This thesis research employs a multi-pronged analysis approach to contribute to the existing knowledge regarding land use and water quality in southern Miami Dade County. Nutrient concentrations for TP, NOx-N, and NH3-N were evaluated for water quality monitoring stations across seven canals for two time periods: 1990-2003 and 2009-2014. Overall, the sites did not surpass the mandated TP threshold but a number of sites exceeded the NOx-N and NH3-N criteria set by multiple government agencies. Statistical tests demonstrated that the sites had differing distributions, not sharing similar median concentrations. Land use classifications were derived for the area interest for the years 1994 and 2013. Regression models relating land use classifications to nutrient concentrations at various spatial scales provided mixed results. Lastly, a trend analysis for nutrient concentrations at the stations for 1990-2003 and 2009-2014 demonstrated that there were either no trends or a decreasing trend at most sites.

The central Everglades serve as a Wildlife Management Area and as a Water Conservation Area for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. It is also home to over 22 nonnative freshwater fish species and carries restrictive fish consumption guidelines for Mercury. In my study, boat anglers and canal bank anglers were personally interviewed in the field, to research their awareness and perspectives of these potential environmental and health threats. The study found 78% of anglers were aware of the presence of nonnative fish species, but favored native fish species, and that 69% were aware of mercury advisories, but did not eat fewer fish because of them. Demographic characteristics were found to predict awareness, which differed significantly between angler types. Public awareness campaigns of nonnative fish impacts should target high school educated, canal bank anglers while mercury advisories should be directed at canal bank anglers, who typically keep and consume their catch more than boat anglers, to those who live more than 30 miles from the area, and all anglers under the age of 48.

Groundwater has been very important to the economic development of Southern California, and will continue to be a crucial resource in the 21st century. However, Climate Change threatens to disrupt many of the physical and economic processes that control the flow of water in and out of aquifers. One groundwater manager, the Six Basins Watermaster in eastern Los Angeles and western San Bernardino Counties, has developed a long-term planning document called the Strategic Plan that mostly fails to address the implications of Climate Change, especially for local water supplies. This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the Six Basin Watermaster’s Strategic Plan as a case-study of how groundwater managers can improve their planning assumptions to better prepare for Climate Change. It begins with a brief history of how Southern California’s environment influenced the development of the institutions that manage the Six Basins’ groundwater, then provides a physical description of the aquifer itself. The current scientific literature on Climate Change’s expected impacts on California water supplies are summarized, and the implications of these impacts for basin management are highlighted. The Strategic Plan’s projects are evaluated and critiqued in light of these insights, including a need for the Strategic Plan to: explicitly consider Climate Change in its planning assumptions, use decision-making frameworks that account for uncertainty, and prepare for more frequent droughts and floods in the future. Climate Change will have important effects on how Southern California’s groundwater is managed, and the Six Basins Strategic Plan should be revised to better account for these impacts.

