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There is now a fairly substantial literature that addresses transboundary water allocation both at the international and interstate level. However, most of this literature deals almost exclusively with the question of allocation and ignores quality considerations. At the same time, there is a growing literature on transboundary pollution control and upstream/downstream externalities. What is missing is an attempt to integrate quality consideration into allocation agreements. This paper examines several allocation agreements and disputes in the southwestern United States and Mexico and looks at the ramifications of omitting pollution control and quality considerations in these negotiations. Published in Agricultural...
Floodplains are presumed to be important rearing habitat for the endangered razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus). To help recover this endemic Colorado River Basin species, the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program implemented a floodplain acquisition and enhancement program. Levee removal was initiated in 1996 as one component of this floodplain restoration program. The goal of the Levee Removal Study was to evaluate the system responses to levee removal and make specific recommendations concerning the value of floodplain/river reconnecting for endangered species (specifically razorback sucker) recovery.
1. Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the relative influence of water quality and substratum quality on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Animas River, a metal-polluted stream in south-western Colorado (U.S.A.). 2. A community-level in situ toxicity test measured direct effects of Animas River water on benthic invertebrates collected from a reference stream (Elk Creek). The effects of metal-contaminated biofilm were examined by comparing macroinvertebrate colonisation of clean and contaminated substrata placed in Elk Creek. A feeding experiment with the mayfly Baetis tricaudatus Dodds (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) examined metal bioaccumulation and effects of metal-contaminated biofilm...
This paper evaluates the economic and environmental impacts of three alternative landscape scenarios created by a team of landscape architects, following input from an interdisciplinary team of researchers. In the first scenario, the main objective was to increase production and profitability of commercial agriculture with environmental objectives given secondary weight. In the second scenario, water quality improvements were the main objective with secondary objectives being financial health of the agricultural sector and maintenance and restoration of biodiversity. In the third scenario, maintenance and restoration of native biodiversity was the main objective with secondary weight given to the financial health...
Nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of the U.S.’s water quality problems. One important component of nonpoint source pollution control is an understanding of what and how watershed-scale conditions influence ambient water quality. This paper investigated the use of spatial regression to evaluate the impacts of watershed characteristics on stream NO3NO2-N concentration in the Cedar River Watershed, Iowa. An Arc Hydro geodatabase was constructed to organize various datasets on the watershed. Spatial regression models were developed to evaluate the impacts of watershed characteristics on stream NO3NO2-N concentration and predict NO3NO2-N concentration at unmonitored locations. Unlike the traditional ordinary...
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Synopsis: This article outlines how wetlands can significantly reduce flooding in the Upper Mississippi watershed. The authors first provide a historical context by estimating the original and lost wetland storage capacities of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri River Basins. Historically, about 10% of the basin would have been classified as wetland in 1780. By 1980, wetland acreage had been reduced to only 4% of the basin, representing about 26 million acres of wetlands eliminated since 1780. The area of wetland restoration required to reduce the risk of future flooding adequately was estimated based on the total amount of excess floodwater beyond bank-full discharge that passed through the City of St. Louis during...
Conclusions:Wetland extent, proximity of wetlands to the sampling station, and the position of a wetland in a watershed (downstream wetlands have greater influence on water quality) influence water quality.Thresholds/Learnings:
Conclusions:Variability in buffer width across a landscape has important effects on landscape discharge. A variable- width buffer retains less material than a uniform-width buffer of equivalent average width.Thresholds/Learnings:
Conclusions:Study found statistically significant relationships among source water quality, percent land cover, and drinking water treatment cost. Increased percent agriculture and urban cover were significantly related to decreased water quality, while decreased forest land cover was significantly related to decreased water quality. High percent land cover by non-forest vegetation was significantly related to low treatment cost.Thresholds/Learnings:
Conclusions:Report synthesizes scientific, planning, and policy-related aspects on the importance of land conservation in areas producing water for potable uses, including watersheds and aquifers. One critical finding indicated that if there is more forest cover in a watershed, water treatment costs are lower.Thresholds/Learnings:For every 10% increase in forest cover in the source area, treatment and chemical costs decreased by about 20%, up to about 60% forest cover. Treatment costs level off when forest cover is between 70-100%.
