COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL IN THE FIELD OF WATER RESOURCES1

The ages-old and ever-growing need for communication and information retrieval among scientists has found expression in the development of indexes, abstracts, reviews and combinations or variations of such. A short review of such efforts is followed by a discussion of efforts along these lines in the new field of water resources science and technology. Such undertakings as the Information Retrieval System of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the U.S. Water Resources Research Office are compared with that of the American Water Resources Association.     

The role of agency goals and local context in Great Lakes water resources public involvement programs

As complex social phenomena, public involvement processes are influenced by contextual factors. This study examined agency goals for public involvement and assessed the importance of local context in remedial action planning, a community-based water resources program aimed at the cleanup of the 42 most polluted locations in the Great Lakes Basin. Agency goals for public involvement in remedial action plans (RAPs) were agency-oriented and focused on public acceptance of the plan, support for implementation, and positive agency-public relations. Corresponding to these goals, citizen advisory committees were created in 75% of the RAP sites as a primary means for public input into the planning process. Factors that influenced the implementation of public involvement programs in remedial action planning included public orientation toward the remediation issue, local economic conditions, the interaction of diverse interests in the process, agency and process credibility, experience of local leadership, and jurisdictional complexity. A formative assessment of “community readiness” appeared critical to appropriate public involvement program design. Careful program design may also include citizen education and training components, thoughtful management of ongoing agency-public relations and conflict among disparate interests in the process, overcoming logistical difficulties that threaten program continuity, using local expertise and communication channels, and circumventing interjurisdictional complexities.     

Seeing the environment through islamic eyes: Application ofShariah to natural resources planning and management

A comprehensive paradigm of environmental ethics should encompass two things: (1) a particular way of life, and (2) a path to achieve that ideal. An effective paradigm must also be internally consistent, yet externally workable in the real world. On the whole, the modern environmental movement has failed to provide these essential components and qualities in its associated philosophies, most of which suffer from being too abstract or too utopian.This paper suggests that Islam, as a religion and as a body of knowledge, is capable of providing its followers with a comprehensive and practical system of environmental ethics. The basic principles and guidelines of the faith represent the conceptual ideal, while Islamic institutions and laws provide the operational components of an ethical system.     

贵州南部河谷热带性植物资源及开发利用

贵州南部河谷热带性植物共计464种、2变种。主要构成3种植被类型:大型羽状复叶林、稀树草坡灌丛与肉质多刺灌丛。可分为11类经济用途:药用(139种)、纤维(38种)、野果(21种)、观赏(21种)、鞣料(18种)、饲料(13种)、油脂(13种)、淀粉(12种)、紫胶虫寄主(11种)、芳香(6种)、染料(5种)。资源流失与环境变化,使现存资源的保护与深层次利用成为当前的主要问题。     

DEVELOPING A FIELD COMPONENT IN HYDROLOGIC EDUCATION1

ABSTRACT: Recent assessments have emphasized the lack of a field and laboratory component in hydrologic education at the university level. Consequences of this lack include: (1) an unwarranted faith in published data; (2) lack of appreciation for the spatial and temporal variability of most hydrologic processes; (3) lack of appreciation for the difficulty of collecting good quality field data; (4) an inability to design and execute projects to collect field data; (5) a lack of field experience which can be applied when confronted with different problems or new environments; (6) an inability to evaluate published materials or models against “field reality;” (7) an excessive reliance on, and trust in, theoretical or conceptual models; and (8) reduced potential for lifelong learning through observation and analysis. Field courses need not be costly or difficult, but the instructor must be willing to adapt to the uncertainty and problems associated with field measurements. A recently updated course on watershed measurements at Colorado State University illustrates the type of field courses which can be developed if there is the necessary commitment and flexibility. The lack of a current text can be overcome by assembling selected portions of existing government documents, and a sample bibliography is included.     

