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Sample records for river drainage basin

  1. Drainage divides, Massachusetts; Blackstone and Thames River basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krejmas, Bruce E.; Wandle, S. William

    1982-01-01

    Drainage boundaries for selected subbasins of the Blackstone and Thames River basins in eastern Hampden, eastern Hampshire, western Norfolk, southern Middlesex, and southern Worcester Counties, Massachusetts, are delineated on 12 topographic quadrangle maps at a scale of 1:24,000. Drainage basins are shown for all U.S. Geological Survey data-collection sites and for mouths of major rivers. Drainage basins are shown for the outlets of lakes or ponds and for streams where the drainage area is greater than 3 square miles. Successive sites along watercourses are indicated where the intervening area is at least 6 miles on tributary streams or 15 square miles along the Blackstone River, French River, or Quinebaug River. (USGS)

  2. Streamflow distribution maps for the Cannon River drainage basin, southeast Minnesota, and the St. Louis River drainage basin, northeast Minnesota

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Erik A.; Sanocki, Chris A.; Lorenz, David L.; Jacobsen, Katrin E.

    2017-12-27

    Streamflow distribution maps for the Cannon River and St. Louis River drainage basins were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, to illustrate relative and cumulative streamflow distributions. The Cannon River was selected to provide baseline data to assess the effects of potential surficial sand mining, and the St. Louis River was selected to determine the effects of ongoing Mesabi Iron Range mining. Each drainage basin (Cannon, St. Louis) was subdivided into nested drainage basins: the Cannon River was subdivided into 152 nested drainage basins, and the St. Louis River was subdivided into 353 nested drainage basins. For each smaller drainage basin, the estimated volumes of groundwater discharge (as base flow) and surface runoff flowing into all surface-water features were displayed under the following conditions: (1) extreme low-flow conditions, comparable to an exceedance-probability quantile of 0.95; (2) low-flow conditions, comparable to an exceedance-probability quantile of 0.90; (3) a median condition, comparable to an exceedance-probability quantile of 0.50; and (4) a high-flow condition, comparable to an exceedance-probability quantile of 0.02.Streamflow distribution maps were developed using flow-duration curve exceedance-probability quantiles in conjunction with Soil-Water-Balance model outputs; both the flow-duration curve and Soil-Water-Balance models were built upon previously published U.S. Geological Survey reports. The selected streamflow distribution maps provide a proactive water management tool for State cooperators by illustrating flow rates during a range of hydraulic conditions. Furthermore, after the nested drainage basins are highlighted in terms of surface-water flows, the streamflows can be evaluated in the context of meeting specific ecological flows under different flow regimes and potentially assist with decisions regarding groundwater and surface

  3. Drainage areas of the Potomac River basin, West Virginia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Jeffrey B.; Hunt, Michelle L.; Stewart, Donald K.

    1996-01-01

    This report contains data for 776 drainage-area divisions of the Potomac River Basin, from the headwaters to the confluence of the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River. Data, compiled in downstream order, are listed for streams with a drainage area of approximately 2 square miles or larger within West Virginia and for U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations. The data presented are the stream name, the geographical limits in river miles, the latitude and longitude of the point, the name of the county, and the 7 1/2-minute quadrangle in which the point lies, and the drainage area of that site. The total drainage area of the Potomac River Basin downstream of the confluence of the Shenandoah River at the State boundary is 9,367.29 square miles.

  4. Reconstruction of North American drainage basins and river discharge since the Last Glacial Maximum

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    A. D. Wickert

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Over the last glacial cycle, ice sheets and the resultant glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA rearranged river systems. As these riverine threads that tied the ice sheets to the sea were stretched, severed, and restructured, they also shrank and swelled with the pulse of meltwater inputs and time-varying drainage basin areas, and sometimes delivered enough meltwater to the oceans in the right places to influence global climate. Here I present a general method to compute past river flow paths, drainage basin geometries, and river discharges, by combining models of past ice sheets, glacial isostatic adjustment, and climate. The result is a time series of synthetic paleohydrographs and drainage basin maps from the Last Glacial Maximum to present for nine major drainage basins – the Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colorado, Columbia, Mackenzie, Hudson Bay, Saint Lawrence, Hudson, and Susquehanna/Chesapeake Bay. These are based on five published reconstructions of the North American ice sheets. I compare these maps with drainage reconstructions and discharge histories based on a review of observational evidence, including river deposits and terraces, isotopic records, mineral provenance markers, glacial moraine histories, and evidence of ice stream and tunnel valley flow directions. The sharp boundaries of the reconstructed past drainage basins complement the flexurally smoothed GIA signal that is more often used to validate ice-sheet reconstructions, and provide a complementary framework to reduce nonuniqueness in model reconstructions of the North American ice-sheet complex.

  5. Range extension of Moenkhausia oligolepis (Günther,1864 to the Pindaré river drainage, of Mearim river basin, and Itapecuru river basin of northeastern Brazil (Characiformes: Characidae

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    Erick Cristofore Guimarães

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The present study reports range extansion of Moenkhausia oligolepis to the Pindaré river drainage, of the Mearim river basin, and Itapecuru river basin, Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil. This species was previously known only from Venezuela, Guianas, and the Amazon River basins. In addition, we present some meristic and morphometric data of the specimens herein examined and discuss on its diagnostic characters.

  6. 137Cs distribution and geochemistry of Lena River (Siberia) drainage basin lake sediments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson-Pyrtle, A.; Scott, M.R.; Laing, T.E.; Smol, J.P.

    2000-01-01

    The Lena River is the second largest river that discharges into the Arctic Ocean. It is therefore important to determine not only the direct impact its discharge has on the 137Cs concentration of the Arctic, but also the potential its drainage basin has as a 137Cs source. 137Cs surface sediment concentrations and inventory values, which range from 4.97 to 338 Bq kg -1 and 357 to 1732 Bq m -2 , respectively, were determined for the Lena River drainage basin lake samples, via gamma analysis. The average geochemical and mineralogical composition of a subset of samples was also determined using neutron activation analysis, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry techniques. Results of these geochemical analyses allowed for the identification of key geochemical factors that influence the distribution of 137Cs in the Lena River drainage basin. 137Cs profiles indicate that Lena River drainage basin lacustrine sediments serve as a record of 137Cs fallout. Based on the downcore 137Cs, %illite, %smectite, %Al and %Mn distribution patterns, it was concluded that a small fraction of non-selectively bound 137Cs was remobilized at depth in some cores. Inconsistencies between the actual 137Cs fallout record and the 137Cs profiles determined for the lake sediments were attributed to 137Cs remobilization in subsurface sediments. In addition to establishing the agreement between the global atmospheric fallout record and the downcore 137Cs distribution patterns determined for these sediments, results indicate that 137Cs deposited during periods of maximum atmospheric release was buried and is not susceptible to surface erosion processes. However, mean 137Cs concentrations of the lacustrine surface sediments (125 Bq kg -1 ) are still significantly higher than those of the nearby Lena River estuary (11.22 Bq kg -1 ) and Laptev Sea (6.00 Bq kg -1 ). Our study suggests that the Lena River drainage basin has the potential to serve as a source of 137Cs to the adjacent Arctic

  7. Explanation of the values of Hack's drainage basin, river length scaling exponent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, A. G.

    2015-08-01

    Percolation theory can be used to find water flow paths of least resistance. The application of percolation theory to drainage networks allows identification of the range of exponent values that describe the tortuosity of rivers in real river networks, which is then used to generate the observed scaling between drainage basin area and channel length, a relationship known as Hack's law. Such a theoretical basis for Hack's law allows interpretation of the range of exponent values based on an assessment of the heterogeneity of the substrate.

  8. Migration of global radioactive fallout to the Arctic Ocean (on the example of the Ob's river drainage basin).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miroshnikov, A; Semenkov, I

    2012-11-01

    This article provides an assessment of the impact of global fallout on (137)Cs contamination in the bottom sediments of Kara Sea. The erosiveness of 10th-level river basins was estimated by landscape-geochemical and geomorphological characteristics. All 10th-level basins (n=154) were separated into three groups: mountain, mountain-lowland and plain. Four different types of basins were identified depending on the geochemical conditions of the migration of radiocaesium in the plain and mountain-lowland. Classifications of types were carried out using the geographic information systems-based approach. The Ob River's macroarena covers 3.5 million km(2). Internal drainage basins cover 23 % of the macroarena and accumulate whole radiocaesium from the global fallout. The remaining territory is transitional for the (137)Cs. The field research works performed in the three plain first-level basins allow one to estimate the radiocaesium run-off. The calculations show that 7 % of (137)Cs was removed from the first-level basin in arable land. Accumulation of radiocaesium in the first-level basin under undisturbed forest is 99.8 %. The research shows that (137)Cs transfer from the humid basins is in the range of 6.9-25.5 TBq and for semi-humid basins 5.6-285.5 TBq. The areas of these basins cover 40 and 8 % of the Ob River's macroarena, respectively. Drainage lakes and reservoir drainage basins make up 22 % of the macroarena. Mountainous and semi-arid drainage basins cover 7 % of the macroarena.

  9. Concentration changeability of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium in selected partial drainage basins of the River Drwęca

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    Pius Bożena

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of the research conducted between November 2008 and October 2009. The research included seasonal dynamics of the flow and runoff of phosphorus compounds (TP and P-PO43-, as well as Ca2+ and Mg2+ from 13 partial drainage basins of the River Drwęca. Water levels were registered automatically every day by recorders, and measurements of the flow were conducted once a month. Major differences were found in the water abundance as indicated by specific discharges in individual, partial drainage basins: from 1.87 dm3 s-1 km-2 (Lubianka - a lower part of the River Drwęca drainage basin to 8.22 dm3 s-1 km-2 (Gizela - an upper part of the River Drwęca drainage basin. The studied rivers were characterised by very diverse average content of total phosphorus compounds: from 0.047 mg dm-3 (Iłga to 0.816 mg dm-3 (Sandela; calcium: from 47.18 mg dm-3 (Iłga to 131.65 mg dm-3 (Trynka; and magnesium: from 9.71 mg dm-3 (Wel to 36.76 mg dm-3 (Struga Rychnowska. Analysis of variance carried out on hydrochemical properties of the studied rivers divides the rivers into two separate groups: rivers with much higher content of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium compounds (Struga Rychnowska, Trynka, Ruziec, Lubianka, Kujawka, Sandela and Gizela, and a group of rivers with low content of these compounds (Brynica, Brodniczanka, Skarlanka, Wel, Iłga.

  10. Brief communication: Possible explanation of the values of Hack's drainage basin, river length scaling exponent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Allen G.

    2016-04-01

    Percolation theory can be used to find water flow paths of least resistance. Application of percolation theory to drainage networks allows identification of the range of exponent values that describe the tortuosity of rivers in real river networks, which is then used to generate the observed scaling between drainage basin area and channel length, a relationship known as Hack's law. Such a theoretical basis for Hack's law may allow interpretation of the range of exponent values based on an assessment of the heterogeneity of the substrate.

  11. Ensuring safe use of water in a river basin with uranium drainage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, F.; Oliveira, J.; Malta, M.

    2014-01-01

    A regular radioactivity monitoring programme ensures radioactivity surveillance in a river system with multiple and intensive uses of water. In the catchment of River Mondego, centre of Portugal, there is a uranium mining and milling legacy which encompasses about 12 old uranium mine sites and 3 uranium milling sites. This river basin is an important agriculture and cattle growing region with forest areas for paper pulp production. In the catchment of this river there are four dams for electricity production and two main artificial lakes which are water reservoirs to supply drinking water to more than 3 million people, and irrigation water for agriculture including maize and rice production. In the river basin, environmental remediation works were recently implemented especially at the milling tailings and at the major mine sites, which reduced radioactive drainage into the Mondego tributaries and thus into the Mondego river. Mine drainage and seepage from tailings are recuperated and treated in mine water treatment stations. Although, for example, in drainage from milling tailings at Urgeiriça, water may contain high concentrations of dissolved uranium ("2"3"8U), radium ("2"2"6Ra) and polonium ("2"1"0Po) at 35,700±1100, 1084±30, and 700±40 mBq/L, respectively, in the stream receiving discharges of treated water today radionuclide concentrations are orders of magnitude lower. The tributary streams that in the past received untreated mine discharges are today recovering and concentrations decreased to near natural levels. In the artificial lake of Aguieira dam, built on the Mondego River downstream all uranium sites, and where the main capture of water for human consumption is located, radionuclide concentrations were of 9.2±0.3 mBq/L, 17.7±1.9 mBq/L, and 5.3±0.2 mBq/L for uranium ("2"3"8U), radium ("2"2"6Ra) and polonium ("2"1"0Po), respectively. This water has been over the last years consistently in compliance with the EU drinking water quality standards

  12. Anthropogenic modifications to drainage conditions on streamflow variability in the Wabash River basin, Indiana

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    Chiu, C.; Bowling, L. C.

    2011-12-01

    The Wabash River watershed is the largest watershed in Indiana and includes the longest undammed river reach east of the Mississippi River. The land use of the Wabash River basin began to significantly change from mixed woodland dominated by small lakes and wetlands to agriculture in the mid-1800s and agriculture is now the predominant land use. Over 80% of natural wetland areas were drained to facilitate better crop production through both surface and subsurface drainage applications. Quantifying the change in hydrologic response in this intensively managed landscape requires a hydrologic model that can represent wetlands, crop growth, and impervious area as well as subsurface and surface drainage enhancements, coupled with high resolution soil and topographic inputs. The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model wetland algorithm has been previously modified to incorporate spatially-varying estimates of water table distribution using a topographic index approach, as well as a simple urban representation. Now, the soil water characteristics curve and a derived drained to equilibrium moisture profile are used to improve the model's estimation of the water table. In order to represent subsurface (tile) drainage, the tile drainage component of subsurface flow is calculated when the simulated water table rises above a specified drain depth. A map of the current estimated extent of subsurface tile drainage for the Wabash River based on a decision tree classifier of soil drainage class, soil slope and agricultural land use is used to activate the new tile drainage feature in the VIC model, while wetland depressional storage capacity is extracted from digital elevation and soil information. This modified VIC model is used to evaluate the performance of model physical variations in the intensively managed hydrologic regime of the Wabash River system and to understand the role of surface and subsurface storage, and land use and land cover change on hydrologic change.

  13. Bedrock geologic map of the Spring Valley, West Plains, and parts of the Piedmont and Poplar Bluff 30'x60' quadrangles, Missouri, including the upper Current River and Eleven Point River drainage basins

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    Weary, David J.; Harrison, Richard W.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Weems, Robert E.; Schindler, J. Stephen; Repetski, John E.; Pierce, Herbert A.

    2015-01-01

    This map covers the drainage basins of the upper Current River and the Eleven Point River in the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province of southeastern Missouri. The two surface drainage basins are contiguous in their headwaters regions, but are separated in their lower reaches by the lower Black River basin in the southeast corner of the map area. Numerous dye-trace studies demonstrate that in the contiguous headwaters areas, groundwater flows from the Eleven Point River basin into the Current River basin. Much of the groundwater discharge of the Eleven Point River basin emanates from Big Spring, located on the Current River. This geologic map and cross sections were produced to help fulfill a need to understand the geologic framework of the region in which this subsurface flow occurs.

  14. Water-Quality Characteristics for Sites in the Tongue, Powder, Cheyenne, and Belle Fourche River Drainage Basins, Wyoming and Montana, Water Years 2001-05, with Temporal Patterns of Selected Long-Term Water-Quality Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Melanie L.; Mason, Jon P.

    2007-01-01

    Water-quality sampling was conducted regularly at stream sites within or near the Powder River structural basin in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana during water years 2001-05 (October 1, 2000, to September 30, 2005) to characterize water quality in an area of coalbed natural gas development. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, characterized the water quality at 22 sampling sites in the Tongue, Powder, Cheyenne, and Belle Fourche River drainage basins. Data for general hydrology, field measurements, major-ion chemistry, and selected trace elements were summarized, and specific conductance and sodium-adsorption ratios were evaluated for relations with streamflow and seasonal variability. Trend analysis for water years 1991-2005 was conducted for selected sites and constituents to assess change through time. Average annual runoff was highly variable among the stream sites. Generally, streams that have headwaters in the Bighorn Mountains had more runoff as a result of higher average annual precipitation than streams that have headwaters in the plains. The Powder River at Moorhead, Mont., had the largest average annual runoff (319,000 acre-feet) of all the sites; however, streams in the Tongue River drainage basin had the highest runoff per unit area of the four major drainage basins. Annual runoff in all major drainage basins was less than average during 2001-05 because of drought conditions. Consequently, water-quality samples collected during the study period may not represent long-term water-quality con-ditions for all sites. Water-quality characteristics were highly variable generally because of streamflow variability, geologic controls, and potential land-use effects. The range of median specific-conductance values among sites was smallest in the Tongue River drainage basin. Median values in that basin ranged from 643 microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius (?S/cm at 25?C) on the

  15. Discovery of South American suckermouth armored catfishes (Loricariidae, Pterygoplichthys spp.) in the Santa Fe River drainage, Suwannee River basin, USA

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    Nico, Leo G.; Butt, Peter L.; Johnston, Gerald R.; Jelks, Howard L.; Kail, Matthew; Walsh, Stephen J.

    2012-01-01

    We report on the occurrence of South American suckermouth armored catfishes (Loricariidae) in the Suwannee River basin, southeastern USA. Over the past few years (2009-2012), loricariid catfishes have been observed at various sites in the Santa Fe River drainage, a major tributary of the Suwannee in the state of Florida. Similar to other introduced populations of Pterygoplichthys, there is high likelihood of hybridization. To date, we have captured nine specimens (270-585 mm, standard length) in the Santa Fe River drainage. One specimen taken from Poe Spring best agrees with Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps (Kner, 1854) or may be a hybrid with either P. pardalis or P. disjunctivus. The other specimens were taken from several sites in the drainage and include seven that best agree with Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (Weber, 1991); and one a possible P. disjunctivus x P. pardalis hybrid. We observed additional individuals, either these or similar appearing loricariids, in Hornsby and Poe springs and at various sites upstream and downstream of the long (> 4 km) subterranean portion of the Santa Fe River. These specimens represent the first confirmed records of Pterygoplichthys in the Suwannee River basin. The P. gibbiceps specimen represents the first documented record of an adult or near adult of this species in open waters of North America. Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus or its hybrids (perhaps hybrid swarms) are already abundant and widespread in other parts of peninsular Florida, but the Santa Fe River represents a northern extension of the catfish in the state. Pterygoplichthys are still relatively uncommon in the Santa Fe drainage and successful reproduction not yet documented. However, in May 2012 we captured five adult catfish (two mature or maturing males and three gravid females) from a single riverine swallet pool. One male was stationed at a nest burrow (no eggs present). To survive the occasional harsh Florida winters, these South American catfish apparently use

  16. The "normal" elongation of river basins

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    Castelltort, Sebastien

    2013-04-01

    The spacing between major transverse rivers at the front of Earth's linear mountain belts consistently scales with about half of the mountain half-width [1], despite strong differences in climate and rock uplift rates. Like other empirical measures describing drainage network geometry this result seems to indicate that the form of river basins, among other properties of landscapes, is invariant. Paradoxically, in many current landscape evolution models, the patterns of drainage network organization, as seen for example in drainage density and channel spacing, seem to depend on both climate [2-4] and tectonics [5]. Hovius' observation [1] is one of several unexplained "laws" in geomorphology that still sheds mystery on how water, and rivers in particular, shape the Earth's landscapes. This narrow range of drainage network shapes found in the Earth's orogens is classicaly regarded as an optimal catchment geometry that embodies a "most probable state" in the uplift-erosion system of a linear mountain belt. River basins currently having an aspect away from this geometry are usually considered unstable and expected to re-equilibrate over geological time-scales. Here I show that the Length/Width~2 aspect ratio of drainage basins in linear mountain belts is the natural expectation of sampling a uniform or normal distribution of basin shapes, and bears no information on the geomorphic processes responsible for landscape development. This finding also applies to Hack's [6] law of river basins areas and lengths, a close parent of Hovius' law. [1]Hovius, N. Basin Res. 8, 29-44 (1996) [2]Simpson, G. & Schlunegger, F. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2300 (2003) [3]Tucker, G. & Bras, R. Water Resour. Res. 34, 2751-2764 (1998) [4]Tucker, G. & Slingerland, R. Water Resour. Res. 33, 2031-2047 (1997) [5]Tucker, G. E. & Whipple, K. X. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 1-1 (2002) [6]Hack, J. US Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 294-B (1957)

  17. Global Drainage Patterns to Modern Terrestrial Sedimentary Basins and its Influence on Large River Systems

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    Nyberg, B.; Helland-Hansen, W.

    2017-12-01

    Long-term preservation of alluvial sediments is dependent on the hydrological processes that deposit sediments solely within an area that has available accomodation space and net subsidence know as a sedimentary basin. An understanding of the river processes contributing to terrestrial sedimentary basins is essential to fundamentally constrain and quantify controls on the modern terrestrial sink. Furthermore, the terrestrial source to sink controls place constraints on the entire coastal, shelf and deep marine sediment routing systems. In addition, the geographical importance of modern terrestrial sedimentary basins for agriculture and human settlements has resulted in significant upstream anthropogenic catchment modification for irrigation and energy needs. Yet to our knowledge, a global catchment model depicting the drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins has previously not been established that may be used to address these challenging issues. Here we present a new database of 180,737 global catchments that show the surface drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins. This is achieved by using high resolution river networks derived from digital elevation models in relation to newly acquired maps on global modern sedimentary basins to identify terrestrial sinks. The results show that active tectonic regimes are typically characterized by larger terrestrial sedimentary basins, numerous smaller source catchments and a high source to sink relief ratio. To the contrary passive margins drain catchments to smaller terrestrial sedimentary basins, are composed of fewer source catchments that are relatively larger and a lower source to sink relief ratio. The different geomorphological characteristics of source catchments by tectonic setting influence the spatial and temporal patterns of fluvial architecture within sedimentary basins and the anthropogenic methods of exploiting those rivers. The new digital database resource is aimed to help

  18. Recent tritium levels in environmental waters collected at the drainage basin of Changjiang (Yangtze River)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sato, Osamu; Nakagawa, Takao; Hashimoto, Tetsuo [Niigata Univ. (Japan)

    1989-11-01

    This paper reports tritium levels in environmental waters in the China in comparison with those in Japan. Environmental water samples were collected in October-November 1987 from the drainage basin of Changjiang from Sichuan through Hubei districts. Tritium levels were 0.22 Bq/l-6.73 Bq/l (an average, 3.09{plus minus}1.18 Bq/l) in 50 ground water samples; 3.40 Bq/l-3.81 Bq/l (an average, 3.71{plus minus}0.81 Bq/l) in four river samples collected from the main course of the Changjiang River; 1.74 Bq/l-5.40 Bq/l (an average, 3.14{plus minus}1.52 Bq/l) in four river samples collected from the tributary river; and 0.63 Bq/l and 1.78 Bq/l in precipitation samples. Environmental waters contained a large quantity of Ca{sup 2+} and Mg{sup 2+} ions, irrespective of river and ground water samples. In comparing tritium levels in environmental waters in the China and Japan, tritium levels were higher in the ground water influenced by a landslide in the China than Japan. Tritium levels in precipitations collected from the drainage basin of the Changjiang were similar to those in Niigata (Japan), 0.63{plus minus}0.26 Bq/l and 1.78{plus minus}0.26 Bq/l vs 0.53{plus minus}0.36 Bq/l - 2.17{plus minus}0.40 Bq/l. The concentrations of Ca{sup 2+}, Mg{sup 2+}, and HCO{sub 3}{sup -} were higher in the Changjiang River (4 water samples) than the river waters, including the Shinano River in Japan. The concentrations of Na{sup +} and Cl{sup -} were higher in the Changjiang River than the average concentrations in the Japanese rivers, but lower than the Shinano River (Japan). A small quantity of precipitations and width of the Changjiang River, as well as nuclear explosion test performed up to 1980, seem to influence higher tritium levels in the Changjiang than those in Japan. (N.K.).

  19. Genetic integrity of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus L. 1758 within the Vienne River drainage basin after five decades of stockings

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    Henri Persat

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available European grayling of the upper Vienne River drainage basin represent the westernmost populations inside the natural distribution of the species. Since the 19th century, their extension across this sub-basin has been dramatically reduced by the harnessing of the river network for dams, initially serving mills but then hydroelectric power generation. Since the 1960s, local fishing authorities have attempted to compensate for these declines with stocking programs, but the efficiency of these efforts have never been accurately monitored. We aim to evaluate the genetic imprints of these stocking programs and thus provide an indirect measure of the long-term survival of stocked fish. Three target populations were analyzed at both mtDNA (Control Region and nDNA levels (12 µSats, and compared to populations representative of surrounding drainage basins or fish farm facilities. Among 37 "wild" fish sequenced, only three control region haplotypes were identified, all belonging to the highly divergent Loire basin lineage. Two were specific to the Upper Vienne area, and one was observed in some individuals of the most downstream location, but previously described from the upper Allier sub-drainage. Microsatellite analysis of 87 "wild" fish also demonstrated a rather low diversity within each population (but typical for the Loire drainage with all Upper Vienne individuals belonging to a single diagnosable unit. This genetic cluster was clearly distinct from all other samples including hatchery strains, which strongly supports its native origin. The only piece of evidence of a possible stocking contribution was the occurrence of the Allier haplotype, but it cannot be excluded that this haplotype was also native to this reach of river. The total lack of genetic impact of five decades of stocking deeply questions the efficacy of this management approach, at least in a regional context.

  20. Drainage reorganization and divide migration induced by the excavation of the Ebro basin (NE Spain)

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    Vacherat, Arnaud; Bonnet, Stéphane; Mouthereau, Frédéric

    2018-05-01

    Intracontinental endorheic basins are key elements of source-to-sink systems as they preserve sediments eroded from the surrounding catchments. Drainage reorganization in such a basin in response to changing boundary conditions has strong implications on the sediment routing system and on landscape evolution. The Ebro and Duero basins represent two foreland basins, which developed in response to the growth of surrounding compressional orogens, the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian mountains to the north, the Iberian Ranges to the south, and the Catalan Coastal Range to the east. They were once connected as endorheic basins in the early Oligocene. By the end of the Miocene, new post-orogenic conditions led to the current setting in which the Ebro and Duero basins are flowing in opposite directions, towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although these two hydrographic basins recorded a similar history, they are characterized by very different morphologic features. The Ebro basin is highly excavated, whereas relicts of the endorheic stage are very well preserved in the Duero basin. The contrasting morphological preservation of the endorheic stage represents an ideal natural laboratory to study the drivers (internal and/or external) of post-orogenic drainage divide mobility, drainage network, and landscape evolution. To that aim, we use field and map observations and we apply the χ analysis of river profiles along the divide between the Ebro and Duero drainage basins. We show here that the contrasting excavation of the Ebro and Duero basins drives a reorganization of their drainage network through a series of captures, which resulted in the southwestward migration of their main drainage divide. Fluvial captures have a strong impact on drainage areas, fluxes, and their respective incision capacity. We conclude that drainage reorganization driven by the capture of the Duero basin rivers by the Ebro drainage system explains the first-order preservation of

  1. Use of real-time monitoring to predict concentrations of select constituents in the Menomonee River drainage basin, Southeast Wisconsin, 2008-9

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Austin K.; Graczyk, David J.; Robertson, Dale M.; Saad, David A.; Magruder, Christopher

    2012-01-01

    The Menomonee River drainage basin in southeast Wisconsin is undergoing changes that may affect water quality. Several rehabilitation and flood-management projects are underway, including removal of concrete channels and the construction of floodwater retention basins. The city of Waukesha may begin discharging treated wastewater into Underwood Creek, thus approximately doubling the current base-flow discharge. In addition, the headwater basins, historically dominated by agriculture and natural areas, are becoming increasingly urbanized.

  2. Cenozoic North American Drainage Basin Evolution, Sediment Yield, and Accumulation in the Gulf of Mexico Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galloway, W.; Ganey-Curry, P. E.

    2010-12-01

    The Cenozoic fill of the Gulf of Mexico basin contains a continuous record of sediment supply from the North American continental interior for the past 65 million years. Regional mapping of unit thickness and paleogeography for 18 depositional episodes defines patterns of shifting entry points of continental fluvial systems and quantifies the total volume of sediment supplied during each episode. Eight fluvio-deltaic depocenters, named for geographic similarities to entry points and drainage basins of modern rivers, are present. From southwest to northeast, they are the Rio Bravo, Rio Grande, Guadalupe, Colorado, Houston-Brazos, Red, Mississippi, and Tennessee axes. Sediment volume was calculated from hand-contoured unit thickness maps compiled from basin-wide well and seismic control. Using a GIS algorithm to sum volumes within polygons bounding interpreted North American river contribution, the total extant volume was then calculated. General compaction factors were used to convert modern volume to quantitative approximations of total grain volume. Grain volume rate of supply for each depositional episode was then calculated. Values vary by more than an order of magnitude. Supply rate has commonly varied by two-fold or more between successive depositional episodes. Sediment supply is a significant, independent variable in development of stratigraphic sequences within the Gulf basin. Paleogeographic maps of the continental interior for eleven Cenozoic time intervals display the evolving and complex interplay of intracontinental tectonism, climate change, and drainage basin evolution. Five tectono-climatic eras are differentiated: Paleocene late Laramide era; early to middle Eocene terminal Laramide era; middle Cenozoic (Late Eocene—Early Miocene) dry, volcanogenic era; middle Neogene (Middle—Late Miocene) arid, extensional era; and late Neogene (Plio—Pleistocene) monsoonal, epeirogenic uplift era. Sediment supply to the GOM reflects the interplay of (1

  3. Erosion control works and the intensity of soil erosion in the upper part of the river Toplica drainage basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostadinov, S; Dragovic, N; Zlatic, M; Todosijevic, M

    2008-01-01

    Aiming at the protection of the future storage 'Selova' against erosion and sediment, and also to protect the settlements and roads in the drainage basin against torrential floods, erosion control works in the upper part of the river Toplica basin, upstream of the storage 'Selova', started in 1947. The works included building-technical works (check dams) and biological works (afforestation and grassing of bare lands and other erosion risk areas). Within the period 1947-2006, the following erosion control works were executed: afforestation of bare lands on the slopes 2,257.00 ha, grassing of bare lands 1,520.00 ha, and altogether 54 dams were constructed in the river Toplica tributaries. This caused the decrease of sediment transport in the main flow of the river Toplica. This paper, based on the field research conducted in two time periods: 1988 and in the period 2004-2007, presents the state of erosion in the basin before erosion control works; type and scope of erosion control works and their effect on the intensity of erosion in the river Toplica basin upstream of the future storage 'Selova'.

  4. Transport of fallout and reactor radionuclides in the drainage basin of the Hudson River estuary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simpson, H.J.; Linsalata, P.; Olsen, C.R.; Cohen, N.; Trier, R.M.

    1987-01-01

    Fallout plutonium and radiocesium derived from both weapons testing and local reactor releases are found in the water column and sediments of the Hudson River in readily measurable amounts. The history of fallout delivery and dissolved phase runoff from the drainage basin of 80 Sr, 137 Cs, and /sup 239,240/Pu have been extensively documented since the mid-1950s. Sediment and water column concentrations of 134 Cs, 137 Cs, and /sup 239,240/Pu in the Hudson have also been documented since the mid-1960's and are summarized. Since the peak fallout years, substantial portions of the fallout radionuclides in the drainage basin have become unavailable to normal weathering processes as reflected by a measured decrease in the fallout nuclide transport to the waters of the tidal Hudson. Budget calculations indicate that plutonium may be transported into the estuary from the coastal ocean, and that desorption of radiocesium from particles has allowed a substantial fraction of radiocesium to be exported from the Hudson to marine waters. 29 references, 6 figures, 8 tables

  5. Morphometric analysis of the Marmara Sea river basins, Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elbaşı, Emre; Ozdemir, Hasan

    2014-05-01

    The drainage basin, the fundamental unit of the fluvial landscape, has been focus of research aimed at understanding the geometric characteristics of the master channel and its tributary network. This geometry is referred to as the basin morphometry and is nicely reviewed by Abrahams (1984). A great amount of research has focused on geometric characteristic of drainage basins, including the topology of the stream networks, and quantitative description of drainage texture, pattern, shape, and relief characteristics. Evaluation of morphometric parameters necessitates the analysis of various drainage parameters such as ordering of the various streams, measurement of basin area and perimeter, length of drainage channels, drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs), bifurcation ratio (Rb), texture ratio (T), basin relief (Bh), Ruggedness number (Rn), time of concentration (Tc), hypsometric curve and integral (Hc and Hi) (Horton, 1932, Schumn, 1956, Strahler, 1957; Verstappen 1983; Keller and Pinter, 2002; Ozdemir and Bird, 2009). These morphometric parameters have generally been used to predict flood peaks, to assess sediment yield, and to estimate erosion rates in the basins. River basins of the Marmara Sea, has an area of approximately 40,000 sqkm, are the most important basins in Turkey based on their dense populations, industry and transportation systems. The primary aim of this study is to determine and analyse of morphometric characteristics of the Marmara Sea river basins using 10 m resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and to evaluate of the results. For these purposes, digital 10 m contour maps scaled 1:25000 and geological maps scaled 1:100000 were used as the main data sources in the study. 10 m resolution DEM data were created using the contour maps and then drainage networks and their watersheds were extracted using D8 pour point model. Finally, linear, areal and relief morphometries were applied to the river basins using Geographic Information Systems

  6. Using AnnAGNPS to Predict the Effects of Tile Drainage Control on Nutrient and Sediment Loads for a River Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Que, Z; Seidou, O; Droste, R L; Wilkes, G; Sunohara, M; Topp, E; Lapen, D R

    2015-03-01

    Controlled tile drainage (CTD) can reduce pollutant loading. The Annualized Agricultural Nonpoint Source model (AnnAGNPS version 5.2) was used to examine changes in growing season discharge, sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loads due to CTD for a ∼3900-km agriculturally dominated river basin in Ontario, Canada. Two tile drain depth scenarios were examined in detail to mimic tile drainage control for flat cropland: 600 mm depth (CTD) and 200 mm (CTD) depth below surface. Summed for five growing seasons (CTD), direct runoff, total N, and dissolved N were reduced by 6.6, 3.5, and 13.7%, respectively. However, five seasons of summed total P, dissolved P, and total suspended solid loads increased as a result of CTD by 0.96, 1.6, and 0.23%. The AnnAGNPS results were compared with mass fluxes observed from paired experimental watersheds (250, 470 ha) in the river basin. The "test" experimental watershed was dominated by CTD and the "reference" watershed by free drainage. Notwithstanding environmental/land use differences between the watersheds and basin, comparisons of seasonal observed and predicted discharge reductions were comparable in 100% of respective cases. Nutrient load comparisons were more consistent for dissolved, relative to particulate water quality endpoints. For one season under corn crop production, AnnAGNPS predicted a 55% decrease (CTD) in dissolved N from the basin. AnnAGNPS v. 5.2 treats P transport from a surface pool perspective, which is appropriate for many systems. However, for assessment of tile drainage management practices for relatively flat tile-dominated systems, AnnAGNPS may benefit from consideration of P and particulate transport in the subsurface. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  7. Sedimentation and chemical quality of surface water in the Heart River drainage basin, North Dakota

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maderak, Marion L.

    1966-01-01

    The Heart River drainage basin of southwestern North Dakota comprises an area of 3,365 square miles and lies within the Missouri Plateau of the Great Plains province. Streamflow of the Heart River and its tributaries during 1949-58 was directly proportional to .the drainage area. After the construction of Heart Butte Dam in 1949 and Dickinson Dam in 1950, the mean annual streamflow near Mandan was decreased an estimated 10 percent by irrigation, evaporation from the two reservoirs, and municipal use. Processes that contribute sediment to the Heart River are mass wasting, advancement of valley heads, and sheet, lateral stream, and gully erosion. In general, glacial deposits, terraces, and bars of Quaternary age are sources of sand and larger sediment, and the rocks of Tertiary age are sources of clay, silt. and sand. The average annual suspended-sediment discharges near Mandan were estimated to be 1,300,000 tons for 1945-49 and 710,000 tons for 1970-58. The percentage composition of ions in water of the Heart River, based on average concentrations in equivalents per million for selected ranges of streamflow, changes with flow and from station to station. During extremely low flows the water contains a large percentage of sodium and about equal percentages of bicarbonate and .sulfate, and during extremely high flows the water contains a large percentage of calcium plus magnesium and bicarbonate. The concentrations, in parts per million, of most of the ions vary inversely with flow. The water in the reservoirs--Edward Arthur Patterson Lake and Lake Tschida--during normal or above-normal runoff is of suitable quality for public use. Generally, because of medium or high salinity hazards, the successful long-term use of Heart River water for irrigation will depend on a moderate amount of leaching, adequate drainage, ,and the growing of crops that have moderate or good salt tolerance.

  8. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AT THE AREA OF MUNIM RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN AT THE TOWN OF CHAPADINHA – MA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlo Pereira Lima

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays it is discussed the necessity of preservation of the hydro resources availablefor consumption. Once the human beings have the consumption of water as somethingessencial for the life, since early they valued water near their houses. This preocupationcontinue, although during the last decade, the progressive destructions of nature waterreservoirs are observated. Among the depredating actions are: polution, contaminated riversand deforestation of ciliary woods near the rivers that become easy and fast the erosiveprocesses.The state of Maranhão, besides is in Northeast, has different physical characteristicsfrom the rest of the region. The drainage basins that are distributed through the Maranhão arecomposed of principal perennial rivers and tributaries that are sometimes perennial andtemporary. In the Munin river basin, the growing urbane evolution results in seriousenvironmental consequences in its way. The stretch studied, in Chapadinha-Maranhão, hassuffered quick erosive process and consequently the silting on the riverbanks.So in this work we intend to identify the principal agents and processes that spoil thefluvial environment provoking the erosion on the banks and the silting of the watercourse.

  9. Eco policy: Environmental Stress and Conflicts in Africa. Case Study of Drainage Basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okidi, C.O

    1994-01-01

    The main cause for African misery is limited supply of water which has a direct impact on agricultural production. The continent of Africa has a reticulation of 54 drainage basins including rivers which either traverse boundaries or form part of such boundaries. These basins cover approximately half of the continent but only 2% of the total water is utilized leaving 98% to replenish the oceans. In future Africa should focus attention on control, apportionment and utilization of the waters of it's drainage basins in order to ameliorate the the problems brought about by scarcity of rainfall and consequent drought and famine. After the drought in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, there has been efforts to control the promising rivers and transfer the water to to centres of agriculture and human settlements and this is likely to cause international conflicts. The author recommends that, in order to control such conflicts the basin states there should be systematic collaboration among the basin states in the management of such waters

  10. Eustatic and tectonic change effects in the reversion of the transcontinental Amazon River drainage system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Vicente Caputo

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The development of the transcontinental Amazon River System involved geological events in the Andes Chain; Vaupés, Purus and Gurupá arches; sedimentary basins of the region and sea level changes. The origin and age of this river have been discussed for decades, and many ideas have been proposed, including those pertaining to it having originated in the Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Late Miocene, or even earlier times. Under this context, the geology of the sedimentary basins of northern Brazil has been analyzed from the Mesozoic time on, and some clarifications are placed on its stratigraphy. Vaupés Arch, in Colombia, was uplifted together with the Andean Mountains in the Middle Miocene time. In the Cenozoic Era, the Purus Arch has not blocked this drainage system westward to marine basins of Western South America or eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. Also the Gurupá Arch remained high up to the end of Middle Miocene, directing this drainage system westward. With the late subsidence and breaching of the Gurupá Arch and a major fall in sea level, at the beginning of the Late Miocene, the Amazon River quickly opened its pathway to the west, from the Marajó Basin, through deep headward erosion, capturing a vast drainage network from cratonic and Andean areas, which had previously been diverted towards the Caribbean Sea. During this time, the large siliciclastic influx to the Amazon Mouth (Foz do Amazonas Basin and its fan increased, due to erosion of large tracts of South America, linking the Amazon drainage network to that of the Marajó Basin. This extensive exposure originated the Late Miocene (Tortonian unconformity, which marks the onset of the transcontinental Amazon River flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

  11. Northern part, Ten Mile and Taunton River basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, John R.; Willey, Richard E.

    1967-01-01

    The northern part of the Ten Mile and Taunton River basins is an area of about 195 square miles within Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties in southeastern Massachusetts. The northern boundary of the area (plate 1) is the drainage divide separating these basins from that of the Charles, Neponset, and Weymouth River basins. The western boundary is, for the most part, the divide separating the basins from the Blackstone River basin. The eastern boundary is at the edge of the Brockton-Pembroke area (Petersen, 1962; Petersen and Shaw, 1961). The southern boundary in Seekonk is the northern limit of the East Providence quadrangle, for which a ground-water map was prepared by Allen and Gorman (1959); eastward, the southern boundaries of the city of Attleboro and the towns of Norton, Easton, and West Bridgewater form the southern boundary of the area.

  12. Simulating Spatial Variability of Fluvial Sediment Fluxes Within the Magdalena Drainage Basin, Colombia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kettner, A. J.; Syvitski, J. P.; Restrepo, J. D.

    2008-12-01

    This study explores the application of an empirical sediment flux model BQART, to simulate long-term sediment fluxes of major tributaries of a river system based on a limited number of input parameters. We validate model results against data of the 1612 km long Magdalena River, Colombia, South America, which is well monitored. The Magdalena River, draining a hinterland area of 257,438 km2, of which the majority lies in the Andes before reaching the Atlantic coast, is known for its high sediment yield, 560 t kg- 2 yr-1; higher than nearby South American rivers like the Amazon or the Orinoco River. Sediment fluxes of 32 tributary basins of the Magdalena River were simulated based on the following controlling factors: geomorphic influences (tributary-basin area and relief) derived from high-resolution Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, tributary basin-integrated lithology based on GIS analysis of lithology data, 30year temperature data, and observed monthly mean discharge data records (varying in record length of 15 to 60 years). Preliminary results indicate that the simulated sediment flux of all 32 tributaries matches the observational record, given the observational error and the annual variability. These simulations did not take human influences into account yet, which often increases sediment fluxes by accelerating erosion, especially in steep mountainous area similar to the Magdalena. Simulations indicate that, with relatively few input parameters, mostly derived from remotely-sensed data or existing compiled GIS datasets, it is possible to predict: which tributaries in an arbitrary river drainage produce relatively high contributions to sediment yields, and where in the drainage basin you might expect conveyance loss.

  13. Water-quality assessment of the Smith River drainage basin, California and Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwatsubo, Rick T.; Washabaugh, Donna S.

    1982-01-01

    A water-quality assessment of the Smith River drainage basin was made to provide a summary of the water-quality conditions including known or potential water-quality problems. Results of the study showed that the water quality of the Smith River is excellent and generally meets the water-quality objectives for the beneficial uses identified by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region. Known and potential problems related to water quality include: Sedimentation resulting from both natural erosional processes and land-use activities such as timber harvest, road construction, and mining that accelerate the erosional processes; bacterial contamination of surface and ground waters from inundated septic tanks and drainfields, and grazing activities; industrial spills which have resulted in fish kills and oil residues; high concetrations of iron in ground water; log and debris jams creating fish migration barriers; and pesticide and trace-element contamination from timber-harvest and mining activities, respectively. Future studies are needed to establish: (1) a sustained long-term monitoring program to provide a broad coverage of water-quality conditions in order to define long-term water-quality trends; and (2) interpretive studies to determine the source of known and potential water-quality problems. (USGS)

  14. River piracy and drainage basin reorganization led by climate-driven glacier retreat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shugar, Daniel H.; Clague, John J.; Best, James L.; Schoof, Christian; Willis, Michael J.; Copland, Luke; Roe, Gerard H.

    2017-04-01

    River piracy--the diversion of the headwaters of one stream into another one--can dramatically change the routing of water and sediment, with a profound effect on landscape evolution. Stream piracy has been investigated in glacial environments, but so far it has mainly been studied over Quaternary or longer timescales. Here we document how retreat of Kaskawulsh Glacier--one of Canada's largest glaciers--abruptly and radically altered the regional drainage pattern in spring 2016. We use a combination of hydrological measurements and drone-generated digital elevation models to show that in late May 2016, meltwater from the glacier was re-routed from discharge in a northward direction into the Bering Sea, to southward into the Pacific Ocean. Based on satellite image analysis and a signal-to-noise ratio as a metric of glacier retreat, we conclude that this instance of river piracy was due to post-industrial climate change. Rapid regional drainage reorganizations of this type can have profound downstream impacts on ecosystems, sediment and carbon budgets, and downstream communities that rely on a stable and sustained discharge. We suggest that the planforms of Slims and Kaskawulsh rivers will adjust in response to altered flows, and the future Kaskawulsh watershed will extend into the now-abandoned headwaters of Slims River and eventually capture the Kluane Lake drainage.

  15. Are calanco landforms similar to river basins?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caraballo-Arias, N A; Ferro, V

    2017-12-15

    In the past badlands have been often considered as ideal field laboratories for studying landscape evolution because of their geometrical similarity to larger fluvial systems. For a given hydrological process, no scientific proof exists that badlands can be considered a model of river basin prototypes. In this paper the measurements carried out on 45 Sicilian calanchi, a type of badlands that appears as a small-scale hydrographic unit, are used to establish their morphological similarity with river systems whose data are available in the literature. At first the geomorphological similarity is studied by identifying the dimensionless groups, which can assume the same value or a scaled one in a fixed ratio, representing drainage basin shape, stream network and relief properties. Then, for each property, the dimensionless groups are calculated for the investigated calanchi and the river basins and their corresponding scale ratio is evaluated. The applicability of Hack's, Horton's and Melton's laws for establishing similarity criteria is also tested. The developed analysis allows to conclude that a quantitative morphological similarity between calanco landforms and river basins can be established using commonly applied dimensionless groups. In particular, the analysis showed that i) calanchi and river basins have a geometrically similar shape respect to the parameters Rf and Re with a scale factor close to 1, ii) calanchi and river basins are similar respect to the bifurcation and length ratios (λ=1), iii) for the investigated calanchi the Melton number assumes values less than that (0.694) corresponding to the river case and a scale ratio ranging from 0.52 and 0.78 can be used, iv) calanchi and river basins have similar mean relief ratio values (λ=1.13) and v) calanchi present active geomorphic processes and therefore fall in a more juvenile stage with respect to river basins. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Macroinvertebrate community response to acid mine drainage in rivers of the High Andes (Bolivia).

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Damme, P.A. van; Hamel, C.; Ayala, A.; Bervoets, L.

    2008-01-01

    Several High Andes Rivers are characterized by inorganic water pollution known as acid mine drainage (AMD). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between metal concentrations in the sediments and the macroinvertebrate communities in two river basins affected by AMD. In general, the

  17. An Efficient Method for Mapping High-Resolution Global River Discharge Based on the Algorithms of Drainage Network Extraction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiaye Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available River discharge, which represents the accumulation of surface water flowing into rivers and ultimately into the ocean or other water bodies, may have great impacts on water quality and the living organisms in rivers. However, the global knowledge of river discharge is still poor and worth exploring. This study proposes an efficient method for mapping high-resolution global river discharge based on the algorithms of drainage network extraction. Using the existing global runoff map and digital elevation model (DEM data as inputs, this method consists of three steps. First, the pixels of the runoff map and the DEM data are resampled into the same resolution (i.e., 0.01-degree. Second, the flow direction of each pixel of the DEM data (identified by the optimal flow path method used in drainage network extraction is determined and then applied to the corresponding pixel of the runoff map. Third, the river discharge of each pixel of the runoff map is calculated by summing the runoffs of all the pixels in the upstream of this pixel, similar to the upslope area accumulation step in drainage network extraction. Finally, a 0.01-degree global map of the mean annual river discharge is obtained. Moreover, a 0.5-degree global map of the mean annual river discharge is produced to display the results with a more intuitive perception. Compared against the existing global river discharge databases, the 0.01-degree map is of a generally high accuracy for the selected river basins, especially for the Amazon River basin with the lowest relative error (RE of 0.3% and the Yangtze River basin within the RE range of ±6.0%. However, it is noted that the results of the Congo and Zambezi River basins are not satisfactory, with RE values over 90%, and it is inferred that there may be some accuracy problems with the runoff map in these river basins.

  18. Morphotectonics of the Jamini River basin, Bundelkhand Craton, Central India; using remote sensing and GIS technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prakash, K.; Mohanty, T.; Pati, J. K.; Singh, S.; Chaubey, K.

    2017-11-01

    Morphological and morphotectonic analyses have been used to obtain information that influence hydrographic basins, predominantly these are modifications of tectonic elements and the quantitative description of landforms. Discrimination of morphotectonic indices of active tectonics of the Jamini river basin consists the analyses of asymmetry factor, ruggedness number, basin relief, gradient, basin elongation ratio, drainage density analysis, and drainage pattern analysis, which have been completed for each drainage basin using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The Jamini river is one of the major tributaries of the Betwa river in central India. The Jamini river basin is divided into five subwatersheds viz. Jamrar, Onri, Sainam, Shahzad and Baragl subwatershed. The quantitative approach of watershed development of the Jamini river basin, and its four sixth (SW1-SW4) and one fifth (SW5) order subwatersheds, was carried out using Survey of India toposheets (parts of 54I, 54K, 54L, 54O, and 54P), Landsat 7 ETM+, ASTER (GDEM) data, and field data. The Jamini river has low bifurcation index which is a positive marker of tectonic imprint on the hydrographic network. The analyses show that the geomorphological progression of the study area was robustly influenced by tectonics. The analysis demonstrates to extensional tectonics system with the following alignments: NE-SW, NW-SE, NNE-SSW, ENE-WSW, E-W, and N-S. Three major trends are followed by lower order streams viz. NE-SW, NW-SE, and E-W directions which advocate that these tectonic trends were active at least up to the Late Pleistocene. The assessment of morphotectonic indices may be used to evaluate the control of active faults on the hydrographic system. The analysis points out westward tilting of the drainage basins with strong asymmetry in some reaches, marked elongation ratio of subwatersheds, and lower order streams having close alignment with lineaments (active faults). The study facilitated to considerate the

  19. Overview of mine drainage geochemistry at historical mines, Humboldt River basin and adjacent mining areas, Nevada. Chapter E.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nash, J. Thomas; Stillings, Lisa L.

    2004-01-01

    Reconnaissance hydrogeochemical studies of the Humboldt River basin and adjacent areas of northern Nevada have identified local sources of acidic waters generated by historical mine workings and mine waste. The mine-related acidic waters are rare and generally flow less than a kilometer before being neutralized by natural processes. Where waters have a pH of less than about 3, particularly in the presence of sulfide minerals, the waters take on high to extremely high concentrations of many potentially toxic metals. The processes that create these acidic, metal-rich waters in Nevada are the same as for other parts of the world, but the scale of transport and the fate of metals are much more localized because of the ubiquitous presence of caliche soils. Acid mine drainage is rare in historical mining districts of northern Nevada, and the volume of drainage rarely exceeds about 20 gpm. My findings are in close agreement with those of Price and others (1995) who estimated that less than 0.05 percent of inactive and abandoned mines in Nevada are likely to be a concern for acid mine drainage. Most historical mining districts have no draining mines. Only in two districts (Hilltop and National) does water affected by mining flow into streams of significant size and length (more than 8 km). Water quality in even the worst cases is naturally attenuated to meet water-quality standards within about 1 km of the source. Only a few historical mines release acidic water with elevated metal concentrations to small streams that reach the Humboldt River, and these contaminants and are not detectable in the Humboldt. These reconnaissance studies offer encouraging evidence that abandoned mines in Nevada create only minimal and local water-quality problems. Natural attenuation processes are sufficient to compensate for these relatively small sources of contamination. These results may provide useful analogs for future mining in the Humboldt River basin, but attention must be given to

  20. Environmental education for river-basin planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saha, S K

    1980-08-01

    Harmonious intervention in land use, a result of environmental education and good planning, can increase the social and economic benefits without precluding development. Modern river basin planning began as a US innovation in 1874 over the subject of water regulation in the west. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was devised as a state tool for comprehensive river basin planning and development. The TVA example was not repeated in the other 10 US basins by the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, although the concept of unified development has survived as a three-part relationship of physical,biological, and human forces in which any malfunctioning of one subsystem affects the others. This is evident in problems of water transfer from agricultural to industrial functions and changes to drainage patterns. The potential damage from ignoring these relationships can be avoided with true interdisciplinary communications. 24 references, 2 tables. (DCK)

  1. StreamStats in Oklahoma - Drainage-Basin Characteristics and Peak-Flow Frequency Statistics for Ungaged Streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, S. Jerrod; Esralew, Rachel A.

    2010-01-01

    drainage-basin outlet for the period 1961-1990, 10-85 channel slope (slope between points located at 10 percent and 85 percent of the longest flow-path length upstream from the outlet), and percent impervious area. The Oklahoma StreamStats application interacts with the National Streamflow Statistics database, which contains the peak-flow regression equations in a previously published report. Fourteen peak-flow (flood) frequency statistics are available for computation in the Oklahoma StreamStats application. These statistics include the peak flow at 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year recurrence intervals for rural, unregulated streams; and the peak flow at 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year recurrence intervals for rural streams that are regulated by Natural Resources Conservation Service floodwater retarding structures. Basin characteristics and streamflow statistics cannot be computed for locations in playa basins (mostly in the Oklahoma Panhandle) and along main stems of the largest river systems in the state, namely the Arkansas, Canadian, Cimarron, Neosho, Red, and Verdigris Rivers, because parts of the drainage areas extend outside of the processed hydrologic units.

  2. Hydrological inferences through morphometric analysis of lower Kosi river basin of India for water resource management based on remote sensing data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rai, Praveen Kumar; Chandel, Rajeev Singh; Mishra, Varun Narayan; Singh, Prafull

    2018-03-01

    Satellite based remote sensing technology has proven to be an effectual tool in analysis of drainage networks, study of surface morphological features and their correlation with groundwater management prospect at basin level. The present study highlights the effectiveness and advantage of remote sensing and GIS-based analysis for quantitative and qualitative assessment of flood plain region of lower Kosi river basin based on morphometric analysis. In this study, ASTER DEM is used to extract the vital hydrological parameters of lower Kosi river basin in ARC GIS software. Morphometric parameters, e.g., stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, drainage frequency, drainage texture, form factor, circularity ratio, elongation ratio, etc., have been calculated for the Kosi basin and their hydrological inferences were discussed. Most of the morphometric parameters such as bifurcation ratio, drainage density, drainage frequency, drainage texture concluded that basin has good prospect for water management program for various purposes and also generated data base that can provide scientific information for site selection of water-harvesting structures and flood management activities in the basin. Land use land cover (LULC) of the basin were also prepared from Landsat data of 2005, 2010 and 2015 to assess the change in dynamic of the basin and these layers are very noteworthy for further watershed prioritization.

  3. Distributed Leadership in Drainage Basin Management: A Critical Analysis of ‘River Chief Policy’ from a Distributed Leadership Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Liuyi

    2018-02-01

    Water resources management has been more significant than ever since the official file stipulated ‘three red lines’ to scrupulously control water usage and water pollution, accelerating the promotion of ‘River Chief Policy’ throughout China. The policy launches creative approaches to include people from different administrative levels to participate and distributes power to increase drainage basin management efficiency. Its execution resembles features of distributed leadership theory, a vastly acknowledged western leadership theory with innovative perspective and visions to suit the modern world. This paper intends to analyse the policy from a distributed leadership perspective using Taylor’s critical policy analysis framework.

  4. Occurrence of the Rayed Creekshell, Anodontoides Radzatus, in the Mississippi River Basin: Implications For Conservation and Biogeography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendell R. Haag; Melvin L. Warren; Keith Wright; Larry Shaffer

    2002-01-01

    We document the occurrence of the rayed creekshell (Anodontoides radiatus Conrad), a freshwater mussel (Unionidae), at eight sites in the upper Yazoo River drainage (lower Mississippi River Basin) in northern Mississippi. Previously, A. radiatus was thought to be restricted to Gulf Coast drainages as far west only as the...

  5. 14C as a tool for evaluating riverine POC sources and erosion of the Zhujiang (Pearl River) drainage basin, South China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Xiuguo; Yi Weixi; Shen Chengde; Yechieli, Yoseph; Li Ningli; Ding Ping; Wang Ning; Liu Kexin

    2010-01-01

    Radiocarbon can serve as a powerful tool for identifying sources of organic carbon and evaluating the erosion intensity in river drainage basins. In this paper we present 14 C-AMS measurements of particulate organic carbon (POC) collected from the three major tributaries of the Zhujiang (Pearl River) system: the Xijiang (Western River), Beijiang (Northern River) and Dongjiang (Eastern River) rivers. Furthermore, we discuss the distribution of POC 14 C apparent ages and the related watersheds erosion of these rivers. Results yield Δ 14 C values of -425 per mille to -65 per mille which indicate that the 14 C apparent ages of suspended POC in the entire area are in the range of 540-4445 years. The POC apparent ages from Xijiang are mostly between 2000 and 4000 years, while in Dongjiang they mostly range from 540 to 1010 years. These 14 C apparent ages indicate that the watershed erosion of the Xijiang is more severe than that of the Dongjiang. This is in agreement with other data showing deeper erosion in Xijiang due to human activities.

  6. Impact of farm dams on river flows; A case study in the Limpopo River basin, Southern Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijer, E.; Querner, E.P.; Boesveld, H.

    2013-01-01

    The study analysed the impact of a farm dam on the river flow in the Limpopo River basin. Two methods are used to calculate the water inflow: one uses the runoff component from the catchment water balance; the other uses the drainage output of the SIMFLOW model. The impact on the flow in a

  7. Genetic and Phenotypic Catalog of Native Resident Trout of the interior Columbia River Basin : FY-2001 Report : Populations in the Wenatchee, Entiat, Lake Chelan and Methow River Drainages.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Trotter, Patrick C.

    2001-10-01

    The 1994 Fish and Wildlife Program of the Northwest Power Planning Council specifies the recovery and preservation of population health of native resident fishes of the Columbia River Basin. Among the native resident species of concern are interior rainbow trout of the Columbia River redband subspecies Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri 1 and westslope cutthroat trout O. clarki lewisi. The westslope cutthroat trout has been petitioned for listing under the U. S. Endangered Species Act (American Wildlands et al. 1997). Before at-risk populations can be protected, their presence and status must be established. Where introgression from introduced species is a concern, as in the case of both westslope cutthroat trout and redband rainbow trout, genetic issues must be addressed as well. As is true with native trout elsewhere in the western United States (Behnke 1992), most of the remaining pure populations of these species in the Columbia River Basin are in relatively remote headwater reaches. The objective of this project was to photo-document upper Columbia Basin native resident trout populations in Washington, and to ascertain their species or subspecies identity and relative genetic purity using a nonlethal DNA technique. FY-2001 was year three (and final year) of a project in which we conducted field visits to remote locations to seek out and catalog these populations. In FY-2001 we worked in collaboration with the Wenatchee National Forest to catalog populations in the Wenatchee, Entiat, Lake Chelan, and Methow River drainages of Washington State.

  8. Reconciling drainage and receiving basin signatures of the Godavari River system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojoshogu Usman, Muhammed; Kirkels, Frédérique Marie Sophie Anne; Zwart, Huub Michel; Basu, Sayak; Ponton, Camilo; Blattmann, Thomas Michael; Ploetze, Michael; Haghipour, Negar; McIntyre, Cameron; Peterse, Francien; Lupker, Maarten; Giosan, Liviu; Eglinton, Timothy Ian

    2018-06-01

    The modern-day Godavari River transports large amounts of sediment (170 Tg per year) and terrestrial organic carbon (OCterr; 1.5 Tg per year) from peninsular India to the Bay of Bengal. The flux and nature of OCterr is considered to have varied in response to past climate and human forcing. In order to delineate the provenance and nature of organic matter (OM) exported by the fluvial system and establish links to sedimentary records accumulating on its adjacent continental margin, the stable and radiogenic isotopic composition of bulk OC, abundance and distribution of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs), sedimentological properties (e.g. grain size, mineral surface area, etc.) of fluvial (riverbed and riverbank) sediments and soils from the Godavari basin were analysed and these characteristics were compared to those of a sediment core retrieved from the continental slope depocenter. Results show that river sediments from the upper catchment exhibit higher total organic carbon (TOC) contents than those from the lower part of the basin. The general relationship between TOC and sedimentological parameters (i.e. mineral surface area and grain size) of the sediments suggests that sediment mineralogy, largely driven by provenance, plays an important role in the stabilization of OM during transport along the river axis, and in the preservation of OM exported by the Godavari to the Bay of Bengal. The stable carbon isotopic (δ13C) characteristics of river sediments and soils indicate that the upper mainstream and its tributaries drain catchments exhibiting more 13C enriched carbon than the lower stream, resulting from the regional vegetation gradient and/or net balance between the upper (C4-dominated plants) and lower (C3-dominated plants) catchments. The radiocarbon contents of organic carbon (Δ14COC) in deep soils and eroding riverbanks suggests these are likely sources of old or pre-aged carbon to the Godavari River that increasingly dominates the late Holocene portion of

  9. Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Artificial Drainage (1992) and Irrigation (1997)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    This tabular data set represents the estimated area of artifical drainage for the year 1992 and irrigation types for the year 1997 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The source data sets were derived from tabular National Resource Inventory (NRI) data sets created by the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1995, 2000). Artificial drainage is defined as subsurface drains and ditches. Irrigation types are defined as gravity and pressure. Subsurface drains are described as conduits, such as corrugated plastic tubing, tile, or pipe, installed beneath the ground surface to collect and/or convey drainage. Surface drainage field ditches are described as graded ditches for collecting excess water. Gravity irrigation source is described as irrigation delivered to the farm and/or field by canals or pipelines open to the atmosphere; and water is distributed by the force of gravity down the field by: (1) A surface irrigation system (border, basin, furrow, corrugation, wild flooding, etc.) or (2) Sub-surface irrigation pipelines or ditches. Pressure irrigation source is described as irrigation delivered to the farm and/or field in pump or elevation-induced pressure pipelines, and water is distributed across the field by: (1) Sprinkle irrigation (center pivot, linear move, traveling gun, side roll, hand move, big gun, or fixed set sprinklers), or (2) Micro irrigation (drip emitters, continuous tube bubblers, micro spray or micro sprinklers). NRI data do not include Federal lands and are thus excluded from this dataset. The tabular data for drainage were spatially apportioned to the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD, Kerie Hitt, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2005) and the tabular data for irrigation were spatially apportioned to an enhanced version of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCDe, Nakagaki and others, 2007). The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified

  10. Agricultural pesticides in six drainage basins used for public water supply in New Jersey, 1990

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivahnenko, Tamara; Buxton, D.E.

