No / The case study describes large-scale environmental change related to, and recent responses associated with, growing water scarcity in the Usangu Plains, a catchment of the Great Ruaha River in south-west Tanzania. The analysis uses outputs from two recent projects to critically examine various theories of environmental change and the `fit¿ of new river basin management strategies to the problems found, arguing that various perspectives are worryingly at odds with each other. We find that the investigators of the two projects presented a reasonable and sufficient case of the causes of water scarcity. Yet despite efforts to disseminate scientific findings, different stakeholder groups did not agree with this case. This, we believe, was due to three combined factors; firstly highly entrenched views existed that were also based on quasi-scientific reasoning; secondly, the projects¿ deliberations to date, in acknowledging their own uncertainty, were not assertive enough in ascribing causation to the various processes of change; thirdly, policy-uptake was not sufficiently managed by the scientists involved. We conclude that this complexity of the science¿policy interface is a feature of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and that the norms of scientific uncertainty in the face of competing theories (held by their protagonists with greater certainty) obliges scientists to take a more active role in sensitively managing the advice-to-policy process in order to improve management of water within river basins. Thus, the paper argues, the nature of integrated water resources management is one of `action research¿ to move towards an improved understanding of change, and of `action policy-advising¿ to draw policy-makers into a cycle of considered decision-making.

No description available.

No description available.

Biofuel production-driven land-use change in agricultural land can have impacts on ecosystem services. Since there is no planned mandate after the Renewable Fuel Standard, there are questions about what implications will future land-use changes have on water quality and how do water quality changes, resulting from potential bioenergy scenarios, affect changes in people's well-being? To answer these questions, I will estimate the value of the predicted changes in water quality under biofuel policy scenarios in counties inside the Mississippi River Basin. From this study, I found that as the percent of land-use changes increase across each county, water quality decreased. I also found that for every unit increase for the change in water quality index, the percentage of individuals' willingness to pay for a change in water quality would increase. The predicted willingness to pay for a change in water quality for a given household varied from -$72 to $143.

The Moose River Basin in northern Ontario is an important large river system, however very little is known about its aquatic invertebrate community. As macro invertebrates are an integral part of river ecosystems, I conducted an initial assessment of the aquatic invertebrate community structure in the Moose River Basin, at both a fine, and a basin-wide, scale. The fine scale study used invertebrate data collected at five reaches within a 30km stretch of the Groundhog River. The examination of the invertebrate community at a basin-wide scale was accomplished using meta-analysis techniques on twenty-two studies conducted on various rivers within the Basin. The effect of the following factors on community structure were examined: i) the use of different sampling devices, ii) water depth, iii) substrate type, iv) sampling in two consecutive years, and v) spatial scale. I found that the use of various sampling devices resulted in significantly different estimates of community structure. This strongly suggests that consistent sampling protocols are necessary to effectively compare results within, and among, studies. The effect of water depth on community structure was inconclusive, as too few samples were collected to overcome the confounding effects of substrate type. Substrate type had a significant effect on community structure, with greater invertebrate richness and diversity found in fine substrate in the Groundhog River study, but with no consistent patterns at the basin-wide scale. Invertebrate richness and diversity did not differ significantly in the Groundhog River between two consecutive years. In both the fine-scale and the basin-wide studies, the distribution of aquatic invertebrates varied among sites within a river reach, and among reaches within a river. To further examine the biological and physical processes affecting community structure at the fine-scale, consistent sampling protocols should be employed, which may also allow basin-wide trends to emerge. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Yes / This paper challenges ideas that it is possible to `get the institutions right¿ in the management of natural resources. It engages with the literature and policy specifying `design principles¿ for robust institutions and uses data from a river basin management project in Usangu, Tanzania, to illustrate the complexity of institutional evolution. The paper draws on emerging `post-institutionalist¿ perspectives to reject over-formalised managerial approaches in favour of those that accept the dynamic nature of institutional formation, and accommodate a variety of partial and contingent solutions. Data from Usangu suggests that external `crafting¿ is inevitably problematic because, to a certain extent, institutions elude design.

The Amazon River drainage basin is known as the most biodiverse region in the world. Regarding freshwater fish, this region contains around 15% of the world's fish richness. The fish family Serrasalmidae have a variety of feeding preferences including Pacus (herbivores) and Piranhas (carnivores). Fruit eating fish species are evolutionarily the oldest species in the family and have a mutualistic interaction with flooded forests. Considering the diversity of feeding habits of the Serrasalmidae family, it represents an excellent model to study ecological questions related to factors that influence the spatial distribution of species and factors that contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity. I first analyzed how differences in dietary preferences influence the spatial distribution and habitat associations of species at the landscape scale using diet data and three proxies of habitat association derived from satellite products. Using Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares models I evaluated the relationship between habitat association and feeding guilds. Differences in resource distribution (assessed through feeding guilds) can influence habitat associations. Considering the hydrological variability (i.e., floodplain extent) and landscape heterogeneity that characterize floodplains, the patterns of habitat association vary with the spatial scale considered. Second, I identified factors that aid in sustaining aquatic biodiversity in floodplain forests of the Amazon River basin, focusing on frugivorous fish. I used descriptors of the floodplain ecosystem- and landscape-level variables to assess their contribution to the maintenance of fish species richness. Using Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with negative binomial distribution I found that greater plant richness could offer a greater variety of food resources for frugivorous fishes and that a more extensive floodplain area provides larger forested habitat for fishes that depend on forest-derived food resources, as such subbasins with these characteristics support a greater frugivorous fish species richness. This work provides valuable information on species habitat associations by fish as well as food resource dynamics, floodplain dependence, and advances our understanding of the intricate relationship between forests and fish at a basin scale. This information is critical for assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on freshwater ecosystems and can be used to inform conservation strategies in the tropics.

