Sustainable wastewater management for small communities in the Middle East and North Africa

Accelerated expansion of wastewater services to small communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is essential in order to address serious concerns over water scarcity and pollution in addition to meeting the demand for convenience and protecting public health. Centralized and conventional wastewater systems are currently the preferred choice of planners and decision-makers in MENA. Water and funding are not available to provide these centralized conventional services to small communities. This paper presents an integrated approach to sustainable wastewater management for small communities in MENA under the severe water resources crisis. The approach calls for a paradigm shift from centralized conventional wastewater systems to decentralized wastewater systems. Management of wastewater in MENA should start at home. Wastewater generation should be reduced through a combination of domestic water conservation measures. On-site systems must be improved and monitored to control pollution and to recover water for non-potable water uses. Should the circumstances not allow the use of on-site systems, wastewater should be transported and managed through a community system applying the principles of decentralized wastewater management and using the settled sewers for wastewater transportation where appropriate. This approach will facilitate the accelerated and sustainable extension of environmentally responsible wastewater services to MENA's small communities. It offers great potential for cost reduction, accommodates the necessary domestic water conservation efforts, reduces freshwater inputs in wastewater transportation thus eliminating unnecessary demand on freshwater, reduces associated environmental risks and increases wastewater reuse opportunities.     

黄河中游多沙粗沙区侵蚀环境若干要素分析

通过黄委会对黄河中游多沙粗沙区范围的界定和有关学者对该区黄土区、风沙区和基岩区三种产沙区类型的划分，分析了影响该区土壤侵蚀的主要环境因素，如降水和风力、下垫面组成、地形和植被等因素，同时就该区内人为因素对土壤侵蚀的影响进行了分析，并提出了综合环境要素影响流域侵蚀的概念。     

Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China

An improved watershed criteria model was developed in light of research on payment for ecosystem services outflows theory.     

Quantifying Tradeoffs Associated with Hydrologic Environmental Flow Methods

Freshwater management requires balancing and tradingoff multiple objectives, many of which may be competing. Ecological needs for freshwater are often described in terms of environmental flow recommendations (e.g., minimum flows), and there are many techniques for developing these recommendations, which range from hydrologic rules to multidisciplinary analyses supported by large teams of subject matter experts. Although hydrologic rules are well acknowledged as overly simplified, these techniques remain the state‐of‐the‐practice in many locations. This article seeks to add complexity to the application of these techniques by studying the emergent properties of hydrologic environmental flow methodologies. Two hydrologic rules are applied: minimum flow criteria and sustainability boundaries. Objectives and metrics associated with withdrawal rate and similarity to natural flow regimes are used to tradeoff economic and environmental needs, respectively, over a range of flow thresholds and value judgments. A case study of hypothetical water withdrawals on the Middle Oconee River near Athens, Georgia is applied to demonstrate these techniques. For this case study, sustainability boundaries emerge as preferable relative to both environmental and economic outcomes. Methods applied here provide a mechanism for examining the role of stakeholder values and tradeoffs in application of hydrologic rules for environmental flows.     

塔里木河中下游的生态环境问题初探

水资源的不合理开发和乱砍滥伐等人为因素导致了塔里木河流域的生态失衡,影响了南疆,甚至整个新疆的经济和社会发展。通过对塔里木河中、下游的生态环境存在问题的综述,探讨了该流域生态环境恶化的主要原因,并对它的保护和改善提出了建议。     

中线调水工程实施后汉江下游水运条件与沿江地区发展——以荆门市为例

南水北调中线一期调水方案,拟定在汉江中下游建设系列补偿工程,即兴隆枢纽、引江济汉、局部航道整治和部分闸站改建4大工程,以减少因调水可能给汉江中下游造成的不利影响。补偿工程实施后,不仅会改变汉江下游水文条件和湖北中部河网格局,而且使汉江下游水运条件也发生新的变化：一方面可一定程度地提升河道的通航能力,另一方面开辟了新航道,改变下游水运格局。汉江中下游水运条件的变化,给沿江地区经济发展必将带来新的影响。荆门是汉江中下游交接处临江最大的省辖市,针对目前面临的发展水运的机遇及汉江水运存在的问题,应采取有力措施,振兴汉江水运,构建地方经济发展的新支点     

Landscape-climatic changes on the eastern macroslope of the Northern Urals over the past 50000 years

Landscape-climatic changes are described that took place in the second half of the Late Neopleistocene and Holocene on the eastern macroslope of the Northern Urals. On the basis of geochronological and palynological data, the composition of paleocommunities in different time sections over the past 50000 years has been reconstructed in detail. Paleoclimatic parameters calculated by the zonal-formation method are presented.     

Environmental movement in Lebanon

The paper reviews and assesses the evolution of the environmental movement in both the public and the private sector in Lebanon. It studies the public sector involvement in the environmental movement by reviewing the commitments made by the government to the local, regional and international communities. The paper presents a summary of all the decisions, decrees, and laws pertaining to environmental protection that the Lebanese government has instituted over time, as well as all the conventions and agreements that the country has ratified and/or signed. Compared to the Arab world in the Middle East and North Africa, Lebanon is relatively more active and integrated in the world community. Using the total number of established environmental organizations and the level of reported activities aimed at spreading environmental awareness and educating people as indicators of private sector involvement in the environmental movement, the paper concludes that the post war era is characterized by a significant increase in the number of established organizations. It also concludes that there is a co-movement between economic and environmental variables. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

长江中游尺八湖现代沉积物营养元素富集的环境意义

通过基于~(210)Pb与环境事件分析相结合的定年方法,在建立沉积年代序列的基础上,对长江中游尺八湖CB-1孔现代沉积物营养元素(TOC、TN、TP)及C/N值进行分析,并结合尺八湖所在的监利县志有关记载,对沉积物营养元素富集与人口数据进行相关分析。结果表明:1尺八湖近70a来沉积物营养元素富集可分为2个主要阶段:上世纪80年代以前TOC、TN、TP值变化平稳,富集系数EF值反映营养元素富集尚在自然水平范围内;上世纪80年代以来TOC、TN、TP值呈显著上升,EF值反映营养元素的富集超越了自然水平。2尺八湖现代沉积物营养元素的变化与湖泊流域所在地区(监利县)人口数量呈显著相关关系,TP值与人口数量在突变点上相一致。3上世纪70年代末、80年代初以来,是尺八湖营养元素快速富集阶段,这当与该时间段人口增长、人类生产活动旺盛、农业种植中化肥使用量增加等因素具有密切关系。     

南水北调中线水源地汉江上游流域主要生态环境问题及对策

汉江上游是南水北调中线水源地,流域生态环境建设是保障水源地水质安全的关键.针对上游流域水环境污染、土地利用以及水土流失等重大生态环境问题,结合流域数字高程模型及水质调查对其进行了系统分析.结果表明:(1)丹江流域、库区流域及汉中盆地水质较差,COD<,Mn>和氨氮成为水源区主要污染物;(2)各子流域区植被覆盖占各自面积的71.2%～95.7%,表明流域植被覆盖较好,但沿河岸100 m范围内农业用地占29.2%～43.4%,且多为坡耕地;(3)流域水土流失严重,2000年左右流域侵蚀图显示汉江源头、秦岭南及大巴山北均出现了大片年均侵蚀模数>2 200 t/km2的区域,且有日益增强的趋势.提出加大水环境污染整治力度、加强农业用肥管理及河岸带建设、水土保持建设以及加强流域水环境及水土保持监测和科研工作等对策.