    1994-01-01

    A reconnaissance study of six drainage basins in New Jersey was conducted to evaluate the presence of pesticides from agricultural runoff in surface water. In the first phase of the study, surface-water public-supply drainage basins throughout New Jersey that could be affected by pesticide applications were identified by use of a Geographic Information System. Six basins--Lower Mine Hill Reservoir, South Branch of the Raritan River, Main Branch of the Raritan River, Millstone River, Manasquan River, and Matchaponix Brook--were selected as those most likely to be affected by pesticides on the basis of calculated pesticide-application rates and percentage of agricultural land. The second phase of the project was a short-term water-quality reconnaissance of the six drainage basins to determine whether pesticides were present in the surface waters. Twenty-eight surface-water samples (22 water-quality samples, 3 sequentially collected samples, and 3 trip blanks), and 6 samples from water-treatment facilities were collected. Excluding trip blanks, samples from water-treatment facilities, and sequentially collected samples, the pesticides detected in the samples and the percentage of samples in which they were detected, were as follows: atrazine and metolachlor, 86 percent; alachlor, 55 percent; simazine, 45 percent; diazinon, 27 percent; cyanazine and carbaryl, 23 percent; linuron and isophenfos, 9 percent; and chlorpyrifos, 5 percent.Diazinon, detected in one stormflow sample collected from Matchaponix Brook on August 6, 1990, was the only compound to exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recommended Lifetime Health Advisory Limit. Correlation between ranked metolachlor concentrations and ranked flow rates was high, and 25 percent of the variance in metolachlor concentrations can be attributed to variations in flow rate. Pesticide residues were detected in samples of pretreated and treated water from water-treatment facilities. Concentrations of all

  11. Heavy metal transport in large river systems: heavy metal emissions and loads in the Rhine and Elbe river basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vink, Rona; Behrendt, Horst

    2002-11-01

    Pollutant transport and management in the Rhine and Elbe basins is still of international concern, since certain target levels set by the international committees for protection of both rivers have not been reached. The analysis of the chain of emissions of point and diffuse sources to river loads will provide policy makers with a tool for effective management of river basins. The analysis of large river basins such as the Elbe and Rhine requires information on the spatial and temporal characteristics of both emissions and physical information of the entire river basin. In this paper, an analysis has been made of heavy metal emissions from various point and diffuse sources in the Rhine and Elbe drainage areas. Different point and diffuse pathways are considered in the model, such as inputs from industry, wastewater treatment plants, urban areas, erosion, groundwater, atmospheric deposition, tile drainage, and runoff. In most cases the measured heavy metal loads at monitoring stations are lower than the sum of the heavy metal emissions. This behaviour in large river systems can largely be explained by retention processes (e.g. sedimentation) and is dependent on the specific runoff of a catchment. Independent of the method used to estimate emissions, the source apportionment analysis of observed loads was used to determine the share of point and diffuse sources in the heavy metal load at a monitoring station by establishing a discharge dependency. The results from both the emission analysis and the source apportionment analysis of observed loads were compared and gave similar results. Between 51% (for Hg) and 74% (for Pb) of the total transport in the Elbe basin is supplied by inputs from diffuse sources. In the Rhine basin diffuse source inputs dominate the total transport and deliver more than 70% of the total transport. The diffuse hydrological pathways with the highest share are erosion and urban areas.

  12. Hydrogeological evolution of the Luni river basin, Rajasthan ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

    a vertical litho-column warrant further studies on fine resolution stratigraphy and high resolution ... the Luni river in Barmer region from Karna to .... are without flood plain development. Lesser ... basemen t ro ck a t differen t tub e w ell and dug w ell sites in the. Luni basin. ... together with drainage network flowing across the.

  13. Comparative Research on River Basin Management in the Sagami River Basin (Japan and the Muda River Basin (Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lay Mei Sim

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the world, river basins often interwoven into two or more states or prefectures and because of that, disputes over water are common. Nevertheless, not all shared river basins are associated with water conflicts. Rivers in Japan and Malaysia play a significant role in regional economic development. They also play a significant role as water sources for industrial, domestic, agricultural, aquaculture, hydroelectric power generation, and the environment. The research aim is to determine the similarities and differences between the Sagami and Muda River Basins in order to have a better understanding of the governance needed for effectively implementing the lessons drawn from the Sagami River Basin for improving the management of the Muda River Basin in Malaysia. This research adopts qualitative and quantitative approaches. Semi-structured interviews were held with the key stakeholders from both basins and show that Japan has endeavored to present policy efforts to accommodate the innovative approaches in the management of their water resources, including the establishment of a river basin council. In Malaysia, there is little or no stakeholder involvement in the Muda River Basin, and the water resource management is not holistic and is not integrated as it should be. Besides that, there is little or no Integrated Resources Water Management, a pre-requisite for sustainable water resources. The results from this comparative study concluded that full support and participation from public stakeholders (meaning the non-government and non-private sector stakeholders is vital for achieving sustainable water use in the Muda River Basin. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM approaches such as the introduction of payments for ecosystems services and the development of river basin organization in the Muda River Basin should take place in the spirit of political willingness.

  14. Auxiliary variables for the mapping of the drainage network: spatial correlation between relieve units, lithotypes and springs in Benevente River basin-ES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tony Vinicius Moreira Sampaio

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Process of the drainage network mapping present methodological limitations re- sulting in inaccurate maps, restricting their use in environmental studies. Such problems demand the realization of long field surveys to verify the error and the search for auxiliary variables to optimize this works and turn possible the analysis of map accuracy. This research aims at the measurement of the correlation be- tween springs, lithotypes and relieve units, characterized by Roughness Concentration Index (RCI in River Basin Benevente-ES, focusing on the operations of map algebra and the use of spatial statistical techniques. These procedures have identified classes of RCI and lithotypes that present the highest and the lowest correlation with the spatial distribution of springs, indicating its potential use as auxiliary variables to verify the map accuracy.

  15. 13 Morphometric Analysis of Ogunpa and Ogbere Drainage Basins ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    `123456789jkl''''#

    form and process of drainage basins that may be widely ... ferruginous tropical soil on basement complex rock (Areola ... landuse pattern control the infiltration loss, the distribution of ... the water intercepted by Ogbere drainage basin to longer ...

  16. Open Drainage and Detention Basin Combined System Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. E. Banihabib

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Since flooding causes death and economic damages, then it is important and is one of the most complex and destructive natural disaster that endangers human lives and properties compared to any other natural disasters. This natural disaster almost hit most of countries and each country depending on its policy deals with it differently. Uneven intensity and temporal distribution of rainfall in various parts of Iran (which has arid and semiarid climate causes flash floods and leads to too much economic damages. Detention basins can be used as one of the measures of flood control and it detains, delays and postpones the flood flow. It controls floods and affects the flood directly and rapidly by temporarily storing of water. If the land topography allows the possibility of making detention basin with an appropriate volume and quarries are near to the projects for construction of detention dam, it can be used, because of its faster effect comparing to the other watershed management measures. The open drains can be used alone or in combination with detention basin instead of detention basin solitarily. Since in the combined system of open and detention basin the dam height is increasing in contrast with increasing the open drainage capacity, optimization of the system is essential. Hence, the investigation of the sensitivity of optimized combined system (open drainage and detention basin to the effective factors is also useful in appropriately design of the combined system. Materials and Methods: This research aims to develop optimization model for a combined system of open drainage and detention basins in a mountainous area and analyze the sensitivity of optimized dimensions to the hydrological factors. To select the dam sites for detention basins, watershed map with scale of 1: 25000 is used. In AutoCAD environment, the location of the dam sites are assessed to find the proper site which contains enough storage volume of the detention

  17. Modeling Groundwater Flow System of a Drainage Basin in the Basement Complex Environment of Southwestern Nigera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akinwumiju, Akinola S.; Olorunfemi, Martins O.

    2018-05-01

    This study attempted to model the groundwater flow system of a drainage basin within the Basement Complex environment of Southwestern Nigeria. Four groundwater models were derived from Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) Data, remotely sensed data, geological information (hydrolineaments and lithology) and borehole data. Subsequently, two sub-surface (local and regional) flow systems were delineated in the study area. While the local flow system is controlled by surface topography, the regional flow system is controlled by the networks of intermediate and deep seated faults/fractures. The local flow system is characterized by convergence, divergence, inflow and outflow in places, while the regional flow system is dominated by NNE-SSW and W-E flow directions. Minor flow directions include NNW-SSE and E-W with possible linkages to the main flow-paths. The NNE-SSW regional flow system is a double open ended flow system with possible linkage to the Niger Trough. The W-E regional flow system is a single open ended system that originates within the study area (with possible linkage to the NNE-SSW regional flow system) and extends to Ikogosi in the adjoining drainage basin. Thus, the groundwater drainage basin of the study area is much larger and extensive than its surface drainage basin. The all year round flowing (perennial) rivers are linked to groundwater outcrops from faults/fractures and contact zones. Consequently, larger percentage of annual rainwater usually leaves the basin in form of runoff and base flow. Therefore, the basin is categorized as a donor basin but with suspected subsurface water input at its northeastern axis.

  18. A geochemical approach to the restoration plans for the Odiel River basin (SW Spain), a watershed deeply polluted by acid mine drainage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macías, Francisco; Pérez-López, Rafael; Caraballo, Manuel A; Sarmiento, Aguasanta M; Cánovas, Carlos R; Nieto, Jose M; Olías, Manuel; Ayora, Carlos

    2017-02-01

    The Odiel River Basin (SW Spain) drains the central part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), a world-class example of sulfide mining district and concomitantly of acid mine drainage (AMD) pollution. The severe AMD pollution and the incipient state of remediation strategies implemented in this region, coupled with the proximity of the deadline for compliance with the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), urge to develop a restoration and water resources management strategy. Furthermore, despite the presence of some reservoirs with acid waters in the Odiel basin, the construction of the Alcolea water reservoir has already started. On the basis of the positive results obtained after more than 10 years of developing a specific passive remediation technology (dispersed alkaline substrate (DAS)) for the highly polluted AMD of this region, a restoration strategy is proposed. The implementation of 13 DAS treatment plants in selected acid discharges along the Odiel and Oraque sub-basins and other restoration measurements of two acidic creeks is proposed as essential to obtain a good water quality in the future Alcolea reservoir. This restoration strategy is also suggested as an economically and environmentally sustainable approach to the extreme metal pollution affecting the waters of the region and could be considered the starting point for the future compliance with the WFD in the Odiel River Basin.

  19. The role of river drainages in shaping the genetic structure of capybara populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrne, María Soledad; Quintana, Rubén Darío; Bolkovic, María Luisa; Cassini, Marcelo H; Túnez, Juan Ignacio

    2015-12-01

    The capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, is an herbivorous rodent widely distributed throughout most of South American wetlands that lives closely associated with aquatic environments. In this work, we studied the genetic structure of the capybara throughout part of its geographic range in Argentina using a DNA fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Haplotypes obtained were compared with those available for populations from Paraguay and Venezuela. We found 22 haplotypes in 303 individuals. Hierarchical AMOVAs were performed to evaluate the role of river drainages in shaping the genetic structure of capybara populations at the regional and basin scales. In addition, two landscape genetic models, isolation by distance and isolation by resistance, were used to test whether genetic distance was associated with Euclidean distance (i.e. isolation by distance) or river corridor distance (i.e. isolation by resistance) at the basin scale. At the regional scale, the results of the AMOVA grouping populations by mayor river basins showed significant differences between them. At the basin scale, we also found significant differences between sub-basins in Paraguay, together with a significant correlation between genetic and river corridor distance. For Argentina and Venezuela, results were not significant. These results suggest that in Paraguay, the current genetic structure of capybaras is associated with the lack of dispersion corridors through permanent rivers. In contrast, limited structuring in Argentina and Venezuela is likely the result of periodic flooding facilitating dispersion.

  20. Contribution to the study of the weathering rate of minerals and rocks in the drainage basin of the Paraguacu river - Bahia - Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novaes, A.B.

    1978-12-01

    The concentrations of Na + , Mg ++ , Ca ++ , K + , SiO 2 , SO sup(=) 4 , alcalinity and pH have been determined for twenty-nine surface water samples of the Paraguacu river drainage basin, mainly in the Utinga River sub-basin. The stable isotope ratio of carbon 13 C/ 12 C as well as concentration of 14 C was determined for some samples. The ion influence on local aerosol chemistry has also been subtracted from all samples. The analytical results were used to determine the current rate of weathering the rocks of this region and study the sources of dissolved carbon in this water. The analysis of the data shows that weathering processes are influenced by the local lithology. The data from them Utinga river suggests that dissolution of limestone contributes a large percentage of ions. The influence of groundwater in the river flow also brings high concentrations of Na + , Mg ++ and Ca ++ ions from aerosols, presumeably concentrated by evapo-transpiration. The presence of aerosols in the samples used is remarkable, the contribution of salts from silicate weathering is rather small. It is proposed that the dissolution of limestone and decomposition of organic matter might explain the origin of carbon in some of the samples but others appear to have suffered equilibration with atmospheric CO 2 . (Author) [pt

  1. 13 Morphometric Analysis of Ogunpa and Ogbere Drainage Basins ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    `123456789jkl''''#

    significance of these landscape parameters was ... reported that the geomorphic characteristics of a drainage basins play ... form and process of drainage basins that may ... tropical rain forest of Nigeria occupying an area of .... morphometric parameters such as relief, shape ... on floodplains can be pulled down while areas.

  2. Organic matter iron and nutrient transport and nature of dissolved organic matter in the drainage basin of a boreal humic river in northern Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heikkinen, K.

    1994-01-01

    Organic carbon and iron transport into the Gulf of Bothnia and the seasonal changes in the nature of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were studied in 1983 and 1984 at the mouth of the River Kiiminkijoki, which crosses an area of minerotrophic mires in northern Finland. Organic and inorganic transport within the drainage basin was studied in the summer and autumn of 1985 and 1986. The results indicate that the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is mainly of terrestrial origin, leaching mostly from peatlands. The DOC concentrations decrease under low flow conditions. The proportion of drifting algae as a particulate organic carbon (POC) source seems to increase in summer. The changes in the ratio of Fe/DOC, the colour of the DOM and the ratio of Fe/DOC, the colour of the DOM and the ratio of fluorescence to DOC with discharge give indications of the origin, formation, nature and fate of the DOM in the river water. Temperature-dependent microbiological processes in the formation and sedimentation of Fe-organic colloids seem to be important. Estimates are given for the amounts and transport rates of organic carbon and Fe discharged into the Gulf of Bothnia by river. High apparent molecular weight (HAMW) organic colloids are important for the organic, Fe and P transport in the basin. The DOM in the water consists mainly of fulvic acids, although humic acids are also important. The results indicate an increase in the mobilization of HAMW Fe-organic colloids in the peatlands following drainage and peat mining. The transport of inorganic nitrogen from the peatlands in the area and in the river is increasing due to peat mining. The changes in the transport of organic matter, Fe and P are less marked

  3. Hotspots within the Transboundary Selenga River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasimov, Nikolay; Lychagin, Mikhail; Chalov, Sergey

    2013-04-01

    Gathering the efficient information on water pollution of transboundary river systems remains the crucial task in international water management, environmental pollution control and prevention health problems. Countries, located in the low parts of the river basins, depend on the water strategy and water use in the adjacent countries, located upstream. Surface water pollution is considered to be the most serious problem, facing the above-mentioned countries. Large efforts in terms of field measurement campaigns and (numerical) transport modeling are then typically needed for relevant pollution prediction and prevention. Russian rivers take inflow from 8 neighboring countries. Among them there are 2 developing economies - People Republic of China and Mongolia, which are located in water-scarce areas and thus solve their water-related problems through the consumption of international water. Negative change of water runoff and water quality in the foreign part of transboundary river is appeared inside Russian territory with more or less delay. The transboundary river system of Selenga is particularly challenging, being the biggest tributary of Lake Baikal which is the largest freshwater reservoir in the world. Selenga River contributes about 50 % of the total inflow into Baikal. It originates in the mountainous part of Mongolia and then drains into Russia. There are numerous industries and agricultural activities within the Selenga drainage basin that affect the water quality of the river system. Absence of the single monitoring system and predictive tools for pollutants transport in river system requires large efforts in understanding sources of water pollution and implemented data on the relevant numerical systems for the pollution prediction and prevention. Special investigations in the Selenga river basin (Mongolia and Russia) were done to assess hot spots and understand state-of-the art in sediment load, water chemistry and hydrobiology of transboundary systems

  4. The Atlantic-Mediterranean watershed, river basins and glacial history shape the genetic structure of Iberian poplars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macaya-Sanz, D; Heuertz, M; López-de-Heredia, U; De-Lucas, A I; Hidalgo, E; Maestro, C; Prada, A; Alía, R; González-Martínez, S C

    2012-07-01

    Recent phylogeographic studies have elucidated the effects of Pleistocene glaciations and of Pre-Pleistocene events on populations from glacial refuge areas. This study investigates those effects in riparian trees (Populus spp.), whose particular features may convey enhanced resistance to climate fluctuations. We analysed the phylogeographic structure of 44 white (Populus alba), 13 black (Populus nigra) and two grey (Populus x canescens) poplar populations in the Iberian Peninsula using plastid DNA microsatellites and sequences. We also assessed fine-scale spatial genetic structure and the extent of clonality in four white and one grey poplar populations using nuclear microsatellites and we determined quantitative genetic differentiation (Q(ST) ) for growth traits in white poplar. Black poplar displayed higher regional diversity and lower differentiation than white poplar, reflecting its higher cold-tolerance. The dependence of white poplar on phreatic water was evidenced by strong differentiation between the Atlantic and Mediterranean drainage basins and among river basins, and by weaker isolation by distance within than among river basins. Our results suggest confinement to the lower river courses during glacial periods and moderate interglacial gene exchange along coastlines. In northern Iberian river basins, white poplar had lower diversity, fewer private haplotypes and larger clonal assemblies than in southern basins, indicating a stronger effect of glaciations in the north. Despite strong genetic structure and frequent asexual propagation in white poplar, some growth traits displayed adaptive divergence between drainage and river basins (Q(ST) >F(ST)), highlighting the remarkable capacity of riparian tree populations to adapt to regional environmental conditions. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. A method for developing a large-scale sediment yield index for European river basins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Delmas, Magalie; Cerdan, Olivier; Garcin, Manuel [BRGM ARN/ESL, Orleans (France); Mouchel, Jean-Marie [UMR Sisyphe, Univ. P and M Curie, Paris (France)

    2009-12-15

    Background, aim, and scope: Sediment fluxes within continental areas play a major role in biogeochemical cycles and are often the cause of soil surface degradation as well as water and ecosystem pollution. In a situation where a high proportion of the land surface is experiencing significant global land use and climate changes, it appears important to establish sediment budgets considering the major processes forcing sediment redistribution within drainage areas. In this context, the aim of this study is to test a methodology to estimate a sediment yield index at a large spatial resolution for European river basins. Data and methods: Four indicators representing processes respectively considered as sources (mass movement and hillslope erosion), sinks (deposits), and transfers of sediments (drainage density) are defined using distributed data. Using these indicators we propose a basic conceptual approach to test the possibility of explaining sediment yield observed at the outlet of 29 selected European river basins. We propose an index which adds the two sources and transfers, and subsequently subtracts the sink term. This index is then compared to observed sediment yield data. Results: With this approach, variability between river basins is observed and the evolution of each indicator analyzed. A linear regression shows a correlation coefficient of 0.83 linking observed specific sediment yield (SSY) with the SSY index. Discussion: To improve this approach at this large river basin scale, basin classification is further refined using the relation between the observed SSY and the index obtained from the four indicators. It allows a refinement of the results. Conclusions: This study presents a conceptual approach offering the advantages of using spatially distributed data combined with major sediment redistribution processes to estimate the sediment yield observed at the outlet of river basins. Recommendations and perspectives: Inclusion of better information on

  6. River basin administration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Management of international rivers and their basins is the focus of the Centre for Comparative Studies on (International) River Basin Administration, recently established at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Water pollution, sludge, and conflicting interests in the use of water in upstream and downstream parts of a river basin will be addressed by studying groundwater and consumption of water in the whole catchment area of a river.Important aspects of river management are administrative and policy aspects. The Centre will focus on policy, law, planning, and organization, including transboundary cooperation, posing standards, integrated environmental planning on regional scale and environmental impact assessments.

  7. Late Pliocene establishment of exorheic drainage in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau as evidenced by the Wuquan Formation in the Lanzhou Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Benhong; Liu, Shanpin; Peng, Tingjiang; Ma, Zhenhua; Feng, Zhantao; Li, Meng; Li, Xiaomiao; Li, Jijun; Song, Chunhui; Zhao, Zhijun; Pan, Baotian; Stockli, Daniel F.; Nie, Junsheng

    2018-02-01

    The fluvial archives in the upper-reach Yellow River basins provide important information about drainage history of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) associated with geomorphologic evolution and climate change. However, the Pliocene fluvial strata within this region have not been studied in detail, hence limiting the understanding of the late Cenozoic development of regional fluvial systems. In this paper, we present the results of a study of the geochronology, sedimentology, and provenance of the fluvial sequence of the Wuquan Formation in the Lanzhou Basin in the northeastern TP. Magnetostratigraphic and cosmogenic nuclide burial ages indicate that the Wuquan Formation was deposited during 3.6-2.2 Ma. Furthermore, sedimentary facies, gravel composition, paleocurrent data, and detrital zircon Usbnd Pb age spectra reveal that the fluvial sequence resembles the terraces of the Yellow River in terms of source area, flow direction, and depositional environment. Our results indicate that a paleo-drainage system flowing out of the northeastern TP was established by ca. 3.6 Ma and that the upstream parts of the Yellow River must have developed subsequently from this paleo-drainage system. The late Pliocene drainage system fits well with the dramatic uplift of the northeastern TP, an intensified Asian summer monsoon, and global increase in erosion rates, which may reflect interactions between geomorphic evolution, tectonic deformation, and climate change.

  8. Sensitivity of drainage morphometry based hydrological response (GIUH) of a river basin to the spatial resolution of DEM data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahoo, Ramendra; Jain, Vikrant

    2018-02-01

    Drainage network pattern and its associated morphometric ratios are some of the important plan form attributes of a drainage basin. Extraction of these attributes for any basin is usually done by spatial analysis of the elevation data of that basin. These planform attributes are further used as input data for studying numerous process-response interactions inside the physical premise of the basin. One of the important uses of the morphometric ratios is its usage in the derivation of hydrologic response of a basin using GIUH concept. Hence, accuracy of the basin hydrological response to any storm event depends upon the accuracy with which, the morphometric ratios can be estimated. This in turn, is affected by the spatial resolution of the source data, i.e. the digital elevation model (DEM). We have estimated the sensitivity of the morphometric ratios and the GIUH derived hydrograph parameters, to the resolution of source data using a 30 meter and a 90 meter DEM. The analysis has been carried out for 50 drainage basins in a mountainous catchment. A simple and comprehensive algorithm has been developed for estimation of the morphometric indices from a stream network. We have calculated all the morphometric parameters and the hydrograph parameters for each of these basins extracted from two different DEMs, with different spatial resolutions. Paired t-test and Sign test were used for the comparison. Our results didn't show any statistically significant difference among any of the parameters calculated from the two source data. Along with the comparative study, a first-hand empirical analysis about the frequency distribution of the morphometric and hydrologic response parameters has also been communicated. Further, a comparison with other hydrological models suggests that plan form morphometry based GIUH model is more consistent with resolution variability in comparison to topographic based hydrological model.

  9. Morphotectonic control of the Białka drainage basin (Central Carpathians: Insights from DEM and morphometric analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wołosiewicz Bartosz

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The Białka river valley is directly related to a deep NNW-SSE oriented fault zone. According to the results of previous morphometric analyses, the Białka drainage basin is one of the most tectonically active zones in the Central Carpathians. It is also located within an area of high seismic activity.

  10. Equilibrium and Disequilibrium of River Basins: Effects on Stream Captures in Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    DA Silva, L. M.

    2015-12-01

    Landscapes are mainly driven by river processes that control the dynamic reorganization of networks. Discovering and identifying whether river basins are in geometric equilibrium or disequilibrium requires an analysis of water divides, channels that shift laterally or expand upstream and river captures. Issues specifically discussed include the variation of drainage area change and erosion rates of the basins. In southeastern Brazil there are two main escarpments with extensive geomorphic surfaces: Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira Mountains. These landscapes are constituted of Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic rocks, presenting steep escarpments with low-elevation coastal plains and higher elevation interior plateaus. To identify whether river basins and river profiles are in equilibrium or disequilibrium in Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira Mountains, we used the proxy (χ), evaluating the effect of drainage area change and erosion rates. We selected basins that drain both sides of these two main escarpments (oceanic and continental sides) and have denudation rates derived from pre-existing cosmogenic isotopes data (Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Minas Gerais). Despite being an ancient and tectonically stable landscape, part of the coastal plain of Serra do Mar Mountain in Rio de Janeiro and Paraná is in geometric disequilibrium, with water divides moving in the direction of higher χ values. To achieve equilibrium, some basins located in the continental side are retracting and disappearing, losing area to the coastal basins. On the contrary, there are some adjacent sub-basins that are close to equilibrium, without strong contrasts in χ values. The same pattern was observed in Serra da Mantiqueira (Minas Gerais state), with stream captures and river network reorganization in its main rivers. The initial results suggest a strong contrast between erosion rates in the continental and the oceanic portions of the escarpments.

  11. Eocene fluvial drainage patterns and their implications for uranium and hydrocarbon exploration in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seeland, D.A.

    1978-01-01

    Paleocurrent maps of the fluvial lower Eocene Wind River Formation in the Wind River Basin of central Wyoming define promising uranium- and hydrocarbon-exploration target areas. The Wind River Formation is thought to have the greatest potential for uranium mineralization in areas where it includes arkosic channel sandstones derived from the granitic core of the Granite Mountains, as in the channel-sandstone bodies deposited in Eocene time by a 40-kilometer segment of the eastward-flowing paleo-Wind River that exended westward from near the town of Powder River on the east edge of the basin. Channel-sandstone bodies with a Granite Mountains source occur south of this segment of the paleo-Wind River and north of the Granite Mountains. The southwestern part of this area includes the Gas Hills uranium district, but the channel-sandstone bodies between the Gas Hills district and the 40-kilometer segment of the paleo-Wind River may also be mineralized. This area includes the southeasternmost part of the Wind River Basin southeast of Powder River and contains northeasterly trending channel-sandstone bodies derived from the Granite Mountains. Limited paleocurrent information from the margins of the Wind River Basin suggests that the paleo-Wind River in Paleocene time flowed eastward and had approximately the same location as the eastward-flowing paleo-Wind River of Eocene time. The channel-sandstone bodies of the paleo-Wind Rivers are potential hydrocarbon reservoirs, particularly where they are underlain or overlain by the organic-rich shale and siltstone of the Waltman Shale Member of the Fort Union Formation. If leaks of sulfur-containing gas have created a reducing environment in the Eocene paleo-Wind River channel-sandstone bodies, then I speculate that the areas of overlap of the channel-sandstone bodies and natural-gas fields in the underlying rocks may be particularly favorable areas in which to search for uranium deposits

  12. Eocene fluvial drainage patterns and their implications for uranium and hydrocarbon exploration in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seeland, D.A.

    1975-01-01

    Paleocurrent maps of the fluvial early Eocene Wind River Formation in the Wind River Basin of central Wyoming define promising uranium and hydrocarbon exploration target areas. The Wind River Formation is thought to have the greatest potential for uranium mineralization in areas where it includes arkosic channel sandstones derived from the granitic core of the Granite Mountains as in the channel sandstones deposited by the 25-mile segment of the Eocene Wind River extending westward from near the town of Powder River on the east edge of the basin. Channel sandstones with a Granite Mountain source occur south of this segment of the Eocene Wind River and north of the Granite Mountains. The southwestern part of this area includes the Gas Hills uranium district but channel sandstones between the Gas Hills district and the 25-mile segment of the Eocene Wind River are potentially mineralized. This area includes the entire southeasternmost part of the Wind River Basin southeast of Powder River and contains northeasterly trending channel sandstones derived from the Granite Mountains. Limited paleocurrent information from the margins of the Wind River Basin suggests that the Paleocene Wind River flowed eastward and had approximately the same location as the eastward-flowing Eocene Wind River. If leaks of sulfur-containing gas have created a reducing environment in the Eocene Wind River channel sandstones, then I speculate that the areas of overlap of the channel sandstones and natural gas fields in the underlying rocks may be particularly favorable areas in which to search for uranium deposits. The channel sandstones of the Paleocene and Eocene Wind Rivers are potential hydrocarbon reservoirs, particularly where underlain or overlain by the organic-rich shale and siltstone of the Waltman Shale Member of the Fort Union Formation

  13. Geomorphologic Analysis of Drainage Basins in Damavand Volcano Cone, Iran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zareinejad, M.

    2011-12-01

    Damavand volcanic cone is located in the center of the Alborz chain, in the southern Caspian Sea in Iran. Damavand is a dormant volcano in Iran. It is not only the country's highest peak but also the highest mountain on the Middle East; its elevation is 5619 m. The main purpose of this paper is recognition and appraisement of drainage basins in Damavand cone from geomorphic point of view. Water causes erosion in nature in different forms and creates diverse forms on the earth surface depending on the manner of its appearance in nature. Although water is itself a former factor, it flows under morphological effect of earth surface. The difference of earth surface topography and as a result water movement on it, cause the formation of sub-basins. Identification of region drainage basins is considered as one of the requirements for Damavand cone morphometric. Thereupon, five drainage basins were identified in this research by relying on main criteria including topographic contours with 10 m intervals, drainage system, DEM map, slope map, aspect map and satellite images. (Fig 1) Area, perimeter, height classification for classifying morphological landforms in different levels, hypsometric calculations, drainage density, etc. were then calculated by using ArcGIS software. (Table 1) Damavand cone, with a height more than 5,000 meters from the sea surface, has very hard pass slopes and our purpose in this paper is to identify the effect of drainage basins conditions in the region on erosion and the formation of morphological landforms by using SPOT, ASTER, satellite images as well as papering of data in GIS environment.

  14. APPLICATION OF PALSAR-2 REMOTE SENSING DATA FOR LANDSLIDE HAZARD MAPPING IN KELANTAN RIVER BASIN, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Beiranvand Pour

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Yearly, several landslides ensued during heavy monsoons rainfall in Kelantan river basin, peninsular Malaysia, which are obviously connected to geological structures and topographical features of the region. In this study, the recently launched Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2 onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2, remote sensing data were used to map geological structural and topographical features in the Kelantan river basin for identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslides. Adaptive Local Sigma filter was selected and applied to accomplish speckle reduction and preserving both edges and features in PALSAR-2 fine mode observation images. Different polarization images were integrated to enhance geological structures. Additionally, directional filters were applied to the PALSAR-2 Local Sigma resultant image for edge enhancement and detailed identification of linear features. Several faults, drainage patterns and lithological contact layers were identified at regional scale. In order to assess the results, fieldwork and GPS survey were conducted in the landslide affected zones in the Kelantan river basin. Results demonstrate the most of the landslides were associated with N-S, NNW-SSE and NE-SW trending faults, angulated drainage pattern and metamorphic and Quaternary units. Consequently, structural and topographical geology maps were produced for Kelantan river basin using PALSAR-2 data, which could be broadly applicable for landslide hazard mapping.

  15. Application of PALSAR-2 Remote Sensing Data for Landslide Hazard Mapping in Kelantan River Basin, Peninsular Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beiranvand Pour, Amin; Hashim, Mazlan

    2016-06-01

    Yearly, several landslides ensued during heavy monsoons rainfall in Kelantan river basin, peninsular Malaysia, which are obviously connected to geological structures and topographical features of the region. In this study, the recently launched Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2), remote sensing data were used to map geological structural and topographical features in the Kelantan river basin for identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslides. Adaptive Local Sigma filter was selected and applied to accomplish speckle reduction and preserving both edges and features in PALSAR-2 fine mode observation images. Different polarization images were integrated to enhance geological structures. Additionally, directional filters were applied to the PALSAR-2 Local Sigma resultant image for edge enhancement and detailed identification of linear features. Several faults, drainage patterns and lithological contact layers were identified at regional scale. In order to assess the results, fieldwork and GPS survey were conducted in the landslide affected zones in the Kelantan river basin. Results demonstrate the most of the landslides were associated with N-S, NNW-SSE and NE-SW trending faults, angulated drainage pattern and metamorphic and Quaternary units. Consequently, structural and topographical geology maps were produced for Kelantan river basin using PALSAR-2 data, which could be broadly applicable for landslide hazard mapping.

  16. THE CONFLUENCE RATIO OF THE TRANSYLVANIAN BASIN RIVERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ROŞIAN GH.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available There are many possibilities to assess the hydrological and geomorphological evolution of a territory. Among them, one remarks the confluence ratio of the rivers belonging to different catchment areas. The values of this indicator may provide information regarding the stage of evolution of the fluvial landforms in the Transylvanian Basin. Also, the values may serve for the calculation of other parameters of catchment areas like: the degree of finishing of the drainage basin for its corresponding order, the density of river segments within a catchment area etc. To calculate the confluence ratio, 35 catchment areas of different orders have been selected. The confluence ratio varies between 3.04 and 6.07. The large range of values demonstrates the existence of a heterogeneous lithology and of morphological and hydrographical contrasts from one catchment area to the other. The existence of values above 5, correlated also with observations in the field, reveals an accelerated dynamics of the geomorphological processes in those catchment areas. This dynamic is mainly supported by the high landform fragmentation due to the first order rivers. In contrast, the catchment areas that have a confluence ratio below 5 are in a more advanced stage of evolution with stable slopes, unable to initiate new first order river segments.

  17. Simulation of daily streamflow for 12 river basins in western Iowa using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christiansen, Daniel E.; Haj, Adel E.; Risley, John C.

    2017-10-24

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, constructed Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System models to estimate daily streamflow for 12 river basins in western Iowa that drain into the Missouri River. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System is a deterministic, distributed-parameter, physical-process-based modeling system developed to evaluate the response of streamflow and general drainage basin hydrology to various combinations of climate and land use. Calibration periods for each basin varied depending on the period of record available for daily mean streamflow measurements at U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations.A geographic information system tool was used to delineate each basin and estimate initial values for model parameters based on basin physical and geographical features. A U.S. Geological Survey automatic calibration tool that uses a shuffled complex evolution algorithm was used for initial calibration, and then manual modifications were made to parameter values to complete the calibration of each basin model. The main objective of the calibration was to match daily discharge values of simulated streamflow to measured daily discharge values. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System model was calibrated at 42 sites located in the 12 river basins in western Iowa.The accuracy of the simulated daily streamflow values at the 42 calibration sites varied by river and by site. The models were satisfactory at 36 of the sites based on statistical results. Unsatisfactory performance at the six other sites can be attributed to several factors: (1) low flow, no flow, and flashy flow conditions in headwater subbasins having a small drainage area; (2) poor representation of the groundwater and storage components of flow within a basin; (3) lack of accounting for basin withdrawals and water use; and (4) limited availability and accuracy of meteorological input data. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System

  18. Drainage basins features and hydrological behaviour river Minateda basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alonso-Sarria, F.

    1991-01-01

    Nine basin variables (shape, size and topology) have been analyzed in four small basins with non-permanent run off (SE of Spain). These geomorphological variables have been selected for their high correlation with the Instantaneous unit hydrograph parameters. It is shown that the variables can change from one small basin to another within a very short area; because of it, generalizations about the behaviour of the run off are not possible. In conclusion, it is stated that the variations in geomorphological aspects between different basins, caused mainly by geological constraints, are a very important factor to be controlled in a study of geoecological change derived from climatic change

  19. Reserves in western basins: Part 1, Greater Green River basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-10-01

    This study characterizes an extremely large gas resource located in low permeability, overpressured sandstone reservoirs located below 8,000 feet drill depth in the Greater Green River basin, Wyoming. Total in place resource is estimated at 1,968 Tcf. Via application of geologic, engineering and economic criteria, the portion of this resource potentially recoverable as reserves is estimated. Those volumes estimated include probable, possible and potential categories and total 33 Tcf as a mean estimate of recoverable gas for all plays considered in the basin. Five plays (formations) were included in this study and each was separately analyzed in terms of its overpressured, tight gas resource, established productive characteristics and future reserves potential based on a constant $2/Mcf wellhead gas price scenario. A scheme has been developed to break the overall resource estimate down into components that can be considered as differing technical and economic challenges that must be overcome in order to exploit such resources: in other words, to convert those resources to economically recoverable reserves. Total recoverable reserves estimates of 33 Tcf do not include the existing production from overpressured tight reservoirs in the basin. These have estimated ultimate recovery of approximately 1.6 Tcf, or a per well average recovery of 2.3 Bcf. Due to the fact that considerable pay thicknesses can be present, wells can be economic despite limited drainage areas. It is typical for significant bypassed gas to be present at inter-well locations because drainage areas are commonly less than regulatory well spacing requirements.

  20. Coalbed Methane Extraction and Soil Suitability Concerns in the Powder River Basin, Montana and Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2006-01-01

    The Powder River Basin is located in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. It is an area of approximately 55,000 square kilometers. Extraction of methane gas from the coal seams that underlie the Powder River Basin began in Wyoming in the late 1980s and in Montana in the late 1990s. About 100-200 barrels of co-produced water per day are being extracted from each active well in the Powder River Basin, which comes to over 1.5 million barrels of water per day for all the active coalbed methane wells in the Basin. Lab testing indicates that Powder River Basin co-produced water is potable but is high in sodium and other salts, especially in the western and northern parts of the Powder River Basin. Common water management strategies include discharge of co-produced water into drainages, stock ponds, evaporation ponds, or infiltration ponds; treatment to remove sodium; or application of the water directly on the land surface via irrigation equipment or atomizers. Problems may arise because much of the Powder River Basin contains soils with high amounts of swelling clays. As part of the USGS Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center's hyperspectral research program, researchers are investigating whether hyperspectral remote sensing data can be beneficial in locating areas of swelling clays. Using detailed hyperspectral data collected over parts of the Powder River Basin and applying our knowledge of how the clays of interest reflect energy, we will attempt to identify and map areas of swelling clays. If successful, such information will be useful to resource and land managers.

  1. Susquehanna River Basin Hydrologic Observing System (SRBHOS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, P. M.; Duffy, C. J.; Dressler, K. A.

    2004-12-01

    In response to the NSF-CUAHSI initiative for a national network of Hydrologic Observatories, we propose to initiate the Susquehanna River Basin Hydrologic Observing System (SRBHOS), as the northeast node. The Susquehanna has a drainage area of 71, 410 km2. From the headwaters near Cooperstown, NY, the river is formed within the glaciated Appalachian Plateau physiographic province, crossing the Valley and Ridge, then the Piedmont, before finishing its' 444 mile journey in the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay. The Susquehanna is the major source of water and nutrients to the Chesapeake. It has a rich history in resource development (logging, mining, coal, agriculture, urban and heavy industry), with an unusual resilience to environmental degradation, which continues today. The shallow Susquehanna is one of the most flood-ravaged rivers in the US with a decadal regularity of major damage from hurricane floods and rain-on-snow events. As a result of this history, it has an enormous infrastructure for climate, surface water and groundwater monitoring already in place, including the nations only regional groundwater monitoring system for drought detection. Thirty-six research institutions have formed the SRBHOS partnership to collaborate on a basin-wide network design for a new scientific observing system. Researchers at the partner universities have conducted major NSF research projects within the basin, setting the stage and showing the need for a new terrestrial hydrologic observing system. The ultimate goal of SRBHOS is to close water, energy and solute budgets from the boundary layer to the water table, extending across plot, hillslope, watershed, and river basin scales. SRBHOS is organized around an existing network of testbeds (legacy watershed sites) run by the partner universities, and research institutions. The design of the observing system, when complete, will address fundamental science questions within major physiographic regions of the basin. A nested

  2. Gazetteer of hydrologic characteristics of streams in Massachusetts; Blackstone River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wandle, S.W.; Phipps, A.F.

    1984-01-01

    The Blackstone River basin encompasses 335 square miles in south-central Massachusetts, including parts of Bristol, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Worcester Counties. Drainage areas, using the latest available 1:24,000 scale topographic maps, were computed for the first time for streams draining more than 3 square miles and were recomputed for data-collection sites. Streamflow characteristics, were calculated using a new data base with records through 1980. These characteristics include annual and monthly flow statistics, duration of daily flow values, and the annual 7-day mean low flow at the 2-year and 10-year recurrence intervals. The 7-day, 10-year low-flow values are presented for 31 partial-record sites and the procedures used to determine the hydrologic characteristics of the basin are summarized. Basin characteristics representing 14 commonly used indices to estimate various streamflows are presented for the six gaged streams in the Blackstone River basin. This gazetteer will aid in the planning and siting of water-resources-related activities and will provide a common data base for governmental agencies and the engineering and planning communities. (USGS)

  3. Curonian Lagoon drainage basin modelling and assessment of climate change impact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalja Čerkasova

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The Curonian Lagoon, which is the largest European coastal lagoon with a surface area of 1578 km2 and a drainage area of 100,458 km2, is facing a severe eutrophication problem. With its increasing water management difficulties, the need for a sophisticated hydrological model of the Curonian Lagoon's drainage area arose, in order to assess possible changes resulting from local and global processes. In this study, we developed and calibrated a sophisticated hydrological model with the required accuracy, as an initial step for the future development of a modelling framework that aims to correctly predict the movement of pesticides, sediments or nutrients, and to evaluate water-management practices. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to implement a model of the study area and to assess the impact of climate-change scenarios on the run-off of the Nemunas River and the Minija River, which are located in the Curonian Lagoons drainage basin. The models calibration and validation were performed using monthly streamflow data, and evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2 and the Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE. The calculated values of the R2 and NSE for the Nemunas and Minija Rivers stations were 0.81 and 0.79 for the calibration, and 0.679 and 0.602 for the validation period. Two potential climate-change scenarios were developed within the general patterns of near-term climate projections, as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report: both pessimistic (substantial changes in precipitation and temperature and optimistic (insubstantial changes in precipitation and temperature. Both simulations produce similar general patterns in river-discharge change: a strong increase (up to 22% in the winter months, especially in February, a decrease during the spring (up to 10% and summer (up to 18%, and a slight increase during the autumn (up to 10%.

  4. Chronology of fluvial terrace sequences for large Atlantic rivers in the Iberian Peninsula (Upper Tagus and Duero drainage basins, Central Spain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Pablo G.; Roquero, Elvira; López-Recio, Mario; Huerta, Pedro; Martínez-Graña, Antonio M.

    2017-06-01

    This work analyses the chronology of fluvial terrace sequences of the two most important fluvial basins from central Spain draining to the Atlantic Ocean (Upper Tagus and Duero drainage basins). Both basins evolved under similar Mediterranean climatic conditions throughout the Pleistocene and present comparable number of fluvial terraces (16-17) after excluding the higher terrace levels of the Tagus (T1-T5) entrenched in the Raña surface. These higher ;rañizo terraces; was formed in response to fan-head trenching in this high alluvial piedmont (+220 m) and therefore not properly controlled by Quaternary fluvial downcutting. The study accomplishes the implementation of multiple regression analyses for terrace height-age relationships. To transform relative terrace heights above the present river thalwegs (i.e. +100 m) in numerical ages a ;height-age transference function; has been developed on the basis of preliminary statistical geochronological approaches proposed for Central Spain. The resultant height-age transference function gather 73 published geochronological data for terrace sequences, featuring a 3rd Order Polynomial Function (R2 0.90). This function describes the overall trend of valley downcutting for the last c. 2.3 Ma in Central Spain and is used to assign numerical ages to terrace levels at different relative elevation.

  5. Chemical composition of hot spring waters in the Oita river basins, Oita prefecture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kawano, Tamio

    1988-01-30

    The source of the water from Oita River comes from the Kuju and Yubu-Tsurumi Volcanos, pouring into Beppu Bay. Its drainage area is 646 km/sup 2/ with a total length of 55 km. Hot springs are exist throughout most of the basin of the main and branches of Oita River. The chemical components of the hot springs in the Ota River basin -Yufuin, Yunotaira, Nagayu, Shonai/Hazama, and Oita City - have been analyzed. The equivalent of magnesium exceeds that of calcium in the carbonate springs of the above. Ca+Mg has positive correlations with HCO/sub 3/ in these carbonate springs. The water from these springs flows into the rivers and pours into Beppu Bay. The flow rate and chemical component concentration were measured at Fudai bridge. The concentration of chemical components having an average flow rate (30 ton/sec) were calculated. (4 figs, 7 tabs, 10 refs)

  6. Holocene provenance shift of suspended particulate matter in the Amazon River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Höppner, Natalie; Lucassen, Friedrich; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Sawakuchi, André O.; Kasemann, Simone A.

    2018-06-01

    The strontium (Sr), neodymium (Nd) and lead (Pb) isotope signatures of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in rivers reflect the radiogenic isotope signatures of the rivers' drainage basin. These signatures are not significantly affected by weathering, transport or depositional cycles, but document the sedimentary contributions of the respective sources. We report new Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios and element concentrations of modern SPM from the Brazilian Amazon River basin and document the past evolution of the basin by analyzing radiogenic isotopes of a marine sediment core from the slope off French Guiana archiving the last 40 kyr of Amazon River SPM, and the Holocene section of sediment cores raised between the Amazon River mouth and the slope off French Guiana. The composition of modern SPM confirms two main source areas, the Andes and the cratonic Shield. In the marine sediment core notable changes occurred during the second phase of Heinrich Stadial 1 (i.e. increased proportion of Shield rivers SPM) and during the last deglaciation (i.e. increased proportion of Madeira River SPM) together with elsewhere constant source contributions. Furthermore, we report a prominent offset in Sr and Nd isotopic composition between the average core value (εNd: -11.7 ± 0.9 (2SD), 87Sr/86Sr: 0.7229 ± 0.0016 (2SD)) and the average modern Amazon River SPM signal (εNd: -10.5 ± 0.5 (2SD), 87Sr/86Sr: 0.7213 ± 0.0036 (2SD)). We suggest that a permanent change in the Amazon River basin sediment supply during the late Holocene to a more Andean dominated SPM was responsible for the offset.

  7. Drainage and Landscape Evolution in the Bighorn Basin Accompanying Advection of the Yellowstone Hotspot Swell Through North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerrero, E. F.; Meigs, A.

    2012-12-01

    basin is an ideal location to quantify long wavelength dynamic topography due to its low relief. Long river profiles streams that are transverse to the topographic swell in the basin suggest a transient advective signal preserved as profile knickpoints. Abandoned strath terraces, stream piracy, drainage reorganization, and lateral channel migration within the Bighorn Basin are all consistent indicators of the advection of a topographic swell. However, the lack of a high-resolution absolute age chronology precludes us from attributing the primary landscape and drainage forcing to climate change or dynamic topography. Our future work will focus on the timing of geomorphic and river profile evolution to disentangle competing effects of topographic advection, climate, and other factors.

  8. A review of sediment quantity issues: examples from the River Ebro and adjacent basins (Northeastern Spain).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batalla, Ramon J; Vericat, Damià

    2011-04-01

    Sediment flows naturally through the drainage network, from source areas to deposition zones. Sedimentary disequilibrium in rivers and coastlines is related to the imbalance within the fluvial system caused mostly by dams, instream mining, and changes in land use. This phenomenon is also responsible for ecological perturbations in rivers and streams. A broad need exists to establish comprehensive management strategies (soft measures) that would go beyond site-specific engineering practices (technical measures) typically taken to solve particular problems. Long-term programs are also required to monitor sediment transport in river basins, in order to assess the magnitude and variability of sediment transfer and potential deficits. This paper shows examples of rivers with important sediment disequilibrium in the Ebro and adjacent basins. These basins, like most in the Iberian Peninsula, experience sediment discontinuity in the catchment-river-coast system. Reservoir siltation is the main quantitative issue. Land use change and especially gravel mining downstream from dams accentuate the process. We also present and discuss recent developments on water and sediment management undertaken to improve the morphosedimentary dynamics of rivers. Copyright © 2010 SETAC.

  9. A proposed drainage evolution model for Central Africa—Did the Congo flow east?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stankiewicz, Jacek; de Wit, Maarten J.

    2006-01-01

    Understanding the origin of Sub-Saharan biodiversity requires knowing the history of the region's paleo-ecosystems. As water is essential for sustaining of life, the evolving geometry of river basins often have influence on local speciation. With this in mind, we analyse drainage patterns in Central and East Africa. Evidence from marine fossils suggests the Congo Basin was submerged for much of the Cretaceous, and after being uplifted drained eastwards through a paleo-Congo river towards the Indian Ocean. Two remnant peneplains in the Congo Basin are interpreted as evidence that this basin was tectonically stable on at least two occasions in the past. The lower peneplain is interpreted as the base level of the drainage pattern that had its outlet in Tanzania, at the present Rufiji Delta that was once over 500 km wide. The Luangwa, today a tributary of the Zambezi river, was a part of this drainage network. This pattern was subsequently disrupted by uplift associated with the East African Rifting in the Oligocene-Eocene (30-40 Ma). The resulting landlocked system was captured in the Miocene (5-15 Ma) by short rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean, producing the drainage pattern of Central Africa seen today.

  10. [Health assessment of river ecosystem in Haihe River Basin, China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Li-Xia; Sun, Ran-Hao; Chen, Li-Ding

    2014-10-01

    With the development of economy, the health of river ecosystem is severely threatened because of the increasing effects of human activities on river ecosystem. In this paper, the authors assessed the river ecosystem health in aspects of chemical integrity and biological integrity, using the criterion in water quality, nutrient, and benthic macroinvertebrates of 73 samples in Haihe River Basin. The research showed that the health condition of river ecosystem in Haihe River Basin was bad overall since the health situation of 72. 6% of the samples was "extremely bad". At the same time, the health situation in Haihe River Basin exhibited obvious regional gathering effect. We also found that the river water quality was closely related to human activities, and the eutrophication trend of water body was evident in Haihe River Basin. The biodiversity of the benthic animal was low and lack of clean species in the basin. The indicators such as ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were the key factors that affected the river ecosystem health in Haihe River Basin, so the government should start to curb the deterioration of river ecosystem health by controlling these nutrients indicators. For river ecosystem health assessment, the multi-factors comprehensive evaluation method was superior to single-factor method.

  11. Field screening of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in and near Walker River Indian Reservation, Nevada 1994-95

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thodal, Carl E.; Tuttle, Peter L.

    1996-01-01

    A study was begun in 1994 to determine whether the quality of irrigation drainage from the Walker River Indian Reservation, Nevada, has caused or has potential to cause harmful effects on human health or on fish and wildlife, or may adversely affect the suitability of the Walker River for other beneficial uses. Samples of water, bottom sediment, and biota were collected during June-August 1994 (during a drought year) from sites upstream from and on the Walker River Indian Reservation for analyses of trace elements. Other analyses included physical characteristics, major dissolved constituents, selected species of water-soluble nitrogen and phosphorus, and selected pesticides in bottom sediment. Water samples were collected again from four sites on the Reservation in August 1995 (during a wetterthan- average year) to provide data for comparing extreme climatic conditions. Water samples collected from the Walker River Indian Reservation in 1994 equaled or exceeded the Nevada water-quality standard or level of concern for at least one of the following: water temperature, pH, dissolved solids, unionized ammonia, phosphate, arsenic, boron, chromium, lead, and molybdenum; in 1995, only a single sample from one site exceeded a Nevada water-quality standard for molybdenum. Levels of concern for trace elements in bottom sediment collected in 1994 were equaled or exceeded for arsenic, iron, manganese, and zinc. Concentrations of organochiorine pesticide residues in bottom sediment were below analytical reporting limits. Levels of concern for trace-elements in samples of biota were equaled or exceeded for arsenic, boron, copper, and mercury. Results of toxicity testing indicate that only water samples from Walker Lake caused a toxic response in test bacteria. Arsenic and boron concentrations in water, bottom sediment, and biological tissue exceeded levels of concern throughout the Walker River Basin, but most commonly in the lower Walker River Basin. Mercury also was elevated

  12. EVALUATION OF CATROSAT 1PAN STEREO AND RESOURCESAT LISS 4 MSS MERGED DATA FOR MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS, DELINEATION OF DRAINAGE BASINS AND CODIFICATION IN TAMIL NADU, INDIA AND AUSTRALIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. S. Mohamed

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The Topographic maps and Aerial Photographs are used for morphometric analysis of drainage basins and mapping contours with drainage. The stereo pairs of 2.5 m resolution Cartosat 1, Indian satellite 2 and merged data with 5.5 m resolution P6 Resourcesat 1 LISS 4 Indian satellite of 2001 is used to map, rills, gullies, and streams of first order to evaluate part of drainage basin of Cooum and Poondi Reservoir in Thiruvallur taluk of Tamil Nadu state. The Geo Eye latest 2011data is also used with Catrosat 1Stereo data to study present morphology of tiny micro watersheds to study the use of High resolution data for delineation and codification of watersheds. This study area is in an inter fluvial drainage basin of Cooum and Kusasthalai rivers. Kusasthalai river drains in Poondi reservoir which is about 50 km from Chennai. The excess water from Kosasthalai is also diverted through Kesawaram weir to Cooum river which passes through Thiruvallur and Chennai city before it's confluence with Bay of Benegal in the east. As Cooum basin is at higher elevation, water for irrigation is again diverted through chain of tanks to Kusasthalai river basin to drain in Poondi reservoir. Delineation of water sheds in this fluvial basin is difficult by manual survey as man made irrigation channels, natural drainage streams etc., have to be clearly identified. The streams of various orders are identified based on Strahler stream order hierarchy of tributaries, slops and contours using large scale satellite data. The micro water sheds are delinated identifying the ridges from Catrosat data for this interfluves basin which has mild slop. To illustrate this research, parts of two micro watersheds which were delineated using 1:50000 data for Tamil Nadu watershed Atlas up to 7th order streams are taken up for a detailed study using high resolution data. 19 Micro watersheds with streams up to 10th order are mapped. The capability of high resolution satellite data for digital

  13. Regional view of a Trans-African Drainage System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Abdelkareem

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Despite the arid to hyperarid climate of the Great Sahara of North Africa, pluvial climates dominated the region. Radar data shed some light on the postulated Trans-African Drainage System and its relationship to active and inactive tributaries of the Nile basin. Interpretations of recent elevation data confirm a source of the river water from the Red Sea highlands did not connect the Atlantic Ocean across Tushka basin, highlands of Uwinate and Darfur, and Chad basin, but northward to the ancestral Nile Delta. Elements of topography and climate were considered. They show that the former segments of the Nile closely mirror present-day tributaries of the Nile basin in drainage geometry, landscape, and climate. A rainfall data interpolation scenario revealed that this basin received concurrent runoff from both flanks such as Gabgaba-Allaqi to the east and Tushka basin to the west, similar to present-day Sobat and White Nile tributaries, respectively. Overall the western tributaries such as those of Tushka basin and Howar lead to the Nile, which was (and still is the biggest river system in Africa.

  14. Regional view of a Trans-African Drainage System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdelkareem, Mohamed; El-Baz, Farouk

    2014-01-01

    Despite the arid to hyperarid climate of the Great Sahara of North Africa, pluvial climates dominated the region. Radar data shed some light on the postulated Trans-African Drainage System and its relationship to active and inactive tributaries of the Nile basin. Interpretations of recent elevation data confirm a source of the river water from the Red Sea highlands did not connect the Atlantic Ocean across Tushka basin, highlands of Uwinate and Darfur, and Chad basin, but northward to the ancestral Nile Delta. Elements of topography and climate were considered. They show that the former segments of the Nile closely mirror present-day tributaries of the Nile basin in drainage geometry, landscape, and climate. A rainfall data interpolation scenario revealed that this basin received concurrent runoff from both flanks such as Gabgaba-Allaqi to the east and Tushka basin to the west, similar to present-day Sobat and White Nile tributaries, respectively. Overall the western tributaries such as those of Tushka basin and Howar lead to the Nile, which was (and still is) the biggest river system in Africa. PMID:26257941

  15. Effects of Flood Control Works Failure in the Missouri River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-06-13

    areas of the Mississippi River drainage basin. Widespread flooding began in mid-June and lasted through mid-September (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...al., Impact of New Madrid Seismic Zone Earthquakes on the Central USA, vol. 2 ( Urbana , IL: University of Illinois, 2009), A7-210. 60 What FCW...response planning. Urbana , IL: University of Illinois. https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/8787 (accessed 14 March 2014). Creswell, John W

  16. Mercury pollution in the Upper Beni River, Amazonian basin : Bolivia

    OpenAIRE

    Maurice Bourgoin, Laurence; Quiroga, I.; Guyot, Jean-Loup; Malm, O.

    1999-01-01

    Mercury contamination caused by the amalgamation of gold in small-scale gold mining is an environmental problem of increasing concern, particularly in tropical regions like the Amazon, where a new boom of such gold mining started in the 1970s. In Brazil, research into these problems has been carried out for many years, but there is no available data for Bolivia. The present paper surveys mercury contamination of a Bolivian river system in the Amazon drainage basin, measured in water, fish, an...

  17. Scaling up watershed model parameters--Flow and load simulations of the Edisto River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feaster, Toby D.; Benedict, Stephen T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Bradley, Paul M.; Conrads, Paul

    2014-01-01

    The Edisto River is the longest and largest river system completely contained in South Carolina and is one of the longest free flowing blackwater rivers in the United States. The Edisto River basin also has fish-tissue mercury concentrations that are some of the highest recorded in the United States. As part of an effort by the U.S. Geological Survey to expand the understanding of relations among hydrologic, geochemical, and ecological processes that affect fish-tissue mercury concentrations within the Edisto River basin, analyses and simulations of the hydrology of the Edisto River basin were made with the topography-based hydrological model (TOPMODEL). The potential for scaling up a previous application of TOPMODEL for the McTier Creek watershed, which is a small headwater catchment to the Edisto River basin, was assessed. Scaling up was done in a step-wise process beginning with applying the calibration parameters, meteorological data, and topographic wetness index data from the McTier Creek TOPMODEL to the Edisto River TOPMODEL. Additional changes were made with subsequent simulations culminating in the best simulation, which included meteorological and topographic wetness index data from the Edisto River basin and updated calibration parameters for some of the TOPMODEL calibration parameters. Comparison of goodness-of-fit statistics between measured and simulated daily mean streamflow for the two models showed that with calibration, the Edisto River TOPMODEL produced slightly better results than the McTier Creek model, despite the significant difference in the drainage-area size at the outlet locations for the two models (30.7 and 2,725 square miles, respectively). Along with the TOPMODEL hydrologic simulations, a visualization tool (the Edisto River Data Viewer) was developed to help assess trends and influencing variables in the stream ecosystem. Incorporated into the visualization tool were the water-quality load models TOPLOAD, TOPLOAD-H, and LOADEST

  18. Geological Features Mapping Using PALSAR-2 Data in Kelantan River Basin, Peninsular Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pour, A. B.; Hashim, M.

    2016-09-01

    In this study, the recently launched Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2), remote sensing data were used to map geologic structural and topographical features in the Kelantan river basin for identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslides and flooding areas. A ScanSAR and two fine mode dual polarization level 3.1 images cover Kelantan state were processed for comprehensive analysis of major geological structures and detailed characterizations of lineaments, drainage patterns and lithology at both regional and district scales. Red-Green-Blue (RGB) colour-composite was applied to different polarization channels of PALSAR-2 data to extract variety of geological information. Directional convolution filters were applied to the data for identifying linear features in particular directions and edge enhancement in the spatial domain. Results derived from ScanSAR image indicate that lineament occurrence at regional scale was mainly linked to the N-S trending of the Bentong-Raub Suture Zone (BRSZ) in the west and Lebir Fault Zone in the east of the Kelantan state. Combination of different polarization channels produced image maps contain important information related to water bodies, wetlands and lithological units for the Kelantan state using fine mode observation data. The N-S, NE-SW and NNE-SSW lineament trends were identified in the study area using directional filtering. Dendritic, sub-dendritic and rectangular drainage patterns were detected in the Kelantan river basin. The analysis of field investigations data indicate that many of flooded areas were associated with high potential risk zones for hydro-geological hazards such as wetlands, urban areas, floodplain scroll, meander bend, dendritic and sub-dendritic drainage patterns, which are located in flat topograghy regions. Numerous landslide points were located in rectangular drainage system that associated

  19. GEOLOGICAL FEATURES MAPPING USING PALSAR-2 DATA IN KELANTAN RIVER BASIN, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. B. Pour

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the recently launched Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2 onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2, remote sensing data were used to map geologic structural and topographical features in the Kelantan river basin for identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslides and flooding areas. A ScanSAR and two fine mode dual polarization level 3.1 images cover Kelantan state were processed for comprehensive analysis of major geological structures and detailed characterizations of lineaments, drainage patterns and lithology at both regional and district scales. Red-Green-Blue (RGB colour-composite was applied to different polarization channels of PALSAR-2 data to extract variety of geological information. Directional convolution filters were applied to the data for identifying linear features in particular directions and edge enhancement in the spatial domain. Results derived from ScanSAR image indicate that lineament occurrence at regional scale was mainly linked to the N-S trending of the Bentong-Raub Suture Zone (BRSZ in the west and Lebir Fault Zone in the east of the Kelantan state. Combination of different polarization channels produced image maps contain important information related to water bodies, wetlands and lithological units for the Kelantan state using fine mode observation data. The N-S, NE-SW and NNE-SSW lineament trends were identified in the study area using directional filtering. Dendritic, sub-dendritic and rectangular drainage patterns were detected in the Kelantan river basin. The analysis of field investigations data indicate that many of flooded areas were associated with high potential risk zones for hydro-geological hazards such as wetlands, urban areas, floodplain scroll, meander bend, dendritic and sub-dendritic drainage patterns, which are located in flat topograghy regions. Numerous landslide points were located in rectangular drainage system

  20. Fluvial drainage networks: the fractal approach as an improvement of quantitative geomorphic analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melelli, Laura; Liucci, Luisa; Vergari, Francesca; Ciccacci, Sirio; Del Monte, Maurizio

    2014-05-01

    Drainage basins are primary landscape units for geomorphological investigations. Both hillslopes and river drainage system are fundamental components in drainage basins analysis. As other geomorphological systems, also the drainage basins aim to an equilibrium condition where the sequence of erosion, transport and sedimentation approach to a condition of minimum energy effort. This state is revealed by a typical geometry of landforms and of drainage net. Several morphometric indexes can measure how much a drainage basin is far from the theoretical equilibrium configuration, revealing possible external disarray. In active tectonic areas, the drainage basins have a primary importance in order to highlight style, amount and rate of tectonic impulses, and morphometric indexes allow to estimate the tectonic activity classes of different sectors in a study area. Moreover, drainage rivers are characterized by a self-similarity structure; this promotes the use of fractals theory to investigate the system. In this study, fractals techniques are employed together with quantitative geomorphological analysis to study the Upper Tiber Valley (UTV), a tectonic intermontane basin located in northern Apennines (Umbria, central Italy). The area is the result of different tectonic phases. From Late Pliocene until present time the UTV is strongly controlled by a regional uplift and by an extensional phase with different sets of normal faults playing a fundamental role in basin morphology. Thirty-four basins are taken into account for the quantitative analysis, twenty on the left side of the basin, the others on the right side. Using fractals dimension of drainage networks, Horton's laws results, concavity and steepness indexes, and hypsometric curves, this study aims to obtain an evolutionary model of the UTV, where the uplift is compared to local subsidence induced by normal fault activity. The results highlight a well defined difference between western and eastern tributary basins

  1. Effects of watershed and riparian zone characteristics on nutrient concentrations in the River Scheldt Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Meynendonckx

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The relative influence of a set of watershed characteristics on surface water nutrient concentrations was examined in 173 watersheds within two subcatchments (Upper-Scheldt and Nete of the River Scheldt Basin (Flanders, Belgium. Each watershed was described by seasonal rainfall, discharge loading of point sources, morphological characteristics (area, average slope, drainage density, elongation, land use and soil properties (soil texture and drainage. Partial regression analysis revealed that soil drainage variables had the strongest influence on nutrient concentrations. Additional influence was exerted by land use and point source loading variables. Nitrate concentrations were positively correlated with effluent loadings coming from wastewater treatment plants and with the area of agricultural land. Phosphate concentrations were best explained by effluent loadings of industrial point sources and by the area of urban land. Land use close to the river was not a better predictor of nitrate and phosphate concentrations than land use away from the river. This suggests that the mediating impact of riparian zones is rather explained by the hydrologic pathways within the buffer strip.

