDA等方法分解分析其变化的影响因素。研究结果显示部门间用水系数差距都非常大,直接用水系数最大的农业部门857.9 t/万元(3年平均值,下同),与直接用水系数最小的部门差距达600倍之多。完全用水系数最大的也为农业部门1 078.7 t/万元,与完全用水系数最小的部门亦达113倍。各部门的完全用水系数和直接用水系数也存在较大不同,有些部门完全用水系数和直接用水系数差距很大,如服装皮革羽绒及其制品业部门差距达115倍,食品制造及烟草加工业部门差距达618.5 t/万元;而有些部门差距非常小,如农业部门差距仅仅0.24倍,煤炭开采和洗选业部门差距仅为8.2 t/万元。虚拟水出口量和进口量分别从2005年的1 774.3亿t和1 378.7亿t增加到2010年的2 254.1亿t和1 836.5亿t,且出口量一直大于进口量。影响因素分解显示,在此期间,进出口规模的增加是虚拟水贸易量增加的主要影响因素,其中出口规模合计为103 698.8×10~6t,进口规模合计为80 401.2×10~6t。进出口贸易结构的影响在不同部门间存在较大的差异。真实用水系数和真实中间投入技术是虚拟水贸易变化的主要负向因素,其中真实用水系数对虚拟水出口与进口的影响分别为-36 793.2×10~6t和-34 668.3×10~6t,真实中间投入技术对虚拟水出口与进口的影响分别为-1 719.7×10~6t和-1 660.8×10~6t,表明在此期间用水效率和中间投入效率都得到了改善。另外,直接用水系数和中间投入技术分解出的结构效应都不明显,中间投入进口比率效应也不明显。