The purpose of this research is to identify key components of community wildfire risk reduction programs and potential influences on the adoption of these program elements. Community wildfire programs have been developed to educate and encourage property owners to adopt vegetation management practices such as creating defensible space around structures, landscaping with fire-resistant plants, and removing potential wildfire fuels such as trees and shrubs. The analyses are based on a survey conducted by investigators from Louisiana State University in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service. This survey was distributed to wildfire mitigation program managers listed on the National Wildfire Programs Database website. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted on the data returned from this sixty-nine-item survey. A range of socioeconomic variables was gathered from the 2000 Census Bureau and was used along with a fire history variable created from data extracted from the survey to examine the extent to which the variables are associated with program development. Five factors were identified from the PCA as being indicators of key components of risk-reduction programs. Local programs with these elements are assumed to have a greater capacity for effectively reducing or mitigating wildfire risks to communities within the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The factors are more local regulations and codes, larger numbers of public education, vegetation disposal, risk assessment activities and fewer reported problems with program funding. These factors were regressed with demographic variables selected for each survey respondents geographic area. Several different demographic variables were found to be significantly associated with the selected factors. These are population density, property value, wealth, percent of homeownership, percent of population with a college degree, and population change. Formulation and implementation of these desirable program components were found to be associated with slower growing, less densely populated communities, and those with wealthier and better educated residents.

Kuwait and the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have experienced rapid growth in population coupled with a rise in the standards of living and acceleration in social, agricultural, and industrial growths, which greatly increased the demand for water supplies. Due to the scarcity of water resources in the region, non-conventional water supplies such as seawater desalination are and have been the main water resource. Kuwait has so far been able to meet demand by using its access to both the sea and abundant oil needed in the desalination plants. The quantity of water consumed per capita in Kuwait is higher than in countries with abundant water resources. There are several reasons for such demand, but one of the main reasons is the fact that the price of water is heavily subsidized in Kuwait; consumers currently pay $0.60 USD/m3, while the cost of desalinated water production is currently is above $5 USD/m3 (based on 2007 oil prices). The main objective of this study is to evaluate the water price as a cost effective tool to reduce water over consumption by identifying the economic and the environmental benefits of water conservation using water models in the literature. Two scenarios were evaluated based on a 5-year (2008-2012) water plant using economic indicators (cost of fuels, cost of water projects), and environmental indicators (water production, CO2, NO2, and SO2 emissions). Scenario A was the current price schedule used in Kuwait (uniform rate of $0.6 USD/m3). Scenario B was the price proposal by Milutinovic ($1 USD/m3 price of water, after 150L/capita/ day allowance). A cost-effectiveness analysis was then used to determine the overall effectiveness of each scenario using the above indicators. The results of this study suggest that adopting scenario B will cut the water demand by 113.3 billion imperial gallons in 5 years. Thus, adopting scenario B would postpone the need for new water projects to the year 2020. Under scenario A, water demand would outstrip water production capacity by the year 2012. Implementing the new price schedule (Scenario B) starting in year 2008 will reduce energy consumption for water desalination by around 16.2%. This is equivalent to 4.32 million barrels of Crude Oil, 172 thousand barrels of Gas Oil, 10.12 million barrels of heavy fuel oil (HFO), and 21,421 million SCF of Natural gas. This translates into net fuel savings of 1.5 billion USDs and 16.2% emissions reduction in 5 years. Liquid fuel analysis suggests that HFO and crude oil emit 397 and 360 kg CO2/bbl, respectively. Also, HFO emits two times more NO2 and SO2 than crude oil. Emission factors were also calculated per unit of water produced, 12.81 kg/m3 of CO2, .044 kg/m3 of NO2, and .253 kg/m3 of SO2.

