Conversion of a Missouri River Dam and Reservoir to a Sustainable System: Sediment Management1

Abstract: A present and future challenge for water resources engineers is to extend the useful life of our dams and reservoirs. Ongoing reservoir sedimentation in impoundments must be addressed; sedimentation in many reservoirs already limits project benefits and effective project life. Sustainability requires that incoming sediment be moved downstream past the impounding dam. We use Lewis and Clark Lake, the most downstream of the six Missouri River main stem reservoirs, to demonstrate how a reservoir in advanced stages of its project life could be converted to a sustainable system with local benefits exceeding costs by a factor of 1.5. Full consideration of benefits would further enhance project justification. The proposed strategy involves four phases that will take about 50 years to complete. Cost estimates for this potential project range from the quantitative to the plausible, but it is clear that the results justify a full engineering, environmental, and economic study of this model project. If implemented, the project will create scientific knowledge and develop technologies useful for achieving sustainability at many other reservoirs in the Mississippi River basin and beyond.     

高危企业社会保险投资与员工忠诚度的博弈分析

运用经济博弈论方法,研究高危企业社会保险投资与员工忠诚度问题,建立博弈模型,得出混合策略纳什均衡解,并对影响企业社会保险投资概率和员工忠诚度大小的因素进行分析,得出以下结论:企业对于员工社会保险投资力度越大,或对于不忠诚员工的惩罚力度越大,或对于忠诚员工的奖励越高,越有助于员工忠诚企业。同时指出:企业对员工采取"一刀切"的做法,会挫伤忠诚员工爱企强企的积极性;启发企业实行公平分配机制,来提高员工忠诚度和企业效益,要从积极的态度出发,以人为本,加大保险投资力度,为员工提供安全和生活保障;只有使双方的"非合作博弈"逐步过渡到"合作博弈",才能调动和爱护员工的爱岗敬业积极性。     

自动监测站第三方运维管理的思考

随着自动监测技术的不断发展,其连续、稳定的监测优势正在逐步代替手工监测,各地监测部门投入了大量的资源和精力建成了大量的空气、水质自动站,在灰霾监测、河道水质监管、大环境预警方面等都起到了积极作用。由于自动站数量多,工作任务复杂繁重,因此大部分地区都采用第三方托管模式进行自动站日常运维管理。如何有效的进行权责分配、提高工作效率、减少管理摩擦等成为业主方不可回避和亟待解决的问题。根据实际管理实践,结合一些实用的管理经验,提出了一系列相关措施。     

环境监测任务可信度评估在第三方检测机构管理中的作用浅析

环境监测任务可信度评估是对整个监测任务实施的全过程进行跟踪考核并给出考核结果值的一种质量管理模式,可以在资质管理、任务招标、价格评分、合同付款等方面对第三方检测机构的管理提供量化依据。用好可信度评估可以在加强行业监管的同时,规范行业竞争。     

Climate policy support under political consensus: exploring the varying effect of partisanship and party cues

By creating attitudinal rifts among partisan voters, political polarization is expected to negatively affect chances of effectively mitigating climate change. While such expectations generally have found support, less attention has been paid to the opposite claim that political consensus should eliminate the partisan dimension in climate change politics. This study tests this claim by studying how party identification, and party cues specifically, affects public policy attitudes in a context defined by political consensus. Using data from a large online access panel in Sweden, party identification and party cues are shown to matter for policy attitudes even in a consensus context. This effect is not limited to certain issues but is found across a wide range of policies, and the effect of party cues, for a given issue, varies across parties. The implications of this study and areas for future work are discussed.     

Preliminary studies on potential remediation of acid mine drainage‐impacted soils by amendment with drinking‐water treatment residuals

