Water supply and sanitation services for all: global progress during the 1990s

The Earth may be largely covered with water, but over one billion people are estimated to be without safe drinking water and almost 2.5 billion (40% of the world's population) without adequate sanitation at the outset of the new millennium. The provision of safe water and sanitation for all poses several serious institutional and economic challenges at international, national and local levels. Despite the various political commitments made from the late 1970s onwards, these commitments have remained largely unfulfilled. Even though some efforts to expand coverage have been made over the past two decades, much of those efforts have been undermined by socioeconomic problems and growing population, particularly in the urban areas of developing countries. The water supply and sanitation sector is actually in acute need of new investments for expansion and maintenance of facilities. Nonetheless, some positive trends can be discerned, such as, for example, the increasing recognition of integrated water resources management, environmental sanitation, public-private partnerships and women as a key for improvement and expansion of services.     

WATER SUPPLY AND WASTEWATER DISPOSAL IN RURAL AREAS OF INDIA1

ABSTRACT: Piped water supply and sewerage have been taken almost for granted in the developed countries. However, most people in the United States have little knowledge of the condition of public health amenities in the developing countries. The paper reviews the importance, background and current status of water and wastewater facilities in India. The relative situation in urban and rural areas, conventional practices in environmental hygiene, the programs for improvement and the problems involved with possible solutions are given. The case history of a town is also included for illustrative purposes.     

Soil Phosphorus Concentrations in Dane County,Wisconsin, USA: An Evaluation of the Urban–Rural Gradient Paradigm

Understanding the magnitude and location of soil phosphorus (P) accumulation in watersheds is a critical step toward managing runoff of this pollutant to aquatic ecosystems. Here, I examine the usefulness of urban–rural gradients, an emerging experimental design in urban ecology, for predicting extractable soil P concentrations across a rapidly urbanizing agricultural watershed in southern Wisconsin. I compare several measures of an urban–rural gradient to predictors of soil P such as soil type, slope, topography, land use, land cover, and fertilizer and manure use. Most of the factors that were expected to drive differences in soil P concentrations were found to be poor predictors of Bray-1 (extractable) soil P, which ranged from 4 to 660 ppm; while there were several significant relationships, most explained only a small proportion of the variation. A multiple linear regression model captured approximately 37% of the variation in the data using the urban–rural gradient, topography, land use, land cover, manure use, and soil type as predictors. There was a significant relationship between Bray-1 P concentration and each of the urban–rural gradients, but these relationships explained only between 2.6% and 3.3% of the variation in P concentrations. Extractable P concentration in soils, unlike some other ecosystem properties, is not well predicted by urban–rural gradients.     

广西乡村旅游发展的SWOT分析

运用SWOT分析方法,认为广西乡村旅游资源丰富,乡村旅游的发展正面临着良好的发展机遇,同时必须应对日益剧烈的市场竞争和由于开发不当而造成的资源破坏与特色退化,处理好各乡村旅游利益主体之间的利益平衡。从整体而言,广西的乡村旅游还处于探索和参与阶段。乡村旅游的可持续发展有待于政府、专家学者、旅游开发经营者和乡村旅游者的共同努力。     

CAPITAL COST OF RURAL WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: The cost of water service to rural residents is very high compared to urban areas. This is true even after subsidization by Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) loans and grants. Capital cost data on 44 projects financed by the Ohio office of the FmHA during the period August 1968 to January 1977 are used to derive cost equations for 26 components of rural water distribution systems. These components represent 92 percent of the capital cost of the pipeline distribution systems studied. The data can be used to economically design rural water supply systems from a capital cost viewpoint. More data are needed on operation and maintenance costs as well as central and cluster well costs before totally economic system designs can be undertaken.     

THE CIRCUIT RIDING ORDINANCE ADMINISTRATOR: A SOLUTION TO SMALL COMMUNITY TECHNICAL INADEQUACIES1

ABSTRACT: Small, rural communities (less than 2500 population) in general do not have governmental staffs with the breadth required to satisfactorily implement and enforce a drainage ordinance. This fact has serious implications in rural Planning. Within a six-country rural area of Southwest Virginia, the circuit riding town manager program has been successfully conducted. The circuit riding town manager is a planning staff member who acts in the capacity of a town manager (assistant to the mayor) for five small towns, any one of which alone could not afford to support the services of such a professional. This note recommends that a circuit riding technical ordiance administrator program could be developed along the same lines. In this manner, the technical ordinance program for serveral small communities could be successfully implemented.     

酒泉地区城镇体系可持续发展构想

酒泉地区城镇类型较多，城镇体系中的许多关系需要统筹协调，本文侧重从城镇的规模和空间关系分析，城乡一体化和区一发展，基础产业和环境建设等三个角度，探讨了区域城市可持续发展问题。     

Planning,governance and rural futures in Australia and the USA: revisiting the case for rural regional planning

Rural regions in post-industrial countries confront significant new challenges, particularly in relation to climate, biodiversity, unconventional resource development and energy. Yet at a time when the contours of these challenges are still being sketched, and preliminary, planned interventions undertaken, the practice of rural planning finds itself at a low ebb. We examine two ‘critical cases’, one each from Australia and the USA, to explore the issues and options for capacity of rural regional planning to surmount these new challenges. Our examination indicates the urgent need for a renewed discourse on rural regional planning.     

The role of rural communities in the transition to a low-carbon Scotland: a review

The Scottish Government is committed to carbon reduction targets which are the most ambitious across the devolved administrations of the UK. Whilst Scotland operates within broader international and UK policy contexts, it has developed particular programmes and approaches to engage communities in the transition towards low-carbon futures. Rural areas have a role in the transition to a low-carbon Scotland; however, beyond land use and agriculture contributions, little research has explored the “rural” dimension of “low-carbon” transitions. The paper presents a policy and literature review relating to the low-carbon agenda in Scotland. It reflects on Scottish low-carbon policy and governance, the positioning of “rural communities” within this, and the opportunities and challenges this might present. Based on this, we develop an understanding of how rural communities may contribute to a low-carbon Scotland and identify a future research agenda to explore in more detail the nature and relative effectiveness of diverse governance structures to support this.     

农村生态环境中生活污水治理问题剖析研究--以重庆市江津区为例

对江津区2009年－2013年农村生活污水处理设施调查分析结果表明,目前江津区农村建设的生活污水处理设施采用的技术主要有生物技术、生态技术和生物生态组合技术三种类型。结合江津区农村的特点,分析了农村生活污水处理设施建设及运管方面存在的问题,并提出解决措施与建议。农村生活污水处理设施建设和运管费等是一项长期的投入,特别是在后期的运行过程中应加强管理,建立有效的运营管理机制,保证正常运行,才能达到预期的处理效果,有效改善农村生活环境。