PROFILE: Hungry Water: Effects of Dams and Gravel Mining on River Channels

/ Rivers transport sediment from eroding uplands to depositional areas near sea level. If the continuity of sediment transport is interrupted by dams or removal of sediment from the channel by gravel mining, the flow may become sediment-starved (hungry water) and prone to erode the channel bed and banks, producing channel incision (downcutting), coarsening of bed material, and loss of spawning gravels for salmon and trout (as smaller gravels are transported without replacement from upstream). Gravel is artificially added to the River Rhine to prevent further incision and to many other rivers in attempts to restore spawning habitat. It is possible to pass incoming sediment through some small reservoirs, thereby maintaining the continuity of sediment transport through the system. Damming and mining have reduced sediment delivery from rivers to many coastal areas, leading to accelerated beach erosion. Sand and gravel are mined for construction aggregate from river channel and floodplains. In-channel mining commonly causes incision, which may propagate up- and downstream of the mine, undermining bridges, inducing channel instability, and lowering alluvial water tables. Floodplain gravel pits have the potential to become wildlife habitat upon reclamation, but may be captured by the active channel and thereby become instream pits. Management of sand and gravel in rivers must be done on a regional basis, restoring the continuity of sediment transport where possible and encouraging alternatives to river-derived aggregate sources.KEY WORDS: Dams; Aquatic habitat; Sediment transport; Erosion; Sedimentation; Gravel mining     

SOUND POLICY OR SMOKE AND MIRRORS: DOES ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT MAKE SENSE?1

ABSTRACT: Protection of ecosystems as entities on the landscape has attracted a wide range of support. Ecosystem-based public policies are claimed to be more effective, efficient, and scientifically sound than other approaches to environmental and natural resource policy. The ecosystem concept was never intended to serve as a public policy guide or to determine landscape units for land management purposes. This paper critically examines the use of the ecosystem concept in public policy and land use management and analyzes the proposed rule to manage the National Forest System according to ecosystem management principles. The concept is found to be unsuitable as a basis for guiding environmental and natural resource public policies in general while the proposed rule to manage the national forests according to ecosystem management principles is shown to be incoherent.     

SIMULATION OF TEMPORAL CHANGES IN RAINFALL-RUNOFF CHARACTERISTICS,COON CREEK BASIN,WISCONSIN1

ABSTRACT: Streamflow for 67 years was simulated for Coon Creek at Coon Valley, Wisconsin, for three conditions in the drainage basin: (1) conditions in the 1930s; (2) conditions in the 1970s, excluding flood-detention reservoirs; and (3) conditions in the 1970s, including flood-detention reservoirs. These simulations showed that the changes in agricultural practices over 40 years (1940–80) reduced the 100-year flood by 53 percent (from 38,900 to 18,300 cubic feet per second). The flood-detention reservoirs reduced the 100-year flood by an additional 17 percent (to 15,100 cubic feet per second). The simulation was accomplished by calibrating a precipitation-runoff model to observed rainfall and runoff during two separate periods (1934–40 and 1978–81). Comparisons of model simulations showed that differences between the model calibrations for the two periods were statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.     

PESTICIDES IN GROUND WATER: DO ATRAZINE METABOLITES MATTER?1

ABSTRACT: Atrazine and atrazine-residue (atrazine + two metabolites - deethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine) concentrations were examined to determine if consideration of these atrazine metabolites substantially adds to our understanding of the distribution of this pesticide in groundwater of the midcontinental United States. The mean of atrazine.residue concentrations was 53 percent greater than that of atrazine alone for those observations above the detection limit (> 0.05 μg/l). Furthermore, a censored regression analysis using atrazine-residue concentrations revealed significant factors not identified when only atrazine concentrations were used. Thus, knowledge of concentrations of these atrazine metabolites is required to obtain a true estimation of risk of using these aquifers as sources for drinking water, and such knowledge also provides information that ultimately may be important for future management policies designed to reduce atrazine concentrations in ground water.     