  2. Occurrence, distribution, and transport of pesticides in agricultural irrigation-return flow from four drainage basins in the Columbia Basin Project, Washington, 2002-04, and comparison with historical data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Richard J.; Frans, Lonna M.; Huffman, Raegan L.

    2006-01-01

    pendimethalin at Sand Hollow and statistically significant decreases were in concentrations of 2,6-diethylanaline, alachlor, atrazine, DCPA, and EPTC. A seasonal Kendall trend test on data from Lind Coulee indicated no statistically significant trends for any pesticide for 1994 through 2004. A comparison of pesticide concentrations detected in this study with those detected in previous U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment studies of the Central Columbia Plateau, Yakima River basin, and national agricultural studies indicated that concentrations in this study generally were in the middle to lower end of the concentration spectrum for the most frequently detected herbicides and insecticides, but that the overall rate of detection was near the high end. Thirty-one of the 42 herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides detected in surface-water samples were applied to the major agricultural crops in the drainage basins, and 11 of the detected pesticides are sold for residential application. Eight of the pesticides detected in surface-water samples were not reported as having any agricultural or residential use. The overall pattern of pesticide use depends on which crops are grown in each drainage basin. Drainage basins with predominantly more orchards have higher amounts of insecticides applied, whereas basins with larger percentages of field crops tend to have more herbicides applied. Pesticide usage was most similar in Crab Creek and Sand Hollow, where the largest total amounts applied were the insecticides azinphos-methyl, carbaryl, and chlorpyrifos and the herbicide EPTC. In Red Rock Coulee basin, DCPA was the most heavily applied herbicide, followed by the fungicide chlorothalonil, the herbicide EPTC, and the insecticides chlorpyrifos and azinphos-methyl. In Lind Coulee, which has a large percentage of dryland agricultural area, the herbicides 2,4-D and EPTC were applied in the largest amount, followed by the fungicide chlorothalonil. The

  3. Sediment provenance in contractional orogens: The detrital zircon record from modern rivers in the Andean fold-thrust belt and foreland basin of western Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capaldi, Tomas N.; Horton, Brian K.; McKenzie, N. Ryan; Stockli, Daniel F.; Odlum, Margaret L.

    2017-12-01

    This study analyzes detrital zircon U-Pb age populations from Andean rivers to assess whether active synorogenic sedimentation accurately records proportional contributions from varied bedrock source units across different drainage areas. Samples of modern river sand were collected from west-central Argentina (28-33°S), where the Andes are characterized by active uplift and deposition in diverse contractional provinces, including (1) hinterland, (2) wedge-top, (3) proximal foreland, and (4) distal broken foreland basin settings. Potential controls on sediment provenance were evaluated by comparing river U-Pb age distributions with predicted age spectra generated by a sediment mixing model weighted by relative catchment exposure (outcrop) areas for different source units. Several statistical measures (similarity, likeness, and cross-correlation) are employed to compare how well the area-weighted model predicts modern river age populations. (1) Hinterland basin provenance is influenced by local relief generated along thrust-bounded ranges and high zircon fertility of exposed crystalline basement. (2) Wedge-top (piggyback) basin provenance is controlled by variable lithologic durability among thrust-belt bedrock sources and recycled basin sediments. (3) Proximal foreland (foredeep) basin provenance of rivers and fluvial megafans accurately reflect regional bedrock distributions, with limited effects of zircon fertility and lithologic durability in large (>20,000 km2) second-order drainage systems. (4) In distal broken segments of the foreland basin, regional provenance signatures from thrust-belt and hinterland areas are diluted by local contributions from foreland basement-cored uplifts.

  4. Study of morphometry to debit drainage basin (DAS) arau Padang city

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utama, Lusi; Amrizal, Berd, Isril; Zuherna

    2017-11-01

    High intensity rain that happened in Padang city cause the happening of floods at DAS Arau. Floods that happened in Padang besides caused high rain intensity, require to be by research about morphometry that is cause parameter the happening of floods. Morphometry drainage basin physical network (DAS) quantitatively related to DAS geomorphology that is related to form of DAS, river network, closeness of stream, ramp, usage of farm, high and gradient steepness of river. Form DAS will influence rain concentration to outlet. Make an index to closeness of stream depict closeness of river stream at one particular DAS. Speed of river stream influenced by storey, level steepness of river. Steepness storey, level is comparison of difference height of river downstream and upstream. Ever greater of steepness of river stream, excelsior speed of river stream that way on the contrary. High to lower speed of river stream influence occurrence of floods, more than anything else if when influenced by debit big. Usage of farm in glove its link to process of infiltration where if geology type which is impermeable, be difficult the happening of infiltration, this matter will enlarge value of run off. Research by descriptive qualitative that is about characteristic of DAS. Method the used is method survey with data collecting, in the form of rainfall data of year 2005 until year 2015 and Image of DEM IFSAR with resolution 5 meter, analyzed use Software ARGIS. Result of research got by DAS reside in at condition of floods gristle.

  5. Simulation of daily streamflow for nine river basins in eastern Iowa using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haj, Adel E.; Christiansen, Daniel E.; Hutchinson, Kasey J.

    2015-10-14

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, constructed Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System models to estimate daily streamflow for nine river basins in eastern Iowa that drain into the Mississippi River. The models are part of a suite of methods for estimating daily streamflow at ungaged sites. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System is a deterministic, distributed- parameter, physical-process-based modeling system developed to evaluate the response of streamflow and general drainage basin hydrology to various combinations of climate and land use. Calibration and validation periods used in each basin mostly were October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2012, but differed depending on the period of record available for daily mean streamflow measurements at U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations.

  6. Integrated Hydro-geomorphological Monitoring System of the Upper Bussento river basin (Cilento and Vallo Diano Geopark, S-Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guida, D.; Cuomo, A.; Longobardi, A.; Villani, P.; Guida, M.; Guadagnuolo, D.; Cestari, A.; Siervo, V.; Benevento, G.; Sorvino, S.; Doto, R.; Verrone, M.; De Vita, A.; Aloia, A.; Positano, P.

    2012-04-01

    are organized into a relational geodatabase supporting tracer testings, space-time analysis and hydrological modeling. At the moment, three main station for hourly streamflow measurements are located at the terminal sections of the main basin and the two main sub-basin; secondary stations for weekly discharge measurements are located along the Upper Bussento river segment, upstream and downstream of each river reach or tributary catchments or karst spring inflow. Temporary stations are located in the representative sections of the catchments to detect stream flow losses into alluvial beds or experimental parcels in the bare karst and forested sandstone headwaters. Streamflow measurements are combined with geochemical survey and water sampling for Radon activity concentration measurements. Results of measurement campains in Radon space-time distribution within the basin are given in other contribution of same EGU session. Monitoring results confirm the hourly, daily, weekly and monthly hydrological data and validate outcomes of semi-distributed hydrological models based on previously time series, allowing both academic consultants and institutional subject to extend the Integrated Hydro-geomorphological Monitoring System to the surrounding drainage areas of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano Geopark. Keywords: River-aquifer interaction, Upper Bussento river basin, monitoring system, hydro-geomorphology, semi-distributed hydrological model. Table 1: Comparative, hierarchical Hydro-morpho-climate entities Hierarchy levelArea (Km2) Scale Orography Entity Climate Entity Morfological Entity Areal Drainage Entity Linear Drainage Entity VIII 106 1:15E6 Orogen Macroscale α Morphological Region Hydrological Region VII 105 1:10E6 Chain Sistem Macroscale β Morphological Province Hydrological Province VI 104 1:5E5 Chain Mesoscale α Morphological Sistem Basin River V 103 1:2,5E5Chain Segment Mesoscale β Morphological Sub-systemSub-Basin Torrent IV 100 1:1,0E5Orographic Group

  7. A simple model analysis of terrestrial radioactivity balance in a drainage basin in Central Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minato, S.

    1998-01-01

    In-situ measurements of terrestrial gamma-ray dose rates were carried out at 252 locations for soil samples and 47 locations for rock outcrops in the Shonai River drainage region to understand the transport of soil mass and terrestrial radioactivity. The basin was divided into two parts, a bedrock and a sediment (diluvium and alluvium), for compartment analysis. A set of balance equations for soil mass and radioactivity was derived for each region to obtain the transport rate of soils from bedrock to sediment region, the removal rates from land to ocean through rivers and the leaching rates of radioactivity. The relative values of the above parameters to the production rate of soil from bedrock could be estimated from the observed gamma-ray dose rates

  8. Changes in the fish fauna of the Kissimmee River basin, peninsular Florida: Nonnative additions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nico, L.G.

    2005-01-01

    Recent decades have seen substantial changes in fish assemblages in rivers of peninsular Florida. The most striking change has involved the addition of nonnative fishes, including taxa from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. I review recent and historical records of fishes occurring in the Kissimmee River basin (7,800 km2), a low-gradient drainage with 47 extant native fishes (one possibly the result of an early transplant), at least 7 foreign fishes (most of which are widely established), and a stocked hybrid. Kissimmee assemblages include fewer marine fishes than the nearby Peace and Caloosahatchee rivers, and fewer introduced foreign fishes than south Florida canals. Fish assemblages of the Kissimmee and other subtropical Florida rivers are dynamic, due to new introductions, range expansions of nonnative fishes already present, and periodic declines in nonnative fish populations during occasional harsh winters. The addition, dispersal, and abundance of nonnative fishes in the basin is linked to many factors, including habitat disturbance, a subtropical climate, and the fact that the basin is centrally located in a region where drainage boundaries are blurred and introductions of foreign fishes commonplace. The first appearance of foreign fishes in the basin coincided with the complete channelization of the Kissimmee River in the 1970s. Although not a causal factor, artificial waterways connecting the upper lakes and channelization of the Kissimmee River have facilitated dispersal. With one possible exception, there have been no basin-wide losses of native fishes. When assessing change in peninsular Florida waters, extinction or extirpation of fishes appears to be a poor measure of impact. No endemic species are known from peninsular Florida (although some endemic subspecies have been noted). Most native freshwater fishes are themselves descended from recent invaders that reached the peninsula from the main continent. These invasions likely were

  9. Environmental setting and its relations to water quality in the Kanawha River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messinger, Terence; Hughes, C.A.

    2000-01-01

    spring and least in the autumn. About 61 percent of the basin's population use surface water from public supply for their domestic needs; about 30 percent use self-supplied ground water, and about nine percent use ground water from public supply. In 1995, total withdrawal of water in the basin was about 1,130 Mgal/d. Total consumptive use was about 118 Mgal/d. Surface water in the Blue Ridge Province is usually dilute (less than 100 mg/L dissolved solids) and well aerated. Dissolved- solids concentrations in streams of the Valley and Ridge Province at low flow are typically greater (150-180 mg/L) than those in the Blue Ridge Province. The Appalachian Plateaus Province contains streams with the most dilute (less than 30 mg/L dissolved solids) and least dilute (more than 500 mg/L dissolved solids) water in the basin. Coal mining has degraded more miles of streams in the basin than any other land use. Streams that receive coal-mine drainage may be affected by sedimentation, and typically contain high concentrations of sulfate, iron, and manganese. Other major water-quality issues include inadequate domestic sewage treatment, present and historic disposal of industrial wastes, and logging, which results in the addition of sediment, nutrients, and other constituents to the water. One hundred eighteen fish species are reported from the Kanawha River system downstream from Kanawha Falls. Of these, 15 are listed as possible, probable, or known introductions. None of these fish species is endemic to the Kanawha River Basin. The New River system has only 46 native fishes, the lowest ratio of native fishes to drainage area of any river system in the eastern United States, and the second-highest proportion of endemic fish species (eight of 46) of any river system in the eastern United States.

  10. Fecal bacteria in the rivers of the Seine drainage network (France): sources, fate and modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servais, Pierre; Garcia-Armisen, Tamara; George, Isabelle; Billen, Gilles

    2007-04-01

    The Seine river watershed (France) is a deeply anthropogenically impacted area, due to the high population density, intense industrial activities and intensive agriculture. The water quality and ecological functioning of the different rivers of the Seine drainage network have been extensively studied during the last fifteen years within the framework of a large French multidisciplinary scientific program (PIREN Seine program). This paper presents a synthesis of the main data gained in the scope of this program concerning the microbiological water contamination of the rivers of the Seine drainage network. The more common indicator of fecal contamination (fecal coliforms) was mainly used; some complementary works used E. coli and intestinal enterococci as alternative fecal indicators. Point sources (outfall of wastewater treatment plants) and non point sources (surface runoff and soil leaching) of fecal pollution to the rivers of the watershed were quantified. Results showed that, at the scale of a large urbanised watershed as the Seine basin, the input of fecal micro-organisms by non-point sources is much lower than the inputs by point sources. However, the local impact of diffuse non-human sources (especially surface runoff of pastured fields) can be of major importance on the microbiological quality of small headwater rivers. Fecal contamination of the main rivers of the Seine watershed (Seine, Marne, Oise rivers) was studied showing high level of microbiological pollution when compared to European guidelines for bathing waters. The strong negative impact of treated wastewater effluents outfall on the microbiological quality of receiving rivers was observed in different areas of the watershed. Once released in rivers, culturable fecal bacteria disappeared relatively rapidly due to mortality (protozoan grazing, lysis) or loss of culturability induced by stress conditions (sunlight effect, nutrient concentration, temperature). Mortality rates of E. coli were studied

  11. Effects of drainage-basin geomorphology on insectivorous bird abundance in temperate forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwata, Tomoya; Urabe, Jotaro; Mitsuhashi, Hiromune

    2010-10-01

    Interfaces between terrestrial and stream ecosystems often enhance species diversity and population abundance of ecological communities beyond levels that would be expected separately from both the ecosystems. Nevertheless, no study has examined how stream configuration within a watershed influences the population of terrestrial predators at the drainage-basin scale. We examined the habitat and abundance relationships of forest insectivorous birds in eight drainage basins in a cool temperate forest of Japan during spring and summer. Each basin has different drainage-basin geomorphology, such as the density and frequency of stream channels. In spring, when terrestrial arthropod prey biomass is limited, insectivorous birds aggregated in habitats closer to streams, where emerging aquatic prey was abundant. Nevertheless, birds ceased to aggregate around streams in summer because terrestrial prey became plentiful. Watershed-scale analyses showed that drainage basins with longer stream channels per unit area sustained higher densities of insectivorous birds. Moreover, such effects of streams on birds continued from spring through summer, even though birds dispersed out of riparian areas in the summer. Although our data are from only a single year, our findings imply that physical modifications of stream channels may reduce populations of forest birds; thus, they emphasize the importance of landscape-based management approaches that consider both stream and forest ecosystems for watershed biodiversity conservation. © 2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Arsenic and chloride data for five stream sites in the Madison River drainage, Montana, 1988

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knapton, J.R.; Brosten, Tordis M.

    1989-01-01

    Enriched geothermal waters in Yellowstone National Park contribute large quantities of arsenic to the Madison River. Because arsenic may be acutely or chronically toxic to humans when ingested, it is of concern in the upper Missouri River basin where the water is used for domestic purposes. In passage of water downstream, concentrations of arsenic in the Madison and Missouri Rivers are diluted by tributary inflows. However, insufficient information existed to describe concentrations during runoff at specific locations. As a result, a monitoring network was established to better define arsenic concentrations during the 1988 peak runoff and during periods prior to and following the runoff. In addition to arsenic, samples were analyzed for chloride because of its association with geothermal water and specific conductance because it is a surrogate measure of dissolved-solids concentration. This report presents data acquired during 1988 at five sampling stations in the Madison River drainage. (USGS)

  13. Real-time management of water quality in the San Joaquin River Basin, California.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quinn, N.W.T.; Karkoski, J.

    1997-09-01

    In the San Joaquin River Basin, California, a realtime water quality forecasting model was developed to help improve the management of saline agricultural and wetland drainage to meet water quality objectives. Predicted salt loads from the water quality forecasting model, SJRIODAY, were consistently within +- 11 percent of actual, within +- 14 percent for seven-day forecasts, and with in +- 26 percent for 14-day forecasts for the 16-month trial period. When the 48 days dominated by rainfall/runoff events were eliminated from the data set, the error bar decreased to +- 9 percent for the model and +- 11 percent and +- 17 percent for the seven-day and 14-day forecasts, respectively. Constraints on the use of the model for salinity management on the San Joaquin River include the number of entities that control or influence water quality and the lack of a centralized authority to direct their activities. The lack of real-time monitoring sensors for other primary constituents of concern, such as selenium and boron, limits the application of the model to salinity at the present time. A case study describes wetland drainage releases scheduled to coincide with high river flows and significant river assimilative capacity for salt loads.

  14. Relation of water quality to land use in the drainage basins of six tributaries to the lower Delaware River, New Jersey, 2002-07

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Ronald J.; Esralew, Rachel A.

    2010-01-01

    Concentrations and loads of water-quality constituents in six streams in the lower Delaware River Basin of New Jersey were determined in a multi-year study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Two streams receive water from relatively undeveloped basins, two from largely agricultural basins, and two from heavily urbanized basins. Each stream was monitored during eight storms and at least eight times during base flow during 2002-07. Sampling was conducted during base flow before each storm, when stage was first observed to rise, and several times during the rising limb of the hydrographs. Agricultural and urban land use has resulted in statistically significant increases in loads of nitrogen and phosphorus species relative to loads in undeveloped basins. For example, during the growing season, median storm flow concentrations of total nitrogen in the two streams in agricultural areas were 6,290 and 1,760 mg/L, compared to 988 and 823 mg/L for streams in urban areas, and 719 and 333 mg/L in undeveloped areas. Although nutrient concentrations and loads were clearly related to land useurban, agricultural, and undeveloped within the drainage basins, other basin characteristics were found to be important. Residual nutrients entrapped in lake sediments from streams that received effluent from recently removed sewage-treatment plants are hypothesized to be the cause of extremely high levels of nutrient loads to one urban stream, whereas another urban stream with similar land-use percentages (but without the legacy of sewage-treatment plants) had much lower levels of nutrients. One of the two agricultural streams studied had higher nutrient loads than the other, especially for total phosphorous and organic nitrogen. This difference appears to be related to the presence (or absence) of livestock (cattle).

  15. The susceptibility of large river basins to orogenic and climatic drivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haedke, Hanna; Wittmann, Hella; von Blanckenburg, Friedhelm

    2017-04-01

    Large rivers are known to buffer pulses in sediment production driven by changes in climate as sediment is transported through lowlands. Our new dataset of in situ cosmogenic nuclide concentration and chemical composition of 62 sandy bedload samples from the world largest rivers integrates over 25% of Earth's terrestrial surface, distributed over a variety of climatic zones across all continents, and represents the millennial-scale denudation rate of the sediment's source area. We can show that these denudation rates do not respond to climatic forcing, but faithfully record orogenic forcing, when analyzed with respective variables representing orogeny (strain rate, relief, bouguer anomaly, free-air anomaly), and climate (runoff, temperature, precipitation) and basin properties (floodplain response time, drainage area). In contrast to this orogenic forcing of denudation rates, elemental bedload chemistry from the fine-grained portion of the same samples correlates with climate-related variables (precipitation, runoff) and floodplain response times. It is also well-known from previous compilations of river-gauged sediment loads that the short-term basin-integrated sediment export is also climatically controlled. The chemical composition of detrital sediment shows a climate control that can originate in the rivers source area, but this signal is likely overprinted during transfer through the lowlands because we also find correlation with floodplain response times. At the same time, cosmogenic nuclides robustly preserve the orogenic forcing of the source area denudation signal through of the floodplain buffer. Conversely, previous global compilations of cosmogenic nuclides in small river basins show the preservation of climate drivers in their analysis, but these are buffered in large lowland rivers. Hence, we can confirm the assumption that cosmogenic nuclides in large rivers are poorly susceptible to climate changes, but are at the same time highly suited to detect

  16. Water equivalent of snow survey of the Red River Basin and Heart/Cannonball River Basin, March 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feimster, E.L.

    1979-10-01

    The water equivalent of accumulated snow was estimated in the Red River and Heart/Cannonball River basins and surrounding areas in North Dakota during the period 8 to 17 March 1978. A total of 570 km were flown, covering a 274 km section of the Red River Basin watershed. These lines had been surveyed in March 1974. Twelve flight lines were flown over the North Dakota side of the Red River from a point 23 km south of the Canadian border southward to the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The eight flight lines flown over the Minnesota side of the Red River extended from 23 km south of the Canadian border southward to Breckenridge, Minnesota. Using six flight lines, a total of 120 km were flown in the Heart/Cannonball River Basin, an area southwest of the city of Bismark, North Dakota. This was the first such flight in the Heart/Cannonball River Basin area. Computed weighted average water equivalents on each flight line in the Red River Basin ranged from 4.8 cm to 12.7 cm of water, averaging 7.6 cm for all lines. In the Heart/Cannonball River Basin, the weighted water equivalent ranged from 8.9 cm to 19.1 cm of water, averaging 12.7 cm for all lines. The method used employs the measurement of the natural gamma rays both before and after snow covers the ground

  17. Inorganic arsenic speciation at river basin scales: The Tinto and Odiel Rivers in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarmiento, A.M. [Department of Geology, Faculty of Experimental Sciences, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva (Spain)], E-mail: aguasanta.miguel@dgeo.uhu.es; Nieto, J.M. [Department of Geology, Faculty of Experimental Sciences, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva (Spain); Casiot, C.; Elbaz-Poulichet, F.; Egal, M. [Laboratoire Hydrosciences, UMR 5569, Universite Montpellier 2, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 05 (France)

    2009-04-15

    The Tinto and Odiel rivers are heavily affected by acid mine drainage from mining areas in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. In this work we have conducted a study along these rivers where surface water samples have been collected. Field measurements, total dissolved metals and Fe and inorganic As speciation analysis were performed. The average total concentration of As in the Tinto river (1975 {mu}g L{sup -1}) is larger than in the Odiel river (441 {mu}g L{sup -1}); however, the mean concentration of As(III) is almost four times higher in the Odiel. In wet seasons the mean pH levels of both rivers (2.4 and 3.2 for the Tinto and Odiel, respectively) increase slightly and the amount of dissolved total arsenic tend to decrease, while the As(III)/(V) ratio strongly increase. Besides, the concentration of the reduced As species increase along the water course. As a result, As(III)/(V) ratio can be up to 100 times higher in the lower part of the basins. An estimation of the As(III) load transported by both rivers into the Atlantic Ocean has been performed, resulting in about 60 kg yr{sup -1} and 2.7 t yr{sup -1} by the Tinto and Odiel rivers, respectively. - Total arsenic concentration decreases along the water basins, however the As(III)/(V) ratio increases.

  18. Human amplified changes in precipitation-runoff patterns in large river basins of the Midwestern United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Sara A.; Takbiri, Zeinab; Belmont, Patrick; Foufoula-Georgiou, Efi

    2017-10-01

    Complete transformations of land cover from prairie, wetlands, and hardwood forests to row crop agriculture and urban centers are thought to have caused profound changes in hydrology in the Upper Midwestern US since the 1800s. In this study, we investigate four large (23 000-69 000 km2) Midwest river basins that span climate and land use gradients to understand how climate and agricultural drainage have influenced basin hydrology over the last 79 years. We use daily, monthly, and annual flow metrics to document streamflow changes and discuss those changes in the context of precipitation and land use changes. Since 1935, flow, precipitation, artificial drainage extent, and corn and soybean acreage have increased across the region. In extensively drained basins, we observe 2 to 4 fold increases in low flows and 1.5 to 3 fold increases in high and extreme flows. Using a water budget, we determined that the storage term has decreased in intensively drained and cultivated basins by 30-200 % since 1975, but increased by roughly 30 % in the less agricultural basin. Storage has generally decreased during spring and summer months and increased during fall and winter months in all watersheds. Thus, the loss of storage and enhanced hydrologic connectivity and efficiency imparted by artificial agricultural drainage appear to have amplified the streamflow response to precipitation increases in the Midwest. Future increases in precipitation are likely to further intensify drainage practices and increase streamflows. Increased streamflow has implications for flood risk, channel adjustment, and sediment and nutrient transport and presents unique challenges for agriculture and water resource management in the Midwest. Better documentation of existing and future drain tile and ditch installation is needed to further understand the role of climate versus drainage across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

  19. The effects of hydraulic works and wetlands function in the Salado-River basin (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazzuri, M E; Gabellone, N A; Solari, L C

    2018-01-26

    Man-made activities exert great influences on fluvial ecosystems, with lowland rivers being substantially modified through agricultural land use and populations. The recent construction of drainage canals in the upper stretch of the Salado-River basin caused the mobilization of huge amounts of salts formerly stored in the groundwater. The main aim of this work was to analyze the effect of the discharges of those canals into the Salado-River water, under different hydrologic conditions, and the role of the wetlands and shallow lakes placed along the canals' system. Physicochemical variables were measured and water samples were taken during times of high water, mean flows, drought, and extreme drought. The environmental variables and the plankton development were related to the hydrologic regime and reached minimum values during floods because of low temperatures and dilution. Local effects on the water's ionic composition became pronounced during droughts because of groundwater input. Nutrient concentrations were mainly associated with point wastewater discharges. Conductivity, ion concentrations, total plankton biomass, and species richness increased in the Salado-River downstream site, after the canals' discharges. The artificial-drainage system definitely promotes the incorporation of salts into the Salado-River basin. In this scenario, a careful hydraulic management is needed to take into account this issue of secondary salinization that threatens the economic exploitation of the region. The wetlands present in this study acted as service environments not only helping to reduce salt, nutrient, and suspended-solid concentrations downstream but also contributing a plethora of species and plankton biomass into the Salado-River main course.

  20. The heat budget of the Ross drainage basin

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oerlemans, J.

    1987-01-01

    Integration of the thermodynamic equation over an entire drainage basin yields a fairly simple expression for the steady-state heat balance. This stems from the fact that dissipative heating can be calculated directly from the release of gravitational energy. When mass balance, surface

  1. Babylonian confusion of gudgeons in the west Aegean drainages inferred by the mitochondrial DNA analyses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radek Sanda

    2015-11-01

    We have analysed control region (mitochondrial non coding DNA of gudgeon populations from all larger river drainages from the west Aegean region (Pinios to Marica basins. Included were also several populations from surrounding areas of the Danube River drainage and from the Black Sea rivers. The results are not at all congruent with the proposed taxonomy. MtDNA haplotypes of Romonagobio banarescui were found not only in the Vardar, but also in the lower Aliakmon River. Haplotypes of Romanogibo elimeus were found in the Pinios, upper Aliakmon and Loudias rivers. Situation of genus Gobio is completely confusing; there is no geographic structure in the distribution of haplotypes. Many different haplogroups are shared in some basins, especially in the drainages of the Struma, Mesta and Marica rivers. This indicates complicated evolutionary history of gudgeons in the region, probably having several historical refugia, and with multiple recent contacts of lineages. Our data indicate a contact between the Danubian, Black Sea and Aegean rivers. The taxonomic status of most of the populations of Gobio from the west Aegean area remains unclear.

  2. Evaluate Status of Pacific Lamprey in the Clearwater River Drainage, Idaho: Annual Report 2001.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cochnauer, Tim; Claire, Christopher

    2002-12-01

    Recent decline of Pacific lamprey Lampetra tridentata adult migrants to the Snake River drainage has focused attention on the species. Adult Pacific lamprey counted passing Ice Harbor Dam fishway averaged 18,158 during 1962-69 and 361 during 1993-2000. Human resource manipulations in the Snake River and Clearwater River drainages have altered ecosystem habitat in the last 120 years, likely impacting the productive potential of Pacific lamprey habitat. Timber harvest, stream impoundment, road construction, grazing, mining, and community development have dominated habitat alteration in the Clearwater River system and Snake River corridor. Hydroelectric projects in the Snake River corridor impact juvenile/larval Pacific lamprey outmigrants and returning adults. Juvenile and larval lamprey outmigrants potentially pass through turbines, turbine bypass/collection systems, and over spillway structures at the four lower Snake River hydroelectric dams. Clearwater River drainage hydroelectric facilities have impacted Pacific lamprey populations to an unknown degree. The Pacific Power and Light Dam on the Clearwater River in Lewiston, Idaho, restricted chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha passage in the 1927-1940 period, altering the migration route of outmigrating Pacific lamprey juveniles/larvae and upstream adult migrants (1927-1972). Dworshak Dam, completed in 1972, eliminated Pacific lamprey spawning and rearing in the North Fork Clearwater River drainage. Construction of the Harpster hydroelectric dam on the South Fork of the Clearwater River resulted in obstructed fish passage 1949-1963. Through Bonneville Power Administration support, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game continued investigation into the status of Pacific lamprey populations in Idaho's Clearwater River drainage in 2001. Trapping, electrofishing, and spawning ground redd surveys were used to determine Pacific lamprey distribution, life history strategies, and habitat requirements in the South

  3. REMOTE SENSORING AND GEOPROCESSMENT APPLIED TO THE GEOLOGICALGEOMORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE JAPARATUBA RIVER BASIN, SERGIPE – BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanmy Silveira

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to apply remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques to characterize the geologicalgeomorphological interrelationships of the Japaratuba River Basin (BHRJ, located in the northeast of the state of Sergipe. The methodology employed is the acquisition of SRTM data (Shuttle Radar Topographyc Mission to extract the drainage automatically, as well as the shaded relief that supported the automatic methods of extraction of geological lines and representation of linear tops. The methods enabled semi-quantitative analyzes in the mapping of the geological-geomorphological structures, where the rosette diagrams show that the three variables used in the drainage survey, the linear structures and the linear representation of tops are grouped preferably in the NW-SE direction And a subordinate trend in the NE-SW direction, due to the structural control exerted by the basement rocks. The study serves as a source of information on the relief forms present in the region, as well as presents the risks of erosion, and restrictions for the urban use and occupation of the Japaratuba River Basin.

  4. Preserving the Dnipro River

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Humanity inherited the true sense of proportion, synergy, and harmony from the natural environment. ..... In Ukraine, the middle and lower sections of the Dnipro have a drainage ... The following large cities are located in the Dnipro basin: in Russia, .... In Kherson Oblast and in river basins of some small rivers it is as high as ...

  5. Assessment of geomorphological and hydrological changes produced by Pleistocene glaciations in a Patagonian basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scordo, Facundo; Seitz, Carina; Melo, Walter D.; Piccolo, M. Cintia; Perillo, Gerardo M. E.

    2018-04-01

    This work aims to assess how Pleistocene glaciations modeled the landscape in the upper Senguer River basin and its relationship to current watershed features (drainage surface and fluvial hydrological regime). During the Pleistocene six glacial lobes developed in the upper basin of the Senguer River localized east of the Andean range in southern Argentinean Patagonia between 43° 36' - 46° 27‧ S. To describe the topography and hydrology, map the geomorphology, and propose an evolution of the study area during the Pleistocene we employed multitemporal Landsat images, national geological sheets and a mosaic of the digital elevation model (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) along with fieldwork. The main conclusion is that until the Middle Pleistocene, the drainage divide of the Senguer River basin was located to the west of its current limits and its rivers drained the meltwater of the glaciers during interglacial periods. However, processes of drainage inversion and drainage surface reduction occurred in the headwater of most rivers of the basin during the Late Pleistocene. Those processes were favored by a relative shorter glacial extension during LGM and the dam effect produced by the moraines of the Post GPG I and III glaciations. Thus, since the Late Pleistocene, the headwaters of several rivers in the basin have been reduced, and the moraines corresponding to the Middle Pleistocene glaciations currently divide the watersheds that drain towards the Senguer River from those that flow west towards the Pacific Ocean.

  6. Quality of surface waters in the lower Columbia River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, John F.

    1965-01-01

    chemical composition of the streams. The maximum dissolved-solids concentration and hardness of water observed in major irrigation areas were 507 and 262 parts per million, respectively, for the. Walla Walla River near Touchet, Wash. In terms of the U.S. Salinity Laboratory Staff classification (1954, p. 80), water in most streams in the basin has low salinity and sodium hazards and is suitable for irrigation. A salt-balance problem does exist in the Hermiston-Stanfield, Oreg., area of the Umatilla River basin, and because of poor drainage, improper irrigation practices could cause salt-balance problems in the Willamette River Valley, Oreg., in which irrigation is rapidly increasing. Pollution by sewage disposal has reached undesirable levels in the Walla Walla River, in the Willamette River from Eugene to Portland, Oreg., and in the Columbia River from Portland to Puget Island. In the lower reaches of the Willamette River, the pollution load from sewage and industrial-waste disposal at times depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water to concentrations below what is considered necessary for aquatic life. Water in most of the tributaries to the lower Columbia River is of excellent quality and after some treatment could be used for industrial and municipal supplies. The principal treatment required would be disinfection and turbidity removal.

  7. Integrated river basin management of Južna Morava River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borisavljević Ana

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In the last decade in particular, Serbia encountered the problems of drinking water supply, which influenced the perception of professional public about the water crisis but also started more intensive work on water resource perseverance as well as the implementation of European Water Directive. One of the main demands of the Directive focuses on integrated river basin management (IRBM, which is a complex and a large task. The need to collect data on water quality and quantity, specific and key issues of water management in Južna Morava river basin, pressures on river ecosystem, flood risks and erosion problems, cross-border issues, socioeconomic processes, agricultural development as well as protected areas, and also to give the measures for solving problems and pressures recognized in the basin, is undisputable. This paper focuses on detailed analysis of specific pressures on river ecosystem and composition of recommendations for integrated management of Južna Morava river basin as cross-border river basin, taking into the account European experiences in IRBM. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43007: Istraživanje klimatskih promena na životnu sredinu - praćenje uticaja, adaptacija i ublažavanje, podprojekat br. 9: Učestalost bujičnih poplava, degradacija zemljišta i voda kao posledica globalnih promena

  8. Tile Drainage Expansion Detection using Satellite Soil Moisture Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, J. M.; Cho, E.; Jia, X.

    2017-12-01

    In the past two decades, tile drainage installation has accelerated throughout the Red River of the North Basin (RRB) in parts of western Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, and a small area of northeastern South Dakota, because the flat topography and low-permeability soils in this region necessitated the removal of excess water to improve crop production. Interestingly, streamflow in the Red River has markedly increased and six of 13 major floods during the past century have occurred since the late 1990s. It has been suggested that the increase in RRB flooding could be due to change in agricultural practices, including extensive tile drainage installation. Reliable information on existing and future tile drainage installation is greatly needed to capture the rapid extension of tile drainage systems and to locate tile drainage systems in the north central U.S. including the RRB region. However, there are few reliable data of tile drainage installation records, except tile drainage permit records in the Bois de Sioux watershed (a sub-basin in southern part of the RRB where permits are required for tile drainage installation). This study presents a tile drainage expansion detection method based on a physical principle that the soil-drying rate may increase with increasing tile drainage for a given area. In order to capture the rate of change in soil drying rate with time over entire RRB (101,500 km2), two satellite-based microwave soil moisture records from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) and AMSR2 were used during 2002 to 2016. In this study, a sub-watershed level (HUC10) potential tile drainage growth map was developed and the results show good agreement with tile drainage permit records of six sub-watersheds in the Bois de Sioux watershed. Future analyses will include improvement of the potential tile drainage map through additional information using optical- and thermal-based sensor products and evaluation of its

  9. Drainage network extraction from a high-resolution DEM using parallel programming in the .NET Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Chao; Ye, Aizhong; Gan, Yanjun; You, Jinjun; Duan, Qinyun; Ma, Feng; Hou, Jingwen

    2017-12-01

    High-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) can be used to extract high-accuracy prerequisite drainage networks. A higher resolution represents a larger number of grids. With an increase in the number of grids, the flow direction determination will require substantial computer resources and computing time. Parallel computing is a feasible method with which to resolve this problem. In this paper, we proposed a parallel programming method within the .NET Framework with a C# Compiler in a Windows environment. The basin is divided into sub-basins, and subsequently the different sub-basins operate on multiple threads concurrently to calculate flow directions. The method was applied to calculate the flow direction of the Yellow River basin from 3 arc-second resolution SRTM DEM. Drainage networks were extracted and compared with HydroSHEDS river network to assess their accuracy. The results demonstrate that this method can calculate the flow direction from high-resolution DEMs efficiently and extract high-precision continuous drainage networks.

  10. Mapping groundwater availability and adequacy in the Lower Zambezi River basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Pérez-Lapeña

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Groundwater plays an important role as a source of water for various socio-economic uses and environmental requirements in the lower Zambezi basin in Mozambique. Hence it is important to know its availability and adequacy in space to inform decision making for sustainable water management practices. For a derivation of a Groundwater Availability map and a Groundwater Adequacy map we adapted the DRASTIC methodology in a GIS environment to determine how different parameters, such as precipitation, topography, soil drainage, land use and vegetation cover, aquifer characteristics and groundwater quality affect (i groundwater recharge on a long-term sustainable basis, (ii the short-term abstraction potential and (iii the long-term adequacy of groundwater utilization for domestic use. Results showed that groundwater availability in the Zambezi basin varies mostly from medium to low, with highest potential along the perennial rivers and in the delta where it plays a crucial role in environmental preservation. The southern margin of the Zambezi River shows low groundwater availability and also presents low adequacy for domestic use due to poor groundwater quality. The results from this study will be used in determining the most promising future development pathways and select the most attractive strategic development plans of the Mozambican government for the Lower Zambezi basin.

  11. Estimating Stream Discharge of Aboine River Basin of Southeast ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADOWIE PERE

    of inter-basin parameters showed that the Aboine drainage basin is basically a flat surface. This ... on the fluvial system and also for predicting the basin output variables. Surface .... outflows of rainwater from the basin as has been done by ...

  12. Effects of landscape features on population genetic variation of a tropical stream fish, Stone lapping minnow, Garra cambodgiensis, in the upper Nan River drainage basin, northern Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaowalee Jaisuk

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Spatial genetic variation of river-dwelling freshwater fishes is typically affected by the historical and contemporary river landscape as well as life-history traits. Tropical river and stream landscapes have endured extended geological change, shaping the existing pattern of genetic diversity, but were not directly affected by glaciation. Thus, spatial genetic variation of tropical fish populations should look very different from the pattern observed in temperate fish populations. These data are becoming important for designing appropriate management and conservation plans, as these aquatic systems are undergoing intense development and exploitation. This study evaluated the effects of landscape features on population genetic diversity of Garra cambodgiensis, a stream cyprinid, in eight tributary streams in the upper Nan River drainage basin (n = 30–100 individuals/location, Nan Province, Thailand. These populations are under intense fishing pressure from local communities. Based on 11 microsatellite loci, we detected moderate genetic diversity within eight population samples (average number of alleles per locus = 10.99 ± 3.00; allelic richness = 10.12 ± 2.44. Allelic richness within samples and stream order of the sampling location were negatively correlated (P < 0.05. We did not detect recent bottleneck events in these populations, but we did detect genetic divergence among populations (Global FST = 0.022, P < 0.01. The Bayesian clustering algorithms (TESS and STRUCTURE suggested that four to five genetic clusters roughly coincide with sub-basins: (1 headwater streams/main stem of the Nan River, (2 a middle tributary, (3 a southeastern tributary and (4 a southwestern tributary. We observed positive correlation between geographic distance and linearized FST (P < 0.05, and the genetic differentiation pattern can be moderately explained by the contemporary stream network (STREAMTREE analysis, R2 = 0.75. The MEMGENE analysis

  13. Stream water quality in coal mined areas of the lower Cheat River Basin, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, during low-flow conditions, July 1997

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Donald R.; Clark, Mary E.; Brown, Juliane B.

    1999-01-01

    IntroductionThe Cheat River Basin is in the Allegheny Plateau and Allegheny Mountain Sections of the Appalachian Plateau Physiographic Province (Fenneman, 1946) and is almost entirely within the state of West Virginia. The Cheat River drains an area of 1,422 square miles in Randolph, Tucker, Preston, and Monongalia Counties in West Virginia and Fayette County in Pennsylvania. From its headwaters in Randolph County, W.Va., the Cheat River flows 157 miles north to the Pennsylvania state line, where it enters the Monongahela River. The Cheat River drainage comprises approximately 19 percent of the total Monongahela River Basin. The Cheat River and streams within the Cheat River Basin are characterized by steep gradients, rock channels, and high flow velocities that have created a thriving white-water rafting industry for the area. The headwaters of the Cheat River contain some of the most pristine and aesthetic streams in West Virginia. The attraction to the area, particularly the lower part of the Cheat River Basin (the lower 412 square miles of the basin), has been suppressed because of poor water quality. The economy of the Lower Cheat River Basin has been dominated by coal mining over many decades. As a result, many abandoned deep and surface mines discharge untreated acid mine drainage (AMD), which degrades water quality, into the Cheat River and many of its tributary streams. Approximately 60 regulated mine-related discharges (West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 1996) and 185 abandoned mine sites (U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 1998) discharge treated and untreated AMD into the Cheat River and its tributaries.The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Office of Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation (AML&R) has recently completed several AMD reclamation projects throughout the Cheat River Basin that have collectively improved the mainstem water quality. The AML&R office is currently involved in acquiring grant funds and

  14. A proposal for an administrative set up of river basin management in the Sittaung River Basin

    OpenAIRE

    Tun, Zaw Lwin; Ni, Bo; Tun, Sein; Nesheim, Ingrid

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this report is to present a proposal for how an administrative approach based on River Basin Management can be implemented in Myanmar. The Sittaung River Basin has been used as an example area to investigate how the basin can be administered according to the IWRM principles of cooperation between the different sectors and the administrative units, including stakeholder involvement. Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation, Myanmar Norwegian Ministry of For...

  15. Modelling the Transfer and Retention of Nutrients in the Drainage Network of the Danube River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garnier, J.; Billen, G.; Hannon, E.; Fonbonne, S.; Videnina, Y.; Soulie, M.

    2002-03-01

    The Danube catchment basin (817 000 km 2, 76×10 6 inhabitants) is the major freshwater contributor to the Black Sea (6300 m 3 s -1, 80% of the annual river discharge into the north-western Black Sea). The aim of the modelling approach developed for the Danube River, is to establish how land use and management of the whole watershed are linked to nutrient (N, P, Si) delivery and retention by the river. The approach uses an adaptation of the RIVERSTRAHLER model, which is based on a schematic representation of the drainage network deduced from geomorphological analysis by stream orders. The whole catchment was divided into 10 sub-basins and one branch, to provide a description satisfying both the need to take into account the heterogeneity of the system and the availability of constraints and validation data. On the basis of this description, a hydrological model was developed, which adequately simulated the seasonal variations of the discharge measured at the outlet of the basin. The model itself resulted from the coupling of the hydrological model with a biogeochemical model (RIVE), which takes into account the main ecological processes. It established a link between microscopic processes, their controlling factors and their macroscopic manifestations in terms of nutrient cycling and ecological functioning at the scale of the whole drainage network. The model was validated for the period from 1988 to 1991 on the basis of available observations of the major water-quality variables involved in the eutrophication processes (inorganic nutrients, phytoplankton biomass, dissolved oxygen, etc.). A reasonable agreement was found between the simulations of the model and the observations. Nutrient fluxes to the Black Sea, calculated for our reference period, are in the same range as those obtained via other approaches. Si/P and N/P ratios suggest silicon, rather than phosphorus, limitation for diatoms and phosphorus, rather than nitrogen, limitation for overall phytoplankton

  16. Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Water Allocation in Karkheh River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davtalabsabet, R.; Madani, K.; Massah, A.; Farajzadeh, M.

    2013-12-01

    Rahman Davtalab1, 2, Kaveh Madani2, Alireza Massah3, Manouchehr Farajzadeh1 1Department of Geography, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA 3Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, College of Abureyhan , University of Tehran, Iran Abstract Karkheh river basin, with an area of 50,000 km2 is located, in southwest Iran. This basin supplies water for major agricultural activities and large hydropower production in five Iranian provinces with the total population of four million people. Due to development and population growth, this large trans-boundary basin is incapable of meeting the water demands of the five riparian provinces, causing water allocation conflicts in the region. The situation has been exacerbated by the frequent droughts and is expected to worsen further by climate change. This study evaluates the impacts of climate change on water supply reliability and allocation in this basin. First, outputs of several General Circulation Models (GCMs) under different emission scenarios for different future time horizons are statistically downscaled. Then multiple river flow time series (RFTS) are generated by feeding GCM outputs into a HEC-HMS model, using the Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA). Given a wide range of variations in GCM outputs and the resulting RFTS, the Ward's method is used to identity different RFTS clusters. Clustering helps with increasing the ability of the modeler to test a range of possible future conditions while reducing the redundancies in input data. Karkheh river basin's ability to meet the growing demand under decreasing flows is evaluated for each RFTS cluster representative. Results indicate that Karkheh river flow might decrease by 50% toward the end of the century. This would decrease the reliability of agricultural water deliveries from 78-95% to less than 50%. While currently hydropower dams can only

  17. Misrepresenting the Jordan River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clemens Messerschmid

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This article advances a critique of the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia’s (ESCWA’s representation of the Jordan River Basin, as contained in its recently published Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia. We argue that ESCWA’s representation of the Jordan Basin is marked by serious technical errors and a systematic bias in favour of one riparian, Israel, and against the Jordan River’s four Arab riparians. We demonstrate this in relation to ESCWA’s account of the political geography of the Jordan River Basin, which foregrounds Israel and its perspectives and narratives; in relation to hydrology, where Israel’s contribution to the basin is overstated, whilst that of Arab riparians is understated; and in relation to development and abstraction, where Israel’s transformation and use of the basin are underplayed, while Arab impacts are exaggerated. Taken together, this bundle of misrepresentations conveys the impression that it is Israel which is the main contributor to the Jordan River Basin, Arab riparians its chief exploiters. This impression is, we argue, not just false but also surprising, given that the Inventory is in the name of an organisation of Arab states. The evidence discussed here provides a striking illustration of how hegemonic hydro-political narratives are reproduced, including by actors other than basin hegemons themselves.

  18. Klamath River Basin water-quality data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Cassandra D.; Rounds, Stewart A.; Orzol, Leonard L.; Sobieszczyk, Steven

    2018-05-29

    The Klamath River Basin stretches from the mountains and inland basins of south-central Oregon and northern California to the Pacific Ocean, spanning multiple climatic regions and encompassing a variety of ecosystems. Water quantity and water quality are important topics in the basin, because water is a critical resource for farming and municipal use, power generation, and for the support of wildlife, aquatic ecosystems, and endangered species. Upper Klamath Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Oregon (112 square miles) and is known for its seasonal algal blooms. The Klamath River has dams for hydropower and the upper basin requires irrigation water to support agriculture and grazing. Multiple species of endangered fish inhabit the rivers and lakes, and the marshes are key stops on the Pacific flyway for migrating birds. For these and other reasons, the water resources in this basin have been studied and monitored to support their management distribution.

  19. Implementing Integrated River Basin Management in China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boekhorst, D.G.J. te; Smits, A.J.M.; Yu, X.; Lifeng, L.; Lei, G.; Zhang, C.

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines the role of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature China as policy entrepreneur in China. It illustrates the ways in which the World Wildlife Fund for Nature is active in promoting integrated river basin management in the Yangtze River basin and how the efforts at basin level are

  20. Late quaternary dynamics in the Madeira river basin, southern Amazonia (Brazil, as revealed by paleomorphological analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ericson H. Hayakawa

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Ancient drainage systems are being increasingly documented in the Amazon basin and their characterization is crucial for reconstructing fluvial evolution in this area. Fluvial morphologies, including elongate belts, are well preserved along the Madeira River. Digital Elevation Model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission favored the detection of these features even where they are covered by dense rainforest. These paleomorphologies are attributed to the shifting position of past tributaries of the Madeira River through avulsions. These radial paleodrainage networks produced fan-shaped morphologies that resemble distributary megafans. Distinguishing avulsive tributary systems from distributary megafans in the sedimentary record is challenging. Madeira´s paleodrainage reveals the superposition of tributary channels formed by multiple avulsions within a given time period, rather than downstream bifurcation of coexisting channels. Channel avulsion in this Amazonian area during the late Quaternary is related to tectonics due to features as: (i straight lineaments coincident with fault directions; (ii northeastward tilting of the terrain with Quaternary strata; and (iii several drainage anomalies, including frequent orthogonal drainage inflections. These characteristics altogether lead to propose that the radial paleodrainage present at the Madeira River margin results from successive avulsions of tributary channels over time due to tectonics.

  1. Landscape changes as a factor affecting the course and consequences of extreme floods in the Otava river basin, Czech Republic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhammer, Jakub; Vilímek, Vít

    2008-09-01

    The paper presents the analysis of anthropogenical modifications of the landscape in relation to the course and consequences of floods. The research was conducted in the Otava river basin which represents the core zone of the extreme flood in August 2002 in Central Europe. The analysis was focused on the key indicators of landscape modification potentially affecting the runoff process - the long-term changes of land-use, changes of land cover structure, land drainage, historical shortening of the river network and the modifications of streams and floodplains. The information on intensity and spatial distribution of modifications was derived from different data sources--historical maps, available GIS data, remote sensing and field mapping. The results revealed a high level of spatial diversity of anthropogenical modifications in different parts of the river basin. The intensive modifications in most of indicators were concentrated in the lowland region of the river basin due to its agricultural use; however important changes were also recorded in the headwater region of the basin. The high spatial diversity of the modifications may result in their varying effect on the course and consequences of floods in different parts of the river basin. This effect is demonstrated by the cluster analysis based on the matrix of indicators of stream and floodplain modification, physiogeographical characteristics and geomorphological evidences of the flood in August 2002, derived from the individual thematic layers using GIS.

  2. Simulation of Regional Ground-Water Flow in the Suwannee River Basin, Northern Florida and Southern Georgia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Planert, Michael

    2007-01-01

    The Suwannee River Basin covers a total of nearly 9,950 square miles in north-central Florida and southern Georgia. In Florida, the Suwannee River Basin accounts for 4,250 square miles of north-central Florida. Evaluating the impacts of increased development in the Suwannee River Basin requires a quantitative understanding of the boundary conditions, hydrogeologic framework and hydraulic properties of the Floridan aquifer system, and the dynamics of water exchanges between the Suwannee River and its tributaries and the Floridan aquifer system. Major rivers within the Suwannee River Basin are the Suwannee, Santa Fe, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee. Four rivers west of the Suwannee River are the Aucilla, the Econfina, the Fenholloway, and the Steinhatchee; all drain to the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the surface-water hydrology of the study area is that large areas east of the Suwannee River are devoid of channelized, surface drainage; consequently, most of the drainage occurs through the subsurface. The ground-water flow system underlying the study area plays a critical role in the overall hydrology of this region of Florida because of the dominance of subsurface drain-age, and because ground-water flow sustains the flow of the rivers and springs. Three principal hydrogeologic units are present in the study area: the surficial aquifer system, the intermediate aquifer system, and the Floridan aquifer system. The surficial aquifer system principally consists of unconsoli-dated to poorly indurated siliciclastic deposits. The intermediate aquifer system, which contains the intermediate confining unit, lies below the surficial aquifer system (where present), and generally consists of fine-grained, uncon-solidated deposits of quartz sand, silt, and clay with interbedded limestone of Miocene age. Regionally, the intermediate aquifer system and intermediate con-fining unit act as a confining unit that restricts the exchange of water between the over

  3. Modeling and analysis of Soil Erosion processes by the River Basins model: The Case Study of the Krivacki Potok Watershed, Montenegro

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vujacic, Dusko; Barovic, Goran; Mijanovic, Dragica; Spalevic, Velibor; Curovic, Milic; Tanaskovic, Vjekoslav; Djurovic, Nevenka

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this research was to study soil erosion processes in one of Northern Montenegrin watersheds, the Krivacki Potok Watershed of the Polimlje River Basin, using modeling techniques: the River Basins computer-graphic model, based on the analytical Erosion Potential Method (EPM) of Gavrilovic for calculation of runoff and soil loss. Our findings indicate a low potential of soil erosion risk, with 554 m³ yr-1 of annual sediment yield; an area-specific sediment yield of 180 m³km-2 yr-1. The calculation outcomes were validated for the entire 57 River Basins of Polimlje, through measurements of lake sediment deposition at the Potpec hydropower plant dam. According to our analysis, the Krivacki Potok drainage basin is with the relatively low sediment discharge; according to the erosion type, it is mixed erosion. The value of the Z coefficient was calculated on 0.297, what indicates that the river basin belongs to 4th destruction category (of five). The calculated peak discharge from the river basin was 73 m3s-1 for the incidence of 100 years and there is a possibility for large flood waves to appear in the studied river basin. Using the adequate computer-graphic and analytical modeling tools, we improved the knowledge on the soil erosion processes of the river basins of this part of Montenegro. The computer-graphic River Basins model of Spalevic, which is based on the EPM analytical method of Gavrilovic, is highly recommended for soil erosion modelling in other river basins of the Southeastern Europe. This is because of its reliable detection and appropriate classification of the areas affected by the soil loss caused by soil erosion, at the same time taking into consideration interactions between the various environmental elements such as Physical-Geographical Features, Climate, Geological, Pedological characteristics, including the analysis of Land Use, all calculated at the catchment scale.

  4. Implementing Integrated River Basin Management in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorri G. J. te Boekhorst

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the role of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature China as policy entrepreneur in China. It illustrates the ways in which the World Wildlife Fund for Nature is active in promoting integrated river basin management in the Yangtze River basin and how the efforts at basin level are matched with the advice of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development task force on integrated river basin management to the national government of China. This article demonstrates that the World Wildlife Fund for Nature uses various strategies of different types to support a transition process towards integrated river basin management. Successful deployment of these strategies for change in environmental policy requires special skills, actions, and attitudes on the part of the policy entrepreneur, especially in China, where the government has a dominant role regarding water management and the position of policy entrepeneurs is delicate.

  5. Developing a Science-based River Basin Management Plan for the Kharaa River Basin, Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karthe, Daniel

    2013-04-01

    The Kharaa River Basin (KRB), which is located north of Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar and south of Lake Baikal, was chosen as a model region for the development and implementation of an integrated water resources management consisting of a monitoring concept, technical measures and a capacity development program (Karthe et al. 2012a). The basin of the Kharaa River covers an area of 14534 km² that is partly mountaineous and largely covered by taiga and steppe. At its outlet, the 362 km Kharaa River has a mean long-term annual discharge of 12.1 m³/s (MoMo Consortium 2009). A highly continental climate results in limited water resources, and rising water consumption coupled with the effects of climate and land use change may in the future exacerbate this water scarcity (Malsy et al. 2012; Karthe et al. 2013). Whereas the environment in the upper part of the catchment is in a relatively pristine state, the mid- and downstream sections of the river are characterized by nearby industry, mining activities and intensive agriculture (Menzel et al. 2011), resulting in declining water quality and ultimately a degradation of aquatic ecosystems (Hofmann et al. 2010; Hartwig et al. 2012). Moreover, it is a problem for the supply of major cities like Darkhan which largely rely on alluvial aquifers containing shallow-depth groundwater (Mun et al. 2008). Currently, there are alarming signs of water quality deterioration. With regard to water provision, a major problem is the poor state of distribution infrastructures which were often built in the 1960s and 70s (Scharaw & Westerhoff 2011). Rather little is currently known about the water quality supplied to end users; the latter is even more dubious in the city's informal ger districts (Karthe et al. 2012b). One important goal of the research and development project "Integrated Water Resources Management in Central Asia: Model Region Mongolia" lies in the implementation of a holistic concept for water resources monitoring and

  6. Analysis of stream quality in the Yampa River Basin, Colorado and Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wentz, Dennis A.; Steele, Timothy Doak

    1980-01-01

    Historic data show no significant water-temperature changes since 1951 for the Little Snake or Yampa Rivers, the two major streams of the Yampa River basin in Colorado and Wyoming. Regional analyses indicate that harmonic-mean temperature is negatively correlated with altitude. No change in specific conductance since 1951 was noted for the Little Snake River; however, specific conductance in the Yampa River has increaed 14 % since that time and is attributed to increased agricultural and municipal use of water. Site-specific relationships between major inorganic constituents and specific conductance for the Little Snake and Yampa Rivers were similar to regional relationships developed from both historic and recent (1975) data. These relationships provide a means for estimating concentrations of major inorganic constituents from specific conductance, which is easily measured. Trace-element and nutrient data collected from August 1975 through September 1976 at 92 sites in the Yampa River basin indicate that water-quality degradation occurred upstream from 3 sites. The degradation resulted from underground drainage from pyritic materials that probably are associated with coal at one site, discharge from powerplant cooling-tower blowdown water at a second site, and runoff from a small watershed containing a gas field at the third site. Ambient concentrations of dissolved and total iron and manganese frequently exceeded proposed Colorado water-quality standards. The concentrations of many dissolved and total trace elements and nutrients were greatest during March 1976. These were associated with larger suspended-sediment concentrations and smaller pH values than at other times of the year. (USGS)

  7. Influence of septic systems on stream base flow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin near Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, John S.; Painter, Jaime A.

    2014-01-01

    Septic systems were identified at 241,733 locations in a 2,539-square-mile (mi2) study area that includes all or parts of 12 counties in the Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area. Septic system percolation may locally be an important component of streamflow in small drainage basins where it augments natural groundwater recharge, especially during extreme low-flow conditions. The amount of groundwater reaching streams depends on how much is intercepted by plants or infiltrates to deeper parts of the groundwater system that flows beyond a basin divide and does not discharge into streams within a basin. The potential maximum percolation from septic systems in the study area is 62 cubic feet per second (ft3/s), of which 52 ft3/s is in the Chattahoochee River Basin and 10 ft3/s is in the Flint River Basin. These maximum percolation rates represent 0.4 to 5.7 percent of daily mean streamflow during the 2011–12 period at the farthest downstream gaging site (station 02338000) on the Chattahoochee River, and 0.5 to 179 percent of daily mean streamflow at the farthest downstream gaging site on the Flint River (02344350). To determine the difference in base flow between basins having different septic system densities, hydrograph separation analysis was completed using daily mean streamflow data at streamgaging stations at Level Creek (site 02334578), with a drainage basin having relatively high septic system density of 101 systems per square mile, and Woodall Creek (site 02336313), with a drainage basin having relatively low septic system density of 18 systems per square mile. Results indicated that base-flow yield during 2011–12 was higher at the Level Creek site, with a median of 0.47 cubic feet per second per square mile ([ft3/s]/mi2), compared to a median of 0.16 (ft3/s)/mi2, at the Woodall Creek site. At the less urbanized Level Creek site, there are 515 septic systems with a daily maximum percolation rate of 0.14 ft3/s, accounting for 11 percent of the base flow in

  8. Development of a regional hydrologic soil model and application to the Beerze-Reusel drainage basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolditz, O.; Du, Y.; Buerger, C.; Delfs, J.; Kuntz, D.; Beinhorn, M.; Hess, M.; Wang, W.; Grift, B. van der; Stroet, C. te

    2007-01-01

    The soil compartment is an important interface between the atmosphere and the subsurface hydrosphere. In this paper a conceptual approach for regional hydrologic soil modelling (RHSM) is presented, which provides two important qualities for modelling. First, the soil compartment is directly coupled to the atmosphere via the land surface and to the aquifers. Second, extremely fine (5 cm vertical) resolutions of the soil system can be realized at regional scales (several hundreds of km 2 ). This high-resolution modelling could be achieved by parallel computation techniques. The RHSM approach is applied to the Beerze-Reusel drainage basin, which belongs to the Meuse River basin. Moisture transport in the soil system was calculated with extremely high vertical resolution at a regional scale based on rainfall-evaporation data for the year 2000. As a result, highly resolved regional groundwater recharge pattern addressing the heterogeneity of soil systems could be determined. - A real case application of concept of regional hydrologic soil modelling is presented

  9. Application of PALSAR-2 remote sensing data for structural geology and topographic mapping in Kelantan river basin, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beiranvand Pour, Amin; Hashim, Mazlan

    2016-06-01

    Natural hazards of geological origin are one of major problem during heavy monsoons rainfall in Kelantan state, peninsular Malaysia. Several landslides occur in this region are obviously connected to geological and topographical features, every year. Satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are particularly applicable for detection of geological structural and topographical features in tropical conditions. In this study, Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2), remote sensing data were used to identify high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslide in the Kelantan river basin. Adaptive Local Sigma filter was selected and applied to accomplish speckle reduction and preserving both edges and features in PALSAR-2 fine mode observation images. Different polarization images were integrated to enhance geological structures. Additionally, directional filters were applied to the PALSAR-2 Local Sigma resultant image for edge enhancement and detailed identification of linear features. Several faults, drainage patterns and lithological contact layers were identified at regional scale. In order to assess the results, fieldwork and GPS survey were conducted in the landslide affected zones in the Kelantan river basin. Results demonstrate the most of the landslides were associated with N-S, NNW-SSE and NE-SW trending faults, angulate drainage pattern and metamorphic and Quaternary units. Consequently, geologic structural map were produced for Kelantan river basin using recent PALSAR-2 data, which could be broadly applicable for landslide hazard assessment and delineation of high potential risk and susceptible areas. Landslide mitigation programmes could be conducted in the landslide recurrence regions for reducing catastrophes leading to economic losses and death.

  10. Hydrogeological assessment of Acid mine Drainage impacts in the West Rand Basin, Gauteng Province

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Hobbs, PJ

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available HYDROGEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE IMPACTS IN THE WEST RAND BASIN, GAUTENG PROVINCE Principal Author PJ Hobbs (Pr.Sci.Nat.) Co-author JE Cobbing (Pr.Sci.Nat.) August 2007 Report prepared for CSIR / THRIP Document... it is published. A Hydrogeological Assessment of Acid Mine Drainage Report No. Impacts in the West Rand Basin, Gauteng Province CSIR/NRE/WR/ER/2007/0097/C CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment (i) The “Lodge” spring rising...

  11. Digital database architecture and delineation methodology for deriving drainage basins, and a comparison of digitally and non-digitally derived numeric drainage areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupree, Jean A.; Crowfoot, Richard M.