This dissertation examines some of the strengths and weaknesses in basin level governance particularly as it relates to three current policy priorities: adaptive governance, international frameworks for response to natural and man-made disasters, and resilience in integrated water resources management. While these priorities are well-established in the academic and policy literature, in practice the ability to implement them at multiple levels has proven challenging. Though my dissertation highlights these challenges using case studies of European river basins, the observations and lessons for improving integrated management at multiple levels of governance, in multiple sectors, and among various actors are more broadly relevant to other natural resource governance settings. The first paper of this dissertation explores adaptive governance in the Tisza sub-basin, considering both constraints and policy options for strengthening adaptive governance at the sub-basin level. The Tisza is the largest sub-basin to the Danube River basin, and faces increasing pressures exacerbated by climate change. The Tisza countries have experienced challenges with managing climate change adaptation in a nested, consistent, and effective manner pursuant to the European Union Water Framework Directive. This is due, in part, to inefficiencies in climate change adaptation, such as weakened vertical coordination. This paper examines the conceptual domains relating to adaptation in international governance, and adaptation in transboundary water management in particular, with a focus on multilevel governance. International laws and policies governing transboundary waters in the Danube basin and Tisza sub-basin are reviewed. Using interviews and document analysis, the paper highlights challenges to adaptation in the Tisza sub-basin, including policy, fiscal, institutional, and capacity. The paper concludes with an exploration of possible policy options for sub-basin management, such as the development of a sub-basin commission, the establishment of a permanent Tisza expert group to be housed at and coordinated by the ICPDR, the use of new or existing bilateral treaties, and designing a framework for managing the Tisza. The second paper analyzes the transition in international frameworks of response to natural and man-made disasters as incorporated and integrated at multiple levels of governance. It begins with a discussion of the distinctions between so-called “natural” disasters and “man-made” accidents, how and why they are treated differently, and how recent developments in international law and practice are raising questions about the merits of these historic distinctions. Anthropogenic climate change drives more extreme and sometimes cascading disasters that require complex and overlapping types of response; it is argued that the distinctions in response to natural and man-made disasters are counterproductive, outdated, and ultimately flawed. The paper examines the policy and institutional frameworks governing response to natural disasters and man-made accidents in the Danube River basin and Tisza River sub-basin. Using expert interviews and legal and policy analysis, it then explores the differences in how natural disasters and man-made accidents are monitored and how they are responded to. The paper concludes with an analysis of the implications of transitioning policies toward a more holistic framework for response, regardless of whether the cause is natural, man-made, or (as is increasingly the case) some combination. The third paper advances the concept of a new approach – resilient IWRM – and how this approach can be applied to the management practices of the Danube and Rhine River basins and other river basins around the world. Using the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the leading framework for resilience, and supported by expert interviews, the paper analyzes what resilience measures have been addressed, and what gaps remain in the basin management frameworks of the Danube and Rhine River basins. The paper concludes with a discussion of the current constraints in the resilient IWRM framework of the Danube and Rhine River basins, in addition to options for overcoming these challenges. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of crosscutting dimensions of analysis, specifically the challenges faced in integrating climate change adaptation, response to natural and man-made disasters, and resilience into multiple levels of water governance. While these conceptual elements are well-established, the ability to operationalize these elements has proven difficult from multiple perspectives highlighted in this dissertation. The difficulties suggest a more nuanced and pragmatic approach to both their framing and their operationalization.