Dam building is one of the methods that modern civilization uses in an attempt to harness the power of nature. These dams and the impoundments associated with them can contribute numerous positive impacts to the surrounding human population. Unfortunately, there are negative impacts as well. This research focuses on one impoundment in particular, H. Neely Henry Lake in northeast Alabama (an impoundment of the Coosa River). Site-specific information regarding the H. Neely Henry development is explored including area geography, history, and the formation of the Alabama Power Company the agency responsible for H. Neely Henry and other Coosa River dams. The benefits of H. Neely Henry dam are then evaluated. These include the availability of hydroelectric power, reduced flooding, and abundant recreational opportunities. There was a significant impact on the human population associated with the region. Among other things, vast land loss occurred regarding the raising of the water level. Analysis was then conducted regarding the impoundments effects upon the local population and economy. It is difficult to determine any impact the formation of H. Neely Henry Lake had on local population and economy. Some positive environmental impacts of the impoundment include decreased flooding and increased habitat/food supply for some fish species. Some negative impacts include shoreline erosion, retention of upstream pollutants like PCBs, and decline of organisms requiring a free-flowing river to survive (particularly migratory fish). A section analyzing related research is included which discusses the Tennessee-Tombigbee (Tenn-Tom) Waterway. The Tenn-Tom is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment system located in the same watershed. Also discussed in this section is the fight over water resources in the Coosa River between the states of Alabama and Georgia. The overall results of the thesis are discussed including an evaluation of the NEPA process as it could relate to the Coosa River projects and the H. Neely Henry development specifically. Conclusions and recommendations follow. Among other things, it is suggested that Coosa River projects may have had a difficult time gaining acceptance if they had been subject to modern environmental statutes such as the Clean Water Act and NEPA.

Gas chromatography (GC) is a widely used analytical technique, with applications in the chemical process industry, oil exploration, environmental monitoring, purification of substances, and general organic compound analysis. Although traditional GCs are widely used they have their own disadvantages like high power consumption and long times for analysis. Several laboratories are working on the miniaturization of GCs for rapid and onsite chemical analysis. Many researchers are currently working on the development of microfabricated columns for realizing a hand held GC sensor. Microfabricated nickel columns have been manufactured by Center for Advanced Microstructures & devices (CAMD), Baton Rouge. The columns are attractive due to their small size, low thermal mass and high thermal conductivity allowing for rapid temperature programming with relatively low power consumption and parallel manufacturing which results in low manufacturing costs, and robustness when compared to silicon columns. Using the LiGA process nickel columns with width dimensions of 50 microns, height dimensions of 500 microns and 1 meter of channel length are microfabricated with integrated on chip injection and detection connections. Connecting these column chips to the HP 5890 GC test bed is described. A commercial fused silica capillary column of 1 meter length, 100 microns i.d was tested to check the instrument set up and for providing background performance data. The microfabricated nickel column chips were tested with the same conditions after the PMMA (Poly methyl methacrylate) removed, after deactivation, and after coating. The test mixtures were methane, hexane and mixture of hexane and decane. Different methods of deactivation and coating these metal columns have been described. Columns were coated with dimethyl polysiloxane stationary phase (OV-1). Separation of methane and hexane was performed in less than 4 seconds. The preliminary experimental results on these coated high aspect ratio metal gas chromatography columns displayed promising results and future research is mainly focused on coating methods to achieve more uniform coatings without any pooling of the solution in the columns corners and for separation of different chemical compounds.

Deltaic marshes of the Mississippi River in Louisiana disappeared at a rate of 88 km2 annually from 1956 to 2000 (Barras et al. 2003) as marshes become inundated by sea water. Marsh surface elevation varies spatially and temporally due to fluvial sediment deposition, resuspension, erosion, compaction, sea level rise, and organic matter accumulation and decomposition. If net accretion from sediment deposition and/or peat production is insufficient, marshes respond to sea level rise by migrating landward. Since human development prevents landward migration of marsh in Breton Sound Basin, Louisiana, marsh sustainability can only be achieved if vertical accretion keeps pace with a relative sea level rise of 10 mm/yr so that marsh surface elevation is maintained within the tidal range. Measurement time scale and changing influences on marsh sediment were considered in an assessment of the long-term sustainability of Breton Sound marsh based on comparison of the rate of relative sea level rise to measured accretion rates. Six cores (~4 m long each) were collected in Breton Sound and a combination of three radioisotopes, as well as stratigraphic analysis were used to measure accretion rates and identify evidence of historical river effects and storms. Net accretion rates over recent short-term (decadal) and long-term (centennial/millennial) time scales were measured using 210Pb, 137Cs, and 14C dating. Long-term mean accretion based on 14C dating was highly variable (3.5 mm/yr, σ=4.5). Three 210Pb rates were recovered, averaging 4.3 mm/yr (σ=1.9). Accretion rates measured using 137Cs averaged 7.7 mm/yr (σ=2.3). Rates of sediment accretion are ultimately insufficient to offset relative sea level rise, especially after allowing for sediment volume reduction encountered over the long term. The combined effects of reduced fluvial input, rising sea level, and prevention of landward marsh migration create an environment that is inherently unstable.