    2012-01-01

    The drainage basin is a fundamental hydrologic entity used for studies of surface-water resources and during planning of water-related projects. Numeric drainage areas published by the U.S. Geological Survey water science centers in Annual Water Data Reports and on the National Water Information Systems (NWIS) Web site are still primarily derived from hard-copy sources and by manual delineation of polygonal basin areas on paper topographic map sheets. To expedite numeric drainage area determinations, the Colorado Water Science Center developed a digital database structure and a delineation methodology based on the hydrologic unit boundaries in the National Watershed Boundary Dataset. This report describes the digital database architecture and delineation methodology and also presents the results of a comparison of the numeric drainage areas derived using this digital methodology with those derived using traditional, non-digital methods. (Please see report for full Abstract)

  12. 75 FR 38833 - Walker River Basin Acquisition Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-06

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Reclamation Walker River Basin Acquisition Program AGENCY... (Reclamation) is canceling work on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Walker River Basin... Walker River, primarily for irrigated agriculture, have resulted in a steadily declining surface...

  13. Summary of biological investigations relating to surface-water quality in the Kentucky River Basin, Kentucky

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bradfield, A.D.; Porter, S.D.

    1990-01-01

    The Kentucky River basin, an area of approximately 7,000 sq mi, is divided into five hydrologic units that drain parts of three physiographic regions. Data on aquatic biological resources were collected and reviewed to assess conditions in the major streams for which data were available. The North, Middle, and south Forks of the Kentucky River are in the Eastern Coal Field physiographic region. Streams in this region are affected by drainage from coal mines and oil and gas operations, and many support only tolerant biotic stream forms. The Kentucky River from the confluence of the three forks to the Red River, is in the Knobs physiographic region. Oil and gas production operations and point discharges from municipalities have affected many streams in this region. The Red River, a Kentucky Wild River, supported a unique flora and fauna but accelerated sedimentation has eliminated many species of mussels. The Millers Creek drainage is affected by brines discharged from oil and gas operations, and some reaches support only halophilic algae and a few fish. The Kentucky River from the Red River to the Ohio River is in the Bluegrass physiographic region. Heavy sediment loads and sewage effluent from urban centers have limited the aquatic biota in this region. Silver Creek and South Elkhorn Creek have been particularly affected and aquatic communities in these streams are dominated by organisms tolerant of low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Biological data for other streams indicate that habitat and water quality conditions are favorable for most commonly occurring aquatic organisms. 205 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

  14. Digging for Lost Rivers in Thailand: Locating and Dating Paleochannels in the Chiang Mai Intermontane Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teo, Elisha A.; Ziegler, Alan D.; Wasson, Robert J.; Morthekai, Paulramasamy

    2017-04-01

    The drainage of the Chiang Mai basin has a dynamic but largely forgotten history. In the late 1980s, an ancient lost city was excavated near the Ping River in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Archaeologists had unearthed Wiang Kum Kam, the former royal capital of the Lanna Civilisation founded in 1286 CE. Former investigations revealed that flood sediments buried the capital and remnants of an abandoned river channel were discovered beneath the surface. This concurs with historical descriptions of the Ping River being on the eastern bank of the capital, despite being presently located on the western bank. The paleochannel drained 500 years ago after diverting west of the ancient city. This switch, an avulsion, coincided with a large flood, which could have triggered and/or caused the avulsion. Local oral histories also recount other Ping avulsions across the basin, but these were not documented. Some of these paleochannels residually remain as unusually sinuous irrigation canals, with historically suggestive names such as the Old Ping and the Small Ping Rivers. Here, the geomorphological evolution of the Ping River is investigated, as a future avulsion in this extensively populated area would be catastrophic. Evidence shows that the drainage of the Chiang Mai basin evolved from a braided system, to an avulsing anastomosing system, to a primarily single channel system. Two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography and augering detected a large continuous body of fluvial sand 4 m below the surface, across the 10 km distance between the Ping and Kuang Rivers. This sand continues to the depth of at least 30 m and is typical of a braided system. Further augering along paleochannels revealed buried levees that protrude from the braided river deposits to near the surface, separated by fine floodplain sediments. This may have formed as the braided system evolved into an anastomosing system, where distinct channels stabilised and floodplain deposits could develop between channels

  15. Nutrient Mass Balance for the Mobile River Basin in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harned, D. A.; Harvill, J. S.; McMahon, G.

    2001-12-01

    The source and fate of nutrients in the Mobile River drainage basin are important water-quality concerns in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Land cover in the basin is 74 percent forested, 16 percent agricultural, 2.5 percent developed, and 4 percent wetland. A nutrient mass balance calculated for 18 watersheds in the Mobile River Basin indicates that agricultural non-point nitrogen and phosphorus sources and urban non-point nitrogen sources are the most important factors associated with nutrients in the streams. Nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from atmospheric deposition, crop fertilizer, biological nitrogen fixation, animal waste, and point sources were estimated for each of the 18 drainage basins. Total basin nitrogen inputs ranged from 27 to 93 percent from atmospheric deposition (56 percent mean), 4 to 45 percent from crop fertilizer (25 percent mean), animal waste (8 percent mean), and 0.2 to 11 percent from point sources (3 percent mean). Total basin phosphorus inputs ranged from 10 to 39 percent from atmospheric deposition (26 percent mean), 7 to 51 percent from crop fertilizer (28 percent mean), 20 to 64 percent from animal waste (41 percent mean), and 0.2 to 11 percent from point sources (3 percent mean). Nutrient outputs for the watersheds were estimated by calculating instream loads and estimating nutrient uptake, or withdrawal, by crops. The difference between the total basin inputs and outputs represents nutrients that are retained or processed within the basin while moving from the point of use to the stream, or in the stream. Nitrogen output, as a percentage of the total basin nitrogen inputs, ranged from 19 to 79 percent for instream loads (35 percent mean) and from 0.01 to 32 percent for crop harvest (10 percent mean). From 53 to 87 percent (75 percent mean) of nitrogen inputs were retained within the 18 basins. Phosphorus output ranged from 9 to 29 percent for instream loads (18 percent mean) and from 0.01 to 23 percent for crop harvest (7

  16. South Fork Holston River basin 1988 biomonitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saylor, C.F.; Ahlstedt, S.A.

    1990-06-01

    There is concern over the effects of shifts in land use use practices on the aquatic fauna of streams in the South Fork Holston River basin in northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. Trout reproduction has noticeably declined in the Watauga River subbasin. The Watauga River and Elk River subbasins have been subjected to commercial and resort development. The Middle fork Holston River and the upper South Fork Holston River subbasins have been affected by agricultural and mining activities, respectively (Cox, 1986). To aid reclamation and management of the South Fork Holston basin, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) biologists conducted biomonitoring--including index of biotic integrity and macroinvertebrate sampling--on the Middle Fork Holston, South Fork Holston, Watauga, and Elk Rivers to assess cumulative impairment related to changes in habitat and pollutant loading in these subbasins. Biomonitoring can detect environmental degradation, help document problem areas, and assist in development of strategies for managing water quality. This report discusses the methods and materials and results of the biomonitoring of South Fork Holston River Basin. 13 refs., 5 figs., 12 tabs.

  17. Fishes of the Taquari-Antas river basin (Patos Lagoon basin, southern Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FG. Becker

    Full Text Available The aquatic habitats of the Taquari-Antas river basin (in the Patos Lagoon basin, southern Brazil are under marked environmental transformation because of river damming for hydropower production. In order to provide an information baseline on the fish fauna of the Taquari-Antas basin, we provide a comprehensive survey of fish species based on primary and secondary data. We found 5,299 valid records of fish species in the basin, representing 119 species and 519 sampling sites. There are 13 non-native species, six of which are native to other Neotropical river basins. About 24% of the total native species are still lacking a taxonomic description at the species level. Three native long-distance migratory species were recorded (Leporinus obtusidens, Prochilodus lineatus, Salminus brasiliensis, as well as two potential mid-distance migrators (Parapimelodus nigribarbis and Pimelodus pintado. Although there is only one officially endangered species in the basin (S. brasiliensis, restricted range species (21.7% of total species should be considered in conservation efforts.

  18. Response of the St. Joseph River to lake level changes during the last 12,000 years in the Lake Michigan basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kincare, K.A.

    2007-01-01

    The water level of the Lake Michigan basin is currently 177 m above sea level. Around 9,800 14C years B.P., the lake level in the Lake Michigan basin had dropped to its lowest level in prehistory, about 70 m above sea level. This low level (Lake Chippewa) had profound effects on the rivers flowing directly into the basin. Recent studies of the St. Joseph River indicate that the extreme low lake level rejuvenated the river, causing massive incision of up to 43 m in a valley no more than 1.6 km wide. The incision is seen 25 km upstream of the present shoreline. As lake level rose from the Chippewa low, the St. Joseph River lost competence and its estuary migrated back upstream. Floodplain and channel sediments partially refilled the recently excavated valley leaving a distinctly non-classical morphology of steep sides with a broad, flat bottom. The valley walls of the lower St. Joseph River are 12-18 m tall and borings reveal up to 30 m of infill sediment below the modern floodplain. About 3 ?? 108 m3 of sediment was removed from the St. Joseph River valley during the Chippewa phase lowstand, a massive volume, some of which likely resides in a lowstand delta approximately 30 km off-shore in Lake Michigan. The active floodplain below Niles, Michigan, is inset into an upper terrace and delta graded to the Calumet level (189 m) of Lake Chicago. In the lower portion of the terrace stratigraphy a 1.5-2.0 m thick section of clast-supported gravel marks the entry of the main St. Joseph River drainage above South Bend, Indiana, into the Lake Michigan basin. This gravel layer represents the consolidation of drainage that probably occurred during final melting out of ice-marginal kettle chains allowing stream piracy to proceed between Niles and South Bend. It is unlikely that the St. Joseph River is palimpsest upon a bedrock valley. The landform it cuts across is a glaciofluvial-deltaic feature rather than a classic unsorted moraine that would drape over pre-glacial topography

  19. Macroinvertebrate community response to acid mine drainage in rivers of the High Andes (Bolivia)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Damme, Paul Andre; Hamel, Caroli; Ayala, Alfredo; Bervoets, Lieven

    2008-01-01

    Several High Andes Rivers are characterized by inorganic water pollution known as acid mine drainage (AMD). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between metal concentrations in the sediments and the macroinvertebrate communities in two river basins affected by AMD. In general, the taxon diversity of the macroinvertebrate community at the family level was low. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni at mining sites were higher than at unpolluted sites. The pH of the water was alkaline (7.0-8.5) in unpolluted sites, whereas it dropped to very low values (<3) at mining sites. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) showed that pH was the best predictor of macroinvertebrate community richness. The number of macroinvertebrate families decreased gradually with increasing acidity, both in pools and riffles, though it is suggested that riffle communities were more affected because they are in closer contact with the acid water. - Community response to AMD

  20. Surface hydrology of drainage basins disturbed by surface mining and reclamation, central Pennsylvania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ritter, J.B.

    1990-01-01

    Infilration capacity of newly reclaimed minesoils is uniformly low (< 1 cm/hr) and generally increases (up to 6 cm/hr) with age, the magnitude of increase being dependent on soil characteristics and vegetation. In drainage basins with lower rates of infiltration recovery (< 2 cm/hr), infiltration-excess overland flow is the dominant runoff process. Increased peek runoff rate and stream power in the basins are sufficient to initiate drainage network evolution, with phases of network expansion and abstraction. In contrast, in basins where infiltration recovery is greater than 2 cm/hr, the hydrologic system is initially dominated by infiltration-excess overland flow but evolves toward a system dominated by saturation overland flow. Drainage development is limited to skeletal network initiation and elongation and occurs during the early period of infiltration-excess dominated flow conditions. Total runoff remains essentially constant due to increased proportions of return flow, reflected in the extended and less steep recession limb of saturation-dominated storm hydrographs. The results of this study are applicable to hydrologic prediction for purposes of surface mine permitting and reclamation design. Previously limited availability of rainfall-runoff data from watersheds disturbed by surface mining preclude adequate calibration of empirical methods, such as the runoff curve number method, or evaluation of a more sophisticated approach, such as the use of distributed hydrologic models, for hydrologic prediction. Runoff curve numbers calibrated by means of rainfall-runoff data from the study drainage basins indicate that presently accepted methods of determining curve numbers, using pre-mine soil classification, underestimate total runoff by as much as 50%

  1. Vascular riffle flora of Appalachian streams: the ecology and effects of acid mine drainage on Justificia americana (L. ) Vahl

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koryak, M.; Reilly, R.J.

    1984-06-01

    Justicia americana is a stout-based colonial plant, abundant in most of the larger, low to moderate gradient streams of the upper Ohio River basin. The distribution of J. americana is related to acid drainage from bituminous coal mining operations in the upper Ohio River drainage basin. Possible fluvial and biological consequences of the colonization or absence of Justicia are considered. Luxuriant growths were noted on gravel bars and riffles of larger, unpolluted streams in the basin. Acid mine drainage severely depresses the growth of the plant, leaving gravel shoals and riffles in the acid streams either barren or dominated by other emergent species. Particular among these new species is Elecocharis acicularis. The elimination of J. americana from suitable habitat adversely affects channel morphology, substrate composition, general aesthetic quality and aquatic stream life in the region. 16 references, 2 figures, 3 tables.

  2. Migratory Patterns of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Returning to a Large, Free-flowing River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eiler, John H.; Evans, Allison N.; Schreck, Carl B.

    2015-01-01

    Upriver movements were determined for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha returning to the Yukon River, a large, virtually pristine river basin. These returns have declined dramatically since the late 1990s, and information is needed to better manage the run and facilitate conservation efforts. A total of 2,860 fish were radio tagged during 2002–2004. Most (97.5%) of the fish tracked upriver to spawning areas displayed continual upriver movements and strong fidelity to the terminal tributaries entered. Movement rates were substantially slower for fish spawning in lower river tributaries (28–40 km d-1) compared to upper basin stocks (52–62 km d-1). Three distinct migratory patterns were observed, including a gradual decline, pronounced decline, and substantial increase in movement rate as the fish moved upriver. Stocks destined for the same region exhibited similar migratory patterns. Individual fish within a stock showed substantial variation, but tended to reflect the regional pattern. Differences between consistently faster and slower fish explained 74% of the within-stock variation, whereas relative shifts in sequential movement rates between “hares” (faster fish becoming slower) and “tortoises” (slow but steady fish) explained 22% of the variation. Pulses of fish moving upriver were not cohesive. Fish tagged over a 4-day period took 16 days to pass a site 872 km upriver. Movement rates were substantially faster and the percentage of atypical movements considerably less than reported in more southerly drainages, but may reflect the pristine conditions within the Yukon River, wild origins of the fish, and discrete run timing of the returns. Movement data can provide numerous insights into the status and management of salmon returns, particularly in large river drainages with widely scattered fisheries where management actions in the lower river potentially impact harvests and escapement farther upstream. However, the substantial variation

  3. Flood Frequency Analysis For Partial Duration Series In Ganjiang River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    zhangli, Sun; xiufang, Zhu; yaozhong, Pan

    2016-04-01

    Accurate estimation of flood frequency is key to effective, nationwide flood damage abatement programs. The partial duration series (PDS) method is widely used in hydrologic studies because it considers all events above a certain threshold level as compared to the annual maximum series (AMS) method, which considers only the annual maximum value. However, the PDS has a drawback in that it is difficult to define the thresholds and maintain an independent and identical distribution of the partial duration time series; this drawback is discussed in this paper. The Ganjiang River is the seventh largest tributary of the Yangtze River, the longest river in China. The Ganjiang River covers a drainage area of 81,258 km2 at the Wanzhou hydrologic station as the basin outlet. In this work, 56 years of daily flow data (1954-2009) from the Wanzhou station were used to analyze flood frequency, and the Pearson-III model was employed as the hydrologic probability distribution. Generally, three tasks were accomplished: (1) the threshold of PDS by percentile rank of daily runoff was obtained; (2) trend analysis of the flow series was conducted using PDS; and (3) flood frequency analysis was conducted for partial duration flow series. The results showed a slight upward trend of the annual runoff in the Ganjiang River basin. The maximum flow with a 0.01 exceedance probability (corresponding to a 100-year flood peak under stationary conditions) was 20,000 m3/s, while that with a 0.1 exceedance probability was 15,000 m3/s. These results will serve as a guide to hydrological engineering planning, design, and management for policymakers and decision makers associated with hydrology.

  4. Gravel sediment routing from widespread, low-intensity landscape disturbance, Current River basin, Missouri

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Robert B.; Gran, K.B.

    1999-01-01

    During the last 160 years, land-use changes in the Ozarks have had the potential to cause widespread, low-intensity delivery of excess amounts of gravel-sized sediment to stream channels. Previous studies have indicated that this excess gravel bedload is moving in wave-like forms through Ozarks drainage basins. The longitudinal, areal distribution of gravel bars along 160 km of the Current River, Missouri, was evaluated to determine the relative effects of valley-scale controls, tributary basin characteristics, and lagged sediment transport in creating areas of gravel accumulations. The longitudinal distribution of gravel-bar area shows a broad scale wave-like form with increases in gravel-bar area weakly associated with tributary junctions. Secondary peaks of gravel area with 1·8–4·1 km spacing (disturbance reaches) are superimposed on the broad form. Variations in valley width explain some, but not all, of the short-spacing variation in gravel-bar area. Among variables describing tributary drainage basin morphometry, present-day land use and geologic characteristics, only drainage area and road density relate even weakly to gravel-bar areal inventories. A simple, channel network-based sediment routing model shows that many of the features of the observed longitudinal gravel distribution can be replicated by uniform transport of sediment from widespread disturbances through a channel network. These results indicate that lagged sediment transport may have a dominant effect on the synoptic spatial distribution of gravel in Ozarks streams; present-day land uses are only weakly associated with present-day gravel inventories; and valley-scale characteristics have secondary controls on gravel accumulations in disturbance reaches.

  5. Continuum Model for River Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giacometti, Achille; Maritan, Amos; Banavar, Jayanth R.

    1995-07-01

    The effects of erosion, avalanching, and random precipitation are captured in a simple stochastic partial differential equation for modeling the evolution of river networks. Our model leads to a self-organized structured landscape and to abstraction and piracy of the smaller tributaries as the evolution proceeds. An algebraic distribution of the average basin areas and a power law relationship between the drainage basin area and the river length are found.

  6. Assessing Vulnerability under Uncertainty in the Colorado River Basin: The Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jerla, C.; Adams, P.; Butler, A.; Nowak, K.; Prairie, J. R.

    2013-12-01

    Spanning parts of the seven states, of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, the Colorado River is one of the most critical sources of water in the western United States. Colorado River allocations exceed the long-term supply and since the 1950s, there have been a number of years when the annual water use in the Colorado River Basin exceeded the yield. The Basin is entering its second decade of drought conditions which brings challenges that will only be compounded if projections of climate change are realized. It was against this backdrop that the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study was conducted. The Study's objectives are to define current and future imbalances in the Basin over the next 50 years and to develop and analyze adaptation and mitigation strategies to resolve those imbalances. Long-term planning in the Basin involves the integration of uncertainty with respect to a changing climate and other uncertainties such as future demand and how policies may be modified to adapt to changing reliability. The Study adopted a scenario planning approach to address this uncertainty in which thousands of scenarios were developed to encompass a wide range of plausible future water supply and demand conditions. Using Reclamation's long-term planning model, the Colorado River Simulation System, the reliability of the system to meet Basin resource needs under these future conditions was projected both with and without additional future adaptation strategies in place. System reliability metrics were developed in order to define system vulnerabilities, the conditions that lead to those vulnerabilities, and sign posts to indicate if the system is approaching a vulnerable state. Options and strategies that reduce these vulnerabilities and improve system reliability were explored through the development of portfolios. Four portfolios, each with different management strategies, were analyzed to assess their effectiveness at

  7. U-Pb geochronology of modern river sands from the flat-slab segment of the southern central Andes, Argentina, 29-31°S: Implications for Neogene foreland and hinterland basin evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capaldi, T.; Horton, B. K.; McKenzie, R.; Stockli, D. F.

    2015-12-01

    This study investigates how Andean river sediments in the flat-slab segment of western Argentina record active mixing of lithologically and geochemically distinct source regions comprising the Principal Cordillera, Frontal Cordillera, Precordillera fold-thrust belt, Sierras Pampeanas basement uplifts, and recycled Neogene basin fill. Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronological results for modern river sands discriminate variations from hinterland source regions, through river tributaries and main trunks of the Bermejo, Jachal, San Juan, and Mendoza rivers, and their respective fluvial megafans within the active foreland basin. Proportions of proximal zircon populations in the hinterland trunk rivers (with extensive Permian-Triassic and Cenozoic igneous exposures) diminish downstream with progressive contributions from the frontal Precordillera fold-thrust belt (dominantly Paleozoic sedimentary rocks) and Pampean basement uplifts. However, this systematic downstream dilution is perturbed in several catchments by significant recycling of older foreland basin fill. The degree of recycling depends on the position and extent of Oligocene-Pliocene exposures within the catchments. To discern the effects of the variable detrital zircon sources, multiple statistical methods are utilized. Quantitative comparisons suggest that variations in detrital zircon age distributions among the modern sands, and with older foreland basin fill and exposed bedrock, are dependent on spatial and temporal variations in exhumation and drainage network evolution within their respective Andean catchments. The present surface area of competing source regions and the configuration of hinterland tributary rivers largely dictate the degree of downstream dilution and/or recycling. This study provides a modern analogue and baseline for reconstructing Neogene shifts in foreland basin provenance, depositional systems, and drainage configurations during a critical transition to flat-slab subduction.

  8. Computation of groundwater resources and recharge in Chithar River Basin, South India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramani, T; Babu, Savithri; Elango, L

    2013-01-01

    Groundwater recharge and available groundwater resources in Chithar River basin, Tamil Nadu, India spread over an area of 1,722 km(2) have been estimated by considering various hydrological, geological, and hydrogeological parameters, such as rainfall infiltration, drainage, geomorphic units, land use, rock types, depth of weathered and fractured zones, nature of soil, water level fluctuation, saturated thickness of aquifer, and groundwater abstraction. The digital ground elevation models indicate that the regional slope of the basin is towards east. The Proterozoic (Post-Archaean) basement of the study area consists of quartzite, calc-granulite, crystalline limestone, charnockite, and biotite gneiss with or without garnet. Three major soil types were identified namely, black cotton, deep red, and red sandy soils. The rainfall intensity gradually decreases from west to east. Groundwater occurs under water table conditions in the weathered zone and fluctuates between 0 and 25 m. The water table gains maximum during January after northeast monsoon and attains low during October. Groundwater abstraction for domestic/stock and irrigational needs in Chithar River basin has been estimated as 148.84 MCM (million m(3)). Groundwater recharge due to monsoon rainfall infiltration has been estimated as 170.05 MCM based on the water level rise during monsoon period. It is also estimated as 173.9 MCM using rainfall infiltration factor. An amount of 53.8 MCM of water is contributed to groundwater from surface water bodies. Recharge of groundwater due to return flow from irrigation has been computed as 147.6 MCM. The static groundwater reserve in Chithar River basin is estimated as 466.66 MCM and the dynamic reserve is about 187.7 MCM. In the present scenario, the aquifer is under safe condition for extraction of groundwater for domestic and irrigation purposes. If the existing water bodies are maintained properly, the extraction rate can be increased in future about 10% to 15%.

  9. Ca isotopes in the Ebro River Basin: mixing and lithological tracer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerrot, C.; Negrel, P. J.; Millot, R.; Petelet-Giraud, E.; Brenot, A.

    2012-12-01

    A large investigation of the Ebro River catchment was done in the past years regarding hydrogen, oxygen, lithium, boron, sulphur and oxygen from SO4 and strontium isotope measurements together with major and trace elements in the dissolved load of 25 river samples collected within the Ebro River Basin in Spain (Millot et al., Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 14, EGU2012-2062, 2012). The Ebro River (928 km long, 85,530 km2 drainage basin) located in North-Eastern Spain rises near the Atlantic coast in the Cantabrian Mountains and flows into the western Mediterranean Sea through several large cities and agricultural, mining and industrial areas. The river is one of the largest contributors of freshwater in the Mediterranean Sea and ends in the Ebro delta, one of the most important wetlands in Europe. Bedrocks of the Ebro River Basin are mainly dominated by carbonates and evaporites from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic terrains. The Ebro river mainstream was sampled at Amposta one time per month between June 2005 and May 2006 and secondly, the Ebro River along its main course and its main tributaries were sampled during one field campaign in April 2006. The behaviour of Ca and its isotopes during water/rock interactions at the scale of a large river basin having various lithologies will be investigated in addition with Sr, S (SO4) and O (SO4) isotopes. One objective is to characterize the processes controlling the isotope signatures of a large river draining predominantly sedimentary bedrocks. The δ44Ca ratio (δ44/40 normalised to Seawater) ranged between -0.87 and -1.09‰ along the Ebro main stream, increasing towards the delta as the Ca content increase. In Amposta, the δ44Ca ratio ranged between -0.66 and -1.04‰ and tends to decrease with the increasing discharge. These variations are very similar to those given by the 87Sr/86Sr ratios and Sr contents. For the tributaries, the δ44Ca ratio ranged between -0.43 and -1.04‰ whereas the anhydrite-gypsum bedrock

  10. Transport of branched tetraether lipids from the Tagus River basin to the coastal ocean of the Portuguese margin: consequences for the interpretation of the MBT'/CBT paleothermometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zell, C.; Kim, J.-H.; Balsinha, M.; Dorhout, D.; Fernandes, C.; Baas, M.; Sinninghe Damsté, J. S.

    2014-10-01

    Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs), which are thought to be transported from soil to marine sediment by rivers, have been used to reconstruct the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) and soil pH of the drainage basin using the methylation index of branched tetraethers (MBT, recently refined as MBT') and cyclization index of branched tetraethers (CBT) from coastal marine sediment records. In this study, we trace the brGDGTs from source to sink in the Tagus River basin, the longest river system on the Iberian Peninsula, by determining their concentration and distribution in soils, river suspended particulate matter (SPM), riverbank sediments, marine SPM, and marine surface sediments. The concentrations of brGDGTs in river SPM were substantially higher and their distributions were different compared to those of the drainage basin soils. This indicates that brGDGTs are mainly produced in the river itself. In the marine environment, the brGDGT concentrations rapidly decreased with increasing distance from the Tagus estuary. At the same time, the brGDGT distributions in marine sediments also changed, indicating that marine in situ production also takes place. These results show that there are various problems that complicate the use of the MBT'/CBT for paleoreconstructions using coastal marine sediments in the vicinity of a river. However, if the majority of brGDGTs are produced in the river, it might be possible to reconstruct the environmental (temperature and pH) conditions of the river water using appropriate aquatic calibrations, provided that marine core locations are chosen in such a way that the brGDGTs in their sediments are predominantly derived from riverine in situ production.

  11. Modeling of the loss of soil by water erosion of the basin of the River V Anniversary Cuyaguateje

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alonso, Gustavo R.; Días, Jorge; Ruíz, Maria Elena

    2008-01-01

    The complexity of the processes involved in water erosion of soils has led to widespread use of models with high level of empiricism. However, there are few applications based on models with a considerable physical basis in this field. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the potential of a model of physical basis for estimating soil loss by erosion basin-scale and analyze the behavior of the variables in this model response. The study area was located in the Sub-basin V anniversary, which belongs to the basin of the Cuyaguateje, in the province of Pinar de Rio. You were a database of physical properties of main soils of the basin, the series-temporales of solid spending and runoff measured at River, and rain recorded by a network of rain gauges across the basin. The equation of physical basis used was the sediment transport model (STM), according to Biesemans (2000). As input variables of the model were obtained the following maps: the digital elevation model, accumulative area of drainage, drainage, land use, surface water retention capacity, retention of moisture and hydraulic conductivity of saturation curve. Soil loss was obtained per pixel, and these were correlated with each time series. The results show that the process can be extended to other sub-basins without the need to validate all the variables involved

  12. Water-quality assessment of the lower Illinois River Basin; environmental setting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, Kelly L.

    1998-01-01

    The lower Illinois River Basin (LIRB) encompasses 18,000 square miles of central and western Illinois. Historical and recent information from Federal, State, and local agencies describing the physiography, population, land use, soils, climate, geology, streamflow, habitat, ground water, water use, and aquatic biology is summarized to describe the environmental setting of the LIRB. The LIRB is in the Till Plains Section of the Central Lowland physiographic province. The basin is characterized by flat topography, which is dissected by the Illinois River. The drainage pattern of the LIRB has been shaped by many bedrock and glacial geologic processes. Erosion prior to and during Pleistocene time created wide and deep bedrock valleys. The thickest deposits and most major aquifers are in buried bedrock valleys. The Wisconsinan glaciation, which bisects the northern half of the LIRB, affects the distribution and characteristics of glacial deposits in the basin. Agriculture is the largest land use and forested land is the second largest land use in the LIRB. The major urban areas are near Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, and Bloomington-Normal. Soil type and distribution affect the amount of soil erosion, which results in sedimentation of lakes and reservoirs in the basin. Rates of soil erosion of up to 2 percent per year of farmland soil have been measured. Many of the 300 reservoirs, lakes, and wetlands are disappearing because of sedimentation resulting from agriculture activities, levee building, and urbanization. Sedimentation and the destruction of habitat appreciably affect the ecosystem. The Illinois River is a large river-floodplain ecosystem where biological productivity is enhanced by annual flood pulses that advance and retreat over the flood plain and temporarily expand backwater and flood-plain lakes. Ground-water discharge to streams affects the flow and water quality of the streams. The water budget of several subbasins show variability in ground

  13. Refinement of regression models to estimate real-time concentrations of contaminants in the Menomonee River drainage basin, southeast Wisconsin, 2008-11

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Austin K.; Robertson, Dale M.; Saad, David A.; Magruder, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District initiated a study to develop regression models to estimate real-time concentrations and loads of chloride, suspended solids, phosphorus, and bacteria in streams near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To collect monitoring data for calibration of models, water-quality sensors and automated samplers were installed at six sites in the Menomonee River drainage basin. The sensors continuously measured four potential explanatory variables: water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. Discrete water-quality samples were collected and analyzed for five response variables: chloride, total suspended solids, total phosphorus, Escherichia coli bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria. Using the first year of data, regression models were developed to continuously estimate the response variables on the basis of the continuously measured explanatory variables. Those models were published in a previous report. In this report, those models are refined using 2 years of additional data, and the relative improvement in model predictability is discussed. In addition, a set of regression models is presented for a new site in the Menomonee River Basin, Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa. The refined models use the same explanatory variables as the original models. The chloride models all used specific conductance as the explanatory variable, except for the model for the Little Menomonee River near Freistadt, which used both specific conductance and turbidity. Total suspended solids and total phosphorus models used turbidity as the only explanatory variable, and bacteria models used water temperature and turbidity as explanatory variables. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), used to compare the coefficients in the original models to those in the refined models calibrated using all of the data, showed that only 3 of the 25 original models changed significantly. Root-mean-squared errors (RMSEs

  14. Geodatabase of sites, basin boundaries, and topology rules used to store drainage basin boundaries for the U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado Water Science Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupree, Jean A.; Crowfoot, Richard M.

    2012-01-01

    This geodatabase and its component datasets are part of U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series 650 and were generated to store basin boundaries for U.S. Geological Survey streamgages and other sites in Colorado. The geodatabase and its components were created by the U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado Water Science Center, and are used to derive the numeric drainage areas for Colorado that are input into the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Information System (NWIS) database and also published in the Annual Water Data Report and on NWISWeb. The foundational dataset used to create the basin boundaries in this geodatabase was the National Watershed Boundary Dataset. This geodatabase accompanies a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods report (Book 11, Section C, Chapter 6) entitled "Digital Database Architecture and Delineation Methodology for Deriving Drainage Basins, and Comparison of Digitally and Non-Digitally Derived Numeric Drainage Areas." The Techniques and Methods report details the geodatabase architecture, describes the delineation methodology and workflows used to develop these basin boundaries, and compares digitally derived numeric drainage areas in this geodatabase to non-digitally derived areas. 1. COBasins.gdb: This geodatabase contains site locations and basin boundaries for Colorado. It includes a single feature dataset, called BasinsFD, which groups the component feature classes and topology rules. 2. BasinsFD: This feature dataset in the "COBasins.gdb" geodatabase is a digital container that holds the feature classes used to archive site locations and basin boundaries as well as the topology rules that govern spatial relations within and among component feature classes. This feature dataset includes three feature classes: the sites for which basins have been delineated (the "Sites" feature class), basin bounding lines (the "BasinLines" feature class), and polygonal basin areas (the "BasinPolys" feature class). The feature dataset

  15. Attributes for NHDPlus Catchments (Version 1.1) in the Conterminous United States: Artificial Drainage (1992) and Irrigation Types (1997)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

    2010-01-01

    incorporates many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NHDPlus includes a stream network (based on the 1:100,00-scale NHD), improved networking, naming, and value-added attributes (VAAs). NHDPlus also includes elevation-derived catchments (drainage areas) produced using a drainage enforcement technique first widely used in New England, and thus referred to as "the New England Method." This technique involves "burning in" the 1:100,000-scale NHD and when available building "walls" using the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). The resulting modified digital elevation model (HydroDEM) is used to produce hydrologic derivatives that agree with the NHD and WBD. Over the past two years, an interdisciplinary team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and contractors, found that this method produces the best quality NHD catchments using an automated process (USEPA, 2007). The NHDPlus dataset is organized by 18 Production Units that cover the conterminous United States. The NHDPlus version 1.1 data are grouped by the U.S. Geological Survey's Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). MRB1, covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 1 and 2. MRB2, covering the South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 3 and 6. MRB3, covering the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 4, 5, 7 and 9. MRB4, covering the Missouri River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 10-lower and 10-upper. MRB5, covering the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 8, 11 and 12. MRB6, covering the Rio Grande, Colorado and Great Basin River basins, contains NHDPlus Production Units 13, 14, 15 and 16. MRB7, covering the Pacific Northwest River basins, contains

  16. Comparison and evaluation of model structures for the simulation of pollution fluxes in a tile-drained river basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoang, Linh; van Griensven, Ann; van der Keur, Peter; Refsgaard, Jens Christian; Troldborg, Lars; Nilsson, Bertel; Mynett, Arthur

    2014-01-01

    The European Union Water Framework Directive requires an integrated pollution prevention plan at the river basin level. Hydrological river basin modeling tools are therefore promising tools to support the quantification of pollution originating from different sources. A limited number of studies have reported on the use of these models to predict pollution fluxes in tile-drained basins. This study focused on evaluating different modeling tools and modeling concepts to quantify the flow and nitrate fluxes in the Odense River basin using DAISY-MIKE SHE (DMS) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The results show that SWAT accurately predicted flow for daily and monthly time steps, whereas simulation of nitrate fluxes were more accurate at a monthly time step. In comparison to the DMS model, which takes into account the uncertainty of soil hydraulic and slurry parameters, SWAT results for flow and nitrate fit well within the range of DMS simulated values in high-flow periods but were slightly lower in low-flow periods. Despite the similarities of simulated flow and nitrate fluxes at the basin outlet, the two models predicted very different separations into flow components (overland flow, tile drainage, and groundwater flow) as well as nitrate fluxes from flow components. It was concluded that the assessment on which the model provides a better representation of the reality in terms of flow paths should not only be based on standard statistical metrics for the entire river basin but also needs to consider additional data, field experiments, and opinions of field experts. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  17. Distributed and localized horizontal tectonic deformation as inferred from drainage network geometry and topology: A case study from Lebanon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goren, Liran; Castelltort, Sébastien; Klinger, Yann

    2016-04-01

    Partitioning of horizontal deformation between localized and distributed modes in regions of oblique tectonic convergence is, in many cases, hard to quantify. As a case study, we consider the Dead Sea Fault System that changes its orientation across Lebanon and forms a restraining bend. The oblique deformation along the Lebanese restraining bend is characterized by a complex suite of tectonic structures, among which, the Yammouneh fault, is believed to be the main strand that relays deformation from the southern section to the northern section of the Dead Sea Fault System. However, uncertainties regarding slip rates along the Yammouneh fault and strain partitioning in Lebanon still prevail. In the current work we use the geometry and topology of river basins together with numerical modeling to evaluate modes and rates of the horizontal deformation in Mount Lebanon that is associated with the Arabia-Sinai relative plate motion. We focus on river basins that drain Mount Lebanon to the Mediterranean and originate close to the Yammouneh fault. We quantify a systematic counterclockwise rotation of these basins and evaluate drainage area disequilibrium using an application of the χ mapping technique, which aims at estimating the degree of geometrical and topological disequilibrium in river networks. The analysis indicates a systematic spatial pattern whereby tributaries of the rotated basins appear to experience drainage area loss or gain with respect to channel length. A kinematic model that is informed by river basin geometry reveals that since the late Miocene, about a quarter of the relative plate motion parallel to the plate boundary has been distributed along a wide band of deformation to the west of the Yammouneh fault. Taken together with previous, shorter-term estimates, the model indicates little variation of slip rate along the Yammouneh fault since the late Miocene. Kinematic model results are compatible with late Miocene paleomagnetic rotations in western

  18. The water footprint of agricultural products in European river basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vanham, D; Bidoglio, G

    2014-01-01

    This work quantifies the agricultural water footprint (WF) of production (WF prod, agr ) and consumption (WF cons, agr ) and the resulting net virtual water import (netVW i, agr ) of 365 European river basins for a reference period (REF, 1996–2005) and two diet scenarios (a healthy diet based upon food-based dietary guidelines (HEALTHY) and a vegetarian (VEG) diet). In addition to total (tot) amounts, a differentiation is also made between the green (gn), blue (bl) and grey (gy) components. River basins where the REF WF cons, agr, tot exceeds the WF prod, agr, tot (resulting in positive netVW i, agr, tot values), are found along the London–Milan axis. These include the Thames, Scheldt, Meuse, Seine, Rhine and Po basins. River basins where the WF prod, agr, tot exceeds the WF cons, agr, tot are found in Western France, the Iberian Peninsula and the Baltic region. These include the Loire, Ebro and Nemunas basins. Under the HEALTHY diet scenario, the WF cons, agr, tot of most river basins decreases (max −32%), although it was found to increase in some basins in northern and eastern Europe. This results in 22 river basins, including the Danube, shifting from being net VW importers to being net VW exporters. A reduction (max −46%) in WF cons, agr, tot is observed for all but one river basin under the VEG diet scenario. In total, 50 river basins shift from being net VW importers to being net exporters, including the Danube, Seine, Rhone and Elbe basins. Similar observations are made when only the gn + bl and gn components are assessed. When analysing only the bl component, a different river basin pattern is observed. (letters)

  19. Hydrochemical and isotopic patterns in a calc-alkaline Cu- and Au-rich arid Andean basin: The Elqui River watershed, North Central Chile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oyarzún, Jorge; Carvajal, María José; Maturana, Hugo; Núñez, Jorge; Kretschmer, Nicole; Amezaga, Jaime M.; Rötting, Tobias S.; Strauch, Gerhard; Thyne, Geoffrey; Oyarzún, Ricardo

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Major ions are provided by rock weathering and NaCl recycling. ► Aridity and cal-alkaline lithology effects abate acid drainage. ► Factors affecting hydrochemistry in mineral rich zone are addressed. ► Stable isotopes confirm the meteoric origin of groundwaters. ► High sulfate contents are explained by widespread sulfide minerals. - Abstract: The geochemistry of surface water and groundwater from the Elqui River basin, North-Central Chile, was studied in spring 2007 and fall 2008 to obtain a general understanding of the factors and mechanisms controlling the water chemistry of steep rivers located in mineral-rich, arid to semi arid zones. Besides its uniform intermediate igneous lithology, this basin is known for acid drainage and high As contents in the El Indio Au–Cu–As district, in its Andean head. Abundant tailings deposits are present in the middle part of the basin, where agricultural activities are important. According to the results, the chemical and isotopic composition of the Elqui basin surface water and groundwater is related to uniform calc-alkaline lithology and the major polluting system of the chemically reactive, but closed El Indio mining district. The resulting compositional imprints in surface and ground-water are, (a) high SO 4 levels, reaching about 1000 mg/L in the Toro River water, directly draining the mining area; (b) a major depletion of Fe and pollutant metals in surface water after the confluence of the Toro and La Laguna rivers; (c) similar chemical composition of surface and ground-waters that differ in H and O isotopic composition, reflecting the effect of differential evaporation processes downstream of the Puclaro dam; and (d) seasonal variations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in surface water. In contrast, the groundwater chemistry exhibits moderate seasonal changes, mainly in HCO 3 - content. In spite of the acid drainage pollution, water quality is adequate for human consumption and irrigation. This is a

  20. Assessment of waterlogging in agricultural megaprojects in the closed drainage basins of the Western Desert of Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. El Bastawesy

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the development of waterlogging in the cultivated and arable areas within typical dryland closed drainage basins (e.g. the Farafra and Baharia Oases, which are located in the Western Desert of Egypt. Multi-temporal remote sensing data of the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+ were collected and processed to detect the land cover changes; cultivations, and the extent of water ponds and seepage channels. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM digital elevation model (DEM has been processed to delineate the catchment morphometrical parameters (i.e. drainage networks, catchment divides and surface areas of different basins and to examine the spatial distribution of cultivated fields and their relation to the extracted drainage networks. The soil of these closed drainage basins is mainly shallow and lithic with high calcium carbonate content; therefore, the downward percolation of excess irrigation water is limited by the development of subsurface hardpan, which also saturates the upper layer of soil with water. The subsurface seepage from the newly cultivated areas in the Farafra Oasis has revealed the pattern of buried alluvial channels, which are waterlogged and outlined by the growth of diagnostic saline shrubs. Furthermore, the courses of these waterlogged channels are coinciding with their counterparts of the SRTM DEM, and the recent satellite images show that the surface playas in the downstream of these channels are partially occupied by water ponds. On the other hand, a large water pond has occupied the main playa and submerged the surrounding fields, as a large area has been cultivated within a relatively small closed drainage basin in the Baharia Oasis. The geomorphology of closed drainage basins has to be considered when planning for a new cultivation in dryland catchments to better control waterlogging hazards. The "dry-drainage" concept can be implemented as the drainage and

  1. 77 FR 45653 - Yakima River Basin Conservation Advisory Group; Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-01

    ... Basin Conservation Advisory Group, Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, established by the... Water Conservation Program. DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 21, 2012, from 1 p.m. to... the implementation of the Water Conservation Program, including the applicable water conservation...

  2. Migratory Patterns of Wild Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Returning to a Large, Free-Flowing River Basin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John H Eiler

    Full Text Available Upriver movements were determined for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha returning to the Yukon River, a large, virtually pristine river basin. These returns have declined dramatically since the late 1990s, and information is needed to better manage the run and facilitate conservation efforts. A total of 2,860 fish were radio tagged during 2002-2004. Most (97.5% of the fish tracked upriver to spawning areas displayed continual upriver movements and strong fidelity to the terminal tributaries entered. Movement rates were substantially slower for fish spawning in lower river tributaries (28-40 km d-1 compared to upper basin stocks (52-62 km d-1. Three distinct migratory patterns were observed, including a gradual decline, pronounced decline, and substantial increase in movement rate as the fish moved upriver. Stocks destined for the same region exhibited similar migratory patterns. Individual fish within a stock showed substantial variation, but tended to reflect the regional pattern. Differences between consistently faster and slower fish explained 74% of the within-stock variation, whereas relative shifts in sequential movement rates between "hares" (faster fish becoming slower and "tortoises" (slow but steady fish explained 22% of the variation. Pulses of fish moving upriver were not cohesive. Fish tagged over a 4-day period took 16 days to pass a site 872 km upriver. Movement rates were substantially faster and the percentage of atypical movements considerably less than reported in more southerly drainages, but may reflect the pristine conditions within the Yukon River, wild origins of the fish, and discrete run timing of the returns. Movement data can provide numerous insights into the status and management of salmon returns, particularly in large river drainages with widely scattered fisheries where management actions in the lower river potentially impact harvests and escapement farther upstream. However, the substantial variation

  3. A comparison of integrated river basin management strategies: A global perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Chunhong; Wang, Pei; Zhang, Guanghong

    In order to achieve the integrated river basin management in the arid and rapid developing region, the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in Northwestern China, one of critical river basins were selected as a representative example, while the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in Australia and the Colorado River Basin (CRB) in the USA were selected for comparative analysis in this paper. Firstly, the comparable characters and hydrological contexts of these three watersheds were introduced in this paper. Then, based on comparative studies on the river basin challenges in terms of the drought, intensive irrigation, and rapid industrialization, the hydrological background of the MDB, the CRB and the HRB was presented. Subsequently, the river management strategies were compared in three aspects: water allocation, water organizations, and water act and scientific projects. Finally, we proposed recommendations for integrated river basin management for the HRB: (1) Water allocation strategies should be based on laws and markets on the whole basin; (2) Public participation should be stressed by the channels between governance organizations and local communities; (3) Scientific research should be integrated into river management to understand the interactions between the human and nature.

  4. Water and Benefit Sharing in Transboundary River Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arjoon, D.; Tilmant, A.; Herrmann, M.

    2015-12-01

    Growing water scarcity underlies the importance of cooperation for the effective management of river basins, particularly in the context of international rivers in which unidirectional externalities can lead to asymmetric relationships between riparian countries. Studies have shown that significant economic benefits can be expected through basin-wide cooperation, however, the equitable partitioning of these benefits over the basin is less well studied and tends to overlook the importance of stakeholder input in the definition of equitability. In this study, an institutional arrangement to maximize welfare and then share the scarcity cost in a river basin is proposed. A river basin authority plays the role of a bulk water market operator, efficiently allocating bulk water to the users and collecting bulk water charges which are then equitably redistributed among water users. This highly regulated market restrains the behaviour of water users to control externalities and to ensure basin-wide coordination, enhanced efficiency, and the equitable redistribution of the scarcity cost. The institutional arrangement is implemented using the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The importance of this arrangement is that it can be adopted for application in negotiations to cooperate in trans-boundary river basins. The benefit sharing solution proposed is more likely to be perceived as equitable because water users help define the sharing rule. As a result, the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as it would be if existing rules, such as bankruptcy rules or cooperative game theory solutions, are applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness. Results of the case study show that the sharing rule is predictable. Water users can expect to receive between 93.5% and 95% of their uncontested benefits (benefits that they expect to receive if water was not rationed), depending on the hydrologic scenario.

  5. Spatial Preference Heterogeneity for Integrated River Basin Management: The Case of the Shiyang River Basin, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fanus Asefaw Aregay

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Integrated river basin management (IRBM programs have been launched in most parts of China to ease escalating environmental degradation. Meanwhile, little is known about the benefits from and the support for these programs. This paper presents a case study of the preference heterogeneity for IRBM in the Shiyang River Basin, China, as measured by the Willingness to Pay (WTP, for a set of major restoration attributes. A discrete choice analysis of relevant restoration attributes was conducted. The results based on a sample of 1012 households in the whole basin show that, on average, there is significant support for integrated ecological restoration as indicated by significant WTP for all ecological attributes. However, residential location induced preference heterogeneities are prevalent. Generally, compared to upper-basin residents, middle sub-basin residents have lower mean WTP while lower sub-basin residents express higher mean WTP. The disparity in utility is partially explained by the difference in ecological and socio-economic status of the residents. In conclusion, estimating welfare benefit of IRBM projects based on sample responses from a specific sub-section of the basin only may either understate or overstate the welfare estimate.

  6. Potential denitrification and nitrous oxide production in the sediments of the Seine River Drainage Network (France).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garnier, Josette A; Mounier, Emmanuelle M; Laverman, Anniet M; Billen, Gilles F

    2010-01-01

    To investigate bottom sediment denitrification at the scale of the Seine drainage network, a semi-potential denitrification assay was used in which river sediments (and riparian soils) were incubated for a few hours under anaerobic conditions with non limiting nitrate concentrations. This method allowed the nitrous oxide (N(2)O) concentration in the headspace, as well as the nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium concentrations to be determined during incubation. The rates at which nitrate decreased and N(2)O increased were then used to assess the potential denitrification activity and associated N(2)O production in the Seine River Basin. We observed a longitudinal pattern characterized by a significant increase of the potential rate of denitrification from upstream sectors to large downstream rivers (orders 7-8), from approximately 3.3 to 9.1 microg NO(3)(-)-N g(-1) h(-1), respectively, while the N(2)O production rates was the highest both in headwaters and in large order rivers (0.14 and 0.09 N(2)O-N g(-1) h(-1), respectively) and significantly lower in the intermediate sectors (0.01 and 0.03 N(2)O-N g(-1) h(-1)). Consequently, the ratio N(2)O production:NO(3) reduction was found to reach 5% in headstreams, whereas it averaged 1.2% in the rest of the drainage network, an intermediate percentage being found for the riparian soils. Finally, the ignition loss of sediments, together with other redundant variables (particulate organic carbon content: g C 100 g(-1) dry weight [dw], moisture: g water 100 g(-1) dw, sediment size production.

  7. River habitat assessment for ecological restoration of Wei River Basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tao; Wang, Shuo; Li, Xiaoping; Wu, Ting; Li, Li; Chen, Jia

    2018-04-11

    As an important composition component of river ecosystems, river habitats must undergo quality assessment to potentially provide scientific basis for river ecological restoration. Substrate composition, habitat complexity, bank erosion degree, river meandering degree, human activity intensity, vegetation buffer width, water quality, and water condition were determined as indicators for river habitat assessment. The comprehensive habitat quality index (CHQI) was established for the Wei River Basin. In addition, the indicator values were determined on the basis of a field investigation at 12 national hydrological stations distributed across the Wei, Jing, and Beiluo Rivers. The analytic hierarchy process was used to determine the indicator weights and thus distinguish the relative importance of the assessment indicator system. Results indicated that the average CHQIs for the Wei, Jing, and Beiluo Rivers were 0.417, 0.508, and 0.304, respectively. The river habitat quality for the three rivers was well. As for the whole river basin, the river habitat quality for 25% of the cross section was very well, the other 25% was well, and the 50% remaining was in critical state. The river habitat quality of the Jing River was better than that of the Wei and Beiluo Rivers.

  8. Groundwater quality in the Colorado River basins, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Barbara J. Milby; Belitz, Kenneth

    2012-01-01

    Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. Four groundwater basins along the Colorado River make up one of the study areas being evaluated. The Colorado River study area is approximately 884 square miles (2,290 square kilometers) and includes the Needles, Palo Verde Mesa, Palo Verde Valley, and Yuma groundwater basins (California Department of Water Resources, 2003). The Colorado River study area has an arid climate and is part of the Sonoran Desert. Average annual rainfall is about 3 inches (8 centimeters). Land use in the study area is approximately 47 percent (%) natural (mostly shrubland), 47% agricultural, and 6% urban. The primary crops are pasture and hay. The largest urban area is the city of Blythe (2010 population of 21,000). Groundwater in these basins is used for public and domestic water supply and for irrigation. The main water-bearing units are gravel, sand, silt, and clay deposited by the Colorado River or derived from surrounding mountains. The primary aquifers in the Colorado River study area are defined as those parts of the aquifers corresponding to the perforated intervals of wells listed in the California Department of Public Health database. Public-supply wells in the Colorado River basins are completed to depths between 230 and 460 feet (70 to 140 meters), consist of solid casing from the land surface to a depth of 130 of 390 feet (39 to 119 meters), and are screened or perforated below the solid casing. The main source of recharge to the groundwater systems in the Needles, Palo Verde Mesa, and Palo Verde Valley basins is the Colorado River; in the Yuma basin, the main source of recharge is from

  9. Dynamic water accounting in heavily committed river basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilmant, Amaury; Marques, Guilherme

    2014-05-01

    Many river basins throughout the world are increasingly under pressure as water demands keep rising due to population growth, industrialization, urbanization and rising living standards. In the past, the typical answer to meet those demands focused on the supply-side and involved the construction of hydraulic infrastructures to capture more water from surface water bodies and from aquifers. As river basins were being more and more developed, downstream water users and ecosystems have become increasingly dependant on the management actions taken by upstream users. The increased interconnectedness between water users, aquatic ecosystems and the built environment is further compounded by climate change and its impact on the water cycle. Those pressures mean that it has become increasingly important to measure and account for changes in water fluxes and their corresponding economic value as they progress throughout the river system. Such basin water accounting should provide policy makers with important information regarding the relative contribution of each water user, infrastructure and management decision to the overall economic value of the river basin. This paper presents a dynamic water accounting approach whereby the entire river basin is considered as a value chain with multiple services including production and storage. Water users and reservoirs operators are considered as economic agents who can exchange water with their hydraulic neighbors at a price corresponding to the marginal value of water. Effective water accounting is made possible by keeping track of all water fluxes and their corresponding transactions using the results of a hydro-economic model. The proposed approach is illustrated with the Eastern Nile River basin in Africa.

  10. Integrated Hydrographical Basin Management. Study Case - Crasna River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visescu, Mircea; Beilicci, Erika; Beilicci, Robert

    2017-10-01

    Hydrographical basins are important from hydrological, economic and ecological points of view. They receive and channel the runoff from rainfall and snowmelt which, when adequate managed, can provide fresh water necessary for water supply, irrigation, food industry, animal husbandry, hydrotechnical arrangements and recreation. Hydrographical basin planning and management follows the efficient use of available water resources in order to satisfy environmental, economic and social necessities and constraints. This can be facilitated by a decision support system that links hydrological, meteorological, engineering, water quality, agriculture, environmental, and other information in an integrated framework. In the last few decades different modelling tools for resolving problems regarding water quantity and quality were developed, respectively water resources management. Watershed models have been developed to the understanding of water cycle and pollution dynamics, and used to evaluate the impacts of hydrotechnical arrangements and land use management options on water quantity, quality, mitigation measures and possible global changes. Models have been used for planning monitoring network and to develop plans for intervention in case of hydrological disasters: floods, flash floods, drought and pollution. MIKE HYDRO Basin is a multi-purpose, map-centric decision support tool for integrated hydrographical basin analysis, planning and management. MIKE HYDRO Basin is designed for analyzing water sharing issues at international, national and local hydrographical basin level. MIKE HYDRO Basin uses a simplified mathematical representation of the hydrographical basin including the configuration of river and reservoir systems, catchment hydrology and existing and potential water user schemes with their various demands including a rigorous irrigation scheme module. This paper analyzes the importance and principles of integrated hydrographical basin management and develop a case

  11. Pechora River basin integrated system management PRISM; biodiversity assessment for the Pechora River basin; Cluster B: biodiversity, land use & forestry modeling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sluis, van der T.

    2005-01-01

    This report describes the biodiversity for the Pechora River basin Integrated System Management (PRISM). The Pechora River Basin, situated just west of the Ural Mountains, Russia, consists of vast boreal forests and tundra landscapes, partly pristine and undisturbed. The concept of biodiversity is

  12. Environmental state of aquatic systems in the Selenga River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinkareva, Galina; Lychagin, Mikhail

    2013-04-01

    The transboundary river system of Selenga is the biggest tributary of Lake Baikal (about 50 % of the total inflow) which is the largest freshwater reservoir in the world. It originates in the mountainous part of Mongolia and then drains into Russia. There are numerous industries and agricultural activities within the Selenga drainage basin that affect the environmental state of the river aquatic system. The main source of industrial waste in the Republic of Buryatia (Russia) is mining and in Mongolia it is mainly gold mining. Our study aimed to determine the present pollutant levels and main features of their spatial distribution in water, suspended matter, bottom sediments and water plants in the Selenga basin. The results are based on materials of the 2011 (July-August) field campaign carried out both in Russian and Mongolian part of the basin. The study revealed rather high levels of dissolved Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cu and Mo in the Selenga River water which often are higher than maximum permissible concentrations for water fishery in Russia. In Russian part of the basin most contrast distribution is found for W and Mo, which is caused by mineral deposits in this area. The study showed that Mo and Zn migrate mainly in dissolved form, since more than 70% of Fe, Al, and Mn are bound to the suspended solids. Suspended sediments in general are enriched by As, Cd and Pb in relation to the lithosphere averages. Compared to the background values rather high contents of Mo, Cd, and Mn were found in suspended matter of Selenga lower Ulan-Ude town. Transboundary transport of heavy metals from Mongolia is going both in dissolved and suspended forms. From Mongolia in diluted form Selenga brings a significant amount of Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Mo. Suspended solids are slightly enriched with Pb, Cu, and Mn, in higher concentration - Mo. The study of the Selenga River delta allowed determining biogeochemical specialization of the region: aquatic plants accumulate Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, and to

  13. A Precipitation-Runoff Model for the Blackstone River Basin, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbaro, Jeffrey R.; Zarriello, Phillip J.

    2007-01-01

    A Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) precipitation-runoff model of the Blackstone River Basin was developed and calibrated to study the effects of changing land- and water-use patterns on water resources. The 474.5 mi2 Blackstone River Basin in southeastern Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island is experiencing rapid population and commercial growth throughout much of its area. This growth and the corresponding changes in land-use patterns are increasing stress on water resources and raising concerns about the future availability of water to meet residential and commercial needs. Increased withdrawals and wastewater-return flows also could adversely affect aquatic habitat, water quality, and the recreational value of the streams in the basin. The Blackstone River Basin was represented by 19 hydrologic response units (HRUs): 17 types of pervious areas (PERLNDs) established from combinations of surficial geology, land-use categories, and the distribution of public water and public sewer systems, and two types of impervious areas (IMPLNDs). Wetlands were combined with open water and simulated as stream reaches that receive runoff from surrounding pervious and impervious areas. This approach was taken to achieve greater flexibility in calibrating evapotranspiration losses from wetlands during the growing season. The basin was segmented into 50 reaches (RCHRES) to represent junctions at tributaries, major lakes and reservoirs, and drainage areas to streamflow-gaging stations. Climatological, streamflow, water-withdrawal, and wastewater-return data were collected during the study to develop the HSPF model. Climatological data collected at Worcester Regional Airport in Worcester, Massachusetts and T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, were used for model calibration. A total of 15 streamflow-gaging stations were used in the calibration. Streamflow was measured at eight continuous-record streamflow-gaging stations that are part of the U.S. Geological

  14. Temporal evaluation of soil use conflicts in the Formoso river basin, state of Tocantins, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaio Cesar Cardoso de Lima Fonseca Alves

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The importance of permanent preservation areas (PPA is mainly associated to their environmental role to maintain, preserve, and conserve water resources and ecosystems within a basin. The objective of this study was to delimitate and quantify the areas of PPA along watercourses as well as anthropized areas within PPAs boundaries, in the Formoso river basin, state of Tocantins, Brazil. PPAs area was delimited considering boundaries according to the Brazilian Forest Law. We sampled areas within the watercourses classified up to hierarchical Level 4. Watercourses handling draw, automatic delimitation of PPA, and visual classification of the soil use conflicts based on LANDSAT 5 TM of 1985, 1998 and 2011 were carried out on Geographical Information System ArcGIS. PPA of the watercourses sampled in this study represent 1.14% (24,491.35 ha of the drainage area of the Formoso river basin. For 1985, an area of about 3,616.48 ha was quantified, which is characterized by conflicts related to soil use. However, these conflict areas were reduced to 3,341.25 ha and 3,345.37 ha, respectively, for 1998 and 2011. Due to the intense agricultural land expansion observed in the basin in the last decades, the mentioned reductions in soil use conflicts between 1985 and 1998 and subsequent maintenance can be linked to changes on Brazilian environmental legislation.

  15. Modeling pollution potential input from the drainage basin into Barra Bonita reservoir, São Paulo – Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RB. Prado

    Full Text Available In this study multi-criteria modeling tools are applied to map the spatial distribution of drainage basin potential to pollute Barra Bonita Reservoir, São Paulo State, Brasil. Barra Bonita Reservoir Basin had undergone intense land use/land cover changes in the last decades, including the fast conversion from pasture into sugarcane. In this respect, this study answers to the lack of information about the variables (criteria which affect the pollution potential of the drainage basin by building a Geographic Information System which provides their spatial distribution at sub-basin level. The GIS was fed by several data (geomorphology, pedology, geology, drainage network and rainfall provided by public agencies. Landsat satellite images provided land use/land cover map for 2002. Ratings and weights of each criterion defined by specialists supported the modeling process. The results showed a wide variability in the pollution potential of different sub-basins according to the application of different criterion. If only land use is analyzed, for instance, less than 50% of the basin is classified as highly threatening to water quality and include sub basins located near the reservoir, indicating the importance of protection areas at the margins. Despite the subjectivity involved in the weighing processes, the multi-criteria analysis model allowed the simulation of scenarios which support rational land use polices at sub-basin level regarding the protection of water resources.

  16. Evaluation of the streamgage network for estimating streamflow statistics at ungaged sites in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sloto, Ronald A.; Stuckey, Marla H.; Hoffman, Scott A.

    2017-05-10

    The current (2015) streamgage network in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York was evaluated in order to design a network that would meet the hydrologic needs of many partners and serve a variety of purposes and interests, including estimation of streamflow statistics at ungaged sites. This study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The study area includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York. For this study, 229 streamgages were identified as reference streamgages that could be used to represent ungaged watersheds. Criteria for a reference streamgage are a minimum of 10 years of continuous record, minimally altered streamflow, and a drainage area less than 1,500 square miles. Some of the reference streamgages have been discontinued but provide historical hydrologic information valuable in the determination of streamflow characteristics of ungaged watersheds. Watersheds in the study area not adequately represented by a reference streamgage were identified by examining a range of basin characteristics, the extent of geographic coverage, and the strength of estimated streamflow correlations between gaged and ungaged sites.Basin characteristics were determined for the reference streamgage watersheds and the 1,662 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC12) subwatersheds in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin using a geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis and nationally available GIS datasets. Basin characteristics selected for this study include drainage area, mean basin elevation, mean basin slope, percentage of urbanized area, percentage of forested area, percentage of carbonate bedrock, mean annual precipitation, and soil thickness. A GIS spatial analysis was used to identify HUC12 subwatersheds outside the range of basin

  17. Effects of reducing nutrient loads to surface waters within the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico: Topic 4 Report for the Integrated Assessment on Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

    OpenAIRE

    Brezonik, Patrick L.; Bierman, Jr., Victor J.; Alexander , Richard; Anderson, James; Barko, John; Dortch, Mark; Hatch, Lorin; Hitchcock , Gary L.; Keeney, Dennis; Mulla, David; Smith, Val; Walker, Clive; Whitledge, Terry; Wiseman, Jr., William J.

    1999-01-01

    The overall goal of this assessment was to evaluate the effects of nutrient-source reductions that may be implemented in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB) to reduce the problem of low oxygen conditions (hypoxia) in the nearshore Gulf of Mexico. Such source reductions would affect the quality of surface waters—streams, rivers, and reservoirs—in the drainage basin itself, as well as nearshore Gulf waters. The task group’s work was divided into addressing the effects of nutrient-source reduction...

