RIVER AMENITY EVALUATION: A REVIEW AND COMMENTARY1

ABSTRACT: During the past 15 years a number of methods have been developed that purport to evaluate the amenity values of rivers. Most methods are designed to identify the physical, biological, cultural, and esthetic features of a river or river corridor that are conducive to recreation, preservation, and other amenity values. This paper reviews and comments on 13 methods that evaluate amenity values. The methods are reviewed and discussed under three general headings: River Recreation Potential Evaluation, River Esthetic Evaluation, and River Preservation Evaluation. A final section of the paper identifies areas where improvements and further research are needed.     

PLANNING LEVEL ESTIMATES OF THE VALUE OF RESERVOIRS FOR WATER SUPPLY AND FLOW AUGMENTATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE1

: In general, the choice among reservoirs for water supply or flow augmentation is a multiobjective problem. Choices are based in part on the yield available from water supply reservoirs or, in the case of flow augmentation reservoirs, on the increase in low flows at downstream locations. Detailed estimates of these effects may be too costly for basin planning purposes. Thus this paper presents methods for rapid estimation of those quantities for New Hampshire. For water supply reservoirs, a composite empirical relation between Y95 (the draft available 95 percent of the time) and storage ratio, S*, is developed from previous studies in the region. For flow augmentation reservoirs, empirical relations between S* and degree of regulation, R*, are applied to each upstream regulating reservoir. Values of regulation arc then summed and divided by the mean flow at the downstream reach of interest. This parameter, (ΓR)*, is then related to increase in flow available 95 percent of the time by an empirical relation.     

INTER-STATE WATER DISPUTES: A CASE STUDY OF INDIA1

ABSTRACT: During the last 27 years of independence, a large number of inter-state water disputes cropped up over the use of rivers. Surprisingly enough, more disputes developed in this short period than in the earlier 200 years of the development of irrigation and so far none of the disputes has been permanently solved. The major rivers of India are all inter-state rivers and this is one of the more important reasons why some of them are not yet fully developed for irrigation or power production. The Union Government has set up, so far, only three tribunals to adjudicate inter-state disputes. But the problems do not end simply by setting up the tribunals. In practice, it has also proved a dilatory process. None of the tribunals has been successful in settling any dispute in the long years of their existence. There is no codified law prescribing rights and the notion of “equity” has come to prevail restraining the upper states from drawing such quantities of water as would injure the interests of the lower states. Though the general principle of equitable apportionment had been advocated many times, in practice each contending state had given this principle an interpretation that suited it. The basic principle would be to harness the rivers not for the benefit of a particular state but for the maximization of agricultural, industrial, and navigational potential in the areas served by the rivers.     

Rehabilitation of a lowland river: Reconciling flood defence with habitat diversity and geomorphological sustainability

Geomorphologically appropriate rehabilitation measures were proposed to enhance the in-stream environment of the lowland River Idle, north Nottinghamshire, UK. However, the River Idle has multi-functional management requirements including those of flood defence so environmental enhancement must be pursued without significantly increasing the flood risk. Hydraulic testing of rehabilitation proposals is complicated because of the stringent assumptions about flow and morphology in ‘traditional’ hydraulic models. While new generation two- and three-dimension hydraulic models may overcome some of these problems, they are extremely data intensive, require advanced modelling capabilities and are, therefore, very expensive to apply. Also, they do not yet predict morphology-flow interactions adequately. As an alternative, several simple hydraulic models were applied to test the rehabilitation proposals, based on a fitness-for-purpose criterion.BENDFLOW was applied to fine tune the optimal siting of measures and to estimate the additional near-bank scour generated by proposed bend re-profiling. HMODEL2 and the FCFA method were used to test the impact on local channel conveyance capacities and HECRAS was applied to simulate the impact of the proposals on regional flood defence. Indicative results from the testing suggested a maximum increase in near-bank scour of 0·15 m in re-profiled bends, a loss of approximately 10% in flood conveyance locally due to deflector installation or reed and tree planting, and a 0·12 m increase in flood stage within the reach for a 15 year flood. The modelling results were acceptable to the management authority as an indication of an acceptable compromise between flood defence and conservation interests, and construction of the measures followed in 1996. It is clearly that it will require the results of post-project monitoring to indicate whether compromises made to the rehabilitation initiatives in order to satisfy flood defence requirements have unduly reduced their environmental enhancement potential but, for assessing the proposed methods, the models are recommended for use other lowland river environments.     