O presente trabalho tem como principal objetivo o estudo da percepção de justiça e eqüidade de grupos sociais do Pantanal Mato-Grossense, a respeito de aproveitamentos hídricos, tendo como referencial empírico o implemento da Hidrovia Paraguai-Paraná. As concepções que esses grupos sociais têm de atitudes para um planejamento hídrico justo, assim como, seu grau de informação e de participação social, foram também considerados fundamentais para uma melhor compreensão das percepções de pantaneiros e ribeirinhos. Para tanto, metodologicamente foi proposto um estudo de caso , com aplicação de questionários fechados, realização de entrevistas gravadas e fotodocumentação. Por meio dos resultados apresentados, conclui-se que a percepção do grau de justiça dos entrevistados está intimamente relacionada aos usos da água que, no nível individual e comunitário, apresentam aspectos que mais diretamente intervêm no cotidiano e na qualidade de vida das pessoas. Quanto ao grau de concordância com aspectos fisiológicos inseridos na gestão de recursos hídricos, destaca-se a percepção generalizada da água como um bem comum e de forte valor comunitário, que deve ser preservado, em detrimento de aspectos econômicos. Reconhecem a necessidade de regras de planejamento a longo prazo, assim como, a necessidade de todo um arcabouço legal, porém, existe um clima de pessimismo quanto ao cumprimento das leis, visto que, carregam uma certa desconfiança da imparcialidade da justiça, assim como, a reconhecem como morosa. Conclui-se que as atividades e ações apresentadas e necessárias para o implemento de um hidrovia são consideradas negativas à medida em que os impactos sócio-ambientais são associados como causadores de impactos negativos localizados. Quanto ao grau de informação, pode-se concluir que a falta de mesma é perceptível em todas as áreas, sexos, faixas etárias, tipos de ocupação e níveis de escolaridade - com exceção das mulheres residentes no meio urbano, que se mostram mais informadas. A respeito do nível de participação, apesar de se reconhecerem como co-responsáveis, juntamente com a ação governamental, pela gestão dos recursos hídricos e preservação do Pantanal, mostram aversão em participar do processo decisório e de se inserirem em qualquer forma associativa. Porém, acreditam na possibilidade da participação efetiva do público, deixando em aberto um canal para engajamento futuro. / It is the purpose of this study to acertain the perceptions of the riparians and small cattle ranchers of the marshes of Pantanal Mato-grossense as regards the justice and fairness of water management policies, with special reference to the implementation of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway. The conceptions of these groups about the fairness of water planning procedures, their acceptance of some of the philosophical aspects underlying the water resources management, the degree of their awareness about environmental ramifications and the level of social participation in the decision process, are considered to be of fundamental importance for a better comprehension of the perception of the said groups. To achieve an understanding of the perception of the social groups, a case study was made through the application of a questionnaire, interviews and photo-documentation. The results show that the degree of perception of justice of those interviewed is intimately associated with water use on individual as well as on community levels revealing aspects related to every day life and its quality. With reference to the degree of acceptance of the water management philosophy, it is observed that the riparians perceive water as a public good with great value for the community and that it should be preserved even at the cost of economic interests. They recognise the need for long-term planning and for the required legal framework. However, they show some pessimism as regards the effectiveness of such laws in view of their suspicions about the impartiality of the judicial system and its moroseness. As regards the awareness of riparian inhabitants of the waterway projects, the absence of such information is perceptible in all the areas and among both sexes, their age groups, occupation and education level with the exception of urban women. With respect to social participation, the riparians are averse to their involvement in the water resources decision process or any other kind of association, despite recognizing their responsability to wards the preservation of the Pantanal.

Apesar da grande área ocupada pelo Cerrado no território brasileiro e de sua importância ecológica e hidrológica, ainda é desconhecida a repartição da água das chuvas no gradiente fisionômico da vegetação nesse bioma. No presente estudo quantificamos a interceptação da água das chuvas e a umidade do solo, para estabelecer correlações entre as características estruturais da vegetação, representadas principalmente pela área basal, e os dados hidrológicos. Para tanto, quantificamos a transprecipitação e o escoamento pelo tronco das árvores, em 15 parcelas representativas do gradiente fisionômico entre o cerrado típico e o cerradão, localizados na Estação Ecológica de Assis (EEcA), SP, para obtenção da proporção da precipitação efetiva que atravessa o dossel e chega à superfície do solo, em comparação com a precipitação total, quantificada a céu aberto. Os indivíduos lenhosos em cada parcela com DAP 5 cm foram identificados e medidos. A quantidade de transprecipitação foi tanto maior quanto menos complexa a estrutura da vegetação, sendo também influenciada pelas características da chuva incidente. A proporção da transprecipitação também foi fortemente influenciada pela estrutura da vegetação, porém, não foi detectada influência das características das chuvas. Assim, foi possível concluir que, em ambiente de Cerrado, é a estrutura da vegetação que influencia de forma decisiva a proporção de água que alcançará o solo sob forma difusa. A facilidade em captar a água da chuva e escoá-la pelo tronco variou em função de atributos da árvore, sendo que árvores mais altas e com copa volumosa escoaram maior quantidade, enquanto árvores de crescimento monopodial, tronco ereto e reto e copa compacta têm maior eficiência de captação. O agrupamento das parcelas em diferentes fisionomias resultou em diferenças significativas nas taxas de precipitação efetiva e interceptação, indicando que elas devem ser caracterizadas hidrologicamente como ambientes distintos, onde há gradação na quantidade de água que chega ao solo em função do gradiente de biomassa. A transição da entrada de água ao solo no gradiente do Cerrrado é crescente e contínua, desde as comunidades menos densas (cerrado típico) até as comunidades mais densas (cerradão). A dinâmica e a disponibilidade de água do solo foram mais influenciadas pelas propriedades do solo do que pela cobertura vegetal, quando ambos os fatores são variáveis. Concluímos que, em regiões nas quais a água é um recurso escasso, o manejo visando controlar a biomassa da vegetação é um recurso válido, visto que os resultados apontam para a importância das fisionomias mais abertas do Cerrado para a produção hídrica. / Despite the large area occupied by the Cerrado in Brazil and its ecological and hydrological importance, the rainfall partioning in the physiognomy gradient of the vegetation in this biome is still to be ellucidated. In this study, we quantified rainfall interception and the of soil moisture to establish correlations between vegetation structure, represented by the basal area, and hydrological data. Therefore, we quantified the troughfall and stemflow of trees in 15 plots representing the physiognomic gradient between typical cerradão and cerradão, located at Assis Ecological Station (EEcA), SP, to obtain the net rainfall reaching the ground, compared to the total precipitation quantified at open adjacent area. The woody plants with DBH 5 cm were identified and measured in every plot. Troughfall was lower when the vegetation structure was more complex, and was not influenced by micrometeorological factors. We concluded that, in Cerrado, vegetation structure decisively influences the proportion of rainfall to reaching the soil. The stemflow amount was greater the larger the tree and the tree canopy, while trees with monopodial growing, erect and straight trunk and compact canopy had more capture efficiency. Grouping plots by Cerrado physiognomies resulted in significant differences in both net precipitation and interception, indicating that they must be categorizes as hydrologically distinct environments. There is increasing and continuous transition from the more open communities (cerrado típico) to the forest physiognomies (cerradão) in the proportion of rainfall retained by the canopies. The dynamics and the availability of soil water were more influenced by soil properties than the vegetation cover, when both factors varies. This study points out the importance of low biomassa Cerrado physiognomies for hydric production and we concluded that, when and where water is a scarce resource, controlling vegetation biomass can be recommended to aiming at water production.