  18. Scaling up watershed model parameters: flow and load simulations of the Edisto River Basin, South Carolina, 2007-09

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feaster, Toby D.; Benedict, Stephen T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Bradley, Paul M.; Conrads, Paul

    2014-01-01

    As part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Geological Survey to expand the understanding of relations among hydrologic, geochemical, and ecological processes that affect fish-tissue mercury concentrations within the Edisto River Basin, analyses and simulations of the hydrology of the Edisto River Basin were made using the topography-based hydrological model (TOPMODEL). A primary focus of the investigation was to assess the potential for scaling up a previous application of TOPMODEL for the McTier Creek watershed, which is a small headwater catchment to the Edisto River Basin. Scaling up was done in a step-wise manner, beginning with applying the calibration parameters, meteorological data, and topographic-wetness-index data from the McTier Creek TOPMODEL to the Edisto River TOPMODEL. Additional changes were made for subsequent simulations, culminating in the best simulation, which included meteorological and topographic wetness index data from the Edisto River Basin and updated calibration parameters for some of the TOPMODEL calibration parameters. The scaling-up process resulted in nine simulations being made. Simulation 7 best matched the streamflows at station 02175000, Edisto River near Givhans, SC, which was the downstream limit for the TOPMODEL setup, and was obtained by adjusting the scaling factor, including streamflow routing, and using NEXRAD precipitation data for the Edisto River Basin. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of model-fit efficiency and Pearson’s correlation coefficient for simulation 7 were 0.78 and 0.89, respectively. Comparison of goodness-of-fit statistics between measured and simulated daily mean streamflow for the McTier Creek and Edisto River models showed that with calibration, the Edisto River TOPMODEL produced slightly better results than the McTier Creek model, despite the substantial difference in the drainage-area size at the outlet locations for the two models (30.7 and 2,725 square miles, respectively). Along with the TOPMODEL

  19. Integrating understanding of biophysical processes governing larval fish dispersal with basin-scale management decisions: lessons from the Missouri River, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erwin, S. O.; Jacobson, R. B.; Fischenich, C. J.; Bulliner, E. A., IV; McDonald, R.; DeLonay, A. J.; Braaten, P.; Elliott, C. M.; Chojnacki, K.

    2017-12-01

    Management of the Missouri River—the longest river in the USA, with a drainage basin covering one sixth of the conterminous USA—is increasingly driven by the need to understand biophysical processes governing the dispersal of 8-mm long larval pallid sturgeon. In both the upper and lower basin, survival of larval sturgeon is thought to be a bottleneck limiting populations, but because of different physical processes at play, different modeling frameworks and resolutions are required to link management actions with population-level responses. In the upper basin, a series of impoundments reduce the length of river for the drifting larval sturgeon to complete their development. Downstream from the mainstem dams, recruitment is most likely diminished by channelization and reduced floodplain connectivity that limit the benthic habitat available for larval sturgeon to settle and initiate feeding. We present a synthesis of complementary field studies, laboratory observations, and numerical simulations that evaluate the physical processes related to larval dispersal of sturgeon in the Missouri River basin. In the upper basin, we use one-dimensional advection-dispersion models, calibrated with field experiments conducted in 2016-2017 using surrogate particles and tracers, to evaluate reservoir management alternatives. Results of field experimentation and numerical modeling show that proposed management alternatives in the upper basin may be limited by insufficient lengths of flowing river for drifting larvae to fully develop into their juvenile lifestage. In the intensively engineered lower basin, we employ higher resolution measurements and models to evaluate potential for channel reconfiguration and flow alteration to promote successful interception of drifting larvae into supportive benthic habitats for the initiation of feeding and transition to the juvenile life stage. We illustrate how refined understanding of small-scale biophysical process has been incorporated

  20. Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 5. Well installation, water-level data, and surface- and ground-water geochemistry in the Straight Creek drainage basin, Red River Valley, New Mexico, 2001-03

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naus, Cheryl A.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Nordstrom, D. Kirk; Donohoe, Lisa C.; Hunt, Andrew G.; Paillet, Frederick L.; Morin, Roger H.; Verplanck, Philip L.

    2005-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department, is investigating the pre-mining ground-water chemistry at the Molycorp molybdenum mine in the Red River Valley, northern New Mexico. The primary approach is to determine the processes controlling ground-water chemistry at an unmined, off-site, proximal analog. The Straight Creek drainage basin, chosen for this purpose, consists of the same quartz-sericite-pyrite altered andesitic and rhyolitic volcanic rock of Tertiary age as the mine site. The weathered and rugged volcanic bedrock surface is overlain by heterogeneous debris-flow deposits that interfinger with alluvial deposits near the confluence of Straight Creek and the Red River. Pyritized rock in the upper part of the drainage basin is the source of acid rock drainage (pH 2.8-3.3) that infiltrates debris-flow deposits containing acidic ground water (pH 3.0-4.0) and bedrock containing water of circumneutral pH values (5.6-7.7). Eleven observation wells were installed in the Straight Creek drainage basin. The wells were completed in debris-flow deposits, bedrock, and interfingering debris-flow and Red River alluvial deposits. Chemical analyses of ground water from these wells, combined with chemical analyses of surface water, water-level data, and lithologic and geophysical logs, provided information used to develop an understanding of the processes contributing to the chemistry of ground water in the Straight Creek drainage basin. Surface- and ground-water samples were routinely collected for determination of total major cations and selected trace metals; dissolved major cations, selected trace metals, and rare-earth elements; anions and alkalinity; and dissolved-iron species. Rare-earth elements were determined on selected samples only. Samples were collected for determination of dissolved organic carbon, mercury, sulfur isotopic composition (34S and 18O of sulfate), and water isotopic composition (2H and 18O) during

  1. Fishes of the White River basin, Indiana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, Charles G.; Lydy, Michael J.; Frey, Jeffrey W.

    1996-01-01

    Since 1875, researchers have reported 158 species of fish belonging to 25 families in the White River Basin. Of these species, 6 have not been reported since 1900 and 10 have not been reported since 1943. Since the 1820's, fish communities in the White River Basin have been affected by the alteration of stream habitat, overfishing, the introduction of non-native species, agriculture, and urbanization. Erosion resulting from conversion of forest land to cropland in the 1800's led to siltation of streambeds and resulted in the loss of some silt-sensitive species. In the early 1900's, the water quality of the White River was seriously degraded for 100 miles by untreated sewage from the City of Indianapolis. During the last 25 years, water quality in the basin has improved because of efforts to control water pollution. Fish communities in the basin have responded favorably to the improved water quality.

  2. The tritium balance of the Ems river basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krause, W.J.

    1989-01-01

    For the Ems river basin, as a fine example of a Central European lowland basin, an inventory of the tritium distribution is presented for the hydrologic years 1951 to 1983. On the basis of a balance model, the tritium contents in surface waters and groundwater of the Ems river basin are calculated, using known and extrapolated tritium input data and comparing them with the corresponding values measured since 1974. A survey of tritium flows occurring in this basin is presented, taking meteorologic and hydrologic facts into account. (orig.)

  3. Zinc and Its Isotopes in the Loire River Basin, France

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millot, R.; Desaulty, A. M.; Bourrain, X.

    2014-12-01

    The contribution of human activities such as industries, agriculture and domestic inputs, becomes more and more significant in the chemical composition of the dissolved load of rivers. Human factors act as a supplementary key process. Therefore the mass-balance for the budget of catchments and river basins include anthropogenic disturbances. The Loire River in central France is approximately 1010 km long and drains an area of 117,800 km2. In the upper basin, the bedrock is old plutonic rock overlain by much younger volcanic rocks. The intermediate basin includes three major tributaries flowing into the Loire River from the left bank: the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne rivers; the main stream flows westward and its valley stretches toward the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the Loire River drains the sedimentary series of the Paris Basin, mainly carbonate deposits. The lower Loire basin drains pre-Mesozoic basement of the Armorican Massif and its overlying Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary deposits. The Loire River is one of the main European riverine inputs to the Atlantic ocean. Here we are reporting concentration and isotope data for Zn in river waters and suspended sediments from the Loire River Basin. In addition, we also report concentration and isotope data for the different industrial sources within the Loire Basin, as well as data for biota samples such as mussels and oysters from the Bay of Biscay and North Brittany. These organisms are known to be natural accumulators of metal pollutants. Zinc isotopic compositions are rather homogeneous in river waters with δ66Zn values ranging from 0.21 to 0.39‰. This range of variation is very different from anthropogenic signature (industrial and/or agriculture release) that displays δ66Zn values between 0.02 to 0.14‰. This result is in agreement with a geogenic origin and the low Zn concentrations in the Loire River Basin (from 0.8 to 6 µg/L).

  4. Time still to restore the polluted Piracicaba river basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favaro, P.C.; De Nadai Fernandes, E.A.; Ferraz, E.S.B.; Falotico, M.H.B.

    2004-01-01

    Over the last decades the acceleration of the industrialization and urbanization processes together with the intensive agricultural practices have resulted in an impact on the Piracicaba river basin, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The source rivers drain from an area of low population density, absence of heavy industries, non-significant agriculture, native forest and reforestation, the opposite is found in the middle part of the basin. Samples of riverbed sediments were collected along the basin for chemical analysis. Results showed that the source rivers still preserve their natural characteristics, while the Atibaia river in the middle part shows signs of pollution from the agricultural activity, industrial effluents and urban sewage. (author)

  5. The impact of global warming on river runoff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, James R.; Russell, Gary L.

    1992-01-01

    A global atmospheric model is used to calculate the annual river runoff for 33 of the world's major rivers for the present climate and for a doubled CO2 climate. The model has a horizontal resolution of 4 x 5 deg, but the runoff from each model grid box is quartered and added to the appropriate river drainage basin on a 2 x 2.5 deg resolution. The computed runoff depends on the model's precipitation, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture storage. For the doubled CO2 climate, the runoff increased for 25 of the 33 rivers, and in most cases the increases coincide with increased rainfall within the drainage basins. There were runoff increases in all rivers in high northern latitudes, with a maximum increase of 47 percent. At low latitudes there were both increases and decreases ranging from a 96 increase to a 43 percent decrease. The effect of the simplified model assumptions of land-atmosphere interactions on the results is discussed.

  6. Morphometrical Analysis and Peak Runoff Estimation for the Sub-Lower Niger River Basin, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salami Adebayo Wahab

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This study utilized Spatial Information Technology (SIT such as Remote Sensing (RS, a Geographical Information System (GIS, the Global Positioning System (GPS and a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM for a morphometrical analysis of five sub-basins within the Lower Niger River Basin, Nigeria. Morpho-metrical parameters, such as the total relief, relative relief, relief ratio, ruggedness number, texture ratio, elongation ratio, circularity ratio, form factor ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, sinuosity factor and bifurcation ratio, have been computed and analyzed. The study revealed that the contribution of the morphometric parameters to flooding suggest catchment No. 1 has the least concentration time and the highest runoff depth. Catchment No. 4 has the highest circularity ratio (0.35 as the most hazardous site where floods could reach a great volume over a small area.

  7. Antecedence of the Yarlung-Siang-Brahmaputra River, eastern Himalaya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Karl A.; Huntington, Katharine W.

    2014-07-01

    At the eastern terminus of the Himalayan orogen, distortion and capture of southeast Asian drainage basins reflects regional patterns of crustal strain due to the indentation of the Indian Plate into Eurasia. After flowing eastward >1000 km along the southern margin of Tibet, the Yarlung-Siang-Brahmaputra River turns abruptly southward through the eastern Himalayan syntaxis rapidly exhuming a crustal scale antiform in an impressive >2 km knickpoint. This conspicuous drainage pattern and coincidence of focused fluvial incision and rapid rock exhumation has been explained by the capture of an ancestral, high-elevation Yarlung River by headward erosion of a Himalayan tributary. However, recent observation of Tibetan detritus in Neogene foreland basin units complicates this explanation, requiring a connection from Tibet to the foreland prior to the estimated onset of rapid rock exhumation. We constrain the sedimentary provenance of foreland basin units deposited near the Brahmaputra River confluence in the eastern Himalayan foreland basin using detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology. We interpret the significant presence of Gangdese-age detritus in each foreland basin unit to indicate that connection of the Yarlung-Siang-Brahmaputra River was established during, or prior to foreland deposition in the Early Miocene. Our results indicate that connection of the Yarlung-Siang-Brahmaputra River precedes exhumation of the syntaxis, demonstrating the potential for the progressive coevolution of rock uplift and rapid erosion of the Namche Barwa massif.

  8. Adaptation of Arabidopsis thaliana to the Yangtze River basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yu-Pan; Hou, Xing-Hui; Wu, Qiong; Chen, Jia-Fu; Li, Zi-Wen; Han, Ting-Shen; Niu, Xiao-Min; Yang, Li; Xu, Yong-Chao; Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Fu-Min; Tan, Dunyan; Tian, Zhixi; Gu, Hongya; Guo, Ya-Long

    2017-12-28

    Organisms need to adapt to keep pace with a changing environment. Examining recent range expansion aids our understanding of how organisms evolve to overcome environmental constraints. However, how organisms adapt to climate changes is a crucial biological question that is still largely unanswered. The plant Arabidopsis thaliana is an excellent system to study this fundamental question. Its origin is in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, but it has spread to the Far East, including the most south-eastern edge of its native habitats, the Yangtze River basin, where the climate is very different. We sequenced 118 A. thaliana strains from the region surrounding the Yangtze River basin. We found that the Yangtze River basin population is a unique population and diverged about 61,409 years ago, with gene flows occurring at two different time points, followed by a population dispersion into the Yangtze River basin in the last few thousands of years. Positive selection analyses revealed that biological regulation processes, such as flowering time, immune and defense response processes could be correlated with the adaptation event. In particular, we found that the flowering time gene SVP has contributed to A. thaliana adaptation to the Yangtze River basin based on genetic mapping. A. thaliana adapted to the Yangtze River basin habitat by promoting the onset of flowering, a finding that sheds light on how a species can adapt to locales with very different climates.

  9. River and Reservoir Operations Model, Truckee River basin, California and Nevada, 1998

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berris, Steven N.; Hess, Glen W.; Bohman, Larry R.

    2001-01-01

    The demand for all uses of water in the Truckee River Basin, California and Nevada, commonly is greater than can be supplied. Storage reservoirs in the system have a maximum effective total capacity equivalent to less than two years of average river flows, so longer-term droughts can result in substantial water-supply shortages for irrigation and municipal users and may stress fish and wildlife ecosystems. Title II of Public Law (P.L.) 101-618, the Truckee?Carson?Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990, provides a foundation for negotiating and developing operating criteria, known as the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA), to balance interstate and interbasin allocation of water rights among the many interests competing for water from the Truckee River. In addition to TROA, the Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement (WQSA), signed in 1996, provides for acquisition of water rights to resolve water-quality problems during low flows along the Truckee River in Nevada. Efficient execution of many of the planning, management, or environmental assessment requirements of TROA and WQSA will require detailed water-resources data coupled with sound analytical tools. Analytical modeling tools constructed and evaluated with such data could help assess effects of alternative operational scenarios related to reservoir and river operations, water-rights transfers, and changes in irrigation practices. The Truckee?Carson Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, to support U.S. Department of the Interior implementation of P.L. 101-618, is developing a modeling system to support efficient water-resources planning, management, and allocation. The daily operations model documented herein is a part of the modeling system that includes a database management program, a graphical user interface program, and a program with modules that simulate river/reservoir operations and a variety of hydrologic processes. The operations module is capable of simulating lake

  10. DROUGHT ANALYSIS IN OZANA DRAINAGE BASIN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina IOSUB

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Ozana drainage basin is located at the contact between large landscape units (the Carpathian mountains, the Subcarpathian area, and the plateau region. This placement determines the existence of a complex climate in the region. Despite being small in size, and its extension on an W-E direction, differences can be observed, especially of the way extreme phenomena take place. In the case of droughts, it had different intensities in the mountains, compared to the plateau region. In order to emphasize the different distribution on the territory, several climatic indexes have been calculated, regarding dryness (De Martonne Index, Hellman criterion. The analysis of these indexes at the same monitoring stations (Pluton, Leghin and Dumbrava emphasizes the growth of the drought periods in the plateau region and the fact that they shorten in the mountain area. In the mountainous area, where the land is very well forested, the values of the De Martonne index can reach 45.4, and in the plateau regions, where the forest associations are sparse, the values dropped to 30.6. According to the Hellman criterion, several differences can be emphasized, at basin level. In the mountainous region, there is only one month that, at a multi-annual level, has stood up among the rest, as being excessively droughty, while in the median /central region of the basin, three months have been identified, that have such potential, as well as five months, at Dumbrava.

  11. Flood Risk Index Assessment in Johor River Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad Shakir Mohd Saudi; Hafizan Juahir; Azman Azid; Fazureen Azaman; Ahmad Shakir Mohd Saudi

    2015-01-01

    This study is focusing on constructing the flood risk index in the Johor river basin. The application of statistical methods such as factor analysis (FA), statistical process control (SPC) and artificial neural network (ANN) had revealed the most efficient flood risk index. The result in FA was water level has correlation coefficient of 0.738 and the most practicable variable to be used for the warning alert system. The upper control limits (UCL) for the water level in the river basin Johor is 4.423 m and the risk index for the water level has been set by this method consisting of 0-100.The accuracy of prediction has been evaluated by using ANN and the accuracy of the test result was R"2 = 0.96408 with RMSE= 2.5736. The future prediction for UCL in Johor river basin has been predicted and the value was 3.75 m. This model can shows the current and future prediction for flood risk index in the Johor river basin and can help local authorities for flood control and prevention of the state of Johor. (author)

  12. Strontium and neodymium isotopic compositions in sediments from Godavari, Krishna and Pennar rivers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masood Ahmad, S.; Padmakumari, V.M.; Anil Babu, G.

    2009-01-01

    We report here strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotopic compositions in bed sediments from the Godavari, Krishna and Pennar rivers, draining into the Bay of Bengal. The isotopic compositions of these sediments range from 0.7190 to 0.7610 for 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and -12.04 to -23.68 for ε Nd . This wide range in Sr and Nd isotopes is derived from variable proportions of sediments from different rock types in their drainage basins. All the three rivers have their characteristic isotopic signatures. The results display highest 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (0.7610) and most negative ε Nd values (-23.68) for the sediments of Pennar river. This is attributed to the chemical weathering of gneisses and granites in its drainage basin. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and ε Nd values for the Godavari river sediments range from 0.7196 to 0.7210 and -15.31 to -18.22 respectively. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and ε Nd values in Krishna river sediments lie from 0.7217 to 0.7301 and -12.04 to -12.78 respectively. Our results show that the sedimentary load from the Godavari and Krishna rivers is primarily derived from the older rocks in their drainage basins. It is possible that the sediments transported through peninsular Indian rivers predominantly control Sr and Nd isotope sedimentary budget in the western Bay of Bengal. (author)

  13. Recent changes in spring snowmelt timing in the Yukon River basin detected by passive microwave satellite data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. A. Semmens

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Spring melt is a significant feature of high latitude snowmelt dominated drainage basins influencing hydrological and ecological processes such as snowmelt runoff and green-up. Melt duration, defined as the transition period from snowmelt onset until the end of the melt refreeze, is characterized by high diurnal amplitude variations (DAV where the snowpack is melting during the day and refreezing at night, after which the snowpack melts constantly until depletion. Determining trends for this critical period is necessary for understanding how the Arctic is changing with rising temperatures and provides a baseline from which to assess future change. To study this dynamic period, brightness temperature (Tb data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I 37 V-GHz frequency from 1988 to 2010 were used to assess snowmelt timing trends for the Yukon River basin, Alaska/Canada. Annual Tb and DAV for 1434 Equal-Area Scalable Earth (EASE-Grid pixels (25 km resolution were processed to determine melt onset and melt refreeze dates from Tb and DAV thresholds previously established in the region. Temporal and spatial trends in the timing of melt onset and melt refreeze, and the duration of melt were analyzed for the 13 sub-basins of the Yukon River basin with three different time interval approaches. Results show a lengthening of the melt period for the majority of the sub-basins with a significant trend toward later end of melt refreeze after which the snowpack melts day and night leading to snow clearance, peak discharge, and green-up. Earlier melt onset trends were also found in the higher elevations and northernmost sub-basins (Porcupine, Chandalar, and Koyukuk rivers. Latitude and elevation displayed the dominant controls on melt timing variability and spring solar flux was highly correlated with melt timing in middle (∼600–1600 m elevations.

  14. Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arjoon, Diane; Tilmant, Amaury; Herrmann, Markus

    2016-06-01

    The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit-sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the context of transboundary river basins and discusses this from a conceptual point of view, but falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study, we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement. We describe a methodology in which (i) a hydrological model is used to allocate scarce water resources, in an economically efficient manner, to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges is equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users in an amount determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, thus based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. With the proposed benefit-sharing mechanism, the efficiency-equity trade-off still exists, but the extent of the imbalance is reduced because benefits are maximized and redistributed according to a key that has been collectively agreed upon by the participants. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The described technique not only ensures economic efficiency, but may

  15. Colorado River basin sensitivity to disturbance impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, K. E.; Urrego-Blanco, J. R.; Jonko, A. K.; Vano, J. A.; Newman, A. J.; Bohn, T. J.; Middleton, R. S.

    2017-12-01

    The Colorado River basin is an important river for the food-energy-water nexus in the United States and is projected to change under future scenarios of increased CO2emissions and warming. Streamflow estimates to consider climate impacts occurring as a result of this warming are often provided using modeling tools which rely on uncertain inputs—to fully understand impacts on streamflow sensitivity analysis can help determine how models respond under changing disturbances such as climate and vegetation. In this study, we conduct a global sensitivity analysis with a space-filling Latin Hypercube sampling of the model parameter space and statistical emulation of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model to relate changes in runoff, evapotranspiration, snow water equivalent and soil moisture to model parameters in VIC. Additionally, we examine sensitivities of basin-wide model simulations using an approach that incorporates changes in temperature, precipitation and vegetation to consider impact responses for snow-dominated headwater catchments, low elevation arid basins, and for the upper and lower river basins. We find that for the Colorado River basin, snow-dominated regions are more sensitive to uncertainties. New parameter sensitivities identified include runoff/evapotranspiration sensitivity to albedo, while changes in snow water equivalent are sensitive to canopy fraction and Leaf Area Index (LAI). Basin-wide streamflow sensitivities to precipitation, temperature and vegetation are variable seasonally and also between sub-basins; with the largest sensitivities for smaller, snow-driven headwater systems where forests are dense. For a major headwater basin, a 1ºC of warming equaled a 30% loss of forest cover, while a 10% precipitation loss equaled a 90% forest cover decline. Scenarios utilizing multiple disturbances led to unexpected results where changes could either magnify or diminish extremes, such as low and peak flows and streamflow timing

  16. Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronological and sedimentological study of the Simao Basin, Yunnan: Implications for the Early Cenozoic evolution of the Red River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yi; Yan, Maodu; Fang, Xiaomin; Song, Chunhui; Zhang, Weilin; Zan, Jinbo; Zhang, Zhiguo; Li, Bingshuai; Yang, Yongpeng; Zhang, Dawen

    2017-10-01

    The paleo-Red River is suggested to have been a continental-scale drainage system connecting the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea. However, the evolution of the paleo-Red River is still under debate. This study presents new results from sedimentological analyses and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronologic data from fluvial sedimentary rocks of Paleocene to Oligocene age of the Simao Basin to constrain the nature of the paleo-drainage system of the Red River. The detrital zircon U-Pb results reveal multiple age groups at 190-240 Ma, 260-280 Ma, 450-540 Ma, 1700-1900 Ma and 2400-2600 Ma for the Paleocene to late Eocene Denghei Formation (Fm.), but only one conspicuous peak at 220-240 Ma for the late Eocene-Oligocene Mengla Fm. Provenance analyses illustrate that the former likely had source areas that included the Hoh-Xil, Songpan-Ganzi, northern Qiangtang, Yidun and western Yangtze Terranes, which are consistent with the catchments of the Upper and Lower Jinshajiang Segments, whereas the latter mainly transported material from a limited number of sources, such as the Lincang granitic intrusions west of the Simao Basin. Integrated with available detrital zircon U-Pb geochronologic and paleogeographic data, our study suggests the existence of a paleo-Red River during the Paleocene to late Eocene that was truncated and lost its northern sources after approximately 35 Ma, due to left-lateral strike-slip faulting of the Ailao Shan-Red River and clockwise rotation of the Lanping-Simao Terrane.

  17. Tracing sediment sources in Royal Drainage basin, Iran

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feiznia, S.; Kouhpelma, A.; Ahmadi, H.; Hashemi, S. A.

    2009-01-01

    For successful soil conservation measures, obtaining information about the relative importance of sediment source and their shares in sediment production is required. Tracing or source studies are emphasized in recent years due to their privileges. In this research, sediment sources were identified using tracing method. A small earth dam is constructed at the outlet of Royan Drainage Basin in 1993. In this study, sediments were sampled from dam reservoir, different sources were also sampled. The results of this research can be used in soil conservation projects for execution of suitable management strategies. (Author) 6 refs.

  18. Tracing sediment sources in Royal Drainage basin, Iran

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feiznia, S.; Kouhpelma, A.; Ahmadi, H.; Hashemi, S. A.

    2009-07-01

    For successful soil conservation measures, obtaining information about the relative importance of sediment source and their shares in sediment production is required. Tracing or source studies are emphasized in recent years due to their privileges. In this research, sediment sources were identified using tracing method. A small earth dam is constructed at the outlet of Royan Drainage Basin in 1993. In this study, sediments were sampled from dam reservoir, different sources were also sampled. The results of this research can be used in soil conservation projects for execution of suitable management strategies. (Author) 6 refs.

  19. Susquehanna River Basin Flood Control Review Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-08-01

    and made recommendations for an intergrated water plan for the Basin and included a specific Early Action Plan. Concerning flood damage reduction, the...transportation and by agriculture as a source of income and occupation. The river served as a source of transportation for trade and commerce and also as a... trade patterns, and labor market areas. The Susquehanna River Basin is largely comprised of BEA economic areas 011, 012, 013, and 016. Figure II shows the

  20. Hybridization of two megacephalic map turtles (testudines: emydidae: Graptemys) in the Choctawhatchee River drainage of Alabama and Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godwin, James; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Ennen, Joshua R.; Kreiser, Brian R.; Folt, Brian; Lechowicz, Chris

    2014-01-01

    Map turtles of the genus Graptemys are highly aquatic and rarely undergo terrestrial movements, and limited dispersal among drainages has been hypothesized to drive drainage-specific endemism and high species richness of this group in the southeastern United States. Until recently, two members of the megacephalic “pulchra clade,” Graptemys barbouri andGraptemys ernsti, were presumed to be allopatric with a gap in both species' ranges in the Choctawhatchee River drainage. In this paper, we analyzed variation in morphology (head and shell patterns) and genetics (mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite loci) from G. barbouri, G. ernsti, and Graptemys sp. collected from the Choctawhatchee River drainage, and we document the syntopic occurrence of those species and back-crossed individuals of mixed ancestry in the Choctawhatchee River drainage. Our results provide a first counter-example to the pattern of drainage-specific endemism in megacephalic Graptemys. Geologic events associated with Pliocene and Pleistocene sea level fluctuations and the existence of paleo-river systems appear to have allowed the invasion of the Choctawhatchee system by these species, and the subsequent introgression likely predates any potential human-mediated introduction.

  1. Policy and Practice – River Basins

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Ms Suruchi Bhadwal

    nature of rivers in the northern belt- inextricably linked. Exacerbated water stress in some areas. Increasing demands – food and drinking water needs. Socioeconomics. CC Impacts. Glacier-fed basins in the. North. Glacier melt and river flooding,. GLOFs, landslides. Unique socio-cultural settings and political differences.

  2. A Basin Approach to a Hydrological Service Delivery System in the Amur River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergei Borsch

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the basin approach to the design, development, and operation of a hydrological forecasting and early warning system in a large transboundary river basin of high flood potential, where accurate, reliable, and timely available daily water-level and reservoir-inflow forecasts are essential for water-related economic and social activities (the Amur River basin case study. Key aspects of basin-scale system planning and implementation are considered, from choosing efficient forecast models and techniques, to developing and operating data-management procedures, to disseminating operational forecasts using web-GIS. The latter, making the relevant forecast data available in real time (via Internet, visual, and well interpretable, serves as a good tool for raising awareness of possible floods in a large region with transport and industrial hubs located alongside the Amur River (Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

  3. Assessment of macroinvertebrate communities in adjacent urban stream basins, Kansas City, Missouri, metropolitan area, 2007 through 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Eric D.; Krempa, Heather M.

    2013-01-01

    Macroinvertebrates were collected as part of two separate urban water-quality studies from adjacent basins, the Blue River Basin (Kansas City, Missouri), the Little Blue River and Rock Creek Basins (Independence, Missouri), and their tributaries. Consistent collection and processing procedures between the studies allowed for statistical comparisons. Seven Blue River Basin sites, nine Little Blue River Basin sites, including Rock Creek, and two rural sites representative of Missouri ecological drainage units and the area’s ecoregions were used in the analysis. Different factors or levels of urban intensity may affect the basins and macroinvertebrate community metrics differently, even though both basins are substantially developed above their downstream streamgages (Blue River, 65 percent; Little Blue River, 52 percent). The Blue River has no flood control reservoirs and receives wastewater effluent and stormflow from a combined sewer system. The Little Blue River has flood control reservoirs, receives no wastewater effluent, and has a separate stormwater sewer system. Analysis of macroinvertebrate community structure with pollution-tolerance metrics and water-quality parameters indicated differences between the Blue River Basin and the Little Blue River Basin.

  4. The Microbial contamination of the Hornad river drainage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zdenka Maťašová

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the microbiological aspect of the quality assessment of the Hornád river drainage surface waters. The Microbiological parameters were studied in Hornád, Torysa, and Hnilec rivers. During the study period, water quality increase by one degree was observed in most of the sampled areas. Water quality in the sampled areas ranged between polluted and very strongly polluted. The main cause of the pollution is the increased abundance of coliform and thermo-tolerant coliform bacteria. Main reason for the found increased abundance is: public sewage water, waste water from the nearby settlements and allotments, and waste waters from hospitals and sanatoria.

  5. Raptors of the Izdrevaya River Basin, Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elvira G. Nikolenko

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This article compiles the results of episodic visits of the aurhoes to the basin of the Izdrevaya river during 2012–2016. The main goals of those visits were: to figure out the species composition of nesting fauna of birds of prey, estabishing the manner of nesting pairs’ distribution and designing a system of nestboxes for different species of birds of prey and owls. 8 species of Falconiformes are present in the Izdrevaya river basin, 4 of which are nesting, and 3 species of Strigiformes, 2 of which are nesting. The Black Kite (Milvus migrans has maximum density in the Izdrevaya river basin – 51.83 ind./100km2 (n=93. The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo is the second in number after the Black Kite, its density being 8.88 ind/100km2 of the total area. The Ural Owl (Strix uralensis, encountered only on two territories in 2012, inhabited 4 nestboxes in 2013 as the result of biotechnical measures taken, and its number increased to 8 pairs successfully breeding in the nextboxes in 2016. Main negative factors for birds of prey in the Izdrevaya river basin were established: electrocution on power lines, illegal logging, illegal construction of dams and the construction of waste-sorting plant with a range of solid municipal waste.

  6. DERIVAÇÃO DE REDE DE DRENAGEM A PARTIR DE DADOS DO SRTM / DERIVING DRAINAGE NETWORK FROM SRTM DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walter Collischonn

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The development and improvement of Geographic Information Systems and geoprocessing algorithms,together with the increase in computational capacity and data availability from remote sensing, becamepossible to prepare information for hydrologic studies of large areas with relative low cost and incrediblespeed. This paper describes the use of SRTM data to derive drainage network and related products, suchas accumulated drainage areas and river lengths, with application to the Uruguay river basin. Six distinctDigital Elevation Models (DEMs were used, varying the spatial resolution and applying the stream burningpre-processing technique. The main limitations of the DEM-derived drainage network refer to the incapacityof representing river meanders that are smaller than the pixel size and the problem of artificial sinuosity thatoccurs when the width of the river is larger than pixel side.

  7. Development of streamflow projections under changing climate conditions over Colorado River basin headwaters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. P. Miller

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The current drought over the Colorado River Basin has raised concerns that the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation may impose water shortages over the lower portion of the basin for the first time in history. The guidelines that determine levels of shortage are affected by relatively short-term (3 to 7 month forecasts determined by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC using the National Weather Service (NWS River Forecasting System (RFS hydrologic model. While these forecasts by the CBRFC are useful, water managers within the basin are interested in long-term projections of streamflow, particularly under changing climate conditions. In this study, a bias-corrected, statistically downscaled dataset of projected climate is used to force the NWS RFS utilized by the CBRFC to derive projections of streamflow over the Green, Gunnison, and San Juan River headwater basins located within the Colorado River Basin. This study evaluates the impact of changing climate to evapotranspiration rates and contributes to a better understanding of how hydrologic processes change under varying climate conditions. The impact to evapotranspiration rates is taken into consideration and incorporated into the development of streamflow projections over Colorado River headwater basins in this study. Additionally, the NWS RFS is modified to account for impacts to evapotranspiration due to changing temperature over the basin. Adjusting evapotranspiration demands resulted in a 6 % to 13 % average decrease in runoff over the Gunnison River Basin when compared to static evapotranspiration rates. Streamflow projections derived using projections of future climate and the NWS RFS provided by the CBRFC resulted in decreased runoff in 2 of the 3 basins considered. Over the Gunnison and San Juan River basins, a 10 % to 15 % average decrease in basin runoff is projected through the year 2099. However, over the Green River basin, a 5 % to 8

  8. Fluvial sediment study of Fishtrap and Dewey Lakes drainage basins, Kentucky - Virginia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, William F.; Flint, Russell F.; George, Frederick H.; Santos, John F.

    1978-01-01

    Fourteen drainage basins above Fishtrap and Dewey Lakes in the Levisa Fork and Johns Creek drainage basins of eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia were studied to determine sedimentation rates and origin of sediment entering the two lakes. The basins ranged in size from 1.68 to 297 square miles. Sediment yields ranged from 2,890 to 21,000 tons per square mile where surface-mining techniques predominated, and from 732 to 3 ,470 tons per square mile where underground mining methods predominated. Yields, in terms of tons per acre-foot of runoff, ranged from 2.2 to 15 for surface-mined areas, and from 0.5 to 2.7 for underground-mined areas. Water and sediment discharges from direct runoff during storms were compared for selected surface-mined and underground-mined areas. Data points of two extensively surface-mined areas, one from the current project and one from a previous project in Beaver Creek basin, McCreary County, Kentucky, grouped similarly in magnitude and by season. Disturbed areas from mining activities determined from aerial photographs reached 17 percent in one study area where extensive surface mining was being practiced. For most areas where underground mining was practiced, percentage disturbed area was almost negligible. Trap efficiency of Fishtrap Lake was 89 percent, and was 62 percent for Dewey Lake. Average annual deposition rates were 464 and 146 acre-feet for Fishtrap and Dewey Lakes, respectively. The chemical quality of water in the Levisa Fork basin has been altered by man 's activities. (Woodard-USGS)

  9. Hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wise, Erika K.; Woodhouse, Connie A.; McCabe, Gregory; Pederson, Gregory T.; St. Jacques, Jeannine-Marie

    2018-01-01

    Despite the importance of the Missouri River for navigation, recreation, habitat, hydroelectric power, and agriculture, relatively little is known about the basic hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin (MRB). This is of particular concern given the droughts and floods that have occurred over the past several decades and the potential future exacerbation of these extremes by climate change. Here, observed and modeled hydroclimatic data and estimated natural flow records in the MRB are used to 1) assess the major source regions of MRB flow, 2) describe the climatic controls on streamflow in the upper and lower basins , and 3) investigate trends over the instrumental period. Analyses indicate that 72% of MRB runoff is generated by the headwaters in the upper basin and by the lowest portion of the basin near the mouth. Spring precipitation and temperature and winter precipitation impacted by changes in zonal versus meridional flow from the Pacific Ocean play key roles in surface water supply variability in the upper basin. Lower basin flow is significantly correlated with precipitation in late spring and early summer, indicative of Atlantic-influenced circulation variability affecting the flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Although increases in precipitation in the lower basin are currently overriding the effects of warming temperatures on total MRB flow, the upper basin’s long-term trend toward decreasing flows, reduction in snow versus rain fraction, and warming spring temperatures suggest that the upper basin may less often provide important flow supplements to the lower basin in the future.

  10. Transport and Retention of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Carbon in North America’s Largest River Swamp Basin, the Atchafalaya River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Jun Xu

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Floodplains and river corridor wetlands may be effectively managed for reducing nutrients and carbon. However, our understanding is limited to the reduction potential of these natural riverine systems. This study utilized the long-term (1978–2004 river discharge and water quality records from an upriver and a downriver location of the Atchafalaya River to quantify the inflow, outflow, and inflow–outflow mass balance of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN = organic nitrogen + ammonia nitrogen, nitrate + nitrite nitrogen (NO3 + NO2, total phosphorous (TP, and total organic carbon (TOC through the largest river swamp basin in North America. The study found that, over the past 27 years, the Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB acted as a significant sink for TKN (annual retention: 24%, TP (41%, and TOC (12%, but a source for NO3 + NO2 nitrogen (6%. On an annual basis, ARB retained 48,500 t TKN, 16,900 t TP, and 167,100 t TOC from the river water. The retention rates were closely and positively related to the river discharge with highs during the winter and spring and lows in the late summer. The higher NO3 + NO2 mass outflow occurred throughout spring and summer, indicating an active role of biological processes on nitrogen as water and air temperatures in the basin rise.

  11. Watershed prioritization in the upper Han River basin for soil and water conservation in the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (middle route) of China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Haibing

    2018-01-01

    Watershed prioritization with the objective of identifying critical areas to undertake soil and water conservation measures was conducted in the upper Han River basin, the water source area of approximately 95,000 km 2 for the middle route of China's South-to-North Water Transfer Project. Based on the estimated soil erosion intensity in uplands and clustering analysis of measured nutrient concentrations in rivers, the basin was grouped into very-high-, high-, moderate-, and low-priority regions for water and soil conservation, respectively. The results indicated that soil erosion was primarily controlled by topography, and nutrients in rivers were associated with land use and land cover in uplands. Also, there was large spatial disparity between soil erosion intensity in the uplands and nutrient concentrations in the rivers across the basin. Analysis was then performed to prioritize the basin by the integration of the soil erosion intensity and water quality on a GIS platform in order to identify critical areas for water and soil conservation in the basin. The identified high-priority regions which occupy 5.74% of the drainage areas need immediate attention for soil and water conservation treatments, of which 5.28% is critical for soil erosion prevention and 0.46% for water conservation. Understandings of the basin environment and pollutant loading with spatial explicit are critical to the soil and water resource conservation for the interbasin water transfer project.

  12. A new species of Hyphessobrycon (Characiformes, Characidae from the upper Guaviare River, Orinoco River Basin, Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A. García-Alzate

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Hyphessobrycon klausanni sp. n. is described from small drainages of the upper Guaviare River (Orinoco River Basin in Colombia. It differs from all congeners by having a wide, conspicuous, dark lateral stripe extending from the anterior margin of the eye across the body and continued through the middle caudal-fin rays, and that covers (vertically three or four horizontal scale rows. It also differs by having an orange-yellow stripe extending from the anterosuperior margin of the eye to the caudal peduncle above the lateral line in life. It differs from all other species of Hyphessobrycon that have a similar dark lateral stripe: H. cyanotaenia, H. loretoensis, H. melanostichos, H. nigricinctus, H. herbertaxelrodi, H. eschwartzae, H. montogoi, H. psittacus, H. metae, H. margitae, H. vanzolinii, and H. peruvianus in having only three or four pored scales in the lateral line, 21 to 24 lateral scales and six teeth in the inner premaxillary row. Hyphessobrycon klausanni differs from H. loretoensis in having seven to eight maxillary teeth (vs. three to four and in having a longer caudal peduncle (12.4–17.0% SL vs. 4.6–8.0% SL. Additionally Hyphessobrycon klausanni can be distinguished from the other species of Hyphessobrycon with a dark lateral stripe from the Orinoco River Basin (H. metae and H. acaciae in having two teeth in the outer premaxillary row (vs. three to four and 10 branched pectoral–fin rays (vs. 11 to 12. It further differs from H. metae by the length of the snout (17.6–22.8% HL vs. 9.9–15.2% HL and by the length of the caudal peduncle (12.4–17.0% SL vs. 7.3–11.8% SL.

  13. Solid Waste in Drainage Network of Rio do Meio Watershed, Florianópolis/SC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taiana Gava

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The urban drainage network is among the main pollution transport load factors. Researches on the identification of solid waste transported in the drainage network have been considered the allow evaluation of its impact. In this paper we analyze the main characteristics that influences the presence of solid wastes in the drainage network of the Rio do Meio basin, Florianópolis/SC. A metal net was installed in selected river section and monitored after each rain event. The results showed about 0.27 kg/ha.year of waste are carried in the drainage network. The majority being composed of plastics and building materials. Through the analysis of the data, it was possible to verify the presence of waste in the drainage network is due to poor packaging and to the lack of sweeping in some parts of the basin. It was also found that the total precipitation is directly proportional to the appearance of solid waste. It was concluded that the lack of an integrated management between the components of sanitary system leave unnoticed simple structural measures that ultimately decrease the amount of solid waste in the drainage basin, and that could eliminate this source of pollution.

  14. Transport of plutonium by the Mississippi River system and other rivers in the southern United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, M.R.; Salter, P.F.

    1987-01-01

    The distribution of fallout Pu has been studied in the sediments and water of the Mississippi River and eight other rivers. Plutonium content of the sediments is related to grain size and Fe and Mn content. Rivers in human climates show relatively high organic carbon (3 to 4%) and high /sup 239,240)Pu content (36 to 131 dpm/kg) in their suspended sediments. Dissolved Pu is very low in all the rivers; distribution coefficients vary from 10 4 to 10 5 . The 238 Pu//sup 239,240/Pu ratios are low in all the river sediments (∼.06) except the Miami River in Ohio, where ratios as high as 99 were measured. The high ratios originate from the Mound Laboratory Pu processing plant at Miamisburg, Ohio, and can be traced downstream to the junction with the Ohio River. Mississippi River suspended sediment shows a continual decrease of /sup 239,240/Pu content over a 7 year time period. An exponential curve best-fit through the data predicts a half time of decrease equal to 4.3 years. The decrease in Pu content of river sediment results from several factors: cessation of atmospheric weapons testing; transport of Pu to deeper levels of soil profiles; storage of sediment in flood plains and behind dams; and dilution by erosion by older, prebomb soil material. The amount of fallout Pu now removed from the Mississippi River drainage basin to the ocean is 11% as a maximum estimate. Most the fallout Pu in the Mississippi drainage basin will remain on the continent unless there are major changes in erosion and sediment transport patterns in the basin itself. 56 references, 7 figures, 2 tables

  15. Water security evaluation in Yellow River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Guiqin; He, Liyuan; Jing, Juan

    2018-03-01

    Water security is an important basis for making water security protection strategy, which concerns regional economic and social sustainable development. In this paper, watershed water security evaluation index system including 3 levels of 5 criterion layers (water resources security, water ecological security and water environment security, water disasters prevention and control security and social economic security) and 24 indicators were constructed. The entropy weight method was used to determine the weights of the indexes in the system. The water security index of 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 in Yellow River basin were calculated by linear weighting method based on the relative data. Results show that the water security conditions continue to improve in Yellow River basin but still in a basic security state. There is still a long way to enhance the water security in Yellow River basin, especially the water prevention and control security, the water ecological security and water environment security need to be promoted vigorously.

  16. Development of river flood model in lower reach of urbanized river basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimura, Kouhei; Tajima, Yoshimitsu; Sanuki, Hiroshi; Shibuo, Yoshihiro; Sato, Shinji; Lee, SungAe; Furumai, Hiroaki; Koike, Toshio

    2014-05-01

    Japan, with its natural mountainous landscape, has demographic feature that population is concentrated in lower reach of elevation close to the coast, and therefore flood damage with large socio-economic value tends to occur in low-lying region. Modeling of river flood in such low-lying urbanized river basin is complex due to the following reasons. In upstream it has been experienced urbanization, which changed land covers from natural forest or agricultural fields to residential or industrial area. Hence rate of infiltration and runoff are quite different from natural hydrological settings. In downstream, paved covers and construct of sewerage system in urbanized areas affect direct discharges and it enhances higher and faster flood peak arrival. Also tidal effect from river mouth strongly affects water levels in rivers, which must be taken into account. We develop an integrated river flood model in lower reach of urbanized areas to be able to address above described complex feature, by integrating model components: LSM coupled distributed hydrological model that models anthropogenic influence on river discharges to downstream; urban hydrological model that simulates run off response in urbanized areas; Saint Venant's equation approximated river model that integrates upstream and urban hydrological models with considering tidal effect from downstream. These features are integrated in a common modeling framework so that model interaction can be directly performed. The model is applied to the Tsurumi river basin, urbanized low-lying river basin in Yokohama and model results show that it can simulate water levels in rivers with acceptable model errors. Furthermore the model is able to install miscellaneous water planning constructs, such as runoff reduction pond in urbanized area, flood control field along the river channel, levee, etc. This can be a useful tool to investigate cost performance of hypothetical water management plan against impact of climate change in

  17. Drainage basin morphology and terrain analysis of the lower Benue ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... Several digital image enhancement techniques such as general contrast stretching and edge enhancement were ... Keywords: Benue, Remote Sensing, GIS, Geomorphology, River Basin ...

  18. The analysis of the drainage network state near town Seversk after the radiation accident at the Siberian Chemical Plant, April, 6, 1993

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nosov, A.V.

    1997-01-01

    The main results of the field studies of water objects on contaminated territory near the town Seversk realized in April-June 1993 are discussed. The data characterizing the levels of the territory radioactive contamination by 95 Nb, 95 Zr and 106 Ru near the Samus'ka river and its main inflows, namely the Kantes and Talovka rivers are given. The results of analysis of snow and soil samples from the Samus'ka river drainage basin, as well as samples of water and sediments of this river and its inflow Talovka are considered. The mechanism of aerosol radioactive contamination of the rivers is discussed, and forecasting estimation of the levels of possible contaminations of water and sediments in the Samus'ka river for the case if radioactive fallout trace would go through the river water surface mirror is made. The trace concentration (less than 8 Bq/m 3 ) of 106 Ru only is detected in water but not other radioisotopes contaminating the Samus'ka river drainage basin. The technogenic radioisotopes typical for fallout are found in only one of 16 sediment samples

  19. Habitat use of age 0 Alabama shad in the Pascagoula River drainage, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    P. F. Mickle; J.F. Schaefer; S.B. Adams; B.R. Kreiser

    2010-01-01

    Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) is an anadromous species that spawns in Gulf of Mexico drainages and is a NOAA Fisheries Species of Concern. Habitat degradation and barriers to migration are considered contributing factors to range contraction that has left just the Pascagoula River drainage population in Mississippi. We studied juvenile life history and autecology in...

  20. Examination of flood characteristics at selected streamgages in the Meramec River Basin, eastern Missouri, December 2015–January 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, Robert R.; Koenig, Todd A.; Rydlund, Jr., Paul H.; Heimann, David C.

    2016-09-13

    OverviewHeavy rainfall resulted in major flooding in the Meramec River Basin in eastern Missouri during late December 2015 through early January 2016. Cumulative rainfall from December 14 to 29, 2015, ranged from 7.6 to 12.3 inches at selected precipitation stations in the basin with flooding driven by the heaviest precipitation (3.9–9.7 inches) between December 27 and 29, 2015. Financial losses from flooding included damage to homes and other structures, damage to roads, and debris removal. Eight of 11 counties in the basin were declared a Federal Disaster Area.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, operates multiple streamgages along the Meramec River and its primary tributaries including the Bourbeuse River and Big River. The period of record for streamflow at streamgages in the basin included in this report ranges from 24 to 102 years. Instrumentation in a streamgage shelter automatically makes observations of stage using a variety of methods (submersible pressure transducer, non-submersible pressure transducer, or non-contact radar). These observations are recorded autonomously at a predetermined programmed frequency (typically either 15 or 30 minutes) dependent on drainage-area size and concomitant flashiness of the stream. Although stage data are important, streamflow data are equally or more important for streamflow forecasting, water-quality constituent loads computation, flood-frequency analysis, and flood mitigation planning. Streamflows are computed from recorded stage data using an empirically determined relation between stage and streamflow termed a “rating.” Development and verification of the rating requires periodic onsite discrete measurements of streamflow throughout time and over the range of stages to define local hydraulic conditions.The purpose of this report is to examine characteristics of flooding that occurred in the Meramec River Basin in

  1. Optimum combination of water drainage, water supply and eco-environment protection in coal-accumulated basin of North China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    武强; 董东林; 石占华; 武雄; 孙卫东; 叶责钧; 李树文; 刘金韬

    2000-01-01

    The conflict among water drainage, water supply and eco-environment protection is getting more and more serious due to the irrational drainage and exploitation of ground water resources in coal-accumulated basins of North China. Efficient solutions to the conflict are to maintain long-term dynamic balance between input and output of the ground water basins, and to try to improve resourcification of the mine water. All solutions must guarantee the eco-environment quality. This paper presents a new idea of optimum combination of water drainage, water supply and eco-environment protection so as to solve the problem of unstable mine water supply, which is caused by the changeable water drainage for the whole combination system. Both the management of hydraulic techniques and constraints in economy, society, ecology, environment, industrial structural adjustments and sustainable developments have been taken into account. Since the traditional and separate management of different departments of water drainage,

  2. Estimation of erosion and sedimentation yield in the Ucayali river basin, a Peruvian tributary of the Amazon River, using ground and satellite methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santini, William; Martinez, Jean-Michel; Guyot, Jean-Loup; Espinoza, Raul; Vauchel, Philippe; Lavado, Waldo

    2014-05-01

    Since 2003, the works of HYBAM observatory (www.ore-hybam.org) has allowed to quantify with accuracy, precision and over a long period Amazon's main rivers discharges and sediments loads. In Peru, a network of 8 stations is regularly gauged and managed in association with the national meteorological and Hydrological service (SENAMHI), the UNALM (National Agrological University of La Molina) and the National Water Agency (ANA). Nevertheless, some current processes of erosion and sedimentation in the foreland basins are still little known, both in volumes and in localization. The sedimentary contributions of Andean tributaries could be there considerable, masking a very strong sedimentation in subsidence zones localized between the control points of the HYBAM's network. The development of spatial techniques such as the Altimetry and reflectance measurement allows us today to complete the ground's network: HYBAM's works have allowed establishing a relation between surface concentration and reflectance in Amazonian rivers (Martinez et al., 2009, Espinoza et al., 2012) and reconstituting water levels series (Calmant et al., 2006, 2008). If the difficulty of calibration of these techniques increases towards the upstream, their use can allow a first characterization of the tributaries contributions and sedimentation zones. At world level, erosion and sedimentation yields in the upper Ucayali are exceptional, favored by a marked seasonality in this region (Espinoza et al., 2009, Lavado, 2010, Pépin et al., 2010) and the presence of cells of extreme precipitation ("Hotspots") (Johnson et al., 1976, Espinoza et al, 2009a). The upper Ucayali drainage basin is a Piggyback where the River run with a low slope, parallel to the Andean range, deposing by gravity hundred millions a year of sands, silts and clays. In this work, we thus propose an estimation of sedimentation and erosion yield in the Ucayali river basin using ground and satellite methods.

  3. HYDROLOGIC MODELLING OF KATSINA-ALA RIVER BASIN: AN EMERGING SCENARIO FROM LAKE NYOS THREAT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. O. Akinyede

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the hydrologic system surrounding crater lakes is of great importance for prevention of flooding damages, conservation of ecological environment, and assessment of socio-economic impact of dam failure on the civilians in the downstream regions. Lake Nyos is a crater lake formed by volcanic activities at the Oku volcanic field on the Cameroon Volcanic Line. It is a freshwater lake with a maximum depth of 200 meter. In 1986, a limnic eruption at the lake emitted 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the bottom of saturated water into the air and suffocated up to 1,800 people and 3,500 livestock at nearby villages. The lake waters are held in place by a natural dam composed of loosely consolidated volcanic rock, which is now at the verge of collapse due to accelerated erosion. This study was carried out to determine the flood risks and vulnerability of population and infrastructure along Katsina-Ala drainage basins. The project integrated both satellite images and field datasets into a hydrologic model for Katsina-Ala River Basin and its vicinity including the Lake Nyos. ArcHydro was used to construct a hydrologic database as 'data models' and MIKE SHE was employed to conduct hydrologic simulations. Vulnerable infrastructures, population and socio-economic activities were identified to assist the Federal and State governments in disaster mitigation and management plans. The result of the project provides comprehensive knowledge of hydrologic system of Katsina-Ala drainage basin to mitigate potential future disasters from a potential dam failure and manage water resources against such disasters.

  4. Determining flow, recharge, and vadose zone drainage in an unconfined aquifer from groundwater strontium isotope measurements, Pasco Basin, WA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    Strontium isotope compositions (87Sr/86Sr) measured in groundwater samples from 273 wells in the Pasco Basin unconfined aquifer below the Hanford Site show large and systematic variations that provide constraints on groundwater recharge, weathering rates of the aquifer host rocks, communication between unconfined and deeper confined aquifers, and vadose zone-groundwater interaction. The impact of millions of cubic meters of wastewater discharged to the vadose zone (103-105 times higher than ambient drainage) shows up strikingly on maps of groundwater 87Sr/86Sr. Extensive access through the many groundwater monitoring wells at the site allows for an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate the strontium geochemistry of a major aquifer, hosted primarily in unconsolidated sediments, and relate it to both long term properties and recent disturbances. Groundwater 87Sr/86Sr increases systematically from 0.707 to 0.712 from west to east across the Hanford Site, in the general direction of groundwater flow, as a result of addition of Sr from the weathering of aquifer sediments and from diffuse drainage through the vadose zone. The lower 87Sr/86Sr groundwater reflects recharge waters that have acquired Sr from Columbia River Basalts. Based on a steady-state model of Sr reactive transport and drainage, there is an average natural drainage flux of 0-1.4 mm/yr near the western margin of the Hanford Site, and ambient drainage may be up to 30 mm/yr in the center of the site assuming an average bulk rock weathering rate of 10-7.5 g/g/yr

  5. From Gravitational Machine to Universal Habitat: The Drainage Basin and Amphibious Futures in the Chao Phraya Delta, Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atsuro Morita

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper elucidates the development of the drainage basin model, one particular frame for capturing the relative motion between water and land, by highlighting the parallel developments between scientific notion and water management infrastructures. Facilitating a continuous movement back and forth between science and infrastructure, the drainage basin allows for the revelation of unexpected forms of relatedness and has played an important role in the emergence of a form of relational morality. To make this argument, this paper focuses on the Chao Phraya Delta in Thailand. While located in the periphery of the centers of modern science, the delta holds significance as a place where colonial hydrological technoscience and indigenous development intersected. The encounter between the two has resulted in a new vision of the city as a waterscape, a sort of drainage basin that connects natural, social and economic processes through numerous, complex water flows.

  6. RESERVES IN WESTERN BASINS PART IV: WIND RIVER BASIN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert Caldwell

    1998-04-01

    Vast quantities of natural gas are entrapped within various tight formations in the Rocky Mountain area. This report seeks to quantify what proportion of that resource can be considered recoverable under today's technological and economic conditions and discusses factors controlling recovery. The ultimate goal of this project is to encourage development of tight gas reserves by industry through reducing the technical and economic risks of locating, drilling and completing commercial tight gas wells. This report is the fourth in a series and focuses on the Wind River Basin located in west central Wyoming. The first three reports presented analyses of the tight gas reserves and resources in the Greater Green River Basin (Scotia, 1993), Piceance Basin (Scotia, 1995) and the Uinta Basin (Scotia, 1995). Since each report is a stand-alone document, duplication of language will exist where common aspects are discussed. This study, and the previous three, describe basin-centered gas deposits (Masters, 1979) which contain vast quantities of natural gas entrapped in low permeability (tight), overpressured sandstones occupying a central basin location. Such deposits are generally continuous and are not conventionally trapped by a structural or stratigraphic seal. Rather, the tight character of the reservoirs prevents rapid migration of the gas, and where rates of gas generation exceed rates of escape, an overpressured basin-centered gas deposit results (Spencer, 1987). Since the temperature is a primary controlling factor for the onset and rate of gas generation, these deposits exist in the deeper, central parts of a basin where temperatures generally exceed 200 F and drill depths exceed 8,000 feet. The abbreviation OPT (overpressured tight) is used when referring to sandstone reservoirs that comprise the basin-centered gas deposit. Because the gas resources trapped in this setting are so large, they represent an important source of future gas supply, prompting studies

  7. CONSIDERAÇÕES MORFOMÉTRICAS DA BACIA DO RIO UBERABINHA – MINAS GERAIS / Morphometric considerations of the Uberabinha river basin – Minas Gerais

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Feltran Filho

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available The hydrographic basins demonstrate variables and attributes that make them unique. Themorphometric method that permits the utilization of techniques to obtain the indexes of existingnumber relations among the attributes of a drainage basin makes the knowledge of the variouslinear, area and hypsometric variables possible, which, added to the variable qualitatives,multiplies the possibilities for space analysis. The results obtained by this method serve as acomplement an aid to better explain the interaction that takes place among all the landscapeelements. This being the case, in this study, some basic morphometric surveys are sought in orderto obtain better knowledge of the hydrographic basin of the Uberabinha river, which will make itpossible to subsidize its planning. To reach this objective, cartographic maps from IBGE and theimage from the satellite TM/Landsat 5 from INPE to the scale of 1:100000 were used and computerprograms AutoCAD Map R13 and SPRING 4.2 were used to make the calculations. From theresults obtained, it was verified that the principal source of the Uberabinha river is, in realityfrom the Beija-Flor (Humming-bird creek and not from the Jacaré (Alligator stream. The greatdifference in the density of the rivers between the upper and lower thirds of the basin was alsoconfirmed. Another important geomorphological conclusion is the fact of its being a young basin.

  8. Potential relationships between the river discharge and the precipitation in the Jinsha River basin, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Gaoxu; Zeng, Xiaofan; Zhao, Na; He, Qifang; Bai, Yiran; Zhang, Ruoyu

    2018-02-01

    The relationships between the river discharge and the precipitation in the Jinsha River basin are discussed in this study. In addition, the future precipitation trend from 2011-2050 and its potential influence on the river discharge are analysed by applying the CCLM-modelled precipitation. According to the observed river discharge and precipitation, the annual river discharge at the two main hydrological stations displays good correlations with the annual precipitation in the Jinsha River basin. The predicted future precipitation tends to change similarly as the change that occurred during the observation period, whereas the monthly distributions over a year could be more uneven, which is unfavourable for water resources management.

  9. A look at the links between drainage density and flood statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Montanari

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the links between the drainage density of a river basin and selected flood statistics, namely, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and coefficient of skewness of annual maximum series of peak flows. The investigation is carried out through a three-stage analysis. First, a numerical simulation is performed by using a spatially distributed hydrological model in order to highlight how flood statistics change with varying drainage density. Second, a conceptual hydrological model is used in order to analytically derive the dependence of flood statistics on drainage density. Third, real world data from 44 watersheds located in northern Italy were analysed. The three-level analysis seems to suggest that a critical value of the drainage density exists for which a minimum is attained in both the coefficient of variation and the absolute value of the skewness coefficient. Such minima in the flood statistics correspond to a minimum of the flood quantile for a given exceedance probability (i.e., recurrence interval. Therefore, the results of this study may provide useful indications for flood risk assessment in ungauged basins.

  10. Geo-referenced modelling of metal concentrations in river basins at the catchment scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hüffmeyer, N.; Berlekamp, J.; Klasmeier, J.

    2009-04-01

    and the site-specific population and surface area (roof, gutter, street) connected to the local sewer system. For emissions from industry and mine drainage quantitative data on average annual loads are collected. WWTP effluent loads additionally consider average removal during wastewater treatment. Runoff from non-point sources such as agricultural areas and unsealed soils is estimated from average wash-off rates per area multiplied with the total area drained into a specified river reach of the river system. Groundwater infiltration is considered in quantities equal to the base flow in the respective river stretch. The model simulates the steady-state concentration distribution in the whole river basin considering transport and removal processes in the river system. The only major removal process for metals in surface water is sedimentation. Simulations have been carried out exemplary for zinc and copper in the German river basins Main (27,292 km2), Ruhr (4,485 km2) and Sieg (2,832 km2). 3. Results and discussion Model estimations of effluent loads for selected WWTPs agreed well with available surveillance data so that the emission module outcome can be assumed as appropriate starting point for surface water modeling. A detailed comparison of simulated surface water concentrations with monitoring data was performed for zinc in the Ruhr river basin. Good agreement between monitoring data and model simulations was achieved at 20 monitoring sites in the Ruhr River and its major tributaries. GREAT-ER was able to simulate zinc concentrations in surface waters based on estimation of loads from several emission sources and via different emission pathways. A wide applicability of the model was corroborated by successful simulations of zinc concentrations in the Main river basin and simulations for copper in both catchments. The functionality of the model allows for running scenarios with different emission assumptions that can be easily compared. Such case studies can be

  11. Transboundary water issues: The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Debasri; Goswami, A.B.; Bose, Balaram

    2004-01-01

    Sharing of water of transboundary rivers among riparian nations has become a cause of major concern in different parts of the globe for quite sometime. The issue in the recent decades has been transformed into a source of international tensions and disputes resulting in strained relationships between riparian nations. Conflicts over sharing of water of the international rivers, like the Tigris, Euphrates and Jordan in the Middle East, the Nile in Northern Africa, the Mekong in South-East Asia, the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna in the Indian subcontinent are widely known. The present paper discusses the water sharing -issue in the Ganga- Brahmaputra-Meghna basin located in the Indian sub continent covering five sovereign countries (namely India, Nepal, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh). Rapidly growing population, expanding agricultural and industrial activities besides the impacts of climate change have resulted in stressed condition in the arena of fresh water availability in the basin. Again occurrence of arsenic in sub-surface water in the lower reaches of the basin in India and Bangladesh has also added a new dimension to the problem. All the rivers of the GBM system exhibit wide variations between peak and lean flows as major part of the basin belongs to the monsoon region, where 80%-90 % of annual rainfall is concentrated in 4-5 months of South -West monsoon in the subcontinent. Over and above, the rivers in GBM system carry huge loads of sediments along with the floodwater and receive huge quantum of different kinds of wastes contaminating the water of the rivers. Again high rate of sedimentation of the major rivers and their tributaries have been affecting not only the carrying capacity of the rivers but also drastically reduced their retention capacity. Almost every year during monsoon about 27% and nearly 60% of the GBM basin lying in India and Bangladesh respectively experience flood. The year round navigation in many rivers has also been affected. All these have

  12. Channel Width Change as a Potential Sediment Source, Minnesota River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauer, J. W.; Echterling, C.; Lenhart, C. F.; Rausch, R.; Belmont, P.