Mining operations result in a wide range of environmental impacts: acid mine drainage (AMD) and acid sulfate soils being among the most common. Due to their acidic pH and high soluble metal concentrations, both AMD and acid sulfate soils can severely damage the local ecosystems. Proper post‐mining management practices are necessary to control AMD‐related environmental issues. Current AMD‐impacted soil treatment technologies are rather expensive and typically not environmentally sustainable. We conducted a 60‐day bench‐scale study to evaluate the potential of a cost‐effective and environment‐friendly technology in treating AMD‐impacted soils. The metal binding and acid‐neutralizing capacity of an industrial by‐product, drinking water treatment residuals (WTRs) were used for AMD remediation. Two types of locally generated WTRs, an aluminum‐based WTR (Al‐WTR) and a lime‐based WTR (Ca‐WTR) were used. Highly acidic AMD‐impacted soil containing very high concentrations of metals and metalloids, such as iron, nickel, and arsenic, was collected from the Tab‐Simco coal mine in Carbondale, Illinois. Soil amendment using a 1:1 Al‐ and Ca‐WTR mix, applied at 5 and 10 percent rates significantly lowered the soluble and exchangeable fractions of metals in the AMD‐impacted soil, thus lowering potential metal toxicity. Soil pH increased from an extremely acidic 2.69 to a near‐neutral 6.86 standard units over the 60‐day study period. Results from this preliminary study suggest the possibility of a successful scale‐up of this innovative, cost‐effective, and environmentally sustainable technology for remediating AMD‐impacted acid sulfate soils.     

The humanitarian common logistic operating picture: a solution to the inter‐agency coordination challenge

Although significant progress has been made in developing the practice of humanitarian logistics, further improvements in efficiency and effectiveness have the potential to save lives and reduce suffering. This paper explores how the military/emergency services’ concept of a common operating picture (COP) can be adapted to the humanitarian logistics context, and analyses a practical and proven approach to addressing the key challenge of inter‐agency coordination and decision‐making. Successful adaptation could provide the mechanism through which predicted and actual demands, together with the location and status of material in transit, are captured, evaluated, and presented in real time as the basis for enhanced decision‐making between actors in the humanitarian supply network. Through the introduction of a humanitarian logistics COP and its linkages to national disaster management systems, local communities and countries affected by disasters and emergencies will be better placed to oversee and manage their response activities.     

Understanding local community attitudes toward industrial development in the Great Barrier Reef region World Heritage Area: are environmental impacts perceived to overshadow economic benefits?

Conflicts between industrial development and environmental conservation can be particularly acute when such development occurs in the vicinity of World Heritage sites. A key example is the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in northeastern Australia, where a 2012 review by the World Heritage Council found that rapid port development inshore of the coral reef posed significant risks to local marine ecosystems. Such instances pose pressing challenges for decision‐makers seeking to manage World Heritage sites for multiple values and needs, including those of key stakeholder groups, such as local communities. There is increasingly a societal expectation that public decision‐making takes into account local views and priorities, and that companies seek a ‘social license to operate’. This research explored local community attitudes toward port development associated with the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal through the GBRWHA. Using data drawn from a survey and interviews, the research examined how a range of geographical factors, including proximity to gas infrastructure and the perceived impacts and risks of development to the local community, economy and environment shape community perceptions of the industry. Findings suggest that local attitudes toward gas and coal terminal development inshore of the GBRWHA are shaped predominantly by community perceptions of environmental impacts and risks associated with such infrastructure, in contrast to a broader public narrative that focuses largely on economic benefits. A complex combination of other factors, including social impacts, personal environmental values, community trust in industry, and equity in decision‐making and distribution of the risks and benefits of industrial development also contribute. Placed in a broader, global context, the findings have important implications for public decision‐making processes in Australia and elsewhere as they suggest that, for local communities, the perceived impacts of gas development on the environment may overshadow the benefits of industry.     

Investigating the key indicators for evaluating post‐disaster shelter

This study sought to identify the primary indicators for evaluating shelter assistance following natural disasters and then to develop a shelter evaluation instrument based on these indicators. Electronic databases and the ‘grey’ literature were scoured for publications with a relation to post‐disaster shelter assistance. Indicators for evaluating such assistance were extracted from these publications. In total, 1,525 indicators were extracted from 181 publications. A preliminary evaluation instrument was designed from these 1,525 indicators. Shelter experts checked the instrument for face and content validity, and it was revised subsequently based on their input. The revised instrument comprises a version for use by shelter agencies (48 questions that assess 23 indicators) and a version for use by beneficiaries (52 questions that assess 22 indicators). The instrument can serve as a standardised tool to enable groups to gauge whether or not the shelter assistance that they supply meets the needs of disaster‐affected populations.