EFFECT OF SIMULATED CLIMATE CHANGE ON SNOWMELT RUNOFF MODELING IN SELECTED BASINS1

ABSTRACT: The projected increase in the concentration of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is likely to result in a global temperature increase. This paper reports on the probable effects of a temperature increase and changes in transpiration on basin discharge in two different mountain snowmelt regions of the western United States. The hydrological effects of the climate changes are modeled with a relatively simple conceptual, semi-distributed snowmelt runoff model. Based on the model results, it may be concluded that increased air temperatures will result in a shift of snowmelt runoff to earlier in the snowmelt season. Furthermore, it is shown that it is very important to include the expected change in climate-related basin conditions resulting from the modeled temperature increase in the runoff simulation. The effect of adapting the model parameters to reflect the changed basin conditions resulted in a further shift of streamflow to April and an even more significant decrease of snowmelt runoff in June and July. If the air temperatures increase by approximately 5°C and precipitation and accumulated snow amounts remain about the same, runoff in April and May, averaged for the two basins, is expected to increase by 185 percent and 26 percent, respectively. The runoff in June and July will decrease by about 60 percent each month. Overall, the total seasonal runoff decreases by about 6 percent. If increased CO₂ concentrations further change basin conditions by reducing transpiration by the maximum amounts reported in the literature, then, combined with the 5°C temperature increase, the April, May, June, and July changes would average +230 percent, +40 percent, ?55 percent, and ?45 percent, respectively. The total seasonal runoff change would be +11 percent.     

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT MANPOWER AND EMPLOYER SURVEY1

ABSTRACT: Two surveys were conducted to determine the supply and demand for students trained in watershed management in the United States. The first survey of 23 educational institutions was conducted in 1978. Annual production of about 100 watershed graduates and employment success greater than 85 percent at all degree levels was indicated. The second survey of watershed employment within the U.S. Forest Service (conducted in 1979) indicated one-third of the annual supply of watershed graduates could be employed by the agency; a fact verified by employment data supplied by educational institutions.     

MULTI-CRITERION RANKING OF ALTERNATIVE LONG-RANGE WATER RESOURCE SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT The definition and comparison of alternative water resource systems designed to meet long-range goals (say 60 years) is illustrated by a case study in Hungary. A comprehensive cost-effectiveness approach is adapted to define goals, specifications, criteria, alternatives and their capabilities. Specifications include demands given in probabilistic terms. The comparison of alternative systems is based on 12 criteria, one of which is the balance between total energy consumed and peak energy produced. Important factors involving social elements, such as flood protection and land and forest use, are described both as monetary quantities and as qualitative appreciations. Five alternative systems are defied involving flat land reservoirs, pumped storage reservoirs, interbasin transfer, and conjunctive use of surface and ground water. International cooperation is then used to rank systems and reduce the problem to a tradeoff between only two alternatives.     

AUBURN DAM: A CASE STUDY OF WATER POLICY AND ECONOMICS1

ABSTRACT: This paper provides a critical analysis of the Bureau of Reclamation's Auburn-Folsom South project in California. While this massive $1.5 billion project is temporarily halted for redesign for earthquake hazard, it is timely to examine its justification on economic grounds. The key finding is that several major benefit categories, irrigation and recreation, have been grossly overstated. In addition, the Bureau failed entirely to estimate the cost of use on the free-flowing American River, or a probability-weighted estimate of catastrophic loss. Revised estimates indicate that the project is not economically justified. In addition, the project has unattractive distributive effects. The implications of this case study for current revisions in U.S. water policy are explored. The Auburn study basically provides support for the U.S. Water Resource Council's draft manual of procedures for evaluating federal water resource projects.     

NORMALIZED AGRICULTURAL PRICES AND WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: Short-term fluctuations in agricultural markets necesitate adjustments in market prices for use in water resources planning. Two procudures for this price normalizing are described and evaluated. The linear treand and weighted average normalizing procedures perform reasonably well, except in cases of dramatic price oscillations.