    2017-12-01

    Turbidity and suspended sediment are important management considerations along the Minnesota River. The system has experience large and relatively consistent increases in both discharge and channel width over the past century. Here we consider the potential role of channel cross section enlargement as a sediment source. Reach-average channel width was digitized from aerial images dated between 1937 and 2015 along multiple sub-reaches of the Minnesota River and its major tributaries. Many of the sub-reaches include several actively migrating bends. The analysis shows relatively consistent increases in width over time, with average increase rates of 0.4 percent per year. Extrapolation to the river network using a regional relationship for cross-sectional area vs. drainage area indicates that large tributaries and main-stem reaches account for most of the bankfull cross-sectional volume in the basin. Larger tributaries and the main stem thus appear more important for widening related sediment production than small tributaries. On a basin-wide basis, widening could be responsible for a gross supply of more sediment than has been gaged at several main-stem sites, indicating that there may be important sinks for both sand and silt/clay size material distributed throughout the system. Sediment storage is probably largest along the lowest-slope reaches of the main stem. While channel width appears to have adjusted relatively quickly in response to discharge and other hydraulic modifications, net storage of sediment in floodplains probably occurs sufficiently slowly that depth adjustment will lag width adjustment significantly. Detailed analysis of the lower Minnesota River using a river segmenting approach allows for a more detailed assessment of reach-scale processes. Away from channel cutoffs, elongation of the channel at eroding bends is consistent with rates observed on other actively migrating rivers. However, the sinuosity increase has been more than compensated by

  13. Assessing Management Regimes in Transboundary River Basins: Do They Support Adaptive Management?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G.T. (Tom Raadgever

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available River basin management is faced with complex problems that are characterized by uncertainty and change. In transboundary river basins, historical, legal, and cultural differences add to the complexity. The literature on adaptive management gives several suggestions for handling this complexity. It recognizes the importance of management regimes as enabling or limiting adaptive management, but there is no comprehensive overview of regime features that support adaptive management. This paper presents such an overview, focused on transboundary river basin management. It inventories the features that have been claimed to be central to effective transboundary river basin management and refines them using adaptive management literature. It then collates these features into a framework describing actor networks, policy processes, information management, and legal and financial aspects. Subsequently, this framework is applied to the Orange and Rhine basins. The paper concludes that the framework provides a consistent and comprehensive perspective on transboundary river basin management regimes, and can be used for assessing their capacity to support adaptive management.

  14. Multi-linear model of transformation of runoff in river-basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szolgay, J.; Kubes, R.

    2005-01-01

    The component part of atmospheric precipitations-runoff model of Hron River is a individual model of transformation of flows in river network, too, which transforms runoff from separate partial catchment basin into terminal profile. This component of precipitations-runoff model can also be used as individual hydrologic transformation model of runoff waves in river-basin. Identification and calibration of this model is realised independently on precipitations-runoff model of Hron River, which is described in this chapter in detail.

  15. A data reconnaissance on the effect of suspended-sediment concentrations on dissolved-solids concentrations in rivers and tributaries in the Upper Colorado River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillman, Fred D.; Anning, David W.

    2014-01-01

    The Colorado River is one of the most important sources of water in the western United States, supplying water to over 35 million people in the U.S. and 3 million people in Mexico. High dissolved-solids loading to the River and tributaries are derived primarily from geologic material deposited in inland seas in the mid-to-late Cretaceous Period, but this loading may be increased by human activities. High dissolved solids in the River causes substantial damages to users, primarily in reduced agricultural crop yields and corrosion. The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program was created to manage dissolved-solids loading to the River and has focused primarily on reducing irrigation-related loading from agricultural areas. This work presents a reconnaissance of existing data from sites in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) in order to highlight areas where suspended-sediment control measures may be useful in reducing dissolved-solids concentrations. Multiple linear regression was used on data from 164 sites in the UCRB to develop dissolved-solids models that include combinations of explanatory variables of suspended sediment, flow, and time. Results from the partial t-test, overall likelihood ratio, and partial likelihood ratio on the models were used to group the sites into categories of strong, moderate, weak, and no-evidence of a relation between suspended-sediment and dissolved-solids concentrations. Results show 68 sites have strong or moderate evidence of a relation, with drainage areas for many of these sites composed of a large percentage of clastic sedimentary rocks. These results could assist water managers in the region in directing field-scale evaluation of suspended-sediment control measures to reduce UCRB dissolved-solids loading.

  16. Use of the RHS method in Golijska Moravica river basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milanović Ana

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available River Habitat Survey (RHS is terrain method developed in UK in 1994. for determination of physical character of rivers and river basin. This method is applied for the first time in Golijska Moravica river basin. Two indices which broadly describe the diversity of river habitat and landscape features (Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA and extent and severity of artificial modification to the channel (Habitat Modification Class (HMC has been developed for reporting purposes. These are based on simple scoring systems which have been agreed by technical experts.

  17. Physical characteristics of stream subbasins in the Pomme de Terre River Basin, west-central Minnesota

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, D.L.; Payne, G.A.

    1994-01-01

    Data describing the physical characteristics of stream subbasins upstream from selected points on streams in the Pomme de Terre River Basin, located in west-central Minnesota, are presented in this report. The physical characteristics are the drainage area of the subbasin, the percentage area of the subbasin covered only by lakes, the percentage area of the subbasin covered by both lakes and wetlands, the main-channel length, and the main-channel slope. The points on the stream include outlets of subbasins of at least 5 square miles, outfalls of sewage treatment plants, and locations of U.S. Geological Survey low-flow, high-flow, and continuous-record gaging stations.

  18. Foundations of the participatory approach in the Mekong River basin management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budryte, Paulina; Heldt, Sonja; Denecke, Martin

    2018-05-01

    Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) was acknowledged as a leading concept in the water management for the last two decades by academia, political decision-makers and experts. It strongly promotes holistic management and participatory approaches. The flexibility and adaptability of IWRM concept are especially important for large, transboundary river basins - e.g. the Mekong river basin - where natural processes and hazards, as well as, human-made "disasters" are demanding for a comprehensive approach. In the Mekong river basin, the development and especially the enforcement of one common strategy has always been a struggle. The past holds some unsuccessful experiences. In 2016 Mekong River Commission published IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy 2016-2020 and The Mekong River Commission Strategic Plan 2016-2020. They should be the main guiding document for the Mekong river development in the near future. This study analyzes how the concept of public participation resembles the original IWRM participatory approach in these documents. Therefore, IWRM criteria for public participation in international literature and official documents from the Mekong river basin are compared. As there is often a difference between "de jure" and "de facto" implementation of public participation in management concepts, the perception of local stakeholders was assessed in addition. The results of social survey give an insight if local people are aware of Mekong river basin development and present their dominant attitudes about the issue. The findings enable recommendations how to mitigate obstacles in the implementation of common development strategy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Rural Settlement Development and Environment Carrying Capacity Changes in Progo River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Su Ritohardoyo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Generally the broader rural settlement the heavier population pressure on agricultural land. It indicates that carrying capacity of the rural environment threatened lower. The spatial distribution of the threat in a river basin is quite important as one of the river basin management inputs. Therefore, this article aims at exposing result of research about influence rural population growth and rural settlement land changes to environment carrying capacity. This research was carried out in the rural area in Progo river basin consists 56 sub districts (34 sub districts part of Jawa Tengah Province, and 22 sub districts part of Yogyakarta Special Region. The whole sub districts are such as unit analysis, and research method is based on secondary data analysis. Several data consist Districts Region in Figure 1997 and 2003 (Temanggung, Magelang, Kulon Progo, Sleman and Bantul such as secondary data analysis. Data analysis employs of frequency and cross tabulation, statistics of regression and test. Result of the research shows that population growth of the rural areas in Progo river basin are about 0.72% annum; or the household growth about 3.15% annum as long as five years (1996-2003. Spatial distribution of the population growth in the upper part of the Progo river basin is higher than in the middle and lower part of the basin. The number proportion of farmer in every sub district area in this river basin have increased from 69.95% in 1997 to 70.81% in the year of 2003. It means that work opportunities broadening are still sluggish. However, the number proportion of farmers in the upper part of the Progo river basin is lower than in the middle and lower part of the basin. The rates of settlement land areas changes (0.32 ha/annum as long as five years (1997-2003 is not as fast as the rates of agricultural land areas changes (0.47 ha/annum. Spatial land settlement areas changes in the lower (6.1 ha/annum and middle parts (2.4 ha/annum faster than

  20. Transient river response, captured by channel steepness and its concavity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanacker, Veerle; von Blanckenburg, Friedhelm; Govers, Gerard; Molina, Armando; Campforts, Benjamin; Kubik, Peter W.

    2015-01-01

    Mountain rivers draining tropical regions are known to be great conveyor belts carrying efficiently more than half of the global sediment flux to the oceans. Many tropical mountain areas are located in tectonically active belts where the hillslope and stream channel morphology are rapidly evolving in response to changes in base level. Here, we report basin-wide denudation rates for an east-west transect through the tropical Andes. Hillslope and channel morphology vary systematically from east to west, reflecting the transition from high relief, strongly dissected topography in the escarpment zones into relatively low relief topography in the inter-Andean valley. The spatial pattern of differential denudation rates reflects the transient adjustment of the landscape to rapid river incision following tectonic uplift and river diversion. In the inter-Andean valley, upstream of the wave of incision, slopes and river channels display a relatively smooth, concave-up morphology and denudation rates (time scale of 104-105 a) are consistently low (3 to 200 mm/ka). In contrast, slopes and river channels of rejuvenated basins draining the eastern cordillera are steep to very steep; and the studied drainage basins show a wide range of denudation rate values (60 to 400 mm/ka) that increase systematically with increasing basin mean slope gradient, channel steepness, and channel convexity. Drainage basins that are characterised by strong convexities in their river longitudinal profiles systematically have higher denudation rates. As such, this is one of the first studies that provides field-based evidence of a correlation between channel concavity and basin mean denudation rates, consistent with process-based fluvial incision models.

  1. Changing climatic conditions in the Upper Thames River Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simonovic, S.P.

    2009-01-01

    'Full text:' Many climate change impact studies have been conducted using a top-down approach. First, outputs from Global Circulation Models (GCMs) are considered which are downscaled in a second step to the river basin scale using either a statistical/empirical or a dynamic approach. The local climatic signal that is obtained is then used as input into a hydrological model to assess the direct consequences in the basin. Problems related to this approach include: a high degree of uncertainty associated with GCM outputs; and an increase in uncertainty due to the downscaling approach. An original inverse approach is developed in this work in order to improve the understanding of the processes leading to hydrological hazards, including both flood and drought events. The developed approach starts with the analysis of existing guidelines and management practices in a river basin with respect to critical hydrological exposures that may lead to failure of the water resources system or parts thereof. This implies that vulnerable components of the river basin have to be identified together with the risk exposure. In the next step the critical hydrologic exposures (flood levels for example) are transformed into corresponding critical meteorological conditions (extreme precipitation events for example). These local weather scenarios are then be statistically linked to possible large-scale climate conditions that are available from the GCMs. The developed procedure allows for the assessment of the vulnerability of river basins with respect to climate forcing. It also provides a tool for identifying the spatial distribution of the vulnerability and risk. Vulnerability is here characterized by the incremental losses, expressed either quantitatively or qualitatively, due to a change in the probability and magnitude of hazard events driven by climatic forcing. Vulnerability is seen as the basis for risk mitigation measures for hydrologic extremes at the basin level. The

  2. Effect of human activities on overall trend of sedimentation in the lower Yellow River, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiongxin, Xu

    2004-05-01

    The Yellow River has been intensively affected by human activities, particularly in the past 50 years, including soil-water conservation in the upper and middle drainage basin, flood protection in the lower reaches, and flow regulation and water diversion in the whole drainage basin. All these changes may impact sedimentation process of the lower Yellow River in different ways. Assessing these impacts comprehensively is important for more effective environmental management of the drainage basin. Based on the data of annual river flow, sediment load, and channel sedimentation in the lower Yellow River between 1950 and 1997, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the overall trend of channel sedimentation rate at a time scale of 50 years, and its formative cause. It was found in this study that erosion control measures and water diversion have counteractive impacts on sedimentation rate in the lower Yellow River. Although both annual river flow and sediment decreased, there was no change in channel sedimentation rate. A regression analysis indicated that the sedimentation in the lower Yellow River decreased with the sediment input to the lower Yellow River but increased with the river flow input. In the past 30-40 years, the basin-wide practice of erosion and sediment control measures resulted in a decline in sediment supply to the Yellow River; at the same time, the human development of water resources that required river flow regulation and water diversion caused great reduction in river flow. The former may reduce the sedimentation in the lower Yellow River, but the reduction of river flow increased the sedimentation. When their effects counterbalanced each other, the overall trend of channel sedimentation in the lower Yellow River remained unchanged. This fact may help us to better understand the positive and negative effects of human activities in the Yellow River basin and to pay more attention to the negative effect of the development of water resources. The

  3. Geologie study off gravels of the Agua Fria River, Phoenix, AZ

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langer, W.H.; Dewitt, E.; Adams, D.T.; O'Briens, T.

    2010-01-01

    The annual consumption of sand and gravel aggregate in 2006 in the Phoenix, AZ metropolitan area was about 76 Mt (84 million st) (USGS, 2009), or about 18 t (20 st) per capita. Quaternary alluvial deposits in the modern stream channel of the Agua Fria River west of Phoenix are mined and processed to provide some of this aggregate to the greater Phoenix area. The Agua Fria drainage basin (Fig. 1) is characterized by rugged mountains with high elevations and steep stream gradients in the north, and by broad alluvial filled basins separated by elongated faultblock mountain ranges in the south. The Agua Fria River, the basin’s main drainage, flows south from Prescott, AZ and west of Phoenix to the Gila River. The Waddel Dam impounds Lake Pleasant and greatly limits the flow of the Agua Fria River south of the lake. The southern portion of the watershed, south of Lake Pleasant, opens out into a broad valley where the river flows through urban and agricultural lands to its confluence with the Gila River, a tributary of the Colorado River.

  4. The legacy of lead (Pb) in fluvial bed sediments of an urban drainage basin, Oahu, Hawaii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hotton, Veronica K; Sutherland, Ross A

    2016-03-01

    The study of fluvial bed sediments is essential for deciphering the impact of anthropogenic activities on water quality and drainage basin integrity. In this study, a systematic sampling design was employed to characterize the spatial variation of lead (Pb) concentrations in bed sediment of urban streams in the Palolo drainage basin, southeastern Oahu, Hawaii. Potentially bioavailable Pb was assessed with a dilute 0.5 N HCl extraction of the  Pukele (19) > Waiomao (8). Comparisons to sediment quality guidelines and potential toxicity estimates using a logistic regression model (LRM) indicated a significant potential risk of Palolo Stream bed sediments to bottom-dwelling organisms.

  5. Hydrogeological and geochemical studies in the Perch Lake basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barry, P.J.

    1979-08-01

    The Perch Lake basin is a small drainage system along the Ottawa River about 200 km west of Ottawa on the Canadian Shield. Since 1975, groups of scientists from several Canadian universities and government departments have been studying the hydrological, geological and geochemical properties of the basin. The object of these studies is to develop and test simulation models used to describe the time-dependent mass flow rates of water and dissolved and suspended substances through the basin. To review progress, a symposium/workshop was held at Chalk Rier in 1978 April. This report contains 24 extended summaries of the material presented verbally at the workshop. Subject matters include atmospheric sources and sinks, mass flows through the surface and subsurface regimes in the drainage basins and interactions occurring in the lake. (author)

  6. The Hei River Basin in northwestern China - tectonics, sedimentary processes and pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudersdorf, Andreas; Nottebaum, Veit; Schimpf, Stefan; Yu, Kaifeng; Hartmann, Kai; Stauch, Georg; Wünnemann, Bernd; Reicherter, Klaus; Diekmann, Bernhard; Lehmkuhl, Frank

    2014-05-01

    The Hei River Basin (catchment area of c. 130,000 km²) is situated at the transition between the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and the southern slopes of Gobi-Tien-Shan. As part of the northwestern Chinese deserts, the Ejina Basin (Gaxun Nur Basin) constitutes the endorheic erosion base of the drainage system. The basin - hosting the second largest continental alluvial fans in the world, is tectonically strongly shaped by the Gobi belt of left-lateral transpression. The tectonic setting in combination with competing climatic driving forces (Westerlies and summer/winter monsoon currents) has supported the formation of a valuable long-time sediment archive comprises at least the last 250,000 yrs. of deposition. It is composed by the interplay of eolian, fluvial and lacustrine sedimentation cycles and today is dominated by widespread (gravel) gobi surfaces, insular dune fields and shallow evaporitic playa areas. Thus, it provides excellent conditions to investigate tectonic evolution and Quaternary environmental changes. Recently, geomorphological, geophysical, neotectonic and mineralogical studies have enhanced the understanding of the environmental history and the modern depositional environment. Moreover, the role of the Hei River Basin as an important source area of silt particles which were later deposited on the Chinese Loess Plateau is evaluated. Therefore, a 230 m long drill core, sediment sections and ca. 700 surface samples throughout the whole catchment and basin were analyzed. Instrumental and historical seismicity are very low, but the proximity to active fault zones and dating irregularities in earlier publications indicate evidence for deformation in the study area. Despite flat topography, indications of active tectonics such as fault-related large-scale lineations can be observed. Seismically deformed unconsolidated lacustrine deposits (seismites), presumably of Holocene age, are evident and must be related to the nearby faults. The upper

  7. Natural factors and mining activity bearings on the water quality of the Choapa basin, North Central Chile: insights on the role of mafic volcanic rocks in the buffering of the acid drainage process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parra, Amparo; Oyarzún, Jorge; Maturana, Hugo; Kretschmer, Nicole; Meza, Francisco; Oyarzún, Ricardo

    2011-10-01

    This contribution analyzes water chemical data for the Choapa basin, North Central Chile, for the period 1980-2004. The parameters considered are As, Cu Fe, pH, EC, SO₄⁻², Cl⁻¹, and HCO[Formula: see text], from samples taken in nine monitoring stations throughout the basin. Results show rather moderate contents of As, Cu, and Fe, with the exception of the Cuncumén River and the Aucó creek, explained by the influence of the huge porphyry copper deposit of Los Pelambres and by the presence of mining operations, respectively. When compared against results obtained in previous researches at the neighboring Elqui river basin, which host the El Indio Au-Cu-As district, a much reduced grade of pollution is recognized for the Choapa basin. Considering the effect of acid rock drainage (ARD)-related Cu contents on the fine fraction of the sediments of both river basins, the differences recorded are even more striking. Although the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, on the headwaters of the Choapa river basin, is between one and two orders of magnitude bigger than El Indio, stream water and sediments of the former exhibit significantly lower copper contents than those of the latter. A main factor which may explain these results is the smaller degree of H( + )-metasomatism on the host rocks of the Los Pelambres deposit, where mafic andesitic volcanic rocks presenting propylitic hydrothermal alteration are dominant. This fact contrast with the highly altered host rocks of El Indio district, where most of them have lost their potential to neutralize ARD.

  8. Late Cainozoic drainage evolution in the Zambezi basin: Geomorphological evidence from the Kalahari rim

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, David S. G.; Shaw, Paul A.

    The development of the Zambezi drainage system is discussed within the framework of the post-Gondwana tectonic evolution of southern Africa. An internal drainage system, including teh proto-Upper Zambezi, has been progressively captured during the late Cainozoic by a more agressive coastwise system. Supporting geomorphic evidence is presented from the eastern Kalahari rim. Drainage alignments and gradients, and terrace sequences are discussed. Lacustrine features found on the present watershed between the Middle Zambezi and internal systems are described and explained as remnants of the former proto-Upper Zambezi tributary system. Their interaction with linear dune activity is also examined. Despite the problems of dating the drainage changes described, it is concluded that their elucidation is important in understanding sedimentation and landform development in the eastern part of the Kalahari basin.

  9. Three new species of the armored catfish genus Loricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae from river channels of the Amazon basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew R. Thomas

    Full Text Available Three new species of Loricaria are described from large white- and black-water river channels of the Amazon basin of Brazil, the upper rio Negro drainage of southern Venezuela, and clear waters of the lower rio Tocantins. Loricaria spinulifera and L. pumila differ from other species of Loricaria by having unique patterns of abdominal plate development and hypertrophied odontodes forming conspicuous crests on dorsal surfaces of the head and predorsal plates. Both are small species of Loricaria, reaching sexual maturity at less than 120 mm SL, and exhibiting sexually dimorphic characters consistent with members of the L. cataphracta complex. Loricaria spinulifera differs from L. pumila in having a unique arrangement of buccal papillae and large thorn-like odontodes on the dorsum of the head. Loricaria pumila is the smallest known Loricaria, reaching sexual maturity at less than 80 mm SL. Loricaria lundbergi differs from other Loricaria by having a unique abdominal plate pattern, broad head, and small basicaudal plate. Loricaria lundbergi is sympatric with L. spinulifera in the lower rio Negro drainage, but is also known from the rio Baria system of the Casiquiare drainage. Loricaria pumila occurs in the lower rio Amazonas and lower rio Tocantins. All three new species exhibit varying degrees of reduction in eye size and pigmentation seen in other fishes inhabiting deep river channels of South America.

  10. Project plan-Surficial geologic mapping and hydrogeologic framework studies in the Greater Platte River Basins (Central Great Plains) in support of ecosystem and climate change research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Margaret E.; Lundstrom, Scott C.; Slate, Janet L.; Muhs, Daniel R.; Sawyer, David A.; VanSistine, D. Paco

    2011-01-01

    The Greater Platte River Basin area spans a central part of the Midcontinent and Great Plains from the Rocky Mountains on the west to the Missouri River on the east, and is defined to include drainage areas of the Platte, Niobrara, and Republican Rivers, the Rainwater Basin, and other adjoining areas overlying the northern High Plains aquifer. The Greater Platte River Basin contains abundant surficial deposits that were sensitive to, or are reflective of, the climate under which they formed: deposits from multiple glaciations in the mountain headwaters of the North and South Platte Rivers and from continental ice sheets in eastern Nebraska; fluvial terraces (ranging from Tertiary to Holocene in age) along the rivers and streams; vast areas of eolian sand in the Nebraska Sand Hills and other dune fields (recording multiple episodes of dune activity); thick sequences of windblown silt (loess); and sediment deposited in numerous lakes and wetlands. In addition, the Greater Platte River Basin overlies and contributes surface water to the High Plains aquifer, a nationally important groundwater system that underlies parts of eight states and sustains one of the major agricultural areas of the United States. The area also provides critical nesting habitat for birds such as plovers and terns, and roosting habitat for cranes and other migratory birds that travel through the Central Flyway of North America. This broad area, containing fragile ecosystems that could be further threatened by changes in climate and land use, has been identified by the USGS and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a region where intensive collaborative research could lead to a better understanding of climate change and what might be done to adapt to or mitigate its adverse effects to ecosystems and to humans. The need for robust data on the geologic framework of ecosystems in the Greater Platte River Basin has been acknowledged in proceedings from the 2008 Climate Change Workshop and in draft

  11. Social-ecological resilience and law in the Platte River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birge, Hannah E.; Allen, Craig R.; Craig, Robin; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Hamm, Joseph A.; Babbitt, Christina; Nemec, Kristine T.; Schlager, Edella

    2014-01-01

    Efficiency and resistance to rapid change are hallmarks of both the judicial and legislative branches of the United States government. These defining characteristics, while bringing stability and predictability, pose challenges when it comes to managing dynamic natural systems. As our understanding of ecosystems improves, we must devise ways to account for the non-linearities and uncertainties rife in complex social-ecological systems. This paper takes an in-depth look at the Platte River basin over time to explore how the system's resilience—the capacity to absorb disturbance without losing defining structures and functions—responds to human driven change. Beginning with pre-European settlement, the paper explores how water laws, policies, and infrastructure influenced the region's ecology and society. While much of the post-European development in the Platte River basin came at a high ecological cost to the system, the recent tri-state and federal collaborative Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program is a first step towards flexible and adaptive management of the social-ecological system. Using the Platte River basin as an example, we make the case that inherent flexibility and adaptability are vital for the next iteration of natural resources management policies affecting stressed basins. We argue that this can be accomplished by nesting policy in a resilience framework, which we describe and attempt to operationalize for use across systems and at different levels of jurisdiction. As our current natural resources policies fail under the weight of looming global change, unprecedented demand for natural resources, and shifting land use, the need for a new generation of adaptive, flexible natural resources govern-ance emerges. Here we offer a prescription for just that, rooted in the social , ecological and political realities of the Platte River basin. Social-Ecological Resilience and Law in the Platte River Basin (PDF Download Available). Available

  12. The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Monocentric and Polycentric River Basin Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruce Lankford

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Two contemporary theories of river basin management are compared. One is centralised 'regulatory river basin management' with an apex authority that seeks hydrometric data and nationally agreed standards and procedures in decisions over water quality and allocation. This model is commonplace and can be identified in many water training curricula and derivatives of basin management policy. The other, 'polycentric river basin management', is institutionally, organisationally and geographically more decentralised, emphasising local, collective ownership and reference to locally agreed standards. The polycentric model is constructed from the creation of appropriate managerial subunits within river basins. This model emphasises the deployment of hydrologists, scientists and other service providers as mediating agents of environmental and institutional transformation, tackling issues arising within and between the basin subunits such as water allocation and distribution, productivity improvement and conflict resolution. Significantly, it considers water allocation between subunits rather than between sectors and to do this promulgates an experimental, step-wise pragmatic approach, building on local ideas to make tangible progress in basins where data monitoring is limited, basin office resources are constrained and regulatory planning has stalled. To explore these issues, the paper employs the 'Cathedral and Bazaar' metaphor of Eric Raymond. The discussion is informed by observations from Tanzania, Nigeria and the UK.

  13. Fluvial Connectivity and Sediment Dispersal within Continental Extensional Basins; Assessment of Controlling Factors using Numerical Modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geurts, A., Jr.; Cowie, P. A.; Gawthorpe, R.; Huismans, R. S.; Pedersen, V. K.

    2017-12-01

    Progressive integration of drainage networks has been documented in many regional-scale studies of extensional continental systems. While endorheic drainage and lake sedimentation are common features observed in basin stratigraphy, they often disappear from the record due to the development of a through-going river network. Because changes in the fluvial connectivity of extensional basins have profound impact on erosion and sediment dispersal, and thus the feedback between surface processes and tectonics, it is of great importance to understand what controls them. Headward erosion (also called headward capture or river piracy) is often suggested to be the main mechanism causing basins to become interconnected over time with one another and with the regional/coastal drainage network. We show that overspill mechanisms (basin over-filling or lake over-spilling) play a key role in the actively extending central Italian Apennines, even though this area is theoretically favorable for headward erosion (short distances to the coast in combination with rapid surface uplift). In other tectonic settings (e.g. contractional basins and high plateaux) the role of headward erosion in transverse drainage development and integrating endorheic basins has also been increasingly questioned. These two mechanisms predict very different spatio-temporal patterns of sediment dispersal and thus timing of sediment loading (or erosional unloading) along active normal faults, which in turn may influence the locus of subsequent extensional deformation. By means of surface process modelling we develop a process-based understanding of the controls on fluvial connectivity between extensional basins in the central Italian Apennines. We focus on which conditions (tectonic and erosional) favour headward erosion versus overspill and compare our model results with published field evidence for drainage integration and the timing of basin sedimentation/incision.

  14. [Major ion chemistry of surface water in the Xilin River Basin and the possible controls].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Xi-Wen; Wu, Jin-Kui

    2014-01-01

    Under the increasing pressure of water shortage and steppe degradation, information on the hydrological cycle in the steppe region in Inner Mongolia is urgently needed. Major ions are widely used to identify the hydrological processes in a river basin. Based on the analysis results of 239 river water samples collected in 13 sections along the Xilin River system during 2006 to 2008, combined with data from groundwater and precipitation samples collected in the same period and the meteorological and hydrological data in the Xilin River Basin, hydrochemical characteristics and the chemistry of major ions of the Xilin River water have been studied by means of Piper triangle plots and Gibbs diagrams. The results showed that: (1) the total dissolved solid (TDS) in river water mainly ranged between 136.7 mg x L(-1) and 376.5 mg x L(-1), and (2) it had an increasing trend along the river flow path. (3) The major cations and anions of river water were Ca2+ and HCO3-, respectively, and the chemical type of the river water varied from HCO3- -Ca2+ in the headwater area to HCO(3-)-Ca2+ Mg2+ in the lower part. (4) The variation in the concentration of major irons in surface water was not significant at the temporal scale. Usually, the concentration values of major irons were much higher in May than those in other months during the runoff season, while the values were a bit lower in 2007 than those in 2006 and 2008. Except for SO4(2-), the concentrations of other ions such as Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, K+, Cl- and HCO3- showed a upward trend along the river flow path. Comparing major ion concentrations of the river water with those of local groundwater and precipitation, the concentration in river water was between those of precipitation and groundwater but was much closer to the concentration of groundwater. This indicated that the surface water was recharged by a mixture of precipitation and groundwater, and groundwater showed a larger impact. The Gibbs plot revealed that the chemical

  15. Summary of Hydrologic Data for the Tuscarawas River Basin, Ohio, with an Annotated Bibliography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haefner, Ralph J.; Simonson, Laura A.

    2010-01-01

    The Tuscarawas River Basin drains approximately 2,600 square miles in eastern Ohio and is home to 600,000 residents that rely on the water resources of the basin. This report summarizes the hydrologic conditions in the basin, describes over 400 publications related to the many factors that affect the groundwater and surface-water resources, and presents new water-quality information and a new water-level map designed to provide decisionmakers with information to assist in future data-collection efforts and land-use decisions. The Tuscarawas River is 130 miles long, and the drainage basin includes four major tributary basins and seven man-made reservoirs designed primarily for flood control. The basin lies within two physiographic provinces-the Glaciated Appalachian Plateaus to the north and the unglaciated Allegheny Plateaus to the south. Topography, soil types, surficial geology, and the overall hydrology of the basin were strongly affected by glaciation, which covered the northern one-third of the basin over 10,000 years ago. Within the glaciated region, unconsolidated glacial deposits, which are predominantly clay-rich till, overlie gently sloping Pennsylvanian-age sandstone, limestone, coal, and shale bedrock. Stream valleys throughout the basin are filled with sands and gravels derived from glacial outwash and alluvial processes. The southern two-thirds of the basin is characterized by similar bedrock units; however, till is absent and topographic relief is greater. The primary aquifers are sand- and gravel-filled valleys and sandstone bedrock. These sands and gravels are part of a complex system of aquifers that may exceed 400 feet in thickness and fill glacially incised valleys. Sand and gravel aquifers in this basin are capable of supporting sustained well yields exceeding 1,000 gallons per minute. Underlying sandstones within 300 feet of the surface also provide substantial quantities of water, with typical well yields of up to 100 gallons per minute

  16. 33 CFR 207.10 - Charles River, Mass.; dam of Charles River Basin Commission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Charles River, Mass.; dam of Charles River Basin Commission. 207.10 Section 207.10 Navigation and Navigable Waters CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NAVIGATION REGULATIONS § 207.10 Charles River, Mass.; dam of...

  17. Perspectives on sustainable development in the Moose River basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Preston, R.J.; George, P.J. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada); Berkes, F. [Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, MB (Canada)

    1995-12-31

    The environmental, economic and sociocultural determinants of sustainable development in the Cree communities of the Mushkegowuk region of the Hudson and James Bay lowlands of Ontario were analyzed. The Cree perspectives on sustainable development versus the perspective of industrial developers such as Ontario Hydro, and the contrast between the two, were outlined. In 1990, Ontario Hydro released their long term demand and supply plan report. Their proposals included new generating stations and the development of existing sites in the Moose River drainage basin. Ontario Hydro`s perspective was that they were using an otherwise under-utilized resource, and creating employment at the same time. By contrast, the Cree demanded a thorough assessment of cumulative impacts of development of the Moose River region, the impact on the Cree communities, and the cumulative effects on the much larger Hudson Bay region. They drew attention to the vulnerability of the local land-based economy, and the damage caused by past hydroelectric and other industrial development projects. The situation is a good illustration of the basic dilemma for development planning in the Moose River region, and indeed for much of the Canadian north. It is the view of these authors that the recipe for a viable development strategy for the region should involve continued reliance on transfer payments and investments in renewable resource-based industry and local services, not as a transition stage, but as a culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable arrangement in its own right. 32 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

  18. Study of weathering velocity of rocks with uranium as a natural tracer. Application to two drainage basins of the north-east of Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costa Pinto Moreira Nordemann, L.M. da.

    1977-01-01

    Study on rock weathering rate, i.e. rock-soil interface formation, by measuring the elements dissolved in river waters. These elements are used as natural tracers. This work has been carried out in the drainage basin of Preto and Salgado Rivers, in Brazil. Conventional elements, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium have been utilized first and all dissolved salts have been used as natural tracers to allow comparison with other scientific works. Then, uranium has been used because it is not found in rain waters so that corrections are not necessary and because its abundance can be measured by α and γ spectrometry, and the 234 U/ 238 U ratio obtained, 234 U being more rapidly dissolved during weathering. Another reason is that no interaction occurs between uranium and the biomass. It is then possible to find a geochemical balance for this area [fr

  19. Northern Rivers Basins human health monitoring program : report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gabos, S.

    1999-04-01

    The Northern River Basins Human Health Monitoring Program was established in 1994 to investigate the possible relationships between various environmental risk factors and the health of northern residents in the province. This report presents the initial analysis of the health program and examines the differences in health outcomes across the province and compares the Northern Rivers Basin Study (NRBS) area with the other areas of the province. A series of maps and graphs showed the prevalence of certain diseases and disorders within the Peace and Athabasca river basins. The focus of the report was on reproductive health, congenital anomalies, respiratory ailments, circulatory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and neurocognitive disorders. The study showed that compared to other areas of the province, the NRBS area had higher incidences of endometriosis, selected congenital anomalies, bronchitis, pneumonia, peptic ulcers and epilepsy. There were three potential exposure pathways to environmental contaminants. These were through ingestion of water or food, inhalation of air and through dermal exposure. refs., tabs., figs

  20. Northern Rivers Basins human health monitoring program : report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabos, S. [Alberta Health, Edmonton, AB (Canada). Health Surveillance

    1999-04-01

    The Northern River Basins Human Health Monitoring Program was established in 1994 to investigate the possible relationships between various environmental risk factors and the health of northern residents in the province. This report presents the initial analysis of the health program and examines the differences in health outcomes across the province and compares the Northern Rivers Basin Study (NRBS) area with the other areas of the province. A series of maps and graphs showed the prevalence of certain diseases and disorders within the Peace and Athabasca river basins. The focus of the report was on reproductive health, congenital anomalies, respiratory ailments, circulatory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and neurocognitive disorders. The study showed that compared to other areas of the province, the NRBS area had higher incidences of endometriosis, selected congenital anomalies, bronchitis, pneumonia, peptic ulcers and epilepsy. There were three potential exposure pathways to environmental contaminants. These were through ingestion of water or food, inhalation of air and through dermal exposure. refs., tabs., figs.

  1. Soil erosion assessment of a Himalayan river basin using TRMM data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, A.; Mishra, S. K.; Gautam, A. K.; Kumar, D.

    2015-04-01

    In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the soil erosion of a Himalayan river basin, the Karnali basin, Nepal, using rainfall erosivity (R-factor) derived from satellite-based rainfall estimates (TRMM-3B42 V7). Average annual sediment yield was estimated using the well-known Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The eight-year annual average rainfall erosivity factor (R) for the Karnali River basin was found to be 2620.84 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1. Using intensity-erosivity relationships and eight years of the TRMM daily rainfall dataset (1998-2005), average annual soil erosion was also estimated for Karnali River basin. The minimum and maximum values of the rainfall erosivity factor were 1108.7 and 4868.49 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1, respectively, during the assessment period. The average annual soil loss of the Karnali River basin was found to be 38.17 t ha-1 year-1. Finally, the basin area was categorized according to the following scale of erosion severity classes: Slight (0 to 5 t ha-1 year-1), Moderate (5 to 10 t ha-1 year-1), High (10 to 20 t ha-1 year-1), Very High (20 to 40 t ha-1 year-1), Severe (40 to 80 t ha-1 year-1) and Very Severe (>80 t ha-1 year-1). About 30.86% of the river basin area was found to be in the slight erosion class. The areas covered by the moderate, high, very high, severe and very severe erosion potential zones were 13.09%, 6.36%, 11.09%, 22.02% and 16.64% respectively. The study revealed that approximately 69% of the Karnali River basin needs immediate attention from a soil conservation point of view.

  2. A framework model for water-sharing among co-basin states of a river basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, N. K.; Azad, Shambhu

    2018-05-01

    A new framework model is presented in this study for sharing of water in a river basin using certain governing variables, in an effort to enhance the objectivity for a reasonable and equitable allocation of water among co-basin states. The governing variables were normalised to reduce the governing variables of different co-basin states of a river basin on same scale. In the absence of objective methods for evaluating the weights to be assigned to co-basin states for water allocation, a framework was conceptualised and formulated to determine the normalised weighting factors of different co-basin states as a function of the governing variables. The water allocation to any co-basin state had been assumed to be proportional to its struggle for equity, which in turn was assumed to be a function of the normalised discontent, satisfaction, and weighting factors of each co-basin state. System dynamics was used effectively to represent and solve the proposed model formulation. The proposed model was successfully applied to the Vamsadhara river basin located in the South-Eastern part of India, and a sensitivity analysis of the proposed model parameters was carried out to prove its robustness in terms of the proposed model convergence and validity over the broad spectrum values of the proposed model parameters. The solution converged quickly to a final allocation of 1444 million cubic metre (MCM) in the case of the Odisha co-basin state, and to 1067 MCM for the Andhra Pradesh co-basin state. The sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed model's allocation varied from 1584 MCM to 1336 MCM for Odisha state and from 927 to 1175 MCM for Andhra, depending upon the importance weights given to the governing variables for the calculation of the weighting factors. Thus, the proposed model was found to be very flexible to explore various policy options to arrive at a decision in a water sharing problem. It can therefore be effectively applied to any trans-boundary problem where

  3. Morphometric analyses of the river basins in Goa

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Iyer, S.D.; Wagle, B.G.

    Morphometric analyses of seven river basins in Goa, India have been carried out. The linear and areal aspects of these basins are reported here. The plots of stream order versus stream numbers and stream orders versus mean stream lengths are found...

  4. Suceava Anthropic Torrential Basin - Prolegomena

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei-Emil BRICIU

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available One problem discussed by urban hydrology today is the draining influence of the modern cities over the natural drainage systems. The increasing urban areas and of their imperviousness all over theworld is linked to floods shape modifications and unpredicted systemic implications.  Generally, the draining influence of a city over its environment begins when it has a surface great enough to create an anthropic-generated runoff during a rain with enoughprecipitations to provoke waters accumulation into street torrents. The size, imperviousness, precipitations, drainage system and water consumption of the Suceava city are analysed in order to estimate the discharge of the city into Suceava river at various rainfalls. The article is structured as follows:1. Argumentation on the class separation between natural and anthropic torrential basins.2. Placing Suceava city as one of the torrential anthropic basins in Romania using basic arguments.3. Extending one of the argument, the importance of the rainfalls, in more detailed discussions (rainfall characteristics mainly, but also its cumulative effect with the floods on the Suceava river and the consumption of water in the city, with two scenarios. 4. The city is analysed as being integrated into a metropolitan area which can exacerbate the influence of the main city over the surrounding natural drainage basins nearby that area.5. Conclusions, where measures are proposed in order to diminish the potential negative effects on environment and human society.This article is only an introduction to a more detailed analysis which will be complete with further field data.

  5. The politics of river basin organizations: institutional design choices, coalitions, and consequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dave Huitema

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The idea that ecosystem management should be approached at the bioregional scale is central to the thinking on adaptive governance. Taken to the domain of water management, a bioregional approach implies the foundation of river basin organizations (RBOs, a notion that has been warmly welcomed by scholars and practitioners alike. However, it appears that river basin organizations come in various shapes and sizes, their intended foundation often leads to resistance, and their actual performance is understudied. Through this special feature we seek to advance the state of our knowledge in this respect. Through this introduction we lay the foundation for the case studies that follow in the special feature and for the conclusions. We do so by presenting a worked typology of river basin organizations. This typology helps us differentiate between various kinds of proposals that are all referred to as river basin organizations, but that are actually quite different in nature. In addition, in this introduction we present an approach to dissecting the inevitable political debates that ensue once a proposal to found a river basin organization is made, something that is often ill understood by the proponents of river basin organizations. After this, we explain the criteria that one could use to assess the performance of river basin organizations that actually come into being. Although the thinking in adaptive governance is strongly concerned with ecological effectiveness, we do show that other criteria can be applied too. Finally, we briefly introduce the various contributions to the special feature.

  6. Human activities and its Responses to Glacier Melt Water Over Tarim River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Hai; Zhou, Shenbei; Bai, Minghao

    2017-04-01

    Tarim River Basin lies in the south area of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the north-west area of China. It is the longest inland river of China. Being far away from ocean and embraced by high mountains, Tarim River Basin is the typical arid region in the world. The intensity of human activities increased rapidly in Tarim River Basin since 1980's and water resources lacking is the major issue restricting the development of social economy. The glacier melt water plays an important role for the regional social and economic development, and it accounts for 40% of mountain-pass runoff. It is a fragile mutual-dependent relationship between local sustainable development and runoff. Under the background of global change glacier melt water process has also changed especially in the arid and semi-arid region. Due to climate change, glacier in Tarim River Basin has melted in an observed way since 1980s, together with increasing trend of annual rainfall and virgin flow in mountain basins. Correspondingly, human activity gets more frequent since 1970s, resulting into the obvious fragile mutual-dependent relationship between basin runoff and water use amount. Through an analysis of meteorological, hydrological and geographical observation data from 1985 to 2015, this thesis make a multi-factor variance analysis of population, cultivation area, industrial development and runoff in upstream and mid-stream of Tarim River under changing conditions. Furthermore, the regulation function of natural factors and water demand management factors on relationship between runoff and water using amount are discussed, including temperature, rainfall, and evaporation, water conservation technology and soil-water exploitation administrative institutions. It concludes that: first, increase in glacier runoff, rainfall amount, and virgin flow haven't notably relieved ecological issue in Tarim River Basin, and even has promoted water use behaviour in different flowing areas and noticeably reduced

  7. Improved Lower Mekong River Basin Hydrological Decision Making Using NASA Satellite-based Earth Observation Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolten, J. D.; Mohammed, I. N.; Srinivasan, R.; Lakshmi, V.

    2017-12-01

    Better understanding of the hydrological cycle of the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB) and addressing the value-added information of using remote sensing data on the spatial variability of soil moisture over the Mekong Basin is the objective of this work. In this work, we present the development and assessment of the LMRB (drainage area of 495,000 km2) Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The coupled model framework presented is part of SERVIR, a joint capacity building venture between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development, providing state-of-the-art, satellite-based earth monitoring, imaging and mapping data, geospatial information, predictive models, and science applications to improve environmental decision-making among multiple developing nations. The developed LMRB SWAT model enables the integration of satellite-based daily gridded precipitation, air temperature, digital elevation model, soil texture, and land cover and land use data to drive SWAT model simulations over the Lower Mekong River Basin. The LMRB SWAT model driven by remote sensing climate data was calibrated and verified with observed runoff data at the watershed outlet as well as at multiple sites along the main river course. Another LMRB SWAT model set driven by in-situ climate observations was also calibrated and verified to streamflow data. Simulated soil moisture estimates from the two models were then examined and compared to a downscaled Soil Moisture Active Passive Sensor (SMAP) 36 km radiometer products. Results from this work present a framework for improving SWAT performance by utilizing a downscaled SMAP soil moisture products used for model calibration and validation. Index Terms: 1622: Earth system modeling; 1631: Land/atmosphere interactions; 1800: Hydrology; 1836 Hydrological cycles and budgets; 1840 Hydrometeorology; 1855: Remote sensing; 1866: Soil moisture; 6334: Regional Planning

  8. Umatilla River Basin Anadromous Fish Habitat Enhancement Project : 2001 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaw, R. Todd; Sexton, Amy D.

    2003-02-01

    The Umatilla River Basin Anadromous Fish Habitat Enhancement Project continued to identify impacted stream reaches throughout the Umatilla River Basin for habitat improvements during the 2001 project period. Public outreach efforts, biological and physical monitoring, and continued development of a Umatilla Subbasin Watershed Assessment assisted the project in fostering public cooperation, targeting habitat deficiencies and determining habitat recovery measures. Projects continued to be maintained on 49 private properties, one 25-year Non-Exclusive Bureau of Indian Affairs' Easement was secured, six new projects implemented and two existing project areas improved to enhance anadromous fish habitat. New project locations included sites on the mid Umatilla River, upper Umatilla River, Mission Creek, Cottonwood Creek and Buckaroo Creek. New enhancements included: (1) construction of 11,264 feet of fencing between River Mile 43.0 and 46.5 on the Umatilla River, (2) a stream bank stabilization project implemented at approximately River Mile 63.5 Umatilla River to stabilize 330 feet of eroding stream bank and improve instream habitat diversity, included construction of eight root wad revetments and three boulder J-vanes, (3) drilling a 358-foot well for off-stream livestock watering at approximately River Mile 46.0 Umatilla River, (4) installing a 50-foot bottomless arch replacement culvert at approximately River Mile 3.0 Mission Creek, (5) installing a Geoweb stream ford crossing on Mission Creek (6) installing a 22-foot bottomless arch culvert at approximately River Mile 0.5 Cottonwood Creek, and (7) providing fence materials for construction of 21,300 feet of livestock exclusion fencing in the Buckaroo Creek Drainage. An approximate total of 3,800 native willow cuttings and 350 pounds of native grass seed was planted at new upper Umatilla River, Mission Creek and Cottonwood Creek project sites. Habitat improvements implemented at existing project sites included

  9. GRACE-based estimates of water discharge over the Yellow River basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiong Li

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available As critical component of hydrologic cycle, basin discharge is a key issue for understanding the hydrological and climatologic related to water and energy cycles. Combining GRACE gravity field models with ET from GLDAS models and precipitation from GPCP, discharge of the Yellow River basin are estimated from the water balance equation. While comparing the results with discharge from GLDAS model and in situ measurements, the results reveal that discharge from Mosaic and CLM GLDAS model can partially represent the river discharge and the discharge estimation from water balance equation could reflect the discharge from precipitation over the Yellow River basin.

  10. Physical and Human Controls on the Carbon Composition of Organic Matter in Tropical Rivers: An Integrated Analysis of Landscape Properties and River Isotopic Composition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ballester, M. V.R.; Victoria, R. L.; Krusche, A. V. [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Piracicaba (Brazil); Bernardes, M. [Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Neill, C.; Deegan, L. [Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (United States); Richey, J. E. [University of Washington, Seatle, WA (United States)

    2013-05-15

    We applied an integrated analysis of landscape properties including soil properties, land cover and riverine isotopic composition. To evaluate physical and human controls on the carbon composition of organic matter in tropical rivers, we applied an integrated analysis of landscape properties including soil properties, land cover and riverine isotopic composition. Our main objective was to establish the relationship between basin attributes and forms, fluxes and composition of dissolved and particulate organic matter in river channels. A physical template was developed as a GIS-based comprehensive tool to support the understanding of the biogeochemistry of the surface waters of two tropical rivers: the Ji-Parana (Western Amazonia) and the Piracicaba (southeastern of Brazil). For each river we divided the basin into drainage units, organized according to river network morphology and degree of land use impact. Each sector corresponded to a sampling point where river isotopic composition was analysed. River sites and basin characteristics were calculated using datasets compiled as layers in ArcGis Geographical Information System and ERDAS-IMAGINE (Image Processing) software. Each delineated drainage area was individually characterized in terms of topography, soils, river network and land use. Carbon stable isotopic composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) was determined at several sites along the main tributaries and small streams. The effects of land use on fluvial carbon composition were quantified by a linear regression analysis, relating basin cover and river isotopic composition. The results showed that relatively recent land cover changes have already had an impact on the composition of the riverine DOM and POM, indicating that, as in natural ecosystems, vegetation plays a key role in the composition of riverine organic matter in agricultural ecosystems. (author)

  11. Numerical representation of rainfall field in the Yarmouk River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shentsis, Isabella; Inbar, Nimrod; Magri, Fabien; Rosenthal, Eliyahu

    2017-04-01

    Rainfall is the decisive factors in evaluating the water balance of river basins and aquifers. Accepted methods rely on interpolation and extrapolation of gauged rain to regular grid with high dependence on the density and regularity of network, considering the relief complexity. We propose an alternative method that makes up to those restrictions by taking into account additional physical features of the rain field. The method applies to areas with (i) complex plain- and mountainous topography, which means inhomogeneity of the rainfall field and (ii) non-uniform distribution of a rain gauge network with partial lack of observations. The rain model is implemented in two steps: 1. Study of the rainfall field, based on the climatic data (mean annual precipitation), its description by the function of elevation and other factors, and estimation of model parameters (normalized coefficients of the Taylor series); 2. Estimation of rainfall in each historical year using the available data (less complete and irregular versus climatic data) as well as the a-priori known parameters (by the basic hypothesis on inter-annual stability of the model parameters). The proposed method was developed by Shentsis (1990) for hydrological forecasting in Central Asia and was later adapted to the Lake Kinneret Basin. Here this model (the first step) is applied to the Yarmouk River Basin. The Yarmouk River is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. Its transboundary basin (6,833 sq. km) extends over Syria (5,257 sq.km), Jordan (1,379 sq. km) and Israel (197 sq. km). Altitude varies from 1800 m (and more) to -235 m asl. The total number of rain stations in use is 36 (17 in Syria, 19 in Jordan). There is evidently lack and non-uniform distribution of a rain gauge network in Syria. The Yarmouk Basin was divided into five regions considering typical relationship between mean annual rain and elevation for each region. Generally, the borders of regions correspond to the common topographic

  12. Arsenic occurrence in water bodies in Kharaa river basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azzaya T

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Distribution of arsenic (As and its compound and related toxicology are serious concerns nowadays. Gold mining activity is one of the anthropogenic sources of environmental contamination regarding As and other heavy metals. In Mongolia, the most productive gold mining sites are placed in the Kharaa river basin. A hundred water samples were collected from river, spring and deep wells in this river basin. Along with total As and its species-As(III and As(V, examination of concentration levels of other key parameters, 21 heavy metals with pH, total hardness, electric conductivity, anion and cations, was also carried out. In respect to the permissible limit formulated by the Mongolian National Drinking water quality standard (MNS 0900:2005, As10 µg/l, the present study showed that most of samples were found no contamination. In Kharaa river basin, an average concentration of total As in surface water was 4.04 µg/l with wide range in 0.07−30.30 µg/l whereas it was 2.24 µg/l in groundwater. As analysis in surface water in licensed area of Gatsuurt gold mining showed a mean concentration with 24.90 µg/l presenting higher value than that of value in river basin by 6 orders of magnitude and it was 2 times higher than permissible level as well. In Boroo river nearby Boroo gold mining area, As concentration in water was ranged in 6.05−6.25 µg/l. Ammonia pollution may have present at estuary of Zuunmod river in Mandal sum with above the permissible level described in national water quality standard. Geological formation of the rocks and minerals affected to change of heavy metal concentration, especially As and uranium (U at spring water nearby Gatsuurt-Boroo improved road.

  13. River network and watershed morphology analysis with potential implications towards basin classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bugaets, Andrey; Gartsman, Boris; Bugaets, Nadezhda

    2013-04-01

    process, the energy is dissipated from the system. The rate of energy dissipation is defined as the work that a fluid element needs to perform to overcome friction at the unit area. Appling the product of local slope and watershed area, i.e. calculating the total energy index at the different distance from outlet, one gets the watershed "energy function" E(x). Application results indicate that the proposed method could be used for watersheds classification, regionalization and paleoreconstructions. NASA-SRTM DEM of 3" resolution has been employed to analyze the 24 watersheds within Amur River Basin with area 20-70 thousand km2 (7-8 order). The study was carried out, in particular, to assess the limitation of SRTM DEM data, especially in flat terrains. The study also revealed that some of regularities investigated are described satisfactorily by well-known simplest model of drainage networks, so-called Peano's basin.

  14. Habitat-specific morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus within a drainage basin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mike M Webster

    Full Text Available Habitat-specific morphological variation, often corresponding to resource specialization, is well documented in freshwater fishes. In this study we used landmark based morphometric analyses to investigate morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L. from four interconnected habitat types within a single lowland drainage basin in eastern England. These included the upper and lower reaches of the river, the estuary, a connected ditch network and a coastal salt marsh. We found significant habitat-specific differences in morphology, with three axes of variation describing differences in orbit diameter, body depth, caudal peduncle shape and pectoral fin positioning as well as variation in relative dorsal and pelvic spine size. Interestingly, the ditch system, an artificial and heavily managed habitat, is populated by sticklebacks with a characteristic morphology, suggesting that human management of habitats can in some circumstances lead to morphological variation among the animals that inhabit them. We discuss the mechanisms that conceivably underlie the observed morphological variation and the further work necessary to identify them. Finally, we consider the implications of habitat-specific body shape variation for the behavioural ecology of this ecologically generalist species.

  15. Habitat-Specific Morphological Variation among Threespine Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) within a Drainage Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webster, Mike M.; Atton, Nicola; Hart, Paul J. B.; Ward, Ashley J. W.

    2011-01-01

    Habitat-specific morphological variation, often corresponding to resource specialization, is well documented in freshwater fishes. In this study we used landmark based morphometric analyses to investigate morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) from four interconnected habitat types within a single lowland drainage basin in eastern England. These included the upper and lower reaches of the river, the estuary, a connected ditch network and a coastal salt marsh. We found significant habitat-specific differences in morphology, with three axes of variation describing differences in orbit diameter, body depth, caudal peduncle shape and pectoral fin positioning as well as variation in relative dorsal and pelvic spine size. Interestingly, the ditch system, an artificial and heavily managed habitat, is populated by sticklebacks with a characteristic morphology, suggesting that human management of habitats can in some circumstances lead to morphological variation among the animals that inhabit them. We discuss the mechanisms that conceivably underlie the observed morphological variation and the further work necessary to identify them. Finally, we consider the implications of habitat-specific body shape variation for the behavioural ecology of this ecologically generalist species. PMID:21698269

  16. Cumulative Effects of Micro-Hydro Development on the Fisheries of the Swan River Drainage, Montana, First Annual Progress Report (Covering Field Season July-November 1982).

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leathe, Stephen A.; Graham, Patrick J.

    1984-03-01

    This fisheries study is to determine the potential cumulative biological and economic effects of 20 small or micro-hydro-electric facilities (less than 5 megawatts) proposed to be constructed on tributaries to the Swan River, a 1738 square kilometer (671 square mile) drainage located in northwestern Montana. The study addresses portions of measure 1204 (b) (2) of the Norwthwest Power Planning Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Aerial pre-surveys conducted during 1982 identified 102 stream reaches that may support fish populations in the Swan drainage between Swan and Lindbergh lakes. These reaches were located in 49 tributary streams and constituted 416 kilometers (258 miles) of potential fish habitat. Construction of all proposed small hydro projects would divert water from 54 kilometers (34 miles) or about 13 percent of the tributary system. Only two of the 20 proposed hydro sites did not support trout populations and most were populated by migratory bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Potential cumulative habitat losses that could result from dewatering of all proposed project areas were predicted using a stream reach classification scheme involving stream gradient, drainage ara, and fish population data. Preliminary results of this worst case analysis indicate that 23, 19 and 6 percent of the high quality rearing habitat for cutthroat, bull, and brook trout respectively would be lost.

  17. Changing provenance of late Cenozoic sediments in the Jianghan Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Shao

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The Yangtze River is one of the most important components of the East Asia river system. In this study, sediments in the Jianghan Basin, middle Yangtze River, were selected for trace element and rare earth element (REE measurements, in order to decipher information on the change of sediment provenance and evolution of the Yangtze River. According to the elemental variations, the late Cenozoic sediments of the Jianghan Basin could be divided into four parts. During 2.68–2.28 Ma and 1.25–0 Ma, provenance of the sediments was consistent, whereas sediments were derived from variable sources during 2.28–1.25 Ma. Comparison of the elemental compositions between the Pliocene and Quaternary sediments revealed a change in sediment source from a more felsic source area to a more basic source area around the Pliocene–Quaternary boundary. Input from the Emeishan LIP should account for this provenance change. Based on the provenance analysis of sediments in the Jianghan Basin, we infer that the Yangtze River developed into a large river with its drainage basin extended to the Emeishan LIP no later than the Pliocene–Quaternary boundary.

  18. Multiscale Genetic Structure of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout in the Upper Snake River Basin.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cegelski, Christine C.; Campbell, Matthew R.

    2006-05-30

    Populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvierii have declined throughout their native range as a result of habitat fragmentation, overharvest, and introductions of nonnative trout that have hybridized with or displaced native populations. The degree to which these factors have impacted the current genetic population structure of Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations is of primary interest for their conservation. In this study, we examined the genetic diversity and genetic population structure of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Idaho and Nevada with data from six polymorphic microsatellite loci. A total of 1,392 samples were analyzed from 45 sample locations throughout 11 major river drainages. We found that levels of genetic diversity and genetic differentiation varied extensively. The Salt River drainage, which is representative of the least impacted migration corridors in Idaho, had the highest levels of genetic diversity and low levels of genetic differentiation. High levels of genetic differentiation were observed at similar or smaller geographic scales in the Portneuf River, Raft River, and Teton River drainages, which are more altered by anthropogenic disturbances. Results suggested that Yellowstone cutthroat trout are naturally structured at the major river drainage level but that habitat fragmentation has altered this structuring. Connectivity should be restored via habitat restoration whenever possible to minimize losses in genetic diversity and to preserve historical processes of gene flow, life history variation, and metapopulation dynamics. However, alternative strategies for management and conservation should also be considered in areas where there is a strong likelihood of nonnative invasions or extensive habitat fragmentation that cannot be easily ameliorated.

  19. Planning the development of the Mekong river basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chomchai, P [Mekong Secretariat, Bangkok (Thailand)

    1992-10-01

    In planning to develop the vast potential of the Mekong river in Southeast Asia, a number of institutional aspects need to be addressed, and the sometimes diverging interests of the riparian countries need to be carefully balanced. The Mekong river is an extremely valuable natural resource: its potential for irrigation, hydropower, navigation, fisheries and related development is more than adequate to raise significantly the standards of living of the people of the lower Mekong basin and in the riparian countries outside the river's catchment area. The Mekong's catchment area of 795 000 km[sup 2] encompasses parts of China and Myanmar, the whole of Laos and Cambodia, one third of Thailand and one fifth of Viet Nam. The population of the Mekong basin is around 100 million, about half of whom live in the lower basin. It could be said that these impoverished inhabitants of the basin depend significantly on the Mekong for an improvement in their livelihood, and this places a heavy responsibility on those involved in developing its water resources. The Mekong Committee, since its establishment in 1957 and in its present interim status since 1977, is dedicated to the co-ordinated development of the basin's resources, on the basis of reasonable and equitable sharing between the riparian states as stated in the Committee's declaration of principles. With the establishment of the Mekon Committee, serious efforts have been made aimed at rational management of water resources use. (author).

  20. Basin characterization and determination of hydraulic connectivity of mega basins using integrated methods: (The case of Baro-Akobo and mega watershed beyond)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alemayehu, Taye; Kebede, Tesfaye; Liu, Lanbo

    2018-01-01

    Despite being the longest river and the fourth in drainage area, Nile River has the lowest discharge per unit areas among the top ten rivers of the world. Understanding the hydrologic significance of the regional litho-stratigraphy and structures help to better understand the hydrodynamics. This work is aimed at characterizing the Baro-Akobo-Sobbat sub-basin of Nile and determine trans-basin flows. Integrated method is used to characterize the basin and determine the Baro-Akobo-Sobbat sub-basin's relationship with African Mesozoic Rifts. Oil and water well drilling logs; aeromagnetic, gravity and vertical electrical sounding data; and various study reports are used to establish regional lithostratigraphic correlations and determine trans-regional hydrogeological connectivity. A total of 633 samples collected from wells, springs, rivers, lakes, swamps and rain water are analysed for their chemical, stable isotopes, tritium and radon properties. The Baro-Akobo river basin is commonly presumed to have good groundwater potential, particularly in its lowland plain. However, it has poor exploitable groundwater potential and recharge rate due to the extensive clay cover, limited retention capacity and the loss of the bulk of the groundwaters through regional geological structures to the deep seated continental sediments; presumably reaching the hydraulically connected African Mesozoic Rifts; mainly Melut and Muglad. The deep underground northward flows, along Nile River is, presumably, retarded by Central African Shear Zone in the Sudan.

  1. RUNOFF POTENTIAL OF MUREŞ RIVER UPPER BASIN TRIBUTARIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. SOROCOVSCHI

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Runoff Potential of Mureş River Upper Basin Tributaries. The upper basin of the Mureş River includes a significant area of the Eastern Carpathians central western part with different runoff formation conditions. In assessing the average annual runoff potential we used data from six gauging stations and made assessments on three distinct periods. Identifying the appropriate areas of the obtained correlations curves (between specific average runoff and catchments mean altitude allowed the assessment of potential runoff at catchment level and on geographical units. The potential average runoff is also assessed on altitude intervals of the mentioned areas. The runoff potential analysis on hydrographic basins, geographical units and altitude intervals highlights the variant spatial distribution of this general water resources indicator in the different studied areas.

  2. Water Quality Evaluation of the Yellow River Basin Based on Gray Clustering Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, X. Q.; Zou, Z. H.

    2018-03-01

    Evaluating the water quality of 12 monitoring sections in the Yellow River Basin comprehensively by grey clustering method based on the water quality monitoring data from the Ministry of environmental protection of China in May 2016 and the environmental quality standard of surface water. The results can reflect the water quality of the Yellow River Basin objectively. Furthermore, the evaluation results are basically the same when compared with the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The results also show that the overall water quality of the Yellow River Basin is good and coincident with the actual situation of the Yellow River basin. Overall, gray clustering method for water quality evaluation is reasonable and feasible and it is also convenient to calculate.

  3. Identification of basin characteristics influencing spatial variation of river flows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mazvimavi, D.; Burgers, S.L.G.E.; Stein, A.

