According to the USEPA National Section 303(d) List Fact Sheet, bacterial pathogens are the leading cause of water quality impairments in Texas. The automated Spatially Explicit Load Enrichment Calculation Tool (SELECT) uses spatially variable factors such as land use, soil condition, and distance to streams to characterize pathogen sources across a watershed. The results support development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) where bacterial contamination is of concern. SELECT calculates potential E. coli loads by distributing the contributing source populations across suitable habitats, applying a fecal production rate, and then aggregating the potential load to the subwatersheds. SELECT provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI), developed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) within ArcGIS 9.X, where project parameters can be adjusted for various pollutant loading scenarios. A new approach for characterizing E. coli loads resulting from on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs) was incorporated into the SELECT methodology. The pollutant connectivity factor (PCF) module was created to identify areas potentially contributing E. coli loads to waterbodies during runoff events by weighting the influence of potential loading, runoff potential, and travel distance. Simulation results indicate livestock and wildlife are potentially contributing large amounts of E. coli in the Lake Granbury Watershed in areas where these contributing sources are not currently monitored for E. coli. The bacterial water quality violations near Lake Granbury are most likely the result of malfunctioning OWTSs and pet waste in the runoff. The automated SELECT was verified by characterizing the potential E. coli loading in the Plum Creek Watershed and comparing to results from a prior study (Teague, 2007). The E. coli potential load for the watershed was lower than the previous study due to major differences in assumptions. Comparing the average ranked PCF estimated by physical properties of the watershed with the statistical clustering of watershed characteristics provided similar groupings. SELECT supports the need to evaluate each contributing source separately to effectively allocate site specific best management practices (BMPs). This approach can be used as a screening step for determining areas where detailed investigation is merited. SELECT in conjunction with PCF and clustering analysis can assist decision makers develop Watershed Protection Plans (WPPs) and determine TMDLs.

Deforestation in the tropics is considered to be a primary cause for worldwide loss of biological diversity. Future land use decisions have the potential to escalate or ameliorate this global problem. The goal of this research is to present a case study of an analysis of forest change within the Chocó-Andean Conservation Corridor in the Upper Guayllabamba Watershed in Northwestern Ecuador. Fieldwork, remote sensing, and a Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to analyze land use/land cover changes within the corridor. Change detection from 1986 to 2001 using Landsat imagery confirmed that forests were rapidly being converted to other land covers, but patterns of deforestation rates varied dramatically for different types of forests. The average annual rate of overall loss of forest was 2.7% for lower montane forest, 1.7% for mid-slope cloud forest 2.1% for upper montane forest, and 2.0% for riparian forests. The patterns of deforestation also varied based on scales of analysis. For example, the overall loss of forest within the southern portion of the Chocó-Andean Conservation Corridor occurred at an average rate of 1.3% per year, while the overall annual rate of forest loss within particular sub-watersheds varied from 0.2%-3.1% and the annual average rate of overall forest loss surrounding particular communities ranged from 0.3%-3.3%. Fifty interviews were conducted in 2003 in seven communities within the conservation corridor to determine local perspectives of current land use practices, past land use trends, and future land use goals; regional changes in the forest; and opinions of local conservation projects. An intriguing finding of the study is that remote sensing in isolation of fieldwork would have provided incomplete or misleading results. For example, the community that had the most deforestation between 1986 and 2001 was the community where the conservation projects were actually the most successful, based upon local resident opinion. This report asserts that a holistic approach to conservation is needed to reconcile environmental and socio-cultural needs in order to maintain and improve forest habitat and hydrologic connectivity at multiple spatial scales (including community-level, watershed, and regional) by extending conservation efforts beyond protected areas and utilizing a basin-scale perspective to make land use decisions that maintain biodiversity and promote watershed protection. / text

