MODELING WATER BALANCE WITH THE ERHYM MODEL ON SOUTH TEXAS RANGELANDS1

ABSTRACT: Understanding the hydrologic processes of rangeland plant communities is essential to determine if water augmentation through shrub management is feasible. Vegetation manipulation studies are costly, difficult to accurately replicate, and often require more than 10 years to determine treatment effect on the water budget. If properly applied, hydrologic simulation models are an attractive alternative for assessing vegetation manipulation practices. The ERHYM-II model was evaluated to determine if it was capable of simulating the water balance for honey mesquite shrub clusters, grass interspaces, and bare soil in south Texas. The simulated water budget was within 2 percent of the measured evapotranspiration for the shrub clusters and grass interspaces. The model underestimated the number of runoff events and overestimated runoff volume for the grass interspace and shrub clusters. Simulated runoff was overestimated by approximately twofold for the grass interspace and threefold for the shrub clusters. Although simulated runoff was substantially overestimated, observed and simulated runoff only accounted for 3 to 6 percent of annual rainfall for the grass and shrub dominated areas, respectively. Simulated evapotranspiration was underestimated by 18 percent and soil water content was overestimated by 82 percent for the bare soil. The model underestimated evapotranspiration for the bare soil as a result of restricting evaporative losses to the first soil layer. Based on our analysis, the ERHYM-II model has the potential for simulating the annual water balance for semiarid rangeland plant communities where runoff and deep drainage are limited components of the water balance.     

CONTROL OF NATURAL BRINE SPRINGS IN BRAZOS RIVER BASIN PART II: BRINE DISPOSAL1

ABSTRACT: Water quality in the Brazos River of Texas is seriously degraded by natural salt pollution. Two thousand tons/day of total dissolved solids emanate from brine springs and seeps in the Upper Brazos River drainage. Approximately 45 percent of the total salt load comes from a relatively small flow in the Dove Creek area. The companion paper demonstrates that a system of wells pumping brine at a constant rate of about 2 cfs from the near surface aquifer should eliminate the brine springs in this area. In this paper, injection into deep brine aquifers is shown to be a feasible brine disposal alternative. Four brine aquifers were determined from the literature to be possible injection zones. Accurate net aquifer thickness maps were generated in a 23 by 14 mile area centered on the Dove Creek area for three of the aquifers from an interpretation of 41 well logs. Constant injection for a project life of 100 years was simulated using the SWIFT/486 software. Modeling suggests that one well would be sufficient to inject the entire disposal volume into either the Strawn or Ellenburger Formation.     

SCIENCE AND POLICY IN INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: Policy and management plans can be enhanced through effective communication between researchers and decision makers. Differences in understanding can come from differences in professional cultures. Scientists deal with facts, proof and incremental progress whereas the decision makers are often faced with perceptions, emotions and deadlines. A case study is presented illustrating the interaction between the political system and science on a water management issue. Irrigation projects in the western San Joaquin Valley of California lead to a situation requiring subsurface drainage and disposal of the drainage water. The original plan was to discharge the drainage water in the Suisun Bay east of the San Francisco Bay. Severe damage to birds associated with selenium in the water led to a reevaluation of irrigation and drainage management options. Federal and state agencies cooperated to establish a San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program (SJVDP) which was to develop plans for solving the problem. Discharge to the Bay was politically eliminated as an option for evaluation, an action criticized by a National Research Council Committee as not being scientifically based. The SJVDP published a Management Plan in 1990 which contained proposals viewed by the scientific community as not necessarily incorrect but not completely justified based on the scientific knowledge at the time. A segment of the Citizens Advisory Committee that was part of the SJVDP consisting of representatives from the interest groups viewed the Management Plan as a negotiated agreement between the environmental and agricultural interests. Presently, an Activity Plan exists, consisting of technical committees to evaluate the current technical and economic evaluation of the management options proposed in the Management Plan. This case study illustrates that factors other than scientific facts have bearing on decisions. Successful management plans must be technically sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. The scientific community needs to evaluate its role in the policy making arena and to focus research on questions of greatest value to decision makers, as well as to scientific peers.     

去除矿井水处理构筑物中藻类的应用研究

针对部分矿井水处理构筑物中藻类大量滋生繁殖的现状,研究了除藻剂硫酸铜对构筑物中的藻类去除情况,重点考察了硫酸铜的适宜投加量和持续作用时间.工业性试验表明,硫酸铜的投加量1.0 mg/L左右,持续投加时间为一周左右,可有效地去除矿井水处理构筑物中的藻类.     

Development and valuation of adaptation pathways for storm water management infrastructure

Policymakers today are faced with a difficult task of planning for large scale infrastructure that can cater to the climatic and socio-economic changes that the future will bring. To address the deeply uncertain nature resulting from long-term changes, it is becoming necessary to develop strategies that support flexibility and react more strategically than traditional planning approaches. This paper applies the concept of adaptation tipping points and adaptation pathways to a case study in Singapore for the planning of long-term urban drainage infrastructure. Using conventional grey and sustainable green solutions in isolation and in combination, adaptation pathway maps are developed and compared across outlined climatic and landuse scenarios. To understand and justify if the imparted flexibility is worth its cost, economic assessments are performed. This is a valuable extension of the existing framework, helps to identify the preferred configuration of land use and sub-select adaptation actions that should be implemented at the current time frame. The main finding of this study is that the adaptation pathways map for the sustainable grey landuse scenario economically outperforms those of the other outlined land uses. This provides a valuable insight for policy makers, as it implies that if carefully planned development is undertaken, the requirements of storm water management can be met in a sustainable manner, while simultaneously freeing up land for other purposes. This is especially important in the context of highly dense urban areas such as Singapore, where land is a scare resource.     