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals. To encourage municipalities to adopt higher-standard flood regulations, the State government created higher-standard model flood hazard bylaws and has incentivized their adoption through the State Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund program. The higher standards modeled by the State apply no-fill, no-build, and an assortment of additional standards that exceed the Federal Emergency Management Association’s National Flood Insurance Program’s minimum standards. The State encourages the application of higher standards not only to the federally mapped flood hazard area but also to the State-mapped “river corridor.” Though these regulations are enforced through the local flood hazard permitting process, State floodplain managers are meant to play a substantial advisory role in their regulation. A decade after the first of these flood hazard regulations appeared in Vermont municipalities, little is known about how much encroachment still happens in flood hazard areas and how municipalities have handled permitting projects under these new controls. A better understanding of the local governance of flood hazard regulations can further inform State flood hazard governance. This study of twelve Vermont towns found in those towns a fairly high degree of conformance to local regulations but a mixed record on compliance with the State’s expectations for the permitting process. There was on average a little under one investment per town over a 4.3-year period that was significant enough to, by law, trigger a conditional permit review. Within the study sample, activity in the regulated flood hazard zone conformed to local bylaws at a rate of about 88%. However, only three of the ten projects that triggered conditional review were reviewed at the State level, as is the expectation for new, replacement, or improved structures, and the fact that none of the suspected non-conforming structures received a State-level review (and some missed local review) suggests that receiving full review will increase the rate of individual permit conformance. Interviews with State officials indicated that the State may be more interested in changing the culture of local flood hazard mitigation than in achieving perfect land use conformance. When local actions that promote access to information and the capacity to regulate are compared with a Town’s permitting compliance rate, a slight pattern emerges showing that communities that have flood regulation information available online, town-wide zoning, and a zoning administrator, are more likely to have projects be permitted by the Town and sent to the State for review. Interviews with State-employed flood managers and local floodplain administrators also suggest that additional social factors, such as whether bylaws have community “champions” and who acts as the zoning administrator, may influence the degree of community compliance. Often local authorities rely on their own discretion to regulate activity in the flood hazard area as a way of navigating tensions between regulations and private property rights, representing both a valuable point of flexibility for compliance and a potential sticking point in the State’s effort to facilitate a culture shift. Flood hazard mitigation regulation in Vermont most closely aligns with a cooperative enforcement model, which relies on long-term relationships and credible threat of enforcement (among other factors) in order to work. Because the findings show that breakdowns in the expected relationship between Town and State government clearly occur, one important approach to achieving a cultural shift would appear to be strengthening State-local relationships. This may involve increasing the State staff-to-community ratio, conducting more community visits and trainings, distributing a flood regulations enforcement manual, strengthening the capacity of regional planning agencies, and/or reducing the barriers to preparing permits for State review. Focusing on long-term relationship-building with a number of community members may help prevent the breakdown in communication that can occur as individual floodplain administrators come and go. A second strategy would continue to support the state-wide housing buyout program to mitigate inequitable outcomes and general resentment over property loss. And because the ERAF incentive program does not have any penalties that incentivize enforcement, a third beneficial approach would involve creating stronger incentives for local enforcement and compliance, such as ERAF criteria that mandates local enforcement actions and improved State-level monitoring of compliance. Yet while there may be room for strengthening flood hazard regulation enforcement, Vermont’s innovative regulations and incentives for adoption appear to be translating fairly well into local-level conformance and compliance, and could serve a model for other states.