    2006-01-01

    The selection of basin characteristics that explain spatial variation of river flows is important for hydrological regionalization as this enables estimation of flow statistics of ungauged basins. A direct gradient analysis method, redundancy analysis, is used to identify basin characteristics,

  4. Probabilistic evaluation of the water footprint of a river basin: Accounting method and case study in the Segura River Basin, Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicer-Martínez, Francisco; Martínez-Paz, José Miguel

    2018-06-15

    In the current study a method for the probabilistic accounting of the water footprint (WF) at the river basin level has been proposed and developed. It is based upon the simulation of the anthropised water cycle and combines a hydrological model and a decision support system. The methodology was carried out in the Segura River Basin (SRB) in South-eastern Spain, and four historical scenarios were evaluated (1998-2010-2015-2027). The results indicate that the WF of the river basin reached 5581 Mm 3 /year on average in the base scenario, with a high variability. The green component (3231 Mm 3 /year), mainly generated by rainfed crops (62%), was responsible for the great variability of the WF. The blue WF (1201 Mm 3 /year) was broken down into surface water (56%), renewable groundwater (20%) and non-renewable groundwater (24%), and it showed the generalized overexploitation of aquifers. Regarding the grey component (1150 Mm 3 /year), the study reveals that wastewater, especially phosphates (90%), was the main culprit producing water pollution in surface water bodies. The temporal evolution of the four scenarios highlighted the successfulness of the water treatment plans developed in the river basin, with a sharp decrease in the grey WF, as well as the stability of the WF and its three components in the future. So, the accounting of the three components of the WF in a basin was integrated into the management of water resources, it being possible to predict their evolution, their spatial characterisation and even their assessment in probabilistic terms. Then, the WF was incorporated into the set of indicators that usually is used in water resources management and hydrological planning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Integrated resource assessment of the Drina River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almulla, Youssef; Ramos, Eunice; Gardumi, Francesco; Howells, Mark

    2017-04-01

    The integrated assessment and management of resources: water, energy, food and environment is of fundamental importance, yet it is a very challenging task especially when it is carried out on the transboundary level. This study focuses on the Drina River Basin (DRB) which is a transboundary basin in South East Europe spreading across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro with a total surface area of 19,982 km2. Water resources from the Drina River Basin are shared among many activities in the basin: domestic water supply, electricity generation, fishery, tourism and, to a lesser extent, irrigation, industry and mining. The region has recently experienced repeated events of floods and droughts causing significant damage to the economy, showing a high vulnerability of the area to the effects of climate change. The assessment of the Drina River Basin is carried out in the framework of the project "Water food energy ecosystems nexus in transboundary river basins" under the UNECE Water Convention. This study aims to: 1) Improve the cooperation in the operation of dams and hydropower plants in the DRB for optimized production; 2) Explore the opportunities generated by electricity trade between the DRB countries as a mechanism to enhance cooperation and as an enabler for the synchronised operation of hydropower plants; 3) Motivate the implementation of energy efficiency measures to reduce the electricity production requirement from hydro and thermal power. In order to achieve that, a multi-country electricity system model was developed for the three countries of Drina river basin using the Open Source energy MOdelling SYStem (OSeMOSYS). The model represents the whole electricity system of each country, with special cascade representation of hydropower plants along Drina river and its tributaries. The results show that, in a scenario of synchronised operation of all power plants along Drina and its tributaries, those downstream can significantly increase their

  6. Drainage Characteristics of Tectonically Active Areas: An Example from Rajasthan, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SWATI JAIN

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The morphotectonic studies help in deciphering the role of tectonics and neotectonics in morphological evolution of drainage basins. On the basis of remote sensing technique, the relationship between morphology and tectonics have been investigated in Bundi-Indergarh sector of southeast Rajasthan. The area selected for present study is drained by Mej river and its tributaries and occupies the southeastern part of the Aravalli Mountain Range (AMR. The course of Mej river is mostly controlled by the Great Boundary Thrust (GBT and associated tectonic elements. GBT separates the folded, faulted and metamorphosed older rocks of the AMR in the west and relatively undeformed Vindhyan rocks in the east. This study has been carried out using digital and hard copy product of IRS 1C/1D LISS III geocoded FCC data. The morphometric and morphotectonic aspects have been studied for identification of present day tectonic activities in the area. The remote sensing data interpretation indicates that the landforms of the area are structurally controlled and mainly covered by linear and parallel strike ridges and valleys. These valleys indicate sign of stream rejuvenation and occasional presence of dynamic ravines. General morphometric parameters, bifurcation ratio, stream length and shape parameters have been computed. Longitudinal river profiles can be quantified by normalizing the elevation and the distance along rivers. Several parameters such as profile shape (concavity, gradient fluctuations, river grade and valley incision have been derived from longitudinal river profile. These quantified parameters and their interrelations are useful in comparing different drainage basins and also help drawing inferences on neotectonism. The computed values suggest that the area is covered by resistant rock and drainage network, affected by tectonic distur-bance. The valley floor ratio is very low, indicating channel down cutting vis-a-vis ground uplift. The gradient index

  7. Turbidity and suspended-sediment transport in the Russian River Basin, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, John R.; Brown, William M.

    1971-01-01

    The Russian River in north coastal California has a persistent turbidness, which has reportedly caused a decline in the success of the sports fishermen. As a consequence, the number of sports fishermen angling in the river has declined, and industries dependent on their business have suffered. To determine the source of the turbidity and the rate of sediment transport in the basin, a network of sampling station was established in February 1964 along the river, on some of its tributaries, and near Lake Pillsbury in the upper Eel River basin.

  8. Evaluation of some 90Sr sources in the White Oak Creek drainage basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stueber, A.M.; Huff, D.D.; Farrow, N.D.; Jones, J.R.; Munro, I.L.

    1981-01-01

    The drainage basin was monitored to evaluate the relative importance of each source as a contributor to 90 Sr in White Oak Creek. The various sources fall into two general categories, those whose 90 Sr discharge is dependent upon rainfall and those relatively unaffected by the level of precipitation. The identification and ranking of existing non-point sources of 90 Sr in the White Oak Creek basin represents an important step in the ongoing comprehensive program at ORNL to provide a scientific basis for improved control measures and future disposal practices in solid waste disposal areas

  9. The future of the reservoirs in the Siret River Basin considering the sediment transport of rivers (ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru OLARIU

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The Siret River Basin is characterized by an important use of hydro potential, resulted in the number of reservoirs constructed and operational. The cascade power stage of the reservoirs on Bistrita and Siret rivers indicate the anthropic interventions with different purposes (hydro energy, water supply, irrigation etc. in the Siret River Basin. In terms of the capacity in the Siret River Basin there is a dominance of the small capacity reservoirs, which is given by the less than 20 mil m³ volumes. Only two lakes have capacities over 200 mil m³: Izvoru Muntelui on Bistrita River and Siriu on Buzau River. Based on the monitoring of the alluvial flow at the hydrometric stations, from the Siret River Basin, there have been analysed the sediment yield formation and the solid transit dimensions in order to obtain typical values for the geographical areas of this territory. The silting of these reservoirs was monitored by successive topobatimetric measurements performed by the Bureau of Prognosis, Hydrology and Hydrogeology and a compartment within Hidroelectrica S.A. Piatra Neamt Subsidiary. The quantities of the deposited sediments are very impressive. The annual rates range betwee3 000 – 2 000 000 t/year, depending on the size of the hydrographical basin, the capacity of the reservoirs, the liquid flow and many other factors which may influence the upstream transport of sediments. These rates of sedimentation lead to a high degree of silting in the reservoirs. Many of them are silted over 50% of the initial capacity and the others even more. The effects of the silting have an important impact when analysing the effective exploitation of the reservoirs. 

  10. M-area basin closure-Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McMullin, S.R.; Horvath, J.G.

    1991-01-01

    M-Area, on the Savannah River Site, processes raw materials and manufactures fuel and target rods for reactor use. Effluent from these processes were discharged into the M-Area settling basin and Lost Lake, a natural wetland. The closure of this basin began in 1988 and included the removal and stabilization of basin fluids, excavation of all contaminated soils from affected areas and Lost Lake, and placement of all materials in the bottom of the emptied basin. These materials were covered with a RCRA style cap, employing redundant barriers of kaolin clay and geosynthetic material. Restoration of excavated uplands and wetlands is currently underway

  11. Development of an Environmental Flow Framework for the McKenzie River Basin, Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Risley, John; Wallick, J. Rose; Waite, Ian; Stonewall, Adam J.

    2010-01-01

    The McKenzie River is a tributary to the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon. The McKenzie River is approximately 90 miles in length and has a drainage area of approximately 1,300 square miles. Two major flood control dams, a hydropower dam complex, and two hydropower canals significantly alter streamflows in the river. The structures reduce the magnitude and frequency of large and small floods while increasing the annual 7-day minimum streamflows. Stream temperatures also have been altered by the dams and other anthropogenic factors, such as the removal of riparian vegetation and channel simplification. Flow releases from one of the flood control dams are cooler in the summer and warmer in the fall in comparison to unregulated flow conditions before the dam was constructed. In 2006, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality listed a total of 112.4, 6.3, and 55.7 miles of the McKenzie River basin mainstem and tributary stream reaches as thermally impaired for salmonid rearing, salmonid spawning, and bull trout, respectively. The analyses in this report, along with previous studies, indicate that dams have altered downstream channel morphology and ecologic communities. In addition to reducing the magnitude and frequency of floods, dams have diminished sediment transport by trapping bed material. Other anthropogenic factors, such as bank stabilization, highway construction, and reductions of in-channel wood, also have contributed to the loss of riparian habitat. A comparison of aerial photography taken in 1939 and 2005 showed substantial decreases in secondary channels, gravel bars, and channel sinuosity, particularly along the lower alluvial reaches of the McKenzie River. In addition, bed armoring and incision may contribute to habitat degradation, although further study is needed to determine the extent of these processes. Peak streamflow reduction has led to vegetation colonization and stabilization of formerly active bar surfaces. The large flood control

  12. Ditches and Drainage Structures, Culverts - cross drains were collected using a GPS for drainage basin project. Ditches are planned for the future., Published in 2005, 1:2400 (1in=200ft) scale, Effingham County Government.

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — Ditches and Drainage Structures dataset current as of 2005. Culverts - cross drains were collected using a GPS for drainage basin project. Ditches are planned for...

  13. Grande Ronde Basin Supplementation Program; Lostine River, 2000 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onjukka, Sam T. (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Portland, OR); Harbeck, Jim (Nez Perce Tribe, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Enterprise, OR)

    2003-03-01

    The Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) identified supplementation as a high priority to achieve its goal of increasing runs of anadromous fish in the Columbia Basin. Supplementation activities in the Lostine River and associated monitoring and evaluation conducted by the Nez Perce Tribe relate directly to the needs addressed in the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPC 1994). Measure 7.4L.1 of the Program mandates that appropriate research accompany any proposed supplementation. In addition, measure 7.3B.2 of the Program stresses the need for evaluating supplementation projects to assess their ability to increase production. Finally, Section 7.4D.3 encourages the study of hatchery rearing and release strategies to improve survival and adaptation of cultured fish. In 1997, Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (ODFW) requested a modification of Permit 1011 to allow the take of adult spring chinook salmon. In 1998, the Nez Perce Tribe also requested a permit specific to activities on Lostine River. The permit was issued in 2000. A special condition in the permits required the development of a long term management plan for the spring chinook salmon of the Grande Ronde Basin. The Nez Perce Tribe, ODFW, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) completed a formal long range plan entitled ''Grande Ronde Basin Endemic Spring Chinook Salmon Supplementation Program''. The program proposes to increase the survival of spring chinook salmon in the Grand Ronde Basin through hatchery intervention. Adult salmon from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek, and the Upper Grande Ronde River are used for a conventional supplementation program in the basin. The Nez Perce program currently operates under the ESA Section 10 Permit 1149.

  14. Grande Ronde Basin Supplementation Program; Lostine River, 2001 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onjukka, Sam T. (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Portland, OR); Harbeck, Jim (Nez Perce Tribe, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Enterprise, OR)

    2003-03-01

    The Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) identified supplementation as a high priority to achieve its goal of increasing runs of anadromous fish in the Columbia Basin. Supplementation activities in the Lostine River and associated monitoring and evaluation conducted by the Nez Perce Tribe relate directly to the needs addressed in the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPC 1994). Measure 7.4L.1 of the Program mandates that appropriate research accompany any proposed supplementation. In addition, measure 7.3B.2 of the Program stresses the need for evaluating supplementation projects to assess their ability to increase production. Finally, Section 7.4D.3 encourages the study of hatchery rearing and release strategies to improve survival and adaptation of cultured fish. In 1997, Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (ODFW) requested a modification of Permit 1011 to allow the take of adult spring chinook salmon. In 1998, the Nez Perce Tribe also requested a permit specific to activities on Lostine River. The permit was issued in 2000. A special condition in the permits required the development of a long term management plan for the spring chinook salmon of the Grande Ronde Basin. The Nez Perce Tribe, ODFW, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) completed a formal long range plan entitled ''Grande Ronde Basin Endemic Spring Chinook Salmon Supplementation Program''. The program proposes to increase the survival of spring chinook salmon in the Grand Ronde Basin through hatchery intervention. Adult salmon from the Lostine River, Catherine Creek, and the Upper Grande Ronde River are used for a conventional supplementation program in the basin. The Nez Perce program currently operates under the ESA Section 10 Permit 1149.

  15. A case study on the diagnosis and consequences of flash floods in south-western Romania: The upper basin of Desnatui River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morosanu Gabriela Adina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines the flash floods that may appear in a representative river basin occupying the south-western Romania and also feature an example of the most recent flash flood from 2005-2006, more specifically, its causes and consequences. In order to accomplish the objectives, hydrological data were used to identify the characteristics of the floods. Finally, the case study of the flash flood was delivered through the field research, observational method, discussion with the authorities and investigation of the meteorological and hydrological available data. The research offers an insight on the dimension of damages triggered by a flash flood event, based on the statistical data provided by the village hall and the few remaining places preserving the traces of the floods (houses, bridges. Because we could not provide all the necessary data in order to determine the frequency and scale of such risk phenomena, the analysis is assessed on general hydrological statistics of flood events between 1964 to 2011. By leading the research, it resulted that the specific feature of the upper basin of Desnatui River is its temporary drainage and that in the periods of high flow, the capacity of the river channels is diminshed and the floods may occur. The paper succeeds to revive the insufficient scientific concerns on this kind of hydrological risks issued in the space occupied by the upper basin of Desnatui River and eventually, to supply the need for such study in the context of modern hydrological research preoccupations.

  16. Water-energy-food nexus in Large Asian River Basins

    OpenAIRE

    Keskinen, Marko; Varis, Olli

    2016-01-01

    The water-energy-food nexus ("nexus") is promoted as an approach to look at the linkages between water, energy and food. The articles of Water's Special Issue "Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Large Asian River Basins" look at the applicability of the nexus approach in different regions and rivers basins in Asia. The articles provide practical examples of the various roles and importance of water-energy-food linkages, but also discuss the theoretical aspects related to the nexus. While it is eviden...

  17. Fish, Corumbataí and Jacaré-Pepira river basins, São Paulo State, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Braga, F. M. S.

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Fish were studied in two river basins (Corumbataí and Jacaré-Pepira subjected to strong human pressure, in the interior of the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. In the Corumbataí basin, four sites were sampled: Cabeça river, Lapa stream, Passa-Cinco river, and Corumbataí river; in the Jacaré-Pepira basin, three sites were sampled: Tamanduá stream, Jacaré-Pepira river, and Água Branca stream. A total of 4,050 specimens belonging to 48 species and 13 families were caught and analyzed.

  18. Inter-relationship between scaling exponents for describing self-similar river networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Soohyun; Paik, Kyungrock

    2015-04-01

    Natural river networks show well-known self-similar characteristics. Such characteristics are represented by various power-law relationships, e.g., between upstream length and drainage area (exponent h) (Hack, 1957), and in the exceedance probability distribution of upstream area (exponent ɛ) (Rodriguez-Iturbe et al., 1992). It is empirically revealed that these power-law exponents are within narrow ranges. Power-law is also found in the relationship between drainage density (the total stream length divided by the total basin area) and specified source area (the minimum drainage area to form a stream head) (exponent η) (Moussa and Bocquillon, 1996). Considering that above three scaling relationships all refer to fundamental measures of 'length' and 'area' of a given drainage basin, it is natural to hypothesize plausible inter-relationship between these three scaling exponents. Indeed, Rigon et al. (1996) demonstrated the relationship between ɛ and h. In this study, we expand this to a more general ɛ-η-h relationship. We approach ɛ-η relationship in an analytical manner while η-h relationship is demonstrated for six study basins in Korea. Detailed analysis and implications will be presented. References Hack, J. T. (1957). Studies of longitudinal river profiles in Virginia and Maryland. US, Geological Survey Professional Paper, 294. Moussa, R., & Bocquillon, C. (1996). Fractal analyses of tree-like channel networks from digital elevation model data. Journal of Hydrology, 187(1), 157-172. Rigon, R., Rodriguez-Iturbe, I., Maritan, A., Giacometti. A., Tarboton, D. G., & Rinaldo, A. (1996). On Hack's Law. Water Resources Research, 32(11), 3367-3374. Rodríguez-Iturbe, I., Ijjasz-Vasquez, E. J., Bras, R. L., & Tarboton, D. G. (1992). Power law distributions of discharge mass and energy in river basins. Water Resources Research, 28(4), 1089-1093.

  19. Environmental Setting of the Lower Merced River Basin, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gronberg, Jo Ann M.; Kratzer, Charles R.

    2006-01-01

    In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey began to study the effects of natural and anthropogenic influences on the quality of ground water, surface water, biology, and ecology as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. As part of this program, the San Joaquin-Tulare Basins study unit is assessing parts of the lower Merced River Basin, California. This report provides descriptions of natural and anthropogenic features of this basin as background information to assess the influence of these and other factors on water quality. The lower Merced River Basin, which encompasses the Mustang Creek Subbasin, gently slopes from the northeast to the southwest toward the San Joaquin River. The arid to semiarid climate is characterized by hot summers (highs of mid 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and mild winters (lows of mid 30 degrees Fahrenheit). Annual precipitation is highly variable, with long periods of drought and above normal precipitation. Population is estimated at about 39,230 for 2000. The watershed is predominately agricultural on the valley floor. Approximately 2.2 million pounds active ingredient of pesticides and an estimated 17.6 million pounds active ingredient of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer is applied annually to the agricultural land.

  20. Mapping Water Resources, Allocation and Consumption in the Mills River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodes, J.; Jeuland, M. A.; Barros, A. P.

    2014-12-01

    Mountain basins and the headwaters of river basins along the foothills of major mountain ranges are undergoing rapid environmental change due to urban development, land acquisition by investors, population increase, and climate change. Classical water infrastructure in these regions is primarily designed to meet human water demand associated with agriculture, tourism, and economic development. Often overlooked and ignored is the fundamental interdependence of human water demand, ecosystem water demand, water rights and allocation, and water supply. A truly sustainable system for water resources takes into account ecosystem demand along with human infrastructure and economic demand, as well as the feedbacks that exist between them. Allocation policies need to take into account basin resilience that is the amount of stress the system can handle under varying future scenarios. Changes in stress on the system can be anthropogenic in the form of population increase, land use change, economic development, or may be natural in the form of climate change and decrease in water supply due to changes in precipitation. Mapping the water rights, supply, and demands within the basin can help determine the resiliency and sustainability of the basin. Here, we present a coupled natural human system project based in the French Broad River Basin, in the Southern Appalachians. In the first phase of the project, we are developing and implementing a coupled hydro-economics modeling framework in the Mills River Basin (MRB), a tributary of the French Broad. The Mills River Basin was selected as the core basin for implementing a sustainable system of water allocation that is adaptive and reflects the interdependence of water dependent sectors. The headwaters of the Mills River are in the foothills of the Appalachians, and are currently under substantial land use land cover (LULC) change pressure for agricultural purposes. In this regard, the MRB is representative of similar headwater

  1. River Basin Scale Management and Governance: Competing Interests for Western Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindquist, Eric

    2015-04-01

    One of the most significant issues in regard to how social scientists understand environmental and resource management is the question of scale: what is the appropriate scale at which to consider environmental problems, and associated stakeholders (including hydrologists) and their interests, in order to "govern" them? Issues of scale touch on the reality of political boundaries, from the international to the local, and their overlap and conflict across jurisdictions. This presentation will consider the questions of environmental management and governance at the river basin scale through the case of the Boise River Basin (BRB), in southwest Idaho. The river basin scale provides a viable, and generalizable, unit of analysis with which to consider theoretical and empirical questions associated with governance and the role of hydrological science in decision making. As a unit of analysis, the "river basin" is common among engineers and hydrologists. Indeed, hydrological data is often collected and assessed at the basin level, not at an institutional or jurisdictional level. In the case of the BRB much is known from the technical perspective, such as infrastructure and engineering factors, who manages the river and how, and economic perspectives, in regard to benefits in support of major agricultural interests in the region. The same level of knowledge cannot be said about the political and societal factors, and related concepts of institutions and power. Compounding the situation is the increasing probability of climate change impacts in the American West. The geographic focus on the Boise River Basin provides a compelling example of what the future might hold in the American West, and how resource managers and other vested interests make or influence river basin policy in the region. The BRB represents a complex and dynamic environment covering approximately 4,100 square miles of land. The BRB is a highly managed basin, with multiple dams and diversions, and is

  2. Bull Trout Population Assessment in the White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers, Columbia River Gorge, Washington, 2001 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thiesfeld, Steven L.; McPeak, Ronald H.; McNamara, Brian S. (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife); Honanie, Isadore (Confederated Tribes and Bands, Yakama Nation)

    2002-01-01

    We utilized night snorkeling and single pass electroshocking to determine the presence or absence of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus in 26 stream reaches (3,415 m) in the White Salmon basin and in 71 stream reaches (9,005 m) in the Klickitat River basin during summer and fall 2001. We did not find any bull trout in the White Salmon River basin. In the Klickitat River basin, bull trout were found only in the West Fork Klickitat River drainage. We found bull trout in two streams not previously reported: Two Lakes Stream and an unnamed tributary to Fish Lake Stream (WRIA code number 30-0550). We attempted to capture downstream migrant bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat River by fishing a 1.5-m rotary screw trap at RM 4.3 from July 23 through October 17. Although we caught other salmonids, no bull trout were captured. The greatest limiting factor for bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat River is likely the small amount of available habitat resulting in a low total abundance, and the isolation of the population. Many of the streams are fragmented by natural falls, which are partial or complete barriers to upstream fish movement. To date, we have not been able to confirm that the occasional bull trout observed in the mainstem Klickitat River are migrating upstream into the West Fork Klickitat River.

  3. Using remotely sensed imagery to estimate potential annual pollutant loads in river basins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Bin; Oki, Kazuo; Wang, Yi; Oki, Taikan

    2009-01-01

    Land cover changes around river basins have caused serious environmental degradation in global surface water areas, in which the direct monitoring and numerical modeling is inherently difficult. Prediction of pollutant loads is therefore crucial to river environmental management under the impact of climate change and intensified human activities. This research analyzed the relationship between land cover types estimated from NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery and the potential annual pollutant loads of river basins in Japan. Then an empirical approach, which estimates annual pollutant loads directly from satellite imagery and hydrological data, was investigated. Six water quality indicators were examined, including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), suspended sediment (SS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Dissolved Oxygen (DO). The pollutant loads of TN, TP, SS, BOD, COD, and DO were then estimated for 30 river basins in Japan. Results show that the proposed simulation technique can be used to predict the pollutant loads of river basins in Japan. These results may be useful in establishing total maximum annual pollutant loads and developing best management strategies for surface water pollution at river basin scale.

  4. Morphometric analysis of Suketi river basin, Himachal Himalaya, India

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The entire Suketi river basin has been divided into five sub-basins based on the catchment areas of ..... with equilibrium profile, where driving force is equivalent to the .... need attention for revival and sustenance by taking suitable artificial ...

  5. Understanding Socio-Hydrology System in the Kissimmee River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, X.; Wang, D.; Tian, F.; Sivapalan, M.

    2014-12-01

    This study is to develop a conceptual socio-hydrology model for the Kissimmee River Basin. The Kissimmee River located in Florida was channelized in mid-20 century for flood protection. However, the environmental issues caused by channelization led Floridians to conduct a restoration project recently, focusing on wetland recovery. As a complex coupled human-water system, Kissimmee River Basin shows the typical socio-hydrology interactions. Hypothetically, the major reason to drive the system from channelization to restoration is that the community sensitivity towards the environment has changed from controlling to restoring. The model developed in this study includes 5 components: water balance, flood risk, wetland area, crop land area, and community sensitivity. Furthermore, urban population and rural population in the basin have different community sensitivities towards the hydrologic system. The urban population, who live further away from the river are more sensitive to wetland restoration; while the rural population, who live closer to the river are more sensitive to flood protection. The power dynamics between the two groups and its impact on management decision making is described in the model. The model is calibrated based on the observed watershed outflow, wetland area and crop land area. The results show that the overall focus of community sensitivity has changed from flood protection to wetland restoration in the past 60 years in Kissimmee River Basin, which confirms the study hypothesis. There are two main reasons for the community sensitivity change. Firstly, people's flood memory is fading because of the effective flood protection, while the continuously shrinking wetland and the decreasing bird and fish population draw more and more attention. Secondly, in the last 60 years, the urban population in Florida drastically increased compared with a much slower increase of rural population. As a result, the community sensitivity of urban population towards

  6. The Role of Forests in Regulating the River Flow Regime of Large Basins of the World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salazar, J. F.; Villegas, J. C.; Mercado-Bettin, D. A.; Rodríguez, E.

    2017-12-01

    Many natural and social phenomena depend on river flow regimes that are being altered by global change. Understanding the mechanisms behind such alterations is crucial for predicting river flow regimes in a changing environment. Here we explore potential linkages between the presence of forests and the capacity of river basins for regulating river flows. Regulation is defined here as the capacity of river basins to attenuate the amplitude of the river flow regime, that is to reduce the difference between high and low flows. We first use scaling theory to show how scaling properties of observed river flows can be used to classify river basins as regulated or unregulated. This parsimonious classification is based on a physical interpretation of the scaling properties (particularly the scaling exponents) that is novel (most previous studies have focused on the interpretation of the scaling exponents for floods only), and widely-applicable to different basins (the only assumption is that river flows in a given river basin exhibit scaling properties through well-known power laws). Then we show how this scaling framework can be used to explore global-change-induced temporal variations in the regulation capacity of river basins. Finally, we propose a conceptual hypothesis (the "Forest reservoir concept") to explain how large-scale forests can exert important effects on the long-term water balance partitioning and regulation capacity of large basins of the world. Our quantitative results are based on data analysis (river flows and land cover features) from 22 large basins of the world, with emphasis in the Amazon river and its main tributaries. Collectively, our findings support the hypothesis that forest cover enhances the capacity of large river basins to maintain relatively high mean river flows, as well as to regulate (ameliorate) extreme river flows. Advancing towards this quantitative understanding of the relation between forest cover and river flow regimes is

  7. Surface runoff and tile drainage transport of phosphorus in the midwestern United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Douglas R; King, Kevin W; Johnson, Laura; Francesconi, Wendy; Richards, Pete; Baker, Dave; Sharpley, Andrew N

    2015-03-01

    The midwestern United States offers some of the most productive agricultural soils in the world. Given the cool humid climate, much of the region would not be able to support agriculture without subsurface (tile) drainage because high water tables may damage crops and prevent machinery usage in fields at critical times. Although drainage is designed to remove excess soil water as quickly as possible, it can also rapidly transport agrochemicals, including phosphorus (P). This paper illustrates the potential importance of tile drainage for P transport throughout the midwestern United States. Surface runoff and tile drainage from fields in the St. Joseph River Watershed in northeastern Indiana have been monitored since 2008. Although the traditional concept of tile drainage has been that it slowly removes soil matrix flow, peak tile discharge occurred at the same time as peak surface runoff, which demonstrates a strong surface connection through macropore flow. On our research fields, 49% of soluble P and 48% of total P losses occurred via tile discharge. Edge-of-field soluble P and total P areal loads often exceeded watershed-scale areal loadings from the Maumee River, the primary source of nutrients to the western basin of Lake Erie, where algal blooms have been a pervasive problem for the last 10 yr. As farmers, researchers, and policymakers search for treatments to reduce P loading to surface waters, the present work demonstrates that treating only surface runoff may not be sufficient to reach the goal of 41% reduction in P loading for the Lake Erie Basin. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  8. opulation growth and deforestation in the Volta River basin of Ghana ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Volta River basin in Ghana, about 160,000 km2, is experiencing rapid deforestation. Paper uses satellite, household survey and population census data to relate trends and patterns of population in the Volta River sub-basins to forest cover. It assesses amount of forest available in 1990 and 2000, and the relationship ...

  9. Pb-Zn-Cd-Hg multi isotopic characterization of the Loire River Basin, France

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millot, R.; Widory, D.; Innocent, C.; Guerrot, C.; Bourrain, X.; Johnson, T. M.

    2012-12-01

    The contribution of human activities such as industries, agriculture and domestic inputs, becomes more and more significant in the chemical composition (major ions and pollutants such as metals) of the dissolved load of rivers. Furthermore, this influence can also be evidenced in the suspended solid matter known to play an important role in the transport of heavy metals through river systems. Human factors act as a supplementary key process. Therefore the mass-balance for the budget of catchments and river basins include anthropogenic disturbances. The Loire River in central France is approximately 1010 km long and drains an area of 117,800 km2. Initially, the Loire upstream flows in a south to north direction originating in the Massif Central, and continues up to the city of Orléans, 650 km from the source. In the upper basin, the bedrock is old plutonic rock overlain by much younger volcanic rocks. The Loire River then follows a general east to west direction to the Atlantic Ocean. The intermediate basin includes three major tributaries flowing into the Loire River from the left bank: the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne rivers; the main stream flows westward and its valley stretches toward the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the Loire River drains the sedimentary series of the Paris Basin, mainly carbonate deposits. The lower Loire basin drains pre-Mesozoic basement of the Armorican Massif and its overlying Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary deposits. The Loire River is one of the main European riverine inputs to the Atlantic ocean. Here we are reporting concentration and isotope data for heavy metals Zn-Cd-Pb-Hg in river waters and suspended sediments from the Loire River Basin. In addition, we also report concentration and isotope data for these metals for the different industrial sources within the Loire Basin, as well as data for biota samples such as mussels and oysters from the Bay of Biscay and North Brittany. These organisms are known to be natural accumulators of

  10. Hydrological impacts of precipitation extremes in the Huaihe River Basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Mangen; Chen, Xing; Cheng, Chad Shouquan

    2016-01-01

    Precipitation extremes play a key role in flooding risks over the Huaihe River Basin, which is important to understand their hydrological impacts. Based on observed daily precipitation and streamflow data from 1958 to 2009, eight precipitation indices and three streamflow indices were calculated for the study of hydrological impacts of precipitation extremes. The results indicate that the wet condition intensified in the summer wet season and the drought condition was getting worse in the autumn dry season in the later years of the past 50 years. The river basin had experienced higher heavy rainfall-related flooding risks in summer and more severe drought in autumn in the later of the period. The extreme precipitation events or consecutive heavy rain day events led to the substantial increases in streamflow extremes, which are the main causes of frequent floods in the Huaihe River Basin. The large inter-annual variation of precipitation anomalies in the upper and central Huaihe River Basin are the major contributor for the regional frequent floods and droughts.

  11. Indexes for water management and planning on the Paraopeba River Basin, Minas Gerais State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Marcel Barros da Silva

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of the true amount of officially granted use of water and the spatial distribution of water usage in a watershed has become indispensable for the appropriate management of water resources. In this process, the use of indexes allows for the identification of possible water use conflicts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the indexes of conflict regarding water use in the management (icg and planning (icp of water resources in the Paraopeba River Basin, focusing on identifying possible water resource conflicts and on providing supportive information for the water management agency in Minas Gerais State. Besides the Digital Elevation Model (DEM for hydrological analyses to calculate the drainage area for every river segment, the official amount of granted water use and estimated river flows at watershed confluences was also needed. The results of the icg calculation demonstrated that in 22.7% of the analyzed river segments the use of water was higher than what is legally granted, and this indicates a potential conflict regarding water use. The icp analyses showed that in three river segments the use of water was higher than the long-term mean flow. The combined icg and icp analyses led us to conclude that in the water use conflict scenario the solution could be establishing an infrastructure that would allow a year-round increase in the availability of water to be granted.

  12. Luminescence of quartz and feldspar fingerprints provenance and correlates with the source area denudation in the Amazon River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawakuchi, A. O.; Jain, M.; Mineli, T. D.; Nogueira, L.; Bertassoli, D. J.; Häggi, C.; Sawakuchi, H. O.; Pupim, F. N.; Grohmann, C. H.; Chiessi, C. M.; Zabel, M.; Mulitza, S.; Mazoca, C. E. M.; Cunha, D. F.

    2018-06-01

    The Amazon region hosts the world's largest watershed spanning from high elevation Andean terrains to lowland cratonic shield areas in tropical South America. This study explores variations in optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals in suspended silt and riverbed sands retrieved from major Amazon rivers. These rivers drain Pre-Cambrian to Cenozoic source rocks in areas with contrasting denudation rates. In contrast to the previous studies, we do not observe an increase in the OSL sensitivity of quartz with transport distance; for example, Tapajós and Xingu Rivers show more sensitive quartz than Solimões and Madeira Rivers, even though the latter have a significantly larger catchment area and longer sediment transport distance. Interestingly, high sensitivity quartz is observed in rivers draining relatively stable Central Brazil and Guiana shield areas (denudation rate ξ = 0.04 mmyr-1), while low sensitivity quartz occurs in less stable Andean terrains (ξ = 0.24 mmyr-1). An apparent linear correlation between quartz OSL sensitivity and denudation rate suggests that OSL sensitivity may be used as a proxy for erosion rates in the Amazon basin. Furthermore, luminescence sensitivity measured in sand or silt arises from the same mineral components (quartz and feldspar) and clearly discriminates between Andean and shield sediments, avoiding the grain size bias in provenance analysis. These results have implications for using luminescence sensitivity as a proxy for Andean and shield contributions in the stratigraphic record, providing a new tool to reconstruct past drainage configurations within the Amazon basin.

  13. Using ecotechnology to address water quality and wetland habitat loss problems in the Mississippi basin: a hierarchical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, John W; Yañéz Arancibia, Alejandro; Mitsch, William J; Lara-Dominguez, Ana Laura; Day, Jason N; Ko, Jae-Young; Lane, Robert; Lindsey, Joel; Lomeli, David Zarate

    2003-12-01

    Human activities are affecting the environment at continental and global scales. An example of this is the Mississippi basin where there has been a large scale loss of wetlands and water quality deterioration over the past century. Wetland and riparian ecosystems have been isolated from rivers and streams. Wetland loss is due both to drainage and reclamation, mainly for agriculture, and to isolation from the river by levees, as in the Mississippi delta. There has been a decline in water quality due to increasing use of fertilizers, enhanced drainage and the loss of wetlands for cleaning water. Water quality has deteriorated throughout the basin and high nitrogen in the Mississippi river is causing a large area of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi delta. Since the causes of these problems are distributed over the basin, the solution also needs to be distributed over the basin. Ecotechnology and ecological engineering offer the only ecologically sound and cost-effective method of solving these problems. Wetlands to promote nitrogen removal, mainly through denitrification but also through burial and plant uptake, offer a sound ecotechnological solution. At the level of the Mississippi basin, changes in farming practices and use of wetlands for nitrogen assimilation can reduce nitrogen levels in the River. There are additional benefits of restoration of wetland and riverine ecosystems, flood control, reduction in public health threats, and enhanced wildlife and fisheries. At the local drainage basin level, the use of river diversions in the Mississippi delta can address both problems of coastal land loss and water quality deterioration. Nitrate levels in diverted river water are rapidly reduced as water flows through coastal watersheds. At the local level, wetlands are being used to treat municipal wastewater. This is a cost-effective method, which results in improved water quality, enhanced wetland productivity and increased accretion. The

  14. Hydrological Process Simulation of Inland River Watershed: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin with Multiple Hydrological Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lili Wang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Simulating the hydrological processes of an inland river basin can help provide the scientific guidance to the policies of water allocation among different subbasins and water resource management groups within the subbasins. However, it is difficult to simulate the hydrological processes of an inland river basin with hydrological models due to the non-consistent hydrological characteristics of the entire basin. This study presents a solution to this problem with a case study about the hydrological process simulation in an inland river basin in China, Heihe River basin. It is divided into the upper, middle, and lower reaches based on the distinctive hydrological characteristics in the Heihe River basin, and three hydrological models are selected, applied, and tested to simulate the hydrological cycling processes for each reach. The upper reach is the contributing area with the complex runoff generation processes, therefore, the hydrological informatic modeling system (HIMS is utilized due to its combined runoff generation mechanisms. The middle reach has strong impacts of intensive human activities on the interactions of surface and subsurface flows, so a conceptual water balance model is applied to simulate the water balance process. For the lower reach, as the dissipative area with groundwater dominating the hydrological process, a groundwater modeling system with the embedment of MODFLOW model is applied to simulate the groundwater dynamics. Statistical parameters and water balance analysis prove that the three models have excellent performances in simulating the hydrological process of the three reaches. Therefore, it is an effective way to simulate the hydrological process of inland river basin with multiple hydrological models according to the characteristics of each subbasin.

  15. Flood of May 23, 2004, in the Turkey and Maquoketa River basins, northeast Iowa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eash, David A.

    2006-01-01

    Severe flooding occurred on May 23, 2004, in the Turkey River Basin in Clayton County and in the Maquoketa River Basin in Delaware County following intense thunderstorms over northeast Iowa. Rain gages at Postville and Waucoma, Iowa, recorded 72-hour rainfall of 6.32 and 6.55 inches, respectively, on May 23. Unofficial rainfall totals of 8 to 10 inches were reported in the Turkey River Basin. The peak discharge on May 23 at the Turkey River at Garber streamflow-gaging station was 66,700 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval greater than 500 years) and is the largest flood on record in the Turkey River Basin. The timing of flood crests on the Turkey and Volga Rivers, and local tributaries, coincided to produce a record flood on the lower part of the Turkey River. Three large floods have occurred at the Turkey River at Garber gaging station in a 13-year period. Peak discharges of the floods of June 1991 and May 1999 were 49,900 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval about 150 years) and 53,900 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval about 220 years), respectively. The peak discharge on May 23 at the Maquoketa River at Manchester gaging station was 26,000 cubic feet per second (recurrence interval about 100 years) and is the largest known flood in the upper part of the Maquoketa River Basin.

  16. Sediment load trends in the Magdalena River basin (1980-2010): Anthropogenic and climate-induced causes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Restrepo, Juan D.; Escobar, Heber A.

    2018-02-01

    clearance during the 1990-2000 and 2005-2010 periods. Such signs of increasing sediment fluxes should not be attributed to climate change and rainfall variability alone. As a whole, the Magdalena, one of the top 10 rivers in terms of sediment delivery to the ocean (184 Mt y- 1), and its tributaries have experienced increasing trends in sediment load during the 1980-2010 period; increases in close agreement with trends in land use change and deforestation. During the last decade, the Magdalena River drainage basin has witnessed an increase in erosion rates of 34%, from 550 t km- 2 y- 1 before 2000 to 710 t km- 2 y- 1 for the 2000-2010 period, and the average sediment load for the whole basin increased to 44 Mt y- 1 for the same period. Similar to the global picture of human contribution to sediment generation, the rate of anthropogenic soil erosion in the Magdalena basin probably exceeds the rate of climate-driven erosion by several orders of magnitude.

  17. Oxynoemacheilus zarzianus, a new loach from the Lesser Zab River drainage in Iraqi Kurdistan (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freyhof, Jörg; Geiger, Matthias

    2017-06-02

    Oxynoemacheilus zarzianus, new species, is described from the Lesser Zab River drainage, a tributary of the lower Tigris. It is distinguished from other Oxynoemacheilus species in the Tigris drainage by having a slightly emarginate caudal fin, no suborbital groove in males, a complete lateral line, the posterior process of the bony air-bladder capsule directed posteriorly, the flank and posterior part of back covered by scales, short barbels and a deep caudal peduncle. It is the fourth Oxynoemacheilus species known from the Lesser Zab drainage, where such loaches seem to be highly isolated in headwaters. Oxynoemacheilus species diversity in the Euphrates and Tigris drainage is exceptional high. Today 22 species are known from the entire Euphrates and Tigris drainage and 15 from the Tigris drainage alone.

  18. Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saaltink, R.; Velde, van der Y.; Dekker, S.C.; Lyon, S.W.; Dahlke, H.E.

    2014-01-01

    Study region River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

  19. Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saaltink, Rémon; van der Velde, Ype; Dekker, Stefan; Lyon, Steve W.; Dahlke, Helen E.

    Study region River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

  20. Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saaltink, Rémon; van der Velde, Ype; Dekker, Stefan C.; Lyon, Steve W.; Dahlke, Helen E.

    2014-01-01

    Study region: River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus: Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

  1. Catchment-scale contaminant transport under changing hydro-climatic conditions in the Aral Sea Drainage Basin, Central Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarsjö, Jerker; Törnqvist, Rebecka; Su, Ye

    2013-04-01

    Dependable projections of future water availability and quality are essential in the management of water resources. Changes in land use, water use and climate can have large impacts on water and contaminant flows across extensive catchments that may contain different administrative regions where shared water resources must be managed. We consider the extensive Aral Sea Drainage Basin (ASDB) and the Amu Darya River Delta in Central Asia, which are currently under severe water stress due to large-scale irrigation expansion. We interpret data on hydro-climatic conditions, main contaminants of surface water and shallow groundwater systems, location of rivers and canal networks, and groundwater flow directions. The data are used together with climate change projections from general circulation models (GCMs) as input to hydrological and (advective) transport modelling. The main goal is to assess how regional transport pathways and travel times have changed, and are likely to change further, in response to past and projected future hydro-climatic changes. More specifically, the hydrological modelling was based on temperature and precipitation change (ΔT and ΔP) results from 65 GCM projections of 21st century conditions (specifically considering time periods around 2025, 2050, and 2100), relative to reference conditions around 1975 (taken from the reference period 1961-1990). Whereas ΔT is robustly projected to increase with time, the projected magnitude of ΔP differs more among projections for the distant future (2100) than for the near future (2025), with uncertainty remaining even about the direction of change (i.e., positive or negative ΔP). However, mainly due to the projected temperature-driven increases in evapotranspiration, ensemble average results show that the Amu Darya river discharge Q in the downstream ASDB is likely to show a decreasing trend throughout the 21st century. Notably, projected changes in the upstream, mountainous regions have a relatively

  2. Phase II modification of the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) for Kentucky: The sinkhole-drainage process, point-and-click basin delineation, and results of karst test-basin simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Charles J.; Williamson, Tanja N.; Newson, Jeremy K.; Ulery, Randy L.; Nelson, Hugh L.; Cinotto, Peter J.

    2012-01-01

    This report describes Phase II modifications made to the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER), which applies the process-based TOPMODEL approach to simulate or predict stream discharge in surface basins in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The previous (Phase I) version of WATER did not provide a means of identifying sinkhole catchments or accounting for the effects of karst (internal) drainage in a TOPMODEL-simulated basin. In the Phase II version of WATER, sinkhole catchments are automatically identified and delineated as internally drained subbasins, and a modified TOPMODEL approach (called the sinkhole drainage process, or SDP-TOPMODEL) is applied that calculates mean daily discharges for the basin based on summed area-weighted contributions from sinkhole drain-age (SD) areas and non-karstic topographically drained (TD) areas. Results obtained using the SDP-TOPMODEL approach were evaluated for 12 karst test basins located in each of the major karst terrains in Kentucky. Visual comparison of simulated hydrographs and flow-duration curves, along with statistical measures applied to the simulated discharge data (bias, correlation, root mean square error, and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients), indicate that the SDPOPMODEL approach provides acceptably accurate estimates of discharge for most flow conditions and typically provides more accurate simulation of stream discharge in karstic basins compared to the standard TOPMODEL approach. Additional programming modifications made to the Phase II version of WATER included implementation of a point-and-click graphical user interface (GUI), which fully automates the delineation of simulation-basin boundaries and improves the speed of input-data processing. The Phase II version of WATER enables the user to select a pour point anywhere on a stream reach of interest, and the program will automatically delineate all upstream areas that contribute drainage to that point. This capability enables

  3. A molecular approach to the genus Alburnoides using COI sequences data set and the description of a new species, A. damghani, from the Damghan River system (the Dasht-e Kavir Basin, Iran) (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae)

    OpenAIRE

    Jouladeh Roudbar,Arash; Eagderi,Soheil; Esmaeili,Hamid Reza; Coad,Brian; Bogutskaya,Nina

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The molecular status of nine species of the genus Alburnoides from different river drainages in Iran and additionally by seven species from Europe was assessed. mtDNA COI gene sequences from freshly collected specimens and available NCBI data revealed four major phylogenetic lineages. Based on the results, a distinct taxon from the Cheshmeh Ali (Ali Spring), a Damghan River tributary in the endorheic Dasht-e Kavir basin, northern Iran, which is the closest sister to Alburnoides namak...

  4. Water resources of the Pomme de Terre River Watershed, West-central Minnesota

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, R.D.; Bidwell, L.E.

    1966-01-01

    The watershed is underlain by water-bearing glacial drift, cretaceous rocks, and Precambrian crystalline rocks.  It is an elongate basin 92 miles long and has a drainage area of 977 square miles.  The Pomme de Terre River flows within an outwash valley discharging into the Minnesota River at Marsh Lake.

  5. Socio-Hydrology of Channel Flows in Complex River Basins: Rivers, Canals, and Distributaries in Punjab, Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wescoat, James L.; Siddiqi, Afreen; Muhammad, Abubakr

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents a socio-hydrologic analysis of channel flows in Punjab province of the Indus River basin in Pakistan. The Indus has undergone profound transformations, from large-scale canal irrigation in the mid-nineteenth century to partition and development of the international river basin in the mid-twentieth century, systems modeling in the late-twentieth century, and new technologies for discharge measurement and data analytics in the early twenty-first century. We address these processes through a socio-hydrologic framework that couples historical geographic and analytical methods at three levels of flow in the Punjab. The first level assesses Indus River inflows analysis from its origins in 1922 to the present. The second level shows how river inflows translate into 10-daily canal command deliveries that vary widely in their conformity with canal entitlements. The third level of analysis shows how new flow measurement technologies raise questions about the performance of established methods of water scheduling (warabandi) on local distributaries. We show how near real-time measurement sheds light on the efficiency and transparency of surface water management. These local socio-hydrologic changes have implications in turn for the larger scales of canal and river inflow management in complex river basins.

  6. Distribution and Identification of Sources of Heavy Metals in the Voghji River Basin Impacted by Mining Activities (Armenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Gabrielyan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research is to assess the distribution of heavy metals in the waters and sediments of the Voghji River and its tributaries impacted by mining activity and to reveal the real source of each of the heavy metals in the environment for assessing the pollution level of heavy metals. Voghji River with two main tributaries (Geghi and Norashenik drain two mining regions. To identify distribution and pollution sources of heavy metals, the water and sediment samples were collected from eight sampling sites. The results of statistical analysis based on data sets of the period 2014–2016 showed that, after the influence of drainage water and wastewater of mining regions, heavy metal contents in the Voghji River basin dramatically increased. The waters of the Voghji River were highly polluted by Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, Cd, and Pb. The relation of metals content was highly changed due to anthropogenic impact disturbing the geochemical balance of the Voghji River. The water quality based on only heavy metal contents in the source of the Voghji River belongs to “good” chemical status, and in the sources of Geghi and Norashenik Rivers it is “moderate.” The water quality of Voghji and Norashenik Rivers is sharply worsening after the influence of mining activity, becoming “bad” chemical status. The research revealed the pollution sources of each metal.

  7. Geographic Information System and Geoportal «River basins of the European Russia»

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yermolaev, O. P.; Mukharamova, S. S.; Maltsev, K. A.; Ivanov, M. A.; Ermolaeva, P. O.; Gayazov, A. I.; Mozzherin, V. V.; Kharchenko, S. V.; Marinina, O. A.; Lisetskii, F. N.

    2018-01-01

    Geographic Information System (GIS) and Geoportal with open access «River basins of the European Russia» were implemented. GIS and Geoportal are based on the map of basins of small rivers of the European Russia with information about natural and anthropogenic characteristics, namely geomorphometry of basins relief; climatic parameters, representing averages, variation, seasonal variation, extreme values of temperature and precipitation; land cover types; soil characteristics; type and subtype of landscape; population density. The GIS includes results of spatial analysis and modelling, in particular, assessment of anthropogenic impact on river basins; evaluation of water runoff and sediment runoff; climatic, geomorphological and landscape zoning for the European part of Russia.

  8. Eco-hydrological Responses to Soil and Water Conservation in the Jinghe River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, H.; Jia, Y.; Qiu, Y.

    2011-12-01

    The Jinghe River Basin is one of the most serious soil erosion areas in the Loess Plateau. Many measures of soil and water conservation were applied in the basin. Terrestrial ecosystem model BIOME-BGC and distributed hydrological model WEP-L were used to build eco-hydrological model and verified by field observation and literature values. The model was applied in the Jinghe River Basin to analyze eco-hydrological responses under the scenarios of vegetation type change due to soil and water conservation polices. Four scenarios were set under the measures of conversion of cropland to forest, forestation on bare land, forestation on slope wasteland and planting grass on bare land. Analysis results show that the soil and water conservation has significant effects on runoff and the carbon cycle in the Jinghe River Basin: the average annual runoff would decrease and the average annual NPP and carbon storage would increase. Key words: soil and water conservation; conversion of cropland to forest; eco-hydrology response; the Jinghe River Basin

  9. Future Climate Change Impacts on Streamflows of Two Main West Africa River Basins: Senegal and Gambia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ansoumana Bodian

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This research investigated the effect of climate change on the two main river basins of Senegal in West Africa: the Senegal and Gambia River Basins. We used downscaled projected future rainfall and potential evapotranspiration based on projected temperature from six General Circulation Models (CanESM2, CNRM, CSIRO, HadGEM2-CC, HadGEM2-ES, and MIROC5 and two scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 to force the GR4J model. The GR4J model was calibrated and validated using observed daily rainfall, potential evapotranspiration from observed daily temperature, and streamflow data. For the cross-validation, two periods for each river basin were considered: 1961–1982 and 1983–2004 for the Senegal River Basin at Bafing Makana, and 1969–1985 and 1986–2000 for the Gambia River Basin at Mako. Model efficiency is evaluated using a multi-criteria function (Fagg which aggregates Nash and Sutcliffe criteria, cumulative volume error, and mean volume error. Alternating periods of simulation for calibration and validation were used. This process allows us to choose the parameters that best reflect the rainfall-runoff relationship. Once the model was calibrated and validated, we simulated streamflow at Bafing Makana and Mako stations in the near future at a daily scale. The characteristic flow rates were calculated to evaluate their possible evolution under the projected climate scenarios at the 2050 horizon. For the near future (2050 horizon, compared to the 1971–2000 reference period, results showed that for both river basins, multi-model ensemble predicted a decrease of annual streamflow from 8% (Senegal River Basin to 22% (Gambia River Basin under the RCP4.5 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the decrease is more pronounced: 16% (Senegal River Basin and 26% (Gambia River Basin. The Gambia River Basin will be more affected by the climate change.

  10. Investigating the evolutionary history of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe River Basin, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, S.; Wei, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Zheng, H.

    2017-12-01

    Human's innovative abilities do not only enable rapid expansion of civilization, but also lead to enormous modifications on the natural environment. Technology, while a key factor embedded in socioeconomic developments, its impacts have been rarely appropriately considered in river basin management. This research aims to examine the evolutionary history of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe River Basin, China, and how its characteristics interacted with the river basin environment. It adopts a content analysis approach to collect and summarize quantitative technological information in the Heihe River Basin across a time span of more than 2000 years from the Han Dynasty (206 BC) to 2015. Two Chinese academic research databases: Wan Fang Data and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were chosen as data sources. The results show that irrigated agricultural technologies in Heihe River Basin have shifted from focusing on developing new farming tools and cultivation methods to adapting modernized, water-saving irrigation methods and water diversion infrastructures. In additions, the center of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe river basin has moved from downstream to middle stream since the Ming Dynasty (1368AD) as a result of degraded natural environment. The developing trend of technology in the Heihe River Basin thus coincides with the change of societal focus from agricultural production efficiency to the human-water balance and environmental remediation. This research demonstrates that irrigated agricultural technologies had a twisted evolutionary history in the Heihe River Basin, influenced by a diverse range of environmental and socioeconomic factors. It provides insights into the fact that technology exhibits a co-evolutionary characteristic with the social development history in the region, pointing towards the urgent need to maintain the balance between human and environment.

  11. A reassessment of the suspended sediment load in the Madeira River basin from the Andes of Peru and Bolivia to the Amazon River in Brazil, based on 10 years of data from the HYBAM monitoring programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vauchel, Philippe; Santini, William; Guyot, Jean Loup; Moquet, Jean Sébastien; Martinez, Jean Michel; Espinoza, Jhan Carlo; Baby, Patrice; Fuertes, Oscar; Noriega, Luis; Puita, Oscar; Sondag, Francis; Fraizy, Pascal; Armijos, Elisa; Cochonneau, Gérard; Timouk, Franck; de Oliveira, Eurides; Filizola, Naziano; Molina, Jorge; Ronchail, Josyane

    2017-10-01

    The Madeira River is the second largest tributary of the Amazon River. It contributes approximately 13% of the Amazon River flow and it may contribute up to 50% of its sediment discharge to the Atlantic Ocean. Until now, the suspended sediment load of the Madeira River was not well known and was estimated in a broad range from 240 to 715 Mt yr-1. Since 2002, the HYBAM international network developed a new monitoring programme specially designed to provide more reliable data than in previous intents. It is based on the continuous monitoring of a set of 11 gauging stations in the Madeira River watershed from the Andes piedmont to the confluence with the Amazon River, and discrete sampling of the suspended sediment concentration every 7 or 10 days. This paper presents the results of the suspended sediment data obtained in the Madeira drainage basin during 2002-2011. The Madeira River suspended sediment load is estimated at 430 Mt yr-1 near its confluence with the Amazon River. The average production of the Madeira River Andean catchment is estimated at 640 Mt yr-1 (±30%), the corresponding sediment yield for the Andes is estimated at 3000 t km-2 yr-1 (±30%), and the average denudation rate is estimated at 1.20 mm yr-1 (±30%). Contrary to previous results that had mentioned high sedimentation rates in the Beni River floodplain, we detected no measurable sedimentation process in this part of the basin. On the Mamoré River basin, we observed heavy sediment deposition of approximately 210 Mt yr-1 that seem to confirm previous studies. But while these studies mentioned heavy sedimentation in the floodplain, we showed that sediment deposition occurred mainly in the Andean piedmont and immediate foreland in rivers (Parapeti, Grande, Pirai, Yapacani, Chimoré, Chaparé, Secure, Maniqui) with discharges that are not sufficiently large to transport their sediment load downstream in the lowlands.

  12. Beyond water, beyond boundaries: spaces of water management in the Krishna river basin, South India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venot, Jean-Philippe; Bharati, Luna; Giordano, Mark; Molle, François

    2011-01-01

    As demand and competition for water resources increase, the river basin has become the primary unit for water management and planning. While appealing in principle, practical implementation of river basin management and allocation has often been problematic. This paper examines the case of the Krishna basin in South India. It highlights that conflicts over basin water are embedded in a broad reality of planning and development where multiple scales of decisionmaking and non-water issues are at play. While this defines the river basin as a disputed "space of dependence", the river basin has yet to acquire a social reality. It is not yet a "space of engagement" in and for which multiple actors take actions. This explains the endurance of an interstate dispute over the sharing of the Krishna waters and sets limits to what can be achieved through further basin water allocation and adjudication mechanisms – tribunals – that are too narrowly defined. There is a need to extend the domain of negotiation from that of a single river basin to multiple scales and to non-water sectors. Institutional arrangements for basin management need to internalise the political spaces of the Indian polity: the states and the panchayats. This re-scaling process is more likely to shape the river basin as a space of engagement in which partial agreements can be iteratively renegotiated, and constitute a promising alternative to the current interstate stalemate.

  13. Hydrological assessment of freshwater resource areas in the Zambezi River Basin

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mwenge Kahinda, Jean-Marc

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available characterisation of the degree of regulation of the river system, followed by an assessment of high water yielding areas (water towers), groundwater recharge and base flow index. To understand the environmental patterns and processes that occur in the river... to hydrogeology, IAH Publ. 8, Verlag Heinz Heisse. Xu, Y. and Beekman, H.E. (Eds). 2003. Groundwater recharge estimation in southern Africa. UNESCO IHP Series No. 64. UNESCO Paris. Figure 1: The Zambezi River Basin and its 13 sub basins Figure 3: High water...

  14. Hydrological forecast of maximal water level in Lepenica river basin and flood control measures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milanović Ana

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Lepenica river basin territory has became axis of economic and urban development of Šumadija district. However, considering Lepenica River with its tributaries, and their disordered river regime, there is insufficient of water for water supply and irrigation, while on the other hand, this area is suffering big flood and torrent damages (especially Kragujevac basin. The paper presents flood problems in the river basin, maximum water level forecasts, and flood control measures carried out until now. Some of the potential solutions, aiming to achieve the effective flood control, are suggested as well.

  15. Nutrient mitigation in a temporary river basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzoraki, Ourania; Nikolaidis, Nikolaos P; Cooper, David; Kassotaki, Elissavet

    2014-04-01

    We estimate the nutrient budget in a temporary Mediterranean river basin. We use field monitoring and modelling tools to estimate nutrient sources and transfer in both high and low flow conditions. Inverse modelling by the help of PHREEQC model validated the hypothesis of a losing stream during the dry period. Soil and Water Assessment Tool model captured the water quality of the basin. The 'total daily maximum load' approach is used to estimate the nutrient flux status by flow class, indicating that almost 60% of the river network fails to meet nitrogen criteria and 50% phosphate criteria. We recommend that existing well-documented remediation measures such as reforestation of the riparian area or composting of food process biosolids should be implemented to achieve load reduction in close conjunction with social needs.

  16. Mass-movement deposits in the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.

    2015-01-01

    The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in two large Eocene saline lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. Here we will discuss mass-movement deposits in just the Piceance Basin part of Lake Uinta.

  17. Systematic impact assessment on inter-basin water transfer projects of the Hanjiang River Basin in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yanlai; Guo, Shenglian; Hong, Xingjun; Chang, Fi-John

    2017-10-01

    China's inter-basin water transfer projects have gained increasing attention in recent years. This study proposes an intelligent water allocation methodology for establishing optimal inter-basin water allocation schemes and assessing the impacts of water transfer projects on water-demanding sectors in the Hanjiang River Basin of China. We first analyze water demands for water allocation purpose, and then search optimal water allocation strategies for maximizing the water supply to water-demanding sectors and mitigating the negative impacts by using the Standard Genetic Algorithm (SGA) and Adaptive Genetic Algorithm (AGA), respectively. Lastly, the performance indexes of the water supply system are evaluated under different scenarios of inter-basin water transfer projects. The results indicate that: the AGA with adaptive crossover and mutation operators could increase the average annual water transfer from the Hanjiang River by 0.79 billion m3 (8.8%), the average annual water transfer from the Changjiang River by 0.18 billion m3 (6.5%), and the average annual hydropower generation by 0.49 billion kW h (5.4%) as well as reduce the average annual unmet water demand by 0.40 billion m3 (9.7%), as compared with the those of the SGA. We demonstrate that the proposed intelligent water allocation schemes can significantly mitigate the negative impacts of inter-basin water transfer projects on the reliability, vulnerability and resilience of water supply to the demanding sectors in water-supplying basins. This study has a direct bearing on more intelligent and effectual water allocation management under various scenarios of inter-basin water transfer projects.

  18. Basin of the river Oskil as a tourist-recreational area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Валентина Клименко

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available At the current stage of Ukraine’s economic development tourism is a priority sector of our country’s economy. Due to the fact that Ukraine has set a high priority goal - to join the European Union, we should pay attention to the conditions of various areas and sectors of our economy, in particular, the quality of tourism services, whether the recreational sector meets European standards. Many economically developed countries make tourism the most important among other sectors to fill the budget and closely monitor the quality of tourist services. Due to the rapid development of the tourism industry in our country the question has arisen as to conformity of recreational facilities conditions with international standards and finding new places of recreation, including water tourism. The aim of the study is to highlight the Oskil River Basin (within Kharkiv region as a tourist and recreational area and the use of the study materials in the learning process. The article deals with problems of insufficiently studied use of the river Oskil basin both as a tourist, and a recreational area. The hydrographic characteristics of the reservoir have been studied to illustrate the conformity of water objects with the standards and requirements of tourist and recreational activities; methods and techniques of water resources assessment have been analyzed for recreation; the river Oskil (within Ukraine and Chervono-Oskil reservoir have been assessed on the possibility of tourist-recreational use. The ways to use the study materials in education have been determined. Recreational potential of the river and the reservoir should not be underestimated. Thus, analyzing resources of the Oskil river basin and Chervono-Oskil reservoir in terms of recreation, we can conclude that the water of the river is not equally suitable for recreational purposes. The river basin can be used as an object of beach-bathing leisure, tourist boating and rafting, sport rafting

  19. Climate-driven disturbances in the San Juan River sub-basin of the Colorado River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Katrina E.; Bohn, Theodore J.; Solander, Kurt; McDowell, Nathan G.; Xu, Chonggang; Vivoni, Enrique; Middleton, Richard S.

    2018-01-01

    Accelerated climate change and associated forest disturbances in the southwestern USA are anticipated to have substantial impacts on regional water resources. Few studies have quantified the impact of both climate change and land cover disturbances on water balances on the basin scale, and none on the regional scale. In this work, we evaluate the impacts of forest disturbances and climate change on a headwater basin to the Colorado River, the San Juan River watershed, using a robustly calibrated (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency 0.76) hydrologic model run with updated formulations that improve estimates of evapotranspiration for semi-arid regions. Our results show that future disturbances will have a substantial impact on streamflow with implications for water resource management. Our findings are in contradiction with conventional thinking that forest disturbances reduce evapotranspiration and increase streamflow. In this study, annual average regional streamflow under the coupled climate-disturbance scenarios is at least 6-11 % lower than those scenarios accounting for climate change alone; for forested zones of the San Juan River basin, streamflow is 15-21 % lower. The monthly signals of altered streamflow point to an emergent streamflow pattern related to changes in forests of the disturbed systems. Exacerbated reductions of mean and low flows under disturbance scenarios indicate a high risk of low water availability for forested headwater systems of the Colorado River basin. These findings also indicate that explicit representation of land cover disturbances is required in modeling efforts that consider the impact of climate change on water resources.

  20. An environmental streamflow assessment for the Santiam River basin, Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Risley, John C.; Wallick, J. Rose; Mangano, Joseph F.; Jones, Krista L.