The influence of the proximity of urbanization and agriculture to stream water quality is often difficult to quantify. The objectives of this study were to (1) compare the influence of far-field land-use, encompassing a watershed drainage area, to a near-field, 200-m buffer on each side of the stream in an attempt to determine on which zone of influence land-use has the largest impact on water quality, and (2) incorporate the EPA's Rapid Habitat Assessment Protocol (Barbour et al., 1999) to characterize the riparian and channel characteristics of a stream that influence water quality, which can improve New York State's monitoring protocols. Impacts were assessed through biological, chemical, and physical-habitat...
An accurate and management sensitive simulation model for tile-drained Midwestern soils is needed to optimize the use of agricultural management practices (e.g., winter cover crops) to reduce nitrate leaching without adversely affecting corn yield. Our objectives were to enhance the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) for tile drainage, test the modified model for several management scenarios, and then predict nitrate leaching with and without winter wheat cover crop. Twelve years of data (1990–2001) from northeast Iowa were used for model testing. Management scenarios included continuous corn and corn–soybean rotations with single or split N applications. For 38 of 44 observations, yearly drain flow...
This study uses an integrative approach to study the water-quality impacts of future global climate and land-use changes. In this study, changing land-use types was used as a mitigation strategy to reduce the adverse impacts of global climate change on water resources. The climate scenarios were based on projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Kingdom Hadley Centre's climate model (HadCM2). The Thornthwaite water-balance model was coupled with a land-use model (L-THIA) to investigate the hydrologic effects of future climate and land-use changes in the Ohio River Basin. The land-use model is based on the Soil Conservation Service's curve-number method. It uses the curve...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: ASFA 3: Aquatic Pollution & Environmental Quality, Climatic changes, Data Visualization & Tools, Environment management, Freshwater, All tags...
The upper Colorado River system is the habitat of several endangered fish: Kendall Warm Springs dace, Colorado squawfish, humpback chub, and bonytail chub. The single most important factor contributing to the decline of these species has been the construction and operation of dams and reservoirs, which have effected flow, temperature, chemistry, biota, and migration routes. Water depletion amounting to about 25% of the total has also had similar effects, particularly by eliminating the backwater nursery areas. A predicted decrease in agricultural use and increase in energy development use would decrease the amount of used irrigation water percolating back into the groundwater and streams. In addition, water allocated...
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Freshwater fish are among the most vulnerable taxa to climate change globally but are generally understudied in tropical island ecosystems. Climate change is predicted to alter the intensity, frequency, and variability of extreme flow events on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. These changes may impact Caribbean native and non-native stream ecosystems and biota complex ways. We compiled an extensive dataset of native and non-native fish assemblages collected at 119 sites across Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2015. We coupled these data with stream flow indices and dam height to understand how flow dynamics drive fish assemblage structure. Sixteen percent of sites contained exclusively non-native species, 34% contained...
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The Lesser Prairie Chicken Focal Area represents an area of interest pertaining to the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP).Working Lands for Wildlife is a partnership between NRCS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to use agency technical expertise and financial assistance from the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program to combat the decline of seven specific wildlife species whose decline can be reversed and will benefit other species with similar habitat needs. The WLFW project will target species whose decline can be reversed and will benefit other...
map background search result map search result map Flood reduction through wetand restoration: the Upper Mississippi River Basin as a case history. Lesser Prairie Chicken Focal Area (WLFW) Illinois - Grassland Focus Areas (INAI Sites) UMRGLR JV - Wetland Breeding Bird Habitat Priorities Minnesota - Presettlement Vegetation Ohio - Original Vegetation The Effects of Flow Extremes on Native and Non-Native Stream Fishes in Puerto Rico The Effects of Flow Extremes on Native and Non-Native Stream Fishes in Puerto Rico Ohio - Original Vegetation Illinois - Grassland Focus Areas (INAI Sites) Minnesota - Presettlement Vegetation Lesser Prairie Chicken Focal Area (WLFW) Flood reduction through wetand restoration: the Upper Mississippi River Basin as a case history. UMRGLR JV - Wetland Breeding Bird Habitat Priorities