Oil/Gas extraction have left Louisiana with a legacy of abandoned infrastructure across the State. Presently, the State has developed guidelines for the removal of abandoned vessels and abandoned on shore facilities. No such guidelines exist, however, for the network of abandoned pipelines present throughout the coastal zone of Louisiana. A pipeline removal was simulated in Lake Calcasieu, LA. The site was chosen because of the presence of many abandoned pipelines and previous work done on sight to remove the on shore infrastructure. In addition, the Calcasieu is an industrial water body, with potentially hazardous pollutants sequestered in the sediments of the lake bottom. Several industrial facilities discharge effluents into the water body, and a superfund site exists as a result. The sediment plume created during the perturbation event was monitored with triploid and diploid oysters to assess the toxicological consequences of the sediment plume. Oyster tissue was analyzed for alkanes, Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons, hexachlorabutadiene, trace metals and organo metals. No difference was seen among concentrations of analytes between diploid and triploid oysters. In addition, the condition index of diploid oysters matched those of the triploid oysters, suggest spawning did not occur during the field study. Test Cage 3 oysters were most affected by the perturbation event and displayed significant (p < .05) increases in total hydrocarbon concentration and in 13 of 16 metals tested. These increases corresponding with significant (p < .05) drop in the condition of Test cage 3 oysters 3 days following perturbation, from 6.6 to 4.8. No other Test Cage oysters displayed a clear response in body concentrations to the perturbation event. As such, the northern and southern range of the sediment plume can be demonstrated though analysis of the oyster tissue. Such data would be of critical importance in determining any deleterious affects to the aquatic ecosystem attributable to the sediment plume as a result of pipeline removal.

As coastal areas increase in populations there is an increasing need to determine what community characteristics are most resilient to coastal disasters. This research proposes two methods to quantify community resilience. The factor analysis method results in a weighted additive index model of six variables to derive community resilience. The index places every community in the Gulf of Mexico on a scale from 0-1. The most resilient counties in the Gulf of Mexico region were found to be Hillsborough, FL, Pinellas, FL, Sarasota, FL, Hernando, FL, Okaloosa, FL, Kenedy, TX, and Jefferson, LA with a resilience score of 1. The least resilient counties in the Gulf of Mexico were found to be Cameron, TX and Willacy, TX with a resilience score of below 0.40. The six key variables used to create the resilience index were expenditures for education, median income, percent of the workforce that is female, mean elevation of the parish, percent of the population below 5 years old, and percent of the population that voted in the 2000 presidential election. The second method is a discriminant analysis method. In this method an a priori grouping based on the number of coastal hazards, property damage, and population change for each county was derived. Twenty-four social, economic, and environmental variables were input into the discriminant analysis to determine if they can be used to explain and define resilience. The discriminant analysis results in a classification accuracy of 94.2%. Counties found to be in the most resilient group were Hancock, MS, Collier, FL, Baldwin, AL, Escambia, FL, Walton, FL, Lee, FL, Charlotte, FL, Manatee, FL, Santa Rosa, FL, Okaloosa, FL. Counties found to be in the least resilient group were Kleberg, TX, Calhoun, TX, San Patricio, TX, Jefferson, TX, Nueces, TX, Kenedy, TX, and Willacy, TX. This study represents a preliminary attempt in quantifying community resilience. It outlines the methods that can be used to define resilience and offers a general guideline about the variables that might contribute to a communities ability to recover from a coastal disaster. Further refinements with the variables are necessary in future studies.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina and subsequent levee failures produced widespread flooding in New Orleans, Louisiana and forced the evacuation of most of the local population. This event allowed for the study of the communitys resilience, or the ability of a system to absorb changes or perturbations and still function. Statistical analysis and case studies were used to study resilience and answer the following questions. Can natural community recovery models be used when evaluating the population recovery of a human community following a disturbance? Given that there are variations in population recovery patterns, what factors account for this difference in recovery? The recovery patterns of zip codes in Orleans Parish were able to be classified by those patterns demonstrated by tree communities following a hurricane, indicating that natural system models may be relevant to social communities. Census tracts of Orleans Parish were compared through discriminant analysis and it was delineated that higher flood depth, high percentage of black population, and low population with a bachelors degree have the greatest significant impact on population recovery. It was also indicated that flood depth was the most important factor affecting return to the area. Knowledge gained through this study is applied to methods that can improve the resiliency of New Orleans and other communities that face the threat of a disturbance. Through this analysis suggests that maintenance of the physical infrastructure and the natural ecosystem are essential to the resilience of New Orleans communities.