Com os problemas crescentes em relação aos recursos hídricos e aos conflitos de uso da água no Brasil, a necessidade de implantação de políticas que visem à mitigação desses problemas, se tornou evidente e crucial. Neste sentido, o conceito de Pagamentos por Serviços Ambientais (PSA) tem adquirido força e se difundido ao redor do mundo. O município de Extrema, em Minas Gerais, foi pioneiro, ao implantar a primeira iniciativa municipal brasileira de PSA, conhecida como programa Conservador das Águas, que se fundamenta na relação existente entre a floresta e os serviços prestados por ela em relação à conservação do solo, quantidade e qualidade de água. A primeira sub-bacia do município de Extrema onde se deu início às práticas de conservação previstas do referido projeto, foi a sub-bacia das Posses, devido ao fato desta possuir a menor cobertura vegetal. Nessa sub-bacia, concomitantemente com outras práticas, foram implantados cerca de 150 ha de matas ciliares (APP), 280 ha de mata de topo (MT), 300 ha de reserva legal (RL), bem como, práticas de conservação do solo em toda a sua área (cerca de 1200 ha). Tendo em vista não só a importância da implantação, mas também da avaliação dos programas/projetos de PSA, o presente estudo foi realizado objetivando-se, avaliar a perda de solo na sub-bacia onde teve início o programa Conservador das Águas, visando determinar a potencialidade que a adoção do conceito de PSA terá para a conservação do solo dessa sub-bacia, bem como otimizar o provimento do serviço ambiental de conservação do solo em função do tamanho e localização da área de floresta. Nesse sentido, considerando-se, entre outros fatores, as práticas conservacionistas previstas e a situação de uso e cobertura do solo na sub-bacia das Posses, antes e após a implantação do Programa Conservador das Águas, analisaram-se a efetividade, no que concerne a redução de perda de solo, de 36 cenários diferentes de uso e cobertura do solo. Para isso, utilizou-se um Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG) para espacialização e confecção dos diferentes planos de informação (tipos de solo, declividade, precipitação, uso e cobertura do solo, etc.) e a Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), para a estimativa da perda de solo. Como resultados, verificou-se, que, a otimização da conservação do solo pode ser feita adotando-se práticas conservacionistas na pastagem; a expectativa de perda média de solo na sub-bacia das Posses para as condições de uso e cobertura do solo, antes e após a implementação do programa Conservador das Águas, foi de, respectivamente, 30,63 Mg ha-1 ano-1 e 7,06 Mg ha-1 ano-1; com a implantação do programa Conservador das Águas a expectativa de redução de perda de solo na sub-bacia das Posses é de 91%. / Issues concerning water resources in Brazil have risen recently, therefore implementing policies aimed at mitigating this situation has become a sine qua non condition. In this context, the concept of Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) has become widespread and considered around the world. The municipality of Extrema, in Minas Gerais state, was the first city in Brazil to implement a PSA program, known as Conservador das Águas, which focuses on the benefits provided by forests for the soil conservation and water quantity and quality. The first watershed of Extrema was Posses, where the implementation of polices of this program were started, once this watershed has the lower vegetal cover. In this watershed, 730 ha of forest were implemented; 150 around the main river and its tributaries (APP), 280 ha in the highest parts of watershed (MT); 300 ha of Legal reserves and practices of soil conservation were applied in the whole watershed. Considering not the implementation, but also the assessment PSA projects, this study aimed to evaluate soil losses in Posses watershed and determine the potential of PSA concept to conserve soil in this watershed, besides to maximize the environmental service for soil conservation given the size and location of the forest. Therefore, it was analyzed the effectiveness, concerning to soil conservation, of 36 different scenarios related to soil use and forest cover. To that end, a Geographic Information System (SIG) was used to process the distinct data system plan (soil types, slop, rainfall, soil use and cover, etc.) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate soil losses. Results show that conservation could be optimized with the implementation of soil conservation practices on pasture; soil losses of Posses watershed were estimated prior and after the implementation of Conservador das Águas program, and showed 30.63 Mg ha-1 ano-1 and 7.06 Mg ha-1 ano-1 respectively. After implementation of Conservador das Águas program, the expectative of soil losses reduction is 91%.