No description available.

En zonas alto andinas, el suministro de agua depende de la capacidad de almacenamiento y formas de distribución. Por ende, se utilizó un modelo de planificación y evaluación de recursos hídricos (WEAP) en la sub cuenca Blanco, ubicada en la intercuenca Huallaga; para evaluar estrategias de gestión en escenarios futuros y lograr hacer frente a una probable escasez de agua entre 2034 y 2049. Este estudio consideró los recursos hídricos de cada distrito de la subcuenca y comparó cuatro escenarios futuros distintos alternando medidas estructurales y no estructurales para periodos secos y normales. Los resultados muestran que el consumo agua aumentará considerablemente en los distritos de estudio, y que habrá una situación de estrés hídrico de agua sin nuevos sistemas de captación de agua. La prevención de la escasez de agua en el futuro requiere la implementación de medidas de ahorro de agua y el uso de nuevas infraestructuras hidráulicas. La implementación de medidas estructurales (reservorios, presas, bocatomas, canales de regadío) y las medidas no estructurales (capacitaciones, tecnificación del uso del agua, planes de contingencia, etc) pueden dar como resultado un potencial de ahorro de agua de 89% y 35% respectivamente, mientras que la implementación de ambas medidas da un 100% de cobertura para las demandas en el año 2034. Por otra parte, para 2049 el potencial de ahorro usando medidas estructurales sería de 50%, mientras que si sólo se usan medidas no estructurales el ahorro sería de 35%. Sin embargo, adoptando ambas estrategias se puede ahorrar el 100%. / In high Andean areas, water supply depends on storage capacity and forms of distribution. Therefore, a water resources planning and evaluation model (WEAP) was used in the Blanco sub-basin, located in the Huallaga inter-basin; to evaluate management strategies in future scenarios and manage to face a probable water shortage between 2034 and 2049. This study considered the water resources of each district of the sub-basin and compared four different future scenarios alternating structural and non-structural measures for dry periods and normal. The results show that water consumption will increase considerably in the study districts, and that there will be a situation of water stress without new water collection systems. Preventing water shortages in the future requires the implementation of water saving measures and the use of new hydraulic infrastructures. The implementation of structural measures (reservoirs, dams, intakes, irrigation canals) and non-structural measures (training, modernization of water use, contingency plans, etc.) can result in a potential water saving of 89% and 35% respectively, while the implementation of both measures gives 100% coverage for the demands in the year 2034. On the other hand, by 2049 the savings potential using structural measures would be 50%, while if only measures are used non-structural savings would be 35%. However, adopting both strategies can save 100%. / Tesis

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development

Beaver Creek is an impaired streams that is not supporting its designated use for recreation due to Escherichia coli (E.coli), and sediment. To address this problem, this thesis was divided into two studies. The first study explored changes in Land Use Land Cover (LULC), and its impact on surface water quality. Changes in E.coli load between 1997-2001 and 2014-2018 were analyzed. Also, Landsat data of 2001, and 2018 were examined in Terrset 18.31. Mann-Whitney test only showed a significant reduction in E.coli for one site. Negative correlation was established between E.coli load, and Developed LULC, Forest LULC, and Cultivated LULC. The second study modelled discharge for Beaver Creek watershed using HEC-HMS. This study simulated discharge in an upstream sub-watershed of Beaver Creek, and the full Beaver Creek with a Nash-Sutcliffe of 0.007, and R2 0.20. Sub-basins with high discharge were identified for further examination for possible high sediment load.