Indonesia is the worlds largest archipelagic country comprised of over 17, 000 islands with more than 300 ethnic groups and more than 250 different ethnic languages spoken. Due to its land mass size and multifaceted culture, land policy in this country has been ineffective and inadequate in addressing some of the land affairs. One of the indicators of effective land policy is land tenure security, where land dispute incidence is a function of it. Given that the government has very minimal guarantee for land tenure security in this nation, land disputes are inevitable and very common. By the end of 2008, there are roughly 7, 491 land dispute cases flooding the nation. This study is an exploratory undertaking that investigates the circumstances that have influenced the transformation of land policy and its implementation in Indonesia. Using Kingdons Multiple Stream Model as its main conceptual model, this research identified the primary factors that have influenced the effectiveness of land policy, defined in terms of land disputes. The study examined the above factors on the example of Tangerang Municipality, a large municipality that is home of hundreds of industrial and manufacturing complexes. The results of the study indicated that the countrys land policy implementation and land disputes in particular have been influenced primarily by inefficient land title registration, increased state corruption, lack of due process, and unclear decentralization program.

Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus are halophilic gram-negative bacteria that are found in warm coastal waters. These two species are the leading cause of fatal shellfish poisoning. The objective of this study was to determine the population dynamics of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus as impacted by temperature and salinity in Breton Sound and Barataria Bay of Louisiana. Water samples were collected from each water body along s salinity gradient transect monthly from September 2007 through July 2009. Furthermore, from March 2008 through July 2009 sediment and live oyster samples were collected exclusively from the Breton Sound. The population of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus was measured using the most probable number (MPN) method and plating method. The abundance of putative V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound waters was seasonally dominated by water temperature, but spatially controlled by salinity level. The plate counts indicated that V. vulnificus appeared less abundant in the Gulf waters during colder months than V. parahaemolyticus. Based on the laboratory testing, V. parahaemolyticus appeared to grow better overall at higher salinity levels. The average annual population of putative V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus over all the sampling sites in Breton Sound was slightly higher than that in Barataria Bay. Like that in the waters of Breton Sound, the population of putative V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in Breton Sound sediments also followed a trend. This research has shown a clear picture of the dynamics of putative V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus populations in Breton Sound Estuary and Barataria Bay. However, further work is needed to (1) continue the PCR confirmation of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus, and (2) carry out statistical analysis for the relationships between environmental parameters and V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus populations. The work would eventually lead to the establishment of a statistical relationship between the Vibrio concentrations and environmental parameters, in particular salinity and temperature, under a range of tidal, wind, and freshwater input conditions, which could be used to quantify the temporal and spatial variations of the Vibrio distributions in response to the environmental parameters.