In 2014, the global pesticide industry's projected worth is $52 billion and by 2020, the developing world will make up one-third of the world's chemical production and consumption. Pesticides can have unintended negative consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the developing world where regulations are loose or nonexistent. One country with unrestricted use of pesticides is Panam[aacute], especially in Santa Rosa de Cucunatí. In this indigenous village, small-scale farmers and ranchers spray paraquat, glyphosate, picloram, and 2,4-D at higher elevations than the spring water source of a gravity-fed water system, the river, and the village. The objective of this study was to estimate the concentration of these pesticides in the water system and the river and to perform a human health and ecological risk assessment. Pesticide fate and transport models in the graphical user interface EXAMS-PRZMS Exposure Simulation Shell (EXPRESS), which was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, were used to predict concentrations of the four mentioned pesticides in drinking water and the river using chemical properties, data from Food and Agriculture Organization and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the author's experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The results from Tier I model FQPA Index Reservoir Screening Tool (FIRST) were used to compare immediate and delayed rain events, noting minimal difference. The Tier II PRZM-EXAMS shell provided estimated drinking water concentration (EDWC) profiles. The paraquat profile was much lower than picloram, glyphosate, and 2,4-D, which had almost identical profiles with peak concentrations around 12 ppm and the average annual concentration 100 ppb. Average Daily Dose (ADD) via drinking water was calculated for men, women, and children using model results and compared to the oral reference dose (RfD). ADDs only exceeded the RfD with maximum peak EDWCs, implying low risk. However, RfD was used to calculate a breakpoint concentration, the concentration at which each pesticide presents a risk to the consumer. This was then compared to the maximum peak (highest, i.e. worst-case scenario) and annual (lowest, i.e. best-case scenario) EDWC profiles. In the best-case scenario, glyphosate and picloram did not pose a threat, paraquat posed a moderate threat and 2,4-D posed a high threat, with the concentration exceeding the breakpoint for 90 percent of the years. With respect to the worst-case scenario, all four chemicals posed high threats to the consumer. Individual exposure via consumption of fish from the river was calculated using a calculated bioconcentration (BCF) factor and calculated breakpoint concentrations. For the best case scenario, picloram presented a low risk and 2,4-D presented a high risk but for the worst case, both of these chemicals presented a very high risk. An additive exposure of these two human health pathways found that for the best case scenario, exposure from most of the four chemicals did not approach the RfD. However, for the worst-case scenario the exposures were significantly higher than the oral RfD--therefore, between the lowest and the highest concentrations, the general population is at risk. For the ecological risk assessment, the 96-hour peak profile was compared to the 96-hour lethal dose (LD50); glyphosate posed a high risk to fathead minnows and low risk to bluegills and 2,4-D presented a high risk to fathead minnows, low risk to channel catfish, and very high risk to bluegills. A more general risk assessment compared maximum peak and annual concentrations to the US EPA's aquatic life benchmarks. Glyphosate presented no threat and 2,4-D only presented a threat to plants. For picloram, fish were at very high risk at the chronic level and low risk at the acute level, and plants were at moderate risk. Paraquat presented the most significant threat to aquatic life, exceeding benchmarks for all plants and invertebrates at the chronic level 100 percent of the time. It presented no threat to fish in the best-case scenario, but a high risk for fish at the chronic level in the worst case scenario, as well as very high risk for all invertebrates and plants. Improvements in application and watershed protection as part of a multi-disciplinary approach are proposed in place of technological mitigation strategies. Recommendations for future studies include the development of a developing-world context model and experimental studies in the developing world to compare to model results, where possible.