铁锰在贵州阿哈湖沉积物中的分离

贵州阿哈湖 1982年扩容后 ,长期受到煤矿废水的污染 ,大量铁、锰元素随废水带入湖中 .研究发现 :主要来自酸性矿山废水的还原态溶解铁、锰离子在入湖向下游迁移过程中发生了显著地分离 .受岩溶地区湖泊较强的酸中和能力及近年人为石灰投放的影响 ,湖泊未被酸化 ,Fe²⁺,Mn²⁺在入湖运移过程中由于氧化速率的差异 ,在不同的湖区发生沉积 ,形成了铁、锰在水平迁移上的明显分离 ;锰在深湖区上层沉积物中富集现象明显 ,并在沉积深度上与铁形成垂向上的显著分离 .经过陆源校正 ,证实铁、锰在阿哈湖的显著分离的开始是对该湖扩容事件的响应 .扩容后下游沉积物中铁含量逐渐减少 ,孔隙水中溶解铁分布特征也指示铁还原作用主要发生在沉积物下层 ,表明铁在沉积后再迁移能力较弱 .锰还原过程则发生在上层沉积物中 ,再迁移能力很强 .本研究还提出了来自煤矿废水的Fe²⁺、Mn²⁺在入湖水平运移过程中 ,铁、锰逐步分离、富集以及在沉积深度上的分离模式 .     

国外尾矿酸性排水和重金属淋滤作用研究进展

尾矿引起的环境问题是水 气 矿物在地表条件下发生复杂反应的综合结果。近年来 ,国外学者研究显示 ,发生在尾矿中的风化作用不仅仅有硫化物的氧化作用 ,而且还伴随有机物氧化作用 ,碳酸盐等矿物中和作用 ,次生矿物沉淀作用、结晶作用、胶结作用 ,矿物交代蚀变作用、吸附作用、离子交换作用以及生物作用。上述各种作用互相影响 ,互相制约。目前 ,最新研究表明 ,许多因素都会影响尾矿风化作用 ,这些因素主要包括 :尾矿原生矿物组成、成因、化学成分、表面积和形态 ;尾矿酸中和潜力 ;溶液pH值 ;次生矿物形成及其吸附、离子交换、胶结作用 ;溶液中Fe3+离子的浓度 ;有机物的种类和含量 ;尾矿粒度分布和空隙度 ;气候条件和尾矿的水文地质环境     

石灰石沟-堆肥湿地系统处理酸性矿山废水的研究

为探讨石灰石沟-潜流堆肥湿地系统处理酸性矿山废水(AMD)的效果及影响因素,进行了6个月模拟试验,测定出水水质和植物生长等相关的影响因素.结果表明,石灰石沟可有效提高AMD的pH值,降低其酸度与重金属含量,但随着石灰石沟中氢氧化物的积累,后期处理性能下降;堆肥湿地可显著降低AMD的酸度与重金属,出水酸度随时间持续降低,出水的Cd、Pb在检测限以下,Zn、Cu平均浓度分别为1.8mg/L, 2.6μg/L,均达到农业灌溉水标准,而无前置堆肥的普通湿地后期Cd、Zn、Cu偏高;东南景天在湿地系统也能正常富积Cd/Zn;狭叶香蒲使堆肥湿地的产碱过程受到抑制,出水酸度升高,但其对堆肥湿地的重金属去除没有产生显著影响.     

Combined reticular blind drainage and vertical hierarchical drainage system for landfills located in areas with high rainfall and high groundwater level

A novel water control technology that combines the features of a reticular blind drainage system and a vertical hierarchical drainage system is developed and applied in the Yanziyan Sanitary Landfill, which is located at an area (Loudi City, Hunan Province, China) with high rainfall and high groundwater level. The reticular blind drain system, which was installed on the bottom and side walls of the landfill site, can conveniently guide the flow of groundwater out of the site while preventing a disorganized flow of groundwater. The vertical hierarchical drainage system was installed to separate rainfall water and leachate in the landfill site, thus efficiently reducing the pressure of leachate treatment. The whole drainage system plays a key role in foundation stabilization by seepage control and separation and in the instant drainage of rainfall water. The leachate reduction efficiency of the drainage technology was calculated in terms of leachate production before (336519 m³) and after (29664 m³) technology application. Over 90% of leachate derived from rainfall water and groundwater inflow was avoided upon installation of the vertical hierarchical drainage and reticular blind drainage systems. The technology can thus be popularized and applied for water control in landfills located in areas with high rainfall and high groundwater level. The proposed technology can be used to alleviate the pressure of leachate treatment and to reduce the risk of instability.     

Toxic mine drainage from Asia’s biggest copper mine at Malanjkhand,India

This paper has studied the environmental deterioration due to copper mining in Malanjkhand at Central-east India. No data is available on environmental degradation at the studied site although geological aspects are well studied. Mine drainage from the mines is definitively toxic. The site is also undergoing various stages of acid mine drainage (AMD) particularly from the heap leaching sites and the tailing area. AMD impacted water steam and sediment were also analysed. Results show substantial level of contamination of almost all segments of environment. Presence of elevated level of other heavy metal viz. Au, Ag, Pb, Cr, Cd, Fe, Cu and base metals like Na, K in AMD impacted water and sediments is due to metal leaching effect of AMD. Bio monitoring with the help of benthic macro invertebrates and metal accumulation in plants was also carried to know the impact of the toxic drainage. Results prove a very significant impact on the environmental health.