Development of Layered Sediment Structure and its Effects on Pore Water Transport and Hyporheic Exchange

Hyporheic exchange is known to provide an important control on nutrient and contaminant fluxes across the stream-subsurface interface. Similar processes also mediate interfacial transport in other permeable sediments. Recent research has focused on understanding the mechanics of these exchange processes and improving estimation of exchange rates in natural systems. While the structure of sediment beds obviously influences pore water flow rates and patterns, little is known about the interplay of typical sedimentary structures, hyporheic exchange, and other transport processes in fluvial/alluvial sediments. Here we discuss several processes that contribute to local-scale sediment heterogeneity and present results that illustrate the interaction of overlying flow conditions, the development of sediment structure, pore water transport, and stream-subsurface exchange. Layered structures are shown to develop at several scales within sediment beds. Surface sampling is used to analyze the development of an armor layer in a sand-and-gravel bed, while innovative synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography is used to observe patterns of grain sorting within sand bedforms. We show that layered bed structures involving coarsening of the bed surface increase interfacial solute flux but produce an effective anisotropy that favors horizontal pore water transport while limiting vertical penetration.     

山岳型宗教旅游地的土地利用分析--九华山风景名胜区实证研究

九华山风景名胜区是山岳型宗教旅游地。通过对九华山风景区的实地调查，总结了该类旅游地的土地利用特点，即统一性和协调性、难以变更性、总量有限性，并进行了土地利用沿革、变更和影响方面的分析。利用层次分析法从生存指标、发展指标、社会指标、环境指标和智力指标5个方面对九华山风景区的土地利用进行了定量讨论，认为九华山风景区土地利用问题现阶段主要集中在九华街景区、花台景区和柯村景区。在此基础上，对九华山风景区土地的可持续利用提出了相应的对策。     

北京市耕地面积变化趋势预测及保护对策研究

耕地资源是人类生存和发展最重要的物质基础，也是不可再生的稀缺资源。特别是北京这样的国际大都市，人地矛盾十分突出，每寸土地都显得弥足珍贵。基于1996-2005年北京市的耕地面积数据，利用灰色模型预测方法建立GM（1，1）模型，对北京市2006-2010年的耕地面积变化趋势进行预测。预测结果显示，北京市耕地面积在未来几年内将呈现出持续减少的趋势，2010年耕地面积将比1996年减少约1／2。针对这种趋势和北京市的实际情况，提出了相应的耕地保护对策。     

安徽省土地资源人口承载力的动态研究

基于《安徽省统计年鉴》，对全省近10年的土地资源、粮食生产及人口增长状况进行了分析。在此基础上，运用相关数学模型对2005-2020年全省人口数量、耕地面积和粮食单产分别进行了预测。为了提高预测精确度，取各种预测方法的平均值。根据安徽省情将其划分为温饱型、小康型和富裕型三档生活标准，分别探讨了预测期内安徽省土地承载力状况，提出了相应的发展对策和建议，为全省发展粮食生产提供科学依据。     

地铁车站突发客流疏运能力的理论计算与分析

针对车站OB应对亚运会期间大规模突发客流疏导问题,利用理论分析的方法计算不同车站设计方案,包括车站一岛一侧站台设计和一岛站台设计及不同通道设计时的最大疏运能力。计算考虑了车站建筑结构、出入口、闸机口和边门、楼扶梯等通道的数量及通过能力、站台面的容纳能力、列车的装载量、售检票方式、行车交路组织等诸多因素。通过对影响客流疏导的主要控制因素进行能力核算,分别得到了两种站台形式设计方案时的最大疏运能力的理论值。研究结论将有利于解决该车站应对亚运会期间大规模突发客流疏导问题,同时理论分析方法可为其他类似的车站能力设计提供参考。     

科尔沁沙地沙漠化研究进展

科尔沁沙地是目前我国沙漠化发展较为迅速的地区之一,也是我国沙漠化研究程度比较高的地区之一.近50年来,该区沙漠化研究经历了流沙治理、沙漠化过程及其整治的区域性综合研究和沙漠化机理及其整治的典型研究3个阶段,在沙漠化过程、动态监测、灾害评估、综合整治防治等方面都取得了大量成果.根据目前的研究现状和存在问题,以及科尔沁沙地的实际情况,提出了今后应进一步加强研究的4个领域,即:沙漠化监测评估标准的统一和规范化;农田土壤风蚀的实验观测和控制措施的试验示范研究;沙尘暴灾害的监测、预警和影响评估;防沙治沙技术与模式的集成和进一步推广等.