Com os problemas crescentes em relação aos recursos hídricos e aos conflitos de uso da água no Brasil, a necessidade de implantação de políticas que visem à mitigação desses problemas, se tornou evidente e crucial. Neste sentido, o conceito de Pagamentos por Serviços Ambientais (PSA) tem adquirido força e se difundido ao redor do mundo. O município de Extrema, em Minas Gerais, foi pioneiro, ao implantar a primeira iniciativa municipal brasileira de PSA, conhecida como programa Conservador das Águas, que se fundamenta na relação existente entre a floresta e os serviços prestados por ela em relação à conservação do solo, quantidade e qualidade de água. A primeira sub-bacia do município de Extrema onde se deu início às práticas de conservação previstas do referido projeto, foi a sub-bacia das Posses, devido ao fato desta possuir a menor cobertura vegetal. Nessa sub-bacia, concomitantemente com outras práticas, foram implantados cerca de 150 ha de matas ciliares (APP), 280 ha de mata de topo (MT), 300 ha de reserva legal (RL), bem como, práticas de conservação do solo em toda a sua área (cerca de 1200 ha). Tendo em vista não só a importância da implantação, mas também da avaliação dos programas/projetos de PSA, o presente estudo foi realizado objetivando-se, avaliar a perda de solo na sub-bacia onde teve início o programa Conservador das Águas, visando determinar a potencialidade que a adoção do conceito de PSA terá para a conservação do solo dessa sub-bacia, bem como otimizar o provimento do serviço ambiental de conservação do solo em função do tamanho e localização da área de floresta. Nesse sentido, considerando-se, entre outros fatores, as práticas conservacionistas previstas e a situação de uso e cobertura do solo na sub-bacia das Posses, antes e após a implantação do Programa Conservador das Águas, analisaram-se a efetividade, no que concerne a redução de perda de solo, de 36 cenários diferentes de uso e cobertura do solo. Para isso, utilizou-se um Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG) para espacialização e confecção dos diferentes planos de informação (tipos de solo, declividade, precipitação, uso e cobertura do solo, etc.) e a Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), para a estimativa da perda de solo. Como resultados, verificou-se, que, a otimização da conservação do solo pode ser feita adotando-se práticas conservacionistas na pastagem; a expectativa de perda média de solo na sub-bacia das Posses para as condições de uso e cobertura do solo, antes e após a implementação do programa Conservador das Águas, foi de, respectivamente, 30,63 Mg ha-1 ano-1 e 7,06 Mg ha-1 ano-1; com a implantação do programa Conservador das Águas a expectativa de redução de perda de solo na sub-bacia das Posses é de 91%. / Issues concerning water resources in Brazil have risen recently, therefore implementing policies aimed at mitigating this situation has become a sine qua non condition. In this context, the concept of Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) has become widespread and considered around the world. The municipality of Extrema, in Minas Gerais state, was the first city in Brazil to implement a PSA program, known as Conservador das Águas, which focuses on the benefits provided by forests for the soil conservation and water quantity and quality. The first watershed of Extrema was Posses, where the implementation of polices of this program were started, once this watershed has the lower vegetal cover. In this watershed, 730 ha of forest were implemented; 150 around the main river and its tributaries (APP), 280 ha in the highest parts of watershed (MT); 300 ha of Legal reserves and practices of soil conservation were applied in the whole watershed. Considering not the implementation, but also the assessment PSA projects, this study aimed to evaluate soil losses in Posses watershed and determine the potential of PSA concept to conserve soil in this watershed, besides to maximize the environmental service for soil conservation given the size and location of the forest. Therefore, it was analyzed the effectiveness, concerning to soil conservation, of 36 different scenarios related to soil use and forest cover. To that end, a Geographic Information System (SIG) was used to process the distinct data system plan (soil types, slop, rainfall, soil use and cover, etc.) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate soil losses. Results show that conservation could be optimized with the implementation of soil conservation practices on pasture; soil losses of Posses watershed were estimated prior and after the implementation of Conservador das Águas program, and showed 30.63 Mg ha-1 ano-1 and 7.06 Mg ha-1 ano-1 respectively. After implementation of Conservador das Águas program, the expectative of soil losses reduction is 91%.