邯郸市沁河水污染治理方案

本文对邯郸市沁河水污染现状进行了调查分析，总结了城市内河治理经验，通过方案比较，推荐“清淤，护坡，建坝，分质截污，邯钢废水混凝沉淀处理”为沁河治理方案。     

流量调节因子在非稳态河网水质计算中的应用

对平原河网水流流向不定引起的非稳态水质变化问题,引入流量调节因子加以校正,对调节因子在不同流向的形式进行了分析,在水质显格式离散方程中建立对应的水质模型,利用研究区河网枯水期实测的水质资料进行相应验证,结果表明校正的水质模型有较高的精度,具有一定的实用性。为非稳态情况下河网水质问题的决策分析提供了可行计算途径。     

海河流域河流富营养化程度总体评估

以海河流域2009年地表水水质现状数据为基础,分别运用河流水体富营养化潜势和浮游植物表征河流富营养化水平.结果显示,流域河流水体中富营养盐含量相对较高,河流水体中TN、NH3-N平均含量分别为8.13、4.34 mg·L-1,分别超过《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838—2002)Ⅴ类限值(2 mg·L-1)4倍、2倍以上.北三河水系(北运河、潮白河、蓟运河)、子牙河水系和海河干流中TN浓度超过9 mg·L-1;海河流域河流水体中TP平均含量为0.87 mg·L-1,超过地表水Ⅴ类限值(0.4 mg·L-1)2倍以上.北三河水系、子牙河水系和黑龙港运东水系水中TP平均含量均超过1.0 mg·L-1.主要河流3%处于中或贫营养,44%处于极富营养化水平,主要分布在北三河水系、子牙河水系和漳卫河水系,表明流域河流总体呈现富营养化状态,平原段河流富营养化严重.河流治理要兼顾耗氧污染控制和营养盐控制,以改善河流水质.     

基于水域面积法的山区河流水电站下游生态流量定值研究

水电站的大量兴建导致下游河道萎缩退化甚至断流,如何改变水电站运行调度方式,维持下游河道一定的生态流量、保障河流健康成为国内外普遍关注的问题.本文在传统水文学方法的基础上融入生物栖息地法思想,以河流生态系统的生物多样性为功能目标,用河道流量反映河流的水文过程,河道水域面积反映河流生态系统的生物多样性,创新性地提出考虑河道水文生态特性的生态流量定值方法——水域面积法.以北江上游浈江二级支流罗坝水为例进行分析计算.计算结果表明:枯水年罗坝水生态流量为2.26 m3·s-1,占多年平均流量的25.97%;平水年生态流量分月控制,生态流量过程与建站前流量过程基本一致.根据枯水年的生态流量值和平水年各月份的生态流量值,结合水电站的运行调度规则,换算成一定时期内的径流量来确定该时期内水电站需释放的水量,进而对水电站下游河道的生态功能进行保护和修复.     

太湖西部河湖氮污染物来源及转化途径分析

通过2014年枯水、丰水两期监测,综合分析了太湖西部入湖河流与湖区水体及其沉积物的无机氮形态与同位素特征,并利用δ~(15)N识别了太湖西部上游区氮污染来源及转化途径的生物化学作用机制.结果表明:NO_3~--N与NH_4~+-N为研究区域入湖河流无机氮的主要形态,而NO_3~--N为西部湖区水体无机氮的主要形态;δ~(15)N-NO_3~-的数值范围揭示了西部入湖河流在枯水季NO_3~--N主要来源于农用化肥,有少量矿化土壤有机氮,而丰水季则以生活污水为主,有少量矿化土壤有机氮及农用化肥;δ~(15)N-NH_4~+的数值范围说明了生活污水是河流水体NH_4~+-N的主要来源;通过水体及沉积物样品NO_3~--N、NH_4~+-N、δ~(15)N-NO_3~-、δ~(15)N-NH_4~+的协同分析可知,湖区氮的赋存形态主要受湖区水体硝化作用及沉积物内反硝化作用的影响.     

太湖西部河网中沉积物氮的空间分布特征

选取太湖主要入湖水系(西苕溪水系和宜溧-洮滆水系)为研究对象,于2014年1月完成水体及表层沉积物各102个样品的采集,分析了沉积物中氮(N)不同形态的空间分布特征及其影响因素.结果表明,西苕溪水系表层沉积物总氮(TN)含量高于宜溧-洮滆水系,均值分别为2164.91 mg·kg~(-1)和983.52 mg·kg~(-1),两个水系间沉积物TN含量存在显著差异.西苕溪和宜溧-洮滆两个水系沉积物中无机氮(IN)以氨氮(NH+4-N)为主,平均含量分别为120.90 mg·kg~(-1)和49.85 mg·kg~(-1),而硝态氮(NO_3~--N)平均含量仅为9.60 mg·kg~(-1)和13.95 mg·kg~(-1).沉积物中有机氮(ON)含量及分布与TN相似,西苕溪和宜溧-洮滆水系ON均值分别为2034.41 mg·kg~(-1)和917.77 mg·kg~(-1),占各自TN的百分比分别为93.90%和92.99%.表层沉积物各形态N之间及与上覆水体之间均具有显著的相关性,表明沉积物与上覆水之间的浓度梯度可能会驱动IN向上覆水体进行释放.