Because the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia has not been extensively studied, thirty random samples associated with Blackwater and Nottoway rivers were collected in the spring of 1987 from Surry, Sussex, and Southampton counties. Soil classification as well as mineralogical, chemical, and physical analysis were conducted for all samples. The purposes of this investigation were to: (1)classify the soils in this area, (2) determine the distribution of sand and clay minerals, (3) examine the weathering effect on clay minerals on different position of the landscape for different parent material sources. The soils examined classified as follow: Aquic Hapludults 43% > Typic Hapludults 26.6% > Ultic Hapludalfs 10% > Humic Hapludults 3% = Typic Rhodudlts 3% = Aquic Hapludalfs 3% = Typic Udipsamment 3% = Typic Quartzpsamment 3% = Psammentic Hapludalfs. Qualitative analysis of clay minerals revealed that kaolinite and hydroxy interlayer vermiculite were the dominant clay minerals; that montmorillonite, mica, gibbsite quartz, and vermiculite were of lesser quantities; that chlorite, feldspar and interstratified minerals were of trace amounts. Kaolinite represents about 21-70%, HlV 11-60%, montmorillonite 0-20%, mica 0-16%, gibbsite 0-13%, quartz 1-12%, and vermiculite 0-10%. The presence of these minerals were mainly related to the acid reaction of the soil media, which was essentially attributed to Al and H ions in soil solution. From the past history and geological composition of the Piedmont it is assumed that kaolinitic minerals were transported and sedimented in the Coastal Plain. Hydroxy-interlayer vermiculite minerals was weathering from vermiculite because most of the Al was adsorbed by vermiculite to form HIV. Therfore, gibbsite was not precipitated. Montmorillonite was assumed to have formed from mica minerals. That was substantiated by statistical analysis which showed a high negative correlation between gibbsite and vermiculite (r=0.46, n=30) and between montmorillonite and mica (r=-0.6, n=10). / Master of Science

Hui Wing-chi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-141). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / LIST OF TABLES --- p.xi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xiii / LIST OF ACRONYMS --- p.xvii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE- --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Conceptual Framework and Study Objectives --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Scope of the Research and Study Area --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Location and Climate --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Geology --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Landuse Characteristics and Status of Water Quality --- p.13 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of Study --- p.14 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of Thesis --- p.16 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO - --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Chapter 2.1 --- Landuse Alteration --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Urbanization and Landuse Changes --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Detecting Landuse Changes in Urbanizing Region --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2 --- Impact of Landuse Alteration on Water Quality --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Point and Nonpoint Sources of Water Pollution --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Nonpoint Source Pollution as a Worldwide Environmental Problem --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Methods of Assessing Nonpoint Source Pollution --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- GIS-based Modeling of Nonpoint Source Pollution --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Application of Remote Sensing on Water Quality Study --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3 --- Landuse Changes and Their Water Quality Impacts in the Pearl River Delta --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Economic Reform and Urbanization --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Urban Redevelopment --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Rural Industrialization --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Water Pollution --- p.34 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE - --- METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Computation of Areal Nonpoint Source Pollution Loading --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Assumptions --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number Method --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Generation of Nonpoint Source Pollutants --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Model Operation --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3 --- Instream Water Quality Modeling --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Description ofWASP5 --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Hydraulic Parameters --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Model Constants --- p.48 / Chapter 3.4 --- Description of Model Input Data --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Watershed Delineation --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Soil Data --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Rainfall Data --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Detection Landuse Changes --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.4.1 --- Image Preprocessing --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.4.2 --- Classification and Post-classification Analysis --- p.57 / Chapter 3.4.4.3 --- Assessment of Accuracy --- p.60 / Chapter 3.5 --- Scenario Modeling --- p.61 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR - --- INTERFACING ARCVIE W GIS WITH WATER QUALITY MODEL / Chapter 4.1 --- Watershed Parameter Generator --- p.64 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Topographic Analysis and Stream Network Definition --- p.65 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Vectorization of Basin Geometries --- p.68 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Computation of Basin Geometric Characteristics --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2 --- Nonpoint Source Pollution Loading Generator --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3 --- Instream Water Quality Calculator --- p.74 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE- --- LANDUSE AND LAND COVER CHANGES ANALYSIS / Chapter 5.1 --- Framework for Analysis --- p.78 / Chapter 5.2 --- Landuse Changes During the Study Period --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Areal Landuse Changes --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Inter-category Landuse Changes --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2.1 --- Rural-to-urban Changes --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2.2 --- Rural-to-rural Changes --- p.87 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Error matrix --- p.88 / Chapter 5.3 --- Spatial Pattern of Landuse and Land cover --- p.91 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Urban Land --- p.92 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Rural Areas --- p.94 / Chapter 5.4 --- Scenario Building --- p.96 / Chapter 5.5 --- Limitation of Landuse Classification based on Satellite Image Interpretation --- p.96 / Chapter 5.6 --- Summary --- p.98 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX - --- IMPACTS OF LANDUSE CHANGES ON NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION LOADING AND WATER QUALITY / Chapter 6.1 --- Impact of Landuse Changes on NPS Loading --- p.100 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Identification of Curve Number --- p.100 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Runoff and Areal Nonpoint Source Pollution Loadings --- p.101 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Sensitivity of NPS Pollution Loading to Landuse Changes --- p.107 / Chapter 6.2 --- Instream Water Quality Analysis --- p.110 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Downstream Variation of Water Quality --- p.111 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Comparison with NWQC II --- p.114 / Chapter 6.3 --- Strategic Landuse Management --- p.117 / Chapter 6.4 --- Limitation of the Study --- p.118 / Chapter CHAPTER SEVEN - --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 7.1 --- Summary of Findings --- p.122 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Landuse and Land Cover Changes --- p.122 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- GIS-based Water Quality Modeling --- p.123 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Pollution Loading and Instream Water Quality --- p.124 / Chapter 7.2 --- Future Study --- p.125 / REFERENCES --- p.127