    2012-01-01

    The Santiam River is a tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon and drains an area of 1,810 square miles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates four dams in the basin, which are used primarily for flood control, hydropower production, recreation, and water-quality improvement. The Detroit and Big Cliff Dams were constructed in 1953 on the North Santiam River. The Green Peter and Foster Dams were completed in 1967 on the South Santiam River. The impacts of the structures have included a decrease in the frequency and magnitude of floods and an increase in low flows. For three North Santiam River reaches, the median of annual 1-day maximum streamflows decreased 42–50 percent because of regulated streamflow conditions. Likewise, for three reaches in the South Santiam River basin, the median of annual 1-day maximum streamflows decreased 39–52 percent because of regulation. In contrast to their effect on high flows, the dams increased low flows. The median of annual 7-day minimum flows in six of the seven study reaches increased under regulated streamflow conditions between 60 and 334 percent. On a seasonal basis, median monthly streamflows decreased from February to May and increased from September to January in all the reaches. However, the magnitude of these impacts usually decreased farther downstream from dams because of cumulative inflow from unregulated tributaries and groundwater entering the North, South, and main-stem Santiam Rivers below the dams. A Wilcox rank-sum test of monthly precipitation data from Salem, Oregon, and Waterloo, Oregon, found no significant difference between the pre-and post-dam periods, which suggests that the construction and operation of the dams since the 1950s and 1960s are a primary cause of alterations to the Santiam River basin streamflow regime. In addition to the streamflow analysis, this report provides a geomorphic characterization of the Santiam River basin and the associated conceptual

  1. Observing a catastrophic thermokarst lake drainage in northern Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Benjamin M.; Arp, Christopher D.

    2015-01-01

    The formation and drainage of thermokarst lakes have reshaped ice-rich permafrost lowlands in the Arctic throughout the Holocene. North of Teshekpuk Lake, on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, thermokarst lakes presently occupy 22.5% of the landscape, and drained thermokarst lake basins occupy 61.8%. Analysis of remotely sensed imagery indicates that nine lakes (>10 ha) have drained in the 1,750 km2 study area between 1955 and 2014. The most recent lake drainage was observed using in situ data loggers providing information on the duration and magnitude of the event, and a nearby weather station provided information on the environmental conditions preceding the lake drainage. Lake 195 (L195), an 80 ha thermokarst lake with an estimated water volume of ~872,000 m3, catastrophically drained on 05 July 2014. Abundant winter snowfall and heavy early summer precipitation resulted in elevated lake water levels that likely promoted bank overtopping, thermo-erosion along an ice-wedge network, and formation of a 9 m wide, 2 m deep, and 70 m long drainage gully. The lake emptied in 36 hours, with 75% of the water volume loss occurring in the first ten hours. The observed peak discharge of the resultant flood was 25 m3/s, which is similar to that in northern Alaska river basins whose areas are more than two orders of magnitude larger. Our findings support the catastrophic nature of sudden lake drainage events and the mechanistic hypotheses developed by J. Ross Mackay.

  2. Fish, Corumbataí and Jacaré-Pepira river basins, São Paulo State, Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Gomiero, Leandro; Braga, Francisco

    2006-01-01

    Fish were studied in two river basins (Corumbataí and Jacaré-Pepira) subjected to strong human pressure, in the interior of the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. In the Corumbataí basin, four sites were sampled: Cabeça river, Lapa stream, Passa-Cinco river, and Corumbataí river; in the Jacaré-Pepira basin, three sites were sampled: Tamanduá stream, Jacaré-Pepira river, and Água Branca stream. A total of 4,050 specimens belonging to 48 species and 13 families were caught and analyzed....

  3. Simulating Water Resource Disputes of Transboundary River: A Case Study of the Zhanghe River Basin, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Liang; He, Weijun; Liao, Zaiyi; Mulugeta Degefu, Dagmawi; An, Min; Zhang, Zhaofang

    2018-01-01

    Water resource disputes within transboundary river basin has been hindering the sustainable use of water resources and efficient management of environment. The problem is characterized by a complex information feedback loop that involves socio-economic and environmental systems. This paper presents a system dynamics based model that can simulate the dynamics of water demand, water supply, water adequacy and water allocation instability within a river basin. It was used for a case study in the Zhanghe River basin of China. The base scenario has been investigated for the time period between 2000 and 2050. The result shows that the Chinese national government should change the water allocation scheme of downstream Zhanghe River established in 1989, more water need to be allocated to the downstream cities and the actual allocation should be adjusted to reflect the need associated with the socio-economic and environmental changes within the region, and system dynamics improves the understanding of concepts and system interactions by offering a comprehensive and integrated view of the physical, social, economic, environmental, and political systems.

  4. Interlinking feasibility of five river basins of Rajasthan in India

    OpenAIRE

    Vyas, Sunil Kumar; Sharma, Gunwant; Mathur, Y.P.; Chandwani, Vinay

    2016-01-01

    The increasing population and large scale growth with the development of modern science and technology has indicated very high stress on water sector in Rajasthan in India. Availability of water and uniformity of rainfall distribution is changing day by day due to shifting of monsoon in Rajasthan. The spatial and temporal variations in the rainfall in different river basins in Rajasthan are drastic due to which flood situation arises in the tributaries of Chambal river basin every year. Simul...

  5. Study of environmental pollution and mineralogical characterization of sediment rivers from Brazilian coal mining acid drainage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Luis F.O., E-mail: felipeqma@hotmail.com [Environmental Science and Nanotechnology Department, Institute of Environmental Research and Human Development – IPADH, Capivari de Baixo, Santa Catarina (Brazil); Laboratory of Environmental Researches and Nanotechnology Development, Centro Universitário La Salle, Victor Barreto, 2288 Centro 92010-000, Canoas, RS (Brazil); Fdez- Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Silvia; Martinez-Arkarazo, Irantzu; Castro, Kepa [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV), P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain); Oliveira, Marcos L.S. [Environmental Science and Nanotechnology Department, Institute of Environmental Research and Human Development – IPADH, Capivari de Baixo, Santa Catarina (Brazil); Sampaio, Carlos H.; Brum, Irineu A.S. de [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de Engenharia, Departamento de Metalurgia, Centro de Tecnologia, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Bairro Agronomia, CEP: 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Leão, Felipe B. de; Taffarel, Silvio R. [Laboratory of Environmental Researches and Nanotechnology Development, Centro Universitário La Salle, Victor Barreto, 2288 Centro 92010-000, Canoas, RS (Brazil); Madariaga, Juan M. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV), P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain)

    2013-03-01

    Acid drainage from coal mines and metal mining is a major source of underground and surface water contamination in the world. The coal mining acid drainage (CMAD) from mine contains large amount of solids in suspension and a high content of sulphate and dissolved metals (Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, etc.) that finally are deposited in the rivers. Since this problem can persist for centuries after mine abandonment, it is necessary to apply multidisciplinary methods to determine the potential risk in a determinate area. These multidisciplinary methods must include molecular and elemental analysis and finally all information must be studied statistically. This methodology was used in the case of coal mining acid drainage from the Tubarao River (Santa Catarina, Brazil). During molecular analysis, Raman Spectroscopy, electron bean, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been proven very useful for the study of minerals present in sediment rivers near this CMAD. The obtained spectra allow the precise identification of the minerals as jarosite, quartz, clays, etc. The elemental analysis (Al, As, Fe, K, Na, Ba, Mg, Mn, Ti, V, Zn, Ag, Co, Li, Mo, Ni, Se, Sn, W, B, Cr, Cu, Pb and Sr) was realised by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistical analysis (Principal Component Analysis) of these dates of concentration reveals the existence of different groups of samples with specific pollution profiles in different areas of the Tubarao River. Highlights: ► Increasing coal drainage sediments geochemical information will increase human health information in this area. ► Brazilian coal mining information will increase recuperation planning information. ► The nanominerals showed strong sorption ability to aqueous hazardous elements.

  6. Study of environmental pollution and mineralogical characterization of sediment rivers from Brazilian coal mining acid drainage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Luis F.O.; Fdez- Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Silvia; Martinez-Arkarazo, Irantzu; Castro, Kepa; Oliveira, Marcos L.S.; Sampaio, Carlos H.; Brum, Irineu A.S. de; Leão, Felipe B. de; Taffarel, Silvio R.; Madariaga, Juan M.

    2013-01-01

    Acid drainage from coal mines and metal mining is a major source of underground and surface water contamination in the world. The coal mining acid drainage (CMAD) from mine contains large amount of solids in suspension and a high content of sulphate and dissolved metals (Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, etc.) that finally are deposited in the rivers. Since this problem can persist for centuries after mine abandonment, it is necessary to apply multidisciplinary methods to determine the potential risk in a determinate area. These multidisciplinary methods must include molecular and elemental analysis and finally all information must be studied statistically. This methodology was used in the case of coal mining acid drainage from the Tubarao River (Santa Catarina, Brazil). During molecular analysis, Raman Spectroscopy, electron bean, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been proven very useful for the study of minerals present in sediment rivers near this CMAD. The obtained spectra allow the precise identification of the minerals as jarosite, quartz, clays, etc. The elemental analysis (Al, As, Fe, K, Na, Ba, Mg, Mn, Ti, V, Zn, Ag, Co, Li, Mo, Ni, Se, Sn, W, B, Cr, Cu, Pb and Sr) was realised by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistical analysis (Principal Component Analysis) of these dates of concentration reveals the existence of different groups of samples with specific pollution profiles in different areas of the Tubarao River. Highlights: ► Increasing coal drainage sediments geochemical information will increase human health information in this area. ► Brazilian coal mining information will increase recuperation planning information. ► The nanominerals showed strong sorption ability to aqueous hazardous elements

  7. Comparison of the abiotic preferences of macroinvertebrates in tropical river basins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gert Everaert

    Full Text Available We assessed and compared abiotic preferences of aquatic macroinvertebrates in three river basins located in Ecuador, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Upon using logistic regression models we analyzed the relationship between the probability of occurrence of five macroinvertebrate families, ranging from pollution tolerant to pollution sensitive, (Chironomidae, Baetidae, Hydroptilidae, Libellulidae and Leptophlebiidae and physical-chemical water quality conditions. Within the investigated physical-chemical ranges, nine out of twenty-five interaction effects were significant. Our analyses suggested river basin dependent associations between the macroinvertebrate families and the corresponding physical-chemical conditions. It was found that pollution tolerant families showed no clear abiotic preference and occurred at most sampling locations, i.e. Chironomidae were present in 91%, 84% and 93% of the samples taken in Ecuador, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Pollution sensitive families were strongly associated with dissolved oxygen and stream velocity, e.g. Leptophlebiidae were only present in 48%, 2% and 18% of the samples in Ecuador, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Despite some limitations in the study design, we concluded that associations between macroinvertebrates and abiotic conditions can be river basin-specific and hence are not automatically transferable across river basins in the tropics.

  8. Contamination of Piracicaba river basin source by Zn, Cr and Co

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favaro, P.C.; Ferraz, E.S.B.

    1999-01-01

    The growth of the industrialization, urbanization and modernization of the agricultural practices in the last decades, has been causing a great impact in the basin of the Piracicaba river, the second economic pole of the country, area that shelters important urban centers like Campinas and Piracicaba. there are 45 headquarters of municipal districts in area of 12.400 km 2 with more than 3,5 million inhabitants. The present work studies one of the source of the basin, the sub-basin of the high Atibaia river, one of the former of the river Piracicaba, in low impacted area due to low demographic density, absence of load industries and non significant agriculture. The objective is to establish parameters for comparison with other areas of the basin, intensely modified. Samples of bottom sediments on the former rivers and of soils of the area they were analyzed by neutronic activation for the identification of about 20 elements line. The results showed that the area already presents signs of preoccupying anthropic pollution because the contaminations with Zn, Cr and Co are already significant, probably due to the agricultural activity and to the urban sewer. (author)

  9. Export of Nitrogen From the Yukon River Basin to the Bering Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornblaser, M. M.; Striegl, R. G.

    2005-12-01

    The US Geological Survey measured nitrogen export from the 831,400 km2 Yukon River basin during 2001-04 as part of a five year water quality study of the Yukon River and its major tributaries. Concentrations of NO2+NO3, NH4+DON, and particulate N were measured ~6 times annually during open water and once under ice cover at three locations on the Yukon River, and on the Porcupine and Tanana Rivers. Concentration and continuous flow data were used to generate daily and annual loads of N species. NH4 concentration was generally negligible when compared to DON concentration, allowing for comparison of the relative importance of DIN vs. DON export at various watershed scales. NO2 concentration was also small compared to NO3. At Pilot Station, the last site on the Yukon before it flows into the Yukon Delta and the Bering Sea, DIN, DON, and particulate N loads averaged 19.3 × 106 kg/yr, 52.6 × 106 kg/yr, and 39.1 × 106 kg/yr, respectively. Normalized for the watershed area at Pilot Station, corresponding N yields were 1.65, 4.52, and 3.35 mmol/m2/yr. DIN yield for the Yukon at Pilot Station is substantially less than the NO3 flux reported for tropical/temperate rivers such as the Amazon, the Yangtze, and the Mississippi. DIN yield in the upper Yukon River basin is similar to that of the Mackenzie and other arctic rivers, but increases substantially downstream. This is likely due to development around Fairbanks in the Tanana River basin. When compared to other headwater basins in the upper Yukon, the Tanana basin yields about four times more DIN and two times more particulate N, while DON yields are only slightly elevated.

  10. Spatial and temporal length distribution of Zungaro zungaro caught in the Orinoco River Basin of Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hernando Ramírez-Gil

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objetive. To determine the effect of fishing on capture size of both male and female Zungaro zungaro catfish, historical records of size and spatial distribution of the species were analyzed from the Orinoco Basin in Colombian. Materials and methods. Information was collected by sampling fishing port landings in the region between 1979 and 2011. Each specimen was measured, weighed and sexed. With 5411 records, the average size at capture were compared in time and among the different ports. Size at 50% maturity was estimated by quinquennium. Results. The average commercial capture sizes of Z. zungaro ranged from 35 to 161 cm standard length, with differences between males and females. From 1979 to 2011, in Puerto Lopez, the size at sexual maturity decreased from 123.8 to 83.4 cm in females and from 93.3 to 61 in males. In the annual cycle the greater average capture size in females was from April to July and for males from May to June. Average annual length is higher in the higher parts of the Meta and Guaviare river drainages. In the last quinquennium the size at 50% maturity had fallen 10 cm in females and 5 cm in males and it is higher than the average capture size. Conclusions. Populations of Z. zungaro in the Colombian Orinoco River Basin have been affected by overfishing and selective fishing of females.

  11. UV filters bioaccumulation in fish from Iberian river basins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gago-Ferrero, Pablo [Dept. of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain); Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15771 Athens (Greece); Díaz-Cruz, M. Silvia, E-mail: sdcqam@cid.csic.es [Dept. of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain); Barceló, Damià [Dept. of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain); Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, C/ Emili Grahit, 101 Edifici H2O, E-17003 Girona (Spain)

    2015-06-15

    The occurrence of eight organic UV filters (UV-Fs) was assessed in fish from four Iberian river basins. This group of compounds is extensively used in cosmetic products and other industrial goods to avoid the damaging effects of UV radiation, and has been found to be ubiquitous contaminants in the aquatic ecosystem. In particular, fish are considered by the scientific community to be the most feasible organism for contamination monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Despite that, studies on the bioaccumulation of UV-F are scarce. In this study fish samples from four Iberian river basins under high anthropogenic pressure were analysed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). Benzophenone-3 (BP3), ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC) and octocrylene (OC) were the predominant pollutants in the fish samples, with concentrations in the range of ng/g dry weight (d.w.). The results indicated that most polluted area corresponded to Guadalquivir River basin, where maximum concentrations were found for EHMC (241.7 ng/g d.w.). Sediments from this river basin were also analysed. Lower values were observed in relation to fish for OC and EHMC, ranging from below the limits of detection to 23 ng/g d.w. Accumulation levels of UV-F in the fish were used to calculate biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs). These values were always below 1, in the range of 0.04–0.3, indicating that the target UV-Fs are excreted by fish only to some extent. The fact that the highest concentrations were determined in predators suggests that biomagnification of UV-F may take place along the freshwater food web. - Highlights: • First evidence of UV filters in fish from Iberian rivers • Biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) were always below 1. • Predator species presented higher UV-F concentrations suggesting trophic magnification.

  12. UV filters bioaccumulation in fish from Iberian river basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gago-Ferrero, Pablo; Díaz-Cruz, M. Silvia; Barceló, Damià

    2015-01-01

    The occurrence of eight organic UV filters (UV-Fs) was assessed in fish from four Iberian river basins. This group of compounds is extensively used in cosmetic products and other industrial goods to avoid the damaging effects of UV radiation, and has been found to be ubiquitous contaminants in the aquatic ecosystem. In particular, fish are considered by the scientific community to be the most feasible organism for contamination monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Despite that, studies on the bioaccumulation of UV-F are scarce. In this study fish samples from four Iberian river basins under high anthropogenic pressure were analysed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). Benzophenone-3 (BP3), ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC) and octocrylene (OC) were the predominant pollutants in the fish samples, with concentrations in the range of ng/g dry weight (d.w.). The results indicated that most polluted area corresponded to Guadalquivir River basin, where maximum concentrations were found for EHMC (241.7 ng/g d.w.). Sediments from this river basin were also analysed. Lower values were observed in relation to fish for OC and EHMC, ranging from below the limits of detection to 23 ng/g d.w. Accumulation levels of UV-F in the fish were used to calculate biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs). These values were always below 1, in the range of 0.04–0.3, indicating that the target UV-Fs are excreted by fish only to some extent. The fact that the highest concentrations were determined in predators suggests that biomagnification of UV-F may take place along the freshwater food web. - Highlights: • First evidence of UV filters in fish from Iberian rivers • Biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) were always below 1. • Predator species presented higher UV-F concentrations suggesting trophic magnification

  13. Variation of Probable Maximum Precipitation in Brazos River Basin, TX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatia, N.; Singh, V. P.

    2017-12-01

    The Brazos River basin, the second-largest river basin by area in Texas, generates the highest amount of flow volume of any river in a given year in Texas. With its headwaters located at the confluence of Double Mountain and Salt forks in Stonewall County, the third-longest flowline of the Brazos River traverses within narrow valleys in the area of rolling topography of west Texas, and flows through rugged terrains in mainly featureless plains of central Texas, before its confluence with Gulf of Mexico. Along its major flow network, the river basin covers six different climate regions characterized on the basis of similar attributes of vegetation, temperature, humidity, rainfall, and seasonal weather changes, by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Our previous research on Texas climatology illustrated intensified precipitation regimes, which tend to result in extreme flood events. Such events have caused huge losses of lives and infrastructure in the Brazos River basin. Therefore, a region-specific investigation is required for analyzing precipitation regimes along the geographically-diverse river network. Owing to the topographical and hydroclimatological variations along the flow network, 24-hour Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) was estimated for different hydrologic units along the river network, using the revised Hershfield's method devised by Lan et al. (2017). The method incorporates the use of a standardized variable describing the maximum deviation from the average of a sample scaled by the standard deviation of the sample. The hydrometeorological literature identifies this method as more reasonable and consistent with the frequency equation. With respect to the calculation of stable data size required for statistically reliable results, this study also quantified the respective uncertainty associated with PMP values in different hydrologic units. The corresponding range of return periods of PMPs in different hydrologic units was

  14. Hydrological Process Simulation of Inland River Watershed: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin with Multiple Hydrological Models

    OpenAIRE

    Lili Wang; Zhonggen Wang; Jingjie Yu; Yichi Zhang; Suzhen Dang

    2018-01-01

    Simulating the hydrological processes of an inland river basin can help provide the scientific guidance to the policies of water allocation among different subbasins and water resource management groups within the subbasins. However, it is difficult to simulate the hydrological processes of an inland river basin with hydrological models due to the non-consistent hydrological characteristics of the entire basin. This study presents a solution to this problem with a case study about the hydrolo...

  15. Framework for Assessing Water Resource Sustainability in River Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borden, J.; Goodwin, P.; Swanson, D.

    2013-12-01

    As the anthropogenic footprint increases on Earth, the wise use, maintenance, and protection of freshwater resources will be a key element in the sustainability of development. Borne from efforts to promote sustainable development of water resources is Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), which promotes efficiency of water resources, equity in water allocation across different social and economic groups, and environmental sustainability. Methodologies supporting IWRM implementation have largely focused on the overall process, but have had limited attention on the evaluation methods for ecologic, economic, and social conditions (the sustainability criterion). Thus, assessment frameworks are needed to support the analysis of water resources and evaluation of sustainable solutions in the IWRM process. To address this need, the River Basin Analysis Framework (RBAF) provides a structure for understanding water related issues and testing the sustainability of proposed solutions in river basins. The RBAF merges three approaches: the UN GEO 4 DPSIR approach, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment approach, and the principles of sustainable development. Merging these approaches enables users to understand the spatiotemporal interactions between the hydrologic and ecologic systems, evaluate the impacts of disturbances (drivers, pressures) on the ecosystem goods and services (EGS) and constituents of human well-being (HWB), and identify and employ analytical methods and indicators in the assessments. The RBAF is comprised of a conceptual component (RBAF-C) and an analytical component (RBAF-A). For each disturbance type, the RBAF-C shows the potential directional change in the hydrologic cycle (peak flows, seasonality, etc.), EGS (drinking water supply, water purification, recreational opportunities, etc.), and HWB (safety, health, access to a basic materials), thus allowing users insight into potential impacts as well as providing technical guidance on the methods and

  16. Bull trout population assessment in the White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers, Columbia River Gorge, Washington; ANNUAL fiscal year 2001 annual report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thiesfield, Steven L.

    2002-01-01

    We utilized night snorkeling and single pass electroshocking to determine the presence or absence of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus in 26 stream reaches (3,415 m) in the White Salmon basin and in 71 stream reaches (9,005 m) in the Klickitat River basin during summer and fall 2001. We did not find any bull trout in the White Salmon River basin. In the Klickitat River basin, bull trout were found only in the West Fork Klickitat River drainage. We found bull trout in two streams not previously reported: Two Lakes Stream and an unnamed tributary to Fish Lake Stream (WRIA code number 30-0550). We attempted to capture downstream migrant bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat River by fishing a 1.5-m rotary screw trap at RM 4.3 from July 23 through October 17. Although we caught other salmonids, no bull trout were captured. The greatest limiting factor for bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat River is likely the small amount of available habitat resulting in a low total abundance, and the isolation of the population. Many of the streams are fragmented by natural falls, which are partial or complete barriers to upstream fish movement. To date, we have not been able to confirm that the occasional bull trout observed in the mainstem Klickitat River are migrating upstream into the West Fork Klickitat River

  17. Floods of July 23-26, 2010, in the Little Maquoketa River and Maquoketa River Basins, Northeast Iowa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eash, David A.

    2012-01-01

    Minor flooding occurred July 23, 2010, in the Little Maquoketa River Basin and major flooding occurred July 23–26, 2010, in the Maquoketa River Basin in northeast Iowa following severe thunderstorm activity over the region during July 22–24. A breach of the Lake Delhi Dam on July 24 aggravated flooding on the Maquoketa River. Rain gages at Manchester and Strawberry Point, Iowa, recorded 72-hour-rainfall amounts of 7.33 and 12.23 inches, respectively, on July 24. The majority of the rainfall occurred during a 48-hour period. Within the Little Maquoketa River Basin, a peak-discharge estimate of 19,000 cubic feet per second (annual flood-probability estimate of 4 to 10 percent) at the discontinued 05414500 Little Maquoketa River near Durango, Iowa streamgage on July 23 is the sixth largest flood on record. Within the Maquoketa River Basin, peak discharges of 26,600 cubic feet per second (annual flood-probability estimate of 0.2 to 1 percent) at the 05416900 Maquoketa River at Manchester, Iowa streamgage on July 24, and of 25,000 cubic feet per second (annual flood-probability estimate of 1 to 2 percent) at the 05418400 North Fork Maquoketa River near Fulton, Iowa streamgage on July 24 are the largest floods on record for these sites. A peak discharge affected by the Lake Delhi Dam breach on July 24 at the 05418500 Maquoketa River near Maquoketa, Iowa streamgage, located downstream of Lake Delhi, of 46,000 cubic feet per second on July 26 is the third highest on record. High-water marks were measured at five locations along the Little Maquoketa and North Fork Little Maquoketa Rivers between U.S. Highway 52 near Dubuque and County Road Y21 near Rickardsville, a distance of 19 river miles. Highwater marks were measured at 28 locations along the Maquoketa River between U.S. Highway 52 near Green Island and State Highway 187 near Arlington, a distance of 142 river miles. High-water marks were measured at 13 locations along the North Fork Maquoketa River between

  18. Establishing a Multi-scale Stream Gaging Network in the Whitewater River Basin, Kansas, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clayton, J.A.; Kean, J.W.

    2010-01-01

    Investigating the routing of streamflow through a large drainage basin requires the determination of discharge at numerous locations in the channel network. Establishing a dense network of stream gages using conventional methods is both cost-prohibitive and functionally impractical for many research projects. We employ herein a previously tested, fluid-mechanically based model for generating rating curves to establish a stream gaging network in the Whitewater River basin in south-central Kansas. The model was developed for the type of channels typically found in this watershed, meaning that it is designed to handle deep, narrow geomorphically stable channels with irregular planforms, and can model overbank flow over a vegetated floodplain. We applied the model to ten previously ungaged stream reaches in the basin, ranging from third- to sixth-order channels. At each site, detailed field measurements of the channel and floodplain morphology, bed and bank roughness, and vegetation characteristics were used to quantify the roughness for a range of flow stages, from low flow to overbank flooding. Rating curves that relate stage to discharge were developed for all ten sites. Both fieldwork and modeling were completed in less than 2 years during an anomalously dry period in the region, which underscores an advantage of using theoretically based (as opposed to empirically based) discharge estimation techniques. ?? 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

  19. Scaling issues in sustainable river basin management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmerman, Jos; Froebich, Jochen

    2014-05-01

    Sustainable river basin management implies considering the whole river basin when managing the water resources. Management measures target at dividing the water over different uses (nature, agriculture, industry, households) thereby avoiding calamities like having too much, too little or bad quality water. Water management measures are taken at the local level, usually considering the sub-national and sometimes national effects of such measures. A large part of the world's freshwater resources, however, is contained in river basins and groundwater systems that are shared by two or more countries. Sustainable river basin management consequently has to encompass local, regional, national and international scales. This requires coordination over and cooperation between these levels that is currently compressed into the term 'water governance' . Governance takes into account that a large number of stakeholders in different regimes (the principles, rules and procedures that steer management) contribute to policy and management of a resource. Governance includes the increasing importance of basically non-hierarchical modes of governing, where non-state actors (formal organizations like NGOs, private companies, consumer associations, etc.) participate in the formulation and implementation of public policy. Land use determines the run-off generation and use of irrigation water. Land use is increasingly determined by private sector initiatives at local scale. This is a complicating factor in the governance issue, as in comparison to former developments of large scale irrigation systems, planning institutions at state level have then less insight on actual water consumption. The water management regime of a basin consequently has to account for the different scales of water management and within these different scales with both state and non-state actors. The central elements of regimes include the policy setting (the policies and water management strategies), legal setting

  20. Hydrology signal from GRACE gravity data in the Nelson River basin, Canada: a comparison of two approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tanghua; Wu, Patrick; Wang, Hansheng; Jia, Lulu; Steffen, Holger

    2018-03-01

    The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission measures the combined gravity signal of several overlapping processes. A common approach to separate the hydrological signal in previous ice-covered regions is to apply numerical models to simulate the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signals related to the vanished ice load and then remove them from the observed GRACE data. However, the results of this method are strongly affected by the uncertainties of the ice and viscosity models of GIA. To avoid this, Wang et al. (Nat Geosci 6(1):38-42, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1652; Geodesy Geodyn 6(4):267-273, 2015) followed the theory of Wahr et al. (Geophys Res Lett 22(8):977-980, 1995) and isolated water storage changes from GRACE in North America and Scandinavia with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) data. Lambert et al. (Postglacial rebound and total water storage variations in the Nelson River drainage basin: a gravity GPS Study, Geological Survey of Canada Open File, 7317, 2013a, Geophys Res Lett 40(23):6118-6122, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057973, 2013b) did a similar study for the Nelson River basin in North America but applying GPS and absolute gravity measurements. However, the results of the two studies in the Nelson River basin differ largely, especially for the magnitude of the hydrology signal which differs about 35%. Through detailed comparison and analysis of the input data, data post-processing techniques, methods and results of these two works, we find that the different GRACE data post-processing techniques may lead to this difference. Also the GRACE input has a larger effect on the hydrology signal amplitude than the GPS input in the Nelson River basin due to the relatively small uplift signal in this region. Meanwhile, the influence of the value of α , which represents the ratio between GIA-induced uplift rate and GIA-induced gravity-rate-of-change (before the correction for surface uplift), is more obvious in

  1. Microbial exoenzymes as bioindicators of acid rock drainage impacts in the Finniss River

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammerton, K.M.

    2002-01-01

    Sediment samples were collected from several sites along the East Branch of the Finniss River during the dry season (June, 1999), when the East Branch is drying into a series of ponds. The sites included those upstream from the Rum Jungle mine site (EB8A, EB8B, FCA, FCB), a site receiving acid leachate from the waste rock (WO), sites downstream from the mine that are impacted by acid and metal contamination (EB6, TCP, EB5D, EB4U, EB2) and reference sites not subject to acid rock drainage (HS, EB4S, LFRB). Exoenzyme activities were measured with a spectrofluorometric technique that involved measuring the increase in fluorescence when an artificial fluorogenic substrate (that mimics the natural substrate) is hydrolysed to a highly fluorescent product. The present findings indicate that the acid rock drainage impacted sediments contain acidophilic, heterotrophic microorganisms, bacteria and/or fungi, producing extracellular enzymes adapted to the acid conditions. This study has demonstrated that measurements of extracellular enzyme activities in river sediments provide a rapid, sensitive technique for determining microbial activity and productivity. In aquatic ecosystems some exoenzymes, particularly leucine-aminopeptidase, could be used as bioindicators of pollution from acid rock drainage

  2. Sediment budget in the Ucayali River basin, an Andean tributary of the Amazon River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Santini

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Formation of mountain ranges results from complex coupling between lithospheric deformation, mechanisms linked to subduction and surface processes: weathering, erosion, and climate. Today, erosion of the eastern Andean cordillera and sub-Andean foothills supplies over 99% of the sediment load passing through the Amazon Basin. Denudation rates in the upper Ucayali basin are rapid, favoured by a marked seasonality in this region and extreme precipitation cells above sedimentary strata, uplifted during Neogene times by a still active sub-Andean tectonic thrust. Around 40% of those sediments are trapped in the Ucayali retro-foreland basin system. Recent advances in remote sensing for Amazonian large rivers now allow us to complete the ground hydrological data. In this work, we propose a first estimation of the erosion and sedimentation budget of the Ucayali River catchment, based on spatial and conventional HYBAM Observatory network.

  3. Optimum combination of water drainage,water supply and eco-environment protection in coal-accumulated basin of North China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    The conflict among water drainage,water supply and eco-environment protection is getting more and more serious due to the irrational drainage and exploitation of ground water resources in coal-accumulated basins of North China.Efficient solutions to the conflict are to maintain long-term dynamic balance between input and output of the ground water basins,and to try to improve resourcification of the mine water.All solutions must guarantee the eco-environment quality.This paper presents a new idea of optimum combination of water drainage,water supply and eco-environment protection so as to solve the problem of unstable mine water supply,which is caused by the changeable water drainage for the whole combination system.Both the management of hydraulic techniques and constraints in economy,society,ecology,environment,industrial structural adjustments and sustainable developments have been taken into account.Since the traditional and separate management of different departments of water drainage,water supply and eco-environment protection is broken up,these departments work together to avoid repeated geological survey and specific evaluation calculations so that large amount of national investment can be saved and precise calculation for the whole system can be obtained.In the light of the conflict of water drainage,water supply and eco-environment protection in a typical sector in Jiaozuo coal mine,a case study puts forward an optimum combination scheme,in which a maximum economic benefit objective is constrained by multiple factors.The scheme provides a very important scientific base for finding a sustainable development strategy.

  4. Gondwana sedimentation in the Chintalapudi sub-basin, Godavari Valley, Andhra Pradesh

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lakshminarayana, G. [Geological Survey of India, Calcutta (India). Division of Monitoring

    1995-10-01

    A 3000 m thick Gondwana lithic fill consisting of multifacies associations were preserved in a NW-SE oriented intracratonic Chintalapudi sub-basin set across the Eastern Chat Complex (EGC). Sedimentation commenced with the deposition of diamictite-rhythmite sequence of the Talchir Formation in glacio-lacustrine environment. The succeeding sandstone-coal cyclothems of the Barakar Formation were formed in fluvial-coal swamps complex. The fluvial streams flowed across the EGC, originating somewhere in the southeast beyond the East Coast of India. Phase wise upliftment of the EGC during Mesozoic imparted changes to the Permian intercontinental drainage system which started supplying increased amount of detritus to the basin. Basin marginal faults were first formed at the beginning of Triassic. Alluvial fans originated in the east and southeast and northwesterly flowing braided streams deposited the conglomerate sandstone sequence of the Kamthi Formation. The Early Jurassic uplift of the Mailaram high in the north imparted westerly shift to the braided rivers during the Kota sedimentation. Due to prominence of Kamavarapukota ridge in the south by Early Cretaceous, the drainage pattern became centripetal and short-lived high sinuous rivers debouched into the basin. The silting up of the Chintalapudi sub-basin with the sandstone-claystone sequence of the Gangapur Formation marks the culmination of the Gondwana sedimentation, perhaps, coinciding with the breakup of India from the Gondwanaland.

  5. Long-term flow forecasts based on climate and hydrologic modeling: Uruguay River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucci, Carlos Eduardo Morelli; Clarke, Robin Thomas; Collischonn, Walter; da Silva Dias, Pedro Leite; de Oliveira, Gilvan Sampaio

    2003-07-01

    This paper describes a procedure for predicting seasonal flow in the Rio Uruguay drainage basin (area 75,000 km2, lying in Brazilian territory), using sequences of future daily rainfall given by the global climate model (GCM) of the Brazilian agency for climate prediction (Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Clima, or CPTEC). Sequences of future daily rainfall given by this model were used as input to a rainfall-runoff model appropriate for large drainage basins. Forecasts of flow in the Rio Uruguay were made for the period 1995-2001 of the full record, which began in 1940. Analysis showed that GCM forecasts underestimated rainfall over almost all the basin, particularly in winter, although interannual variability in regional rainfall was reproduced relatively well. A statistical procedure was used to correct for the underestimation of rainfall. When the corrected rainfall sequences were transformed to flow by the hydrologic model, forecasts of flow in the Rio Uruguay basin were better than forecasts based on historic mean or median flows by 37% for monthly flows and by 54% for 3-monthly flows.

  6. Operational river discharge forecasting in poorly gauged basins: the Kavango River basin case study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bauer-Gottwein, Peter; Jensen, Iris Hedegaard; Guzinski, R.

    2015-01-01

    in Africa. We present an operational probabilistic forecasting approach which uses public-domain climate forcing data and a hydrologic-hydrodynamic model which is entirely based on open-source software. Data assimilation techniques are used to inform the forecasts with the latest available observations......Operational probabilistic forecasts of river discharge are essential for effective water resources management. Many studies have addressed this topic using different approaches ranging from purely statistical black-box approaches to physically based and distributed modeling schemes employing data...... assimilation techniques. However, few studies have attempted to develop operational probabilistic forecasting approaches for large and poorly gauged river basins. The objective of this study is to develop open-source software tools to support hydrologic forecasting and integrated water resources management...

  7. Community-based restoration of desert wetlands: the case of the Colorado River delta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta; Mark Briggs; Yamilett Carrillo-Guerroro; Edward P. Glenn; Miriam Lara-Flores; Martha Roman-Rodriguez

    2005-01-01

    Wetland areas have been drastically reduced through the Pacific Flyway and the Sonoran Desert, with severe consequences for avian populations. In the Colorado River delta, wetlands have been reduced by 80 percent due to water management practices in the Colorado River basin. However, excess flows and agricultural drainage water has restored some areas, providing...

  8. Emergence, concept, and understanding of Pan-River-Basin (PRB

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ning Liu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the concept of Pan-River-Basin (PRB for water resource management is proposed with a discussion on the emergence, concept, and application of PRB. The formation and application of PRB is also discussed, including perspectives on the river contribution rates, harmonious levels of watershed systems, and water resource availability in PRB system. Understanding PRB is helpful for reconsidering river development and categorizing river studies by the influences from human projects. The sustainable development of water resources and the harmonization between humans and rivers also requires PRB.

  9. Annual suspended sediment and trace element fluxes in the Mississippi, Columbia, Colorado, and Rio Grande drainage basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horowitz, A.J.; Elrick, K.A.; Smith, J.J.

    2001-01-01

    Suspended sediment, sediment-associated, total trace element, phosphorus (P), and total organic carbon (TOC) fluxes were determined for the Mississippi, Columbia, Rio Grande, and Colorado Basins for the study period (the 1996, 1997, and 1998 water years) as part of the US Geological Survey's redesigned National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) programme. The majority (??? 70%) of Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, Ba, P, As, Fe, Mn, and Al are transported in association with suspended sediment; Sr transport seems dominated by the dissolved phase, whereas the transport of Li and TOC seems to be divided equally between both phases. Average dissolved trace element levels are markedly lower than reported during the original NASQAN programme; this seems due to the use of 'clean' sampling, processing, and analytical techniques rather than to improvements in water quality. Partitioning between sediment and water for Ag, Pb, Cd, Cr, Co, V, Be, As, Sb, Hg, and Ti could not be estimated due to a lack of detectable dissolved concentrations in most samples. Elevated suspended sediment-associated Zn levels were detected in the Ohio River Basin and elevated Hg levels were detected in the Tennessee River, the former may affect the mainstem Mississippi River, whereas the latter probably do not. Sediment-associated concentrations of Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Co, Ba, Mo, Sb, Hg, and Fe are markedly elevated in the upper Columbia Basin, and appear to be detectable (Zn, Cd) as far downstream as the middle of the basin. These elevated concentrations seem to result from mining and/or mining-related activities. Consistently detectable concentrations of dissolved Se were found only in the Colorado River Basin. Calculated average annual suspended sediment fluxes at the mouths of the Mississippi and Rio Grande Basins were below, whereas those for the Columbia and Colorado Basins were above previously published annual values. Downstream suspended sediment-associated and total trace element fluxes

  10. Water resource management model for a river basin

    OpenAIRE

    Jelisejevienė, Emilija

    2005-01-01

    The objective is to develop river basin management model that ensures integrated analysis of existing water resource problems and promotes implementation of sustainable development principles in water resources management.

  11. Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and by the year 2000. In December, 1992, the Tulane/Xavier CBR was awarded a five year grant to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The ''Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin'' project is a broad research and education program aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Studies include defining the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, the actual and potential impact on ecological systems and health, and the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The Mississippi River Basin represents a model system for analyzing and solving contamination problems that are found in aquatic systems world-wide. These research and education projects are particularly relevant to the US Department of Energy's programs aimed at addressing aquatic pollution problems associated with DOE National Laboratories. First year funding supported seven collaborative cluster projects and twelve initiation projects. This report summarizes research results for period December 1992--December 1993

  12. Bull Trout Population Assessment in the Columbia River Gorge : Annual Report 2000.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Byrne, Jim; McPeak, Ron

    2001-02-01

    We summarized existing knowledge regarding the known distribution of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) across four sub-basins in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington. The Wind River, Little White Salmon River, White Salmon River, and the Klickitat River sub-basins were analyzed. Cold water is essential to the survival, spawning, and rearing of bull trout. We analyzed existing temperature data, installed Onset temperature loggers in the areas of the four sub-basins where data was not available, and determined that mean daily water temperatures were <15 C and appropriate for spawning and rearing of bull trout. We snorkel surveyed more than 74 km (46.25 mi.) of rivers and streams in the four sub-basins (13.8 km at night and 60.2 km during the day) and found that night snorkeling was superior to day snorkeling for locating bull trout. Surveys incorporated the Draft Interim Protocol for Determining Bull Trout Presence (Peterson et al. In Press). However, due to access and safety issues, we were unable to randomly select sample sites nor use block nets as recommended. Additionally, we also implemented the Bull Trout/Dolly Varden sampling methodology described in Bonar et al. (1997). No bull trout were found in the Wind River, Little White Salmon, or White Salmon River sub-basins. We found bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat drainage of the Klickitat River Sub-basin. Bull trout averaged 6.7 fish/100m{sup 2} in Trappers Creek, 2.6 fish/100m{sup 2} on Clearwater Creek, and 0.4 fish/100m{sup 2} in Little Muddy Creek. Bull trout was the only species of salmonid encountered in Trappers Creek and dominated in Clearwater Creek. Little Muddy Creek was the only creek where bull trout and introduced brook trout occurred together. We found bull trout only at night and typically in low flow regimes. A single fish, believed to be a bull trout x brook trout hybrid, was observed in the Little Muddy Creek. Additional surveys are needed in the West Fork Klickitat and mainstem

  13. Changes in water quality of a small urban river triggered by deep drainage of a construction site

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bartnik Adam

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of the monitoring of the selected physicochemical properties of the Jasień River waters (in Łódź, the third biggest city of Poland and their changes under the influence of drainage of a railway station Łódź Fabryczna construction site. Even 25 years ago the Jasień River was a receiver for the sewage from the Łódź textile factories. The drainage of the excavations and disposal of the water into the Jasień River was started on January 2014 and changed stable hydrological, physical and chemical regime of the river once again. In a consequence, average monthly flows exceeded the Jasień River flow in its upper section by six times, and at the beginning by even ten times. Chloride concentration was systematically growing over the study period. This growth and higher water pH were probably associated with increasing level of contaminants in the discharged water and its gradually decreasing uptake. Average annual water temperature increased and a decrease in its amplitude was observed. The annual conductivity and pH patterns became more uniform and the changes in pH followed a clear trend of monthly changes. Water turbidity increased by two times and during summer floods this parameter was often even a few times higher than before the drainage commenced. Chlorides improved water conductance and sodium and potassium increased basicity.

  14. Temporal and spatial changes in water quality of the indus basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhutta, M.N.; Ahmad, N.; Khan, M.Z.

    2007-01-01

    Total useable water supply for agriculture is essentially fixed and is a limiting factor for increasing agriculture production. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate water quality of rivers, drains and groundwater. Suggestions are made for controlling pollution and for sustainable use of water. The scope of the paper is limited to the Indus Basin. The criteria based on TDS, SAR and RSC was used to categorize water as useable, marginal and hazardous quality for agricultural use. Data of different water quality surveys from 1959 to 2003 were used for the study. Spatial changes of groundwater quality indicate saline water intrusion towards fresh groundwater pockets. Temporal changes of groundwater quality also show deterioration of water quality over long periods. Canal supplies need to be increased to reduce reliance on groundwater which indirectly help sustainable use of groundwater. River water quality at Kotri, the lowest point in the Indus River system, is suitable for irrigation through out the year, However, pollution is a serious issue particularly during low flow periods. During the year 2004 about 40 persons died in Hyderabad due to pollution in drinking water the source of which was the River Indus. Municipal and Industrial effluents are being disposed into rivers, drains and canals without treatment which is not only detrimental to crops, human beings, livestock and marine life but also a potential threat to environment. Out of 143 outfall drains of the Indus Basin, the effluent quality of 53 drains is useable, 46 marginal and 44 hazardous. A large number of farmers are using drainage effluent for agriculture. There is no monitoring of land and water for such use. Provincial irrigation department and environment protection agencies should provide technical guidance and support to the farmers, using the drainage effluent. The Environment Act should be strictly implemented. Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (PIDA's) must work with

  15. Two new species of Rineloricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae from the rio Iguaçu basin, southern Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo F. S. Ingenito

    Full Text Available Rineloricaria langei and R. maacki, new species, are described from upper and middle regions of the rio Iguaçu basin, a left bank tributary of the rio Paraná basin, southern Brazil. Rineloricaria langei has narrow body and is similar to R. quadrensis, which is found in coastal rivers of Rio Grande do Sul State and is distinguishable by several morphometric characters. Rineloricaria maacki is distinguishable from all other congeners by the shape and extension of the naked area of the ventral region of pectoral girdle and other morphological characters. The presence of a naked region on the abdominal surface is shared with other species from the rio Paraná and rio Uruguay basins and coastal drainages from southeastern and southern Brazil. This may indicate a close phylogenetic relationship among these species. Similarities between the two new species and species from the aforementioned drainages also suggest close biogeographic relationship between the Paraná basin and other Brazilian coastal Atlantic drainages throughout the rio Iguaçu basin.

  16. A Heuristic Dynamically Dimensioned Search with Sensitivity Information (HDDS-S and Application to River Basin Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinggang Chu

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available River basin simulation and multi-reservoir optimal operation have been critical for river basin management. Due to the intense interaction between human activities and river basin systems, the river basin model and multi-reservoir operation model are complicated with a large number of parameters. Therefore, fast and stable optimization algorithms are required for river basin management under the changing conditions of climate and current human activities. This study presents a new global optimization algorithm, named as heuristic dynamically dimensioned search with sensitivity information (HDDS-S, to effectively perform river basin simulation and multi-reservoir optimal operation during river basin management. The HDDS-S algorithm is built on the dynamically dimensioned search (DDS algorithm; and has an improved computational efficiency while maintaining its search capacity compared to the original DDS algorithm. This is mainly due to the non-uniform probability assigned to each decision variable on the basis of its changing sensitivity to the optimization objectives during the adaptive change from global to local search with dimensionality reduced. This study evaluates the new algorithm by comparing its performance with the DDS algorithm on a river basin model calibration problem and a multi-reservoir optimal operation problem. The results obtained indicate that the HDDS-S algorithm outperforms the DDS algorithm in terms of search ability and computational efficiency in the two specific problems. In addition; similar to the DDS algorithm; the HDDS-S algorithm is easy to use as it does not require any parameter tuning and automatically adjusts its search to find good solutions given an available computational budget.

  17. The Influence of Water Conservancy Projects on River Network Connectivity, A Case of Luanhe River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Z.; Li, C.

    2017-12-01

    Connectivity is one of the most important characteristics of a river, which is derived from the natural water cycle and determine the renewability of river water. The water conservancy project can change the connectivity of natural river networks, and directly threaten the health and stability of the river ecosystem. Based on the method of Dendritic Connectivity Index (DCI), the impacts from sluices and dams on the connectivity of river network are deeply discussed herein. DCI quantitatively evaluate the connectivity of river networks based on the number of water conservancy facilities, the connectivity of fish and geographical location. The results show that the number of water conservancy facilities and their location in the river basin have a great influence on the connectivity of the river network. With the increase of the number of sluices and dams, DCI is decreasing gradually, but its decreasing range is becoming smaller and smaller. The dam located in the middle of the river network cuts the upper and lower parts of the whole river network, and destroys the connectivity of the river network more seriously. Therefore, this method can be widely applied to the comparison of different alternatives during planning of river basins and then provide a reference for the site selection and design of the water conservancy project and facility concerned.

  18. The main factors of water pollution in Danube River basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Gasparotti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposed herewith aims to give an overview on the pollution along the Danube River. Water quality in Danube River basin (DRB is under a great pressure due to the diverse range of the human activities including large urban center, industrial, agriculture, transport and mining activities. The most important aspects of the water pollution are: organic, nutrient and microbial pollution, , hazardous substances, and hydro-morphological alteration. Analysis of the pressures on the Danube River showed that a large part of the Danube River is subject to multiple pressures and there are important risks for not reaching good ecological status and good chemical status of the water in the foreseeable future. In 2009, the evaluation based on the results of the Trans National Monitoring Network showed for the length of water bodies from the Danube River basin that 22% achieved good ecological status or ecological potential and 45% river water bodies achieved good chemical status. Another important issue is related to the policy of water pollution.

  19. Landslide-driven drainage divide migration and quantifying progress toward topographic steady state

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahlquist, M. P.; West, A. J.; Li, G.

    2017-12-01

    Drainage divide migration is a critical process in landscape evolution. It reorganizes river basins, redistributing fluvial erosive energy to facilitate mass balance, and contributes to feedbacks between tectonics, erosion, and climate. However, it leaves little straightforward evidence in the geologic or geomorphic record, and has been subject to minimal field study, hampering understanding its role in landscape evolution. Landslides link river channels, hillslopes, and ridges in steep landscapes, and thus play a central role in divide migration. In this study, we examine landslides triggered by three events: the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in central China, the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal, and the 2009 Typhoon Morakot in southern Taiwan, seeking new insight into the controls on divide migration. Of the 100,000 landslides triggered, we mapped 367 which caused a divide to migrate, resulting in a total exchange of about 2 km2 between basins. We use this database of divide migrations to explore relationships between the geometry of rivers and the exchange of drainage area, comparing metrics which have been proposed as indicators of divide stability across mobile divides. We find that upstream-averaged local relief and upstream-averaged channel gradient predict the We propose a new metric to describe divide mobility and the overall influence of a reorganizing event on a landscape, using it to estimate the impact of events similar to the 2009 Typhoon Morakot on the progress of Taiwan's Central Range toward topographic steady state.

  20. Source apportionment of heavy metals and their ecological risk in a tropical river basin system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Balwant; Singh, Umesh Kumar

    2018-06-27

    Surface water and sediment samples were collected from Ajay River basin to appraise the behavior of heavy metals with surrounding environments and their inter-elemental relationships. Parameters like pH and organic carbon are having a minimal role in heavy metal distribution while some elements like Fe and Cu showed great affinity for organic matter based on linear regression analysis (LRA). Ficklin diagram justified that river basin is not contaminated through acidic pollutants. The river basin is highly enriched with Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni which were much higher than world average values, average shale standard, effect range low (ERL), and threshold effect level (TEL). PCA and LRA verified that Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni were mainly derived from anthropogenic inputs, and others like Fe, Mn, Zn, and Co came from geogenic sources. Pollution indices revealed that river basin is moderately to highly contaminated by Cu, Cd, and Ni. Furthermore, Ajay River basin is under strong potential ecological risk based on the obtained value of risk index and probable effect level/effect range median quotient index. However, river basin is strongly influenced by lithological properties, diversified hydrogeological settings, mineralization and mobilization of subsurface materials, and urban and industrial effluents which are controlling the heavy metals.

  1. UV filters bioaccumulation in fish from Iberian river basins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gago-Ferrero, Pablo; Díaz-Cruz, M Silvia; Barceló, Damià

    2015-06-15

    The occurrence of eight organic UV filters (UV-Fs) was assessed in fish from four Iberian river basins. This group of compounds is extensively used in cosmetic products and other industrial goods to avoid the damaging effects of UV radiation, and has been found to be ubiquitous contaminants in the aquatic ecosystem. In particular, fish are considered by the scientific community to be the most feasible organism for contamination monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Despite that, studies on the bioaccumulation of UV-F are scarce. In this study fish samples from four Iberian river basins under high anthropogenic pressure were analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Benzophenone-3 (BP3), ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC) and octocrylene (OC) were the predominant pollutants in the fish samples, with concentrations in the range of ng/g dry weight (d.w.). The results indicated that most polluted area corresponded to Guadalquivir River basin, where maximum concentrations were found for EHMC (241.7 ng/gd.w.). Sediments from this river basin were also analysed. Lower values were observed in relation to fish for OC and EHMC, ranging from below the limits of detection to 23 ng/gd.w. Accumulation levels of UV-F in the fish were used to calculate biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs). These values were always below 1, in the range of 0.04-0.3, indicating that the target UV-Fs are excreted by fish only to some extent. The fact that the highest concentrations were determined in predators suggests that biomagnification of UV-F may take place along the freshwater food web. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. Hydrological long-term dry and wet periods in the Xijiang River basin, South China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Fischer

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, hydrological long-term dry and wet periods are analyzed for the Xijiang River basin in South China. Daily precipitation data of 118 stations and data on daily discharge at Gaoyao hydrological station at the mouth of the Xijiang River for the period 1961–2007 are used. At a 24-month timescale, the standardized precipitation index (SPI-24 for the six sub-basins of the Xijiang River and the standardized discharge index (SDI-24 for Gaoyao station are applied. The monthly values of the SPI-24 averaged for the Xijiang River basin correlate highly with the monthly values of the SDI-24. Distinct long-term dry and wet sequences can be detected.

    The principal component analysis is applied and shows spatial disparities in dry and wet periods for the six sub-basins. The correlation between the SPI-24 of the six sub-basins and the first principal component score shows that 67% of the variability within the sub-basins can be explained by dry and wet periods in the east of the Xijiang River basin. The spatial dipole conditions (second and third principal component explain spatiotemporal disparities in the variability of dry and wet periods. All sub-basins contribute to hydrological dry periods, while mainly the northeastern sub-basins cause wet periods in the Xijiang River. We can also conclude that long-term dry events are larger in spatial extent and cover all sub-basins while long-term wet events are regional phenomena.

    A spectral analysis is applied for the SPI-24 and the SDI-24. The results show significant peaks in periodicities of 11–14.7 yr, 2.8 yr, 3.4–3.7 yr, and 6.3–7.3 yr. The same periodic cycles can be found in the SPI-24 of the six sub-basins but with some variability in the mean magnitude. A wavelet analysis shows that significant periodicities have been stable over time since the 1980s. Extrapolations of the reconstructed SPI-24 and SDI-24 represent the continuation of observed significant periodicities

  3. Tracing nutrient sources in the Mississippi River Basin, U.S.A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kendall, C.; Silva, S.R.; Chang, C.C.Y.; Wankel, S.D.; Hooper, R.P.; Frey, J.W.; Crain, A.S.; Delong, M.D.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: Periodic hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the Mississippi River is of increasing concern. The condition is thought to be primarily the result of nitrate delivered to the Gulf by the Mississippi River. However, as much as half of the nitrogen transported by large rivers to coastal areas is in dissolved or particulate organic form, with the remainder primarily as nitrate. Nitrate is thought to be conservatively transported in the Mississippi and other large rivers, but reduction can occur in marshy pools and backwater channels. Thus, it is important to examine all forms of nitrogen and their potential transformations, in both in groundwater and in riverine environments. To provide critically needed information for the development of management strategies to reduce N loads and enhance N attenuation mechanisms, we have been using isotopic techniques to investigate the sources and cycling of nutrients at a number of sites in the Mississippi Basin (which includes the Ohio and Missouri River Basins) since 1996, in collaboration with several national monitoring programs. One of our most noteworthy finding was that about half of the POM in the Mississippi (and other big rivers in the USA) is composed of plankton and/or heterotrophic bacteria. This suggests that in-situ productivity may be a significant source of bioavailable organic matter contributing to the hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Monthly samples from 19 river sites in the Basin sampled over 5 years showed that δ 15 N and δ 13 C were quite useful in discriminating among four major categories of POM: terrestrial soil, fresh terrestrial vegetation, aquatic macrophytes, and plankton/bacteria. The δ 13 C values for the sites ranged from about -35 to -20 per mille, and the δ 15 N values ranged from about -15 to +15 per mille. The isotopic data, along with ancillary chemical and hydrologic measurements, were also useful for documenting seasonal changes in in-situ processes. A pilot study in

  4. Multiple-source tracking: Investigating sources of pathogens, nutrients, and sediment in the Upper Little River Basin, Kentucky, water years 2013–14

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crain, Angela S.; Cherry, Mac A.; Williamson, Tanja N.; Bunch, Aubrey R.

    2017-09-20

    The South Fork Little River (SFLR) and the North Fork Little River (NFLR) are two major headwater tributaries that flow into the Little River just south of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Both tributaries are included in those water bodies in Kentucky and across the Nation that have been reported with declining water quality. Each tributary has been listed by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet—Kentucky Division of Water in the 303(d) List of Waters for Kentucky Report to Congress as impaired by nutrients, pathogens, and sediment for contact recreation from point and nonpoint sources since 2002. In 2009, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet—Kentucky Division of Water developed a pathogen total maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Little River Basin including the SFLR and NFLR Basins. Future nutrient and suspended-sediment TMDLs are planned once nutrient criteria and suspended-sediment protocols have been developed for Kentucky. In this study, different approaches were used to identify potential sources of fecal-indicator bacteria (FIB), nitrate, and suspended sediment; to inform the TMDL process; and to aid in the implementation of effective watershed-management activities. The main focus of source identification was in the SFLR Basin.To begin understanding the potential sources of fecal contamination, samples were collected at 19 sites for densities of FIB (E. coli) in water and fluvial sediment and at 11 sites for Bacteroidales genetic markers (General AllBac, human HF183, ruminant BoBac, canid BacCan, and waterfowl GFD) during the recreational season (May through October) in 2013 and 2014. Results indicated 34 percent of all E. coli water samples (n=227 samples) did not meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2012 recommended national criteria for primary recreational waters. No criterion currently exists for E. coli in fluvial sediment. By use of the Spearman’s rank correlation test, densities of FIB in fluvial sediments were observed to have a

  5. River monitoring from satellite radar altimetry in the Zambezi River basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. I. Michailovsky

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Satellite radar altimetry can be used to monitor surface water levels from space. While current and past altimetry missions were designed to study oceans, retracking the waveforms returned over land allows data to be retrieved for smaller water bodies or narrow rivers. The objective of this study is the assessment of the potential for river monitoring from radar altimetry in terms of water level and discharge in the Zambezi River basin. Retracked Envisat altimetry data were extracted over the Zambezi River basin using a detailed river mask based on Landsat imagery. This allowed for stage measurements to be obtained for rivers down to 80 m wide with an RMSE relative to in situ levels of 0.32 to 0.72 m at different locations. The altimetric levels were then converted to discharge using three different methods adapted to different data-availability scenarios: first with an in situ rating curve available, secondly with one simultaneous field measurement of cross-section and discharge, and finally with only historical discharge data available. For the two locations at which all three methods could be applied, the accuracies of the different methods were found to be comparable, with RMSE values ranging from 4.1 to 6.5% of the mean annual in situ gauged amplitude for the first method and from 6.9 to 13.8% for the second and third methods. The precision obtained with the different methods was analyzed by running Monte Carlo simulations and also showed comparable values for the three approaches with standard deviations found between 5.7 and 7.2% of the mean annual in situ gauged amplitude for the first method and from 8.7 to 13.0% for the second and third methods.

  6. Estimated dissolved-solids loads and trends at selected streams in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah, Water Years 1989–2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thiros, Susan A.

    2017-03-23

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, studied trends in dissolved-solids loads at selected sites in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah. The Uinta Basin study area includes the Duchesne River Basin and the Middle Green River Basin in Utah from below Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the town of Green River.Annual dissolved-solids loads for water years (WY) 1989 through 2013 were estimated for 16 gaging stations in the study area using streamflow and water-quality data from the USGS National Water Information System database. Eight gaging stations that monitored catchments with limited or no agricultural land use (natural subbasins) were used to assess loads from natural sources. Four gaging stations that monitored catchments with agricultural land in the Duchesne River Basin were used to assess loads from agricultural sources. Four other gaging stations were included in the dissolved-solids load and trend analysis to help assess the effects of agricultural areas that drain to the Green River in the Uinta Basin, but outside of the Duchesne River Basin.Estimated mean annual dissolved-solids loads for WY 1989–2013 ranged from 1,520 tons at Lake Fork River above Moon Lake, near Mountain Home, Utah (UT), to 1,760,000 tons at Green River near Green River, UT. The flow-normalized loads at gaging stations upstream of agricultural activities showed no trend or a relatively small change. The largest net change in modeled flow-normalized load was -352,000 tons (a 17.8-percent decrease) at Green River near Green River, UT.Annual streamflow and modeled dissolved-solids loads at the gaging stations were balanced between upstream and downstream sites to determine how much water and dissolved solids were transported to the Duchesne River and a section of the Green River, and how much was picked up in each drainage area. Mass-balance calculations of WY 1989–2013 mean annual dissolved-solids loads at the studied sites show

  7. Trends in suspended-sediment loads and concentrations in the Mississippi River Basin, 1950–2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heimann, David C.; Sprague, Lori A.; Blevins, Dale W.

    2011-01-01

    Trends in loads and concentrations of suspended sediment and suspended sand generally were downward for stations within the Mississippi River Basin during the 60-, 34-, and 12-year periods analyzed. Sediment transport in the lower Mississippi River has historically been, and continues to be, most closely correlative to sediment contributions from the Missouri River, which generally carried the largest annual suspended-sediment load of the major Mississippi River subbasins. The closure of Fort Randall Dam in the upper Missouri River in 1952 was the single largest event in the recorded historical decline of suspended-sediment loads in the Mississippi River Basin. Impoundments on tributaries and sediment reductions as a result of implementation of agricultural conservation practices throughout the basin likely account for much of the remaining Mississippi River sediment transport decline. Scour of the main-stem channel downstream from the upper Missouri River impoundments is likely the largest source of suspended sand in the lower Missouri River. The Ohio River was second to the Missouri River in terms of sediment contributions, followed by the upper Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. Declines in sediment loads and concentrations continued through the most recent analysis period (1998–2009) at available Mississippi River Basin stations. Analyses of flow-adjusted concentrations of suspended sediment indicate the recent downward temporal changes generally can be explained by corresponding decreases in streamflows.

  8. Groundwater Discharge to Upper Barataria Basin Driven by Mississippi River Stage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cable, J. E.; Kim, J.; Johannesson, K. H.; Kolker, A.; Telfeyan, K.; Breaux, A.

    2017-12-01

    Groundwater flow into deltaic wetlands occurs despite the heterogeneous and anisotropic depositional environment of deltas. Along the Mississippi River this groundwater flow is augmented by the vast alluvial aquifer and the levees which confine the river to a zone much more narrow than the historical floodplain. The effect of the levees has been to force the river stage to as much as 10 m above the adjacent back-levee wetlands. Consequently, the head difference created by higher river stages can drive groundwater flow into these wetlands, especially during flood seasons. We measured Rn-222 in the surface waters of a bayou draining a bottomland hardwood swamp in the lower Mississippi River valley over a 14-month period. With a half-life of 3.83 days and its conservative geochemical behavior, Rn-222 is a well-known tracer for groundwater inputs in both fresh and marine environments. Transects from the mouth to the headwaters of the bayou were monitored for Rn-222 in real-time using Rad-7s on a semi-monthly basis. We found that Rn-222 decreased exponentially from the swamp at the headwaters to the mouth of the bayou. Using a mass balance approach, we calculated groundwater inputs to the bayou headwaters and compared these discharge estimates to variations in Mississippi River stage. Groundwater inputs to the Barataria Basin, Louisiana, represent a significant fraction of the freshwater budget of the basin. The flow appears to occur through the sandy Point Bar Aquifer that lies adjacent to the river and underlies many of the freshwater swamps of the Basin. Tracer measurements throughout the Basin in these swamp areas appear to confirm our hypothesis about the outlet for groundwater in this deltaic environment.

  9. Impacts of golden alga Prymnesium parvum on fish populations in reservoirs of the upper Colorado River and Brazos River basins, Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanLandeghem, Matthew M.; Farooqi, Mukhtar; Farquhar, B.; Patino, Reynaldo

    2013-01-01

    Several reservoirs in the upper Colorado River and Brazos River basins in Texas have experienced toxic blooms of golden alga Prymnesium parvum and associated fish kills since 2001. There is a paucity of information, however, regarding the population-level effects of such kills in large reservoirs, species-specific resistance to or recovery from kills, or potential differences in the patterns of impacts among basins. We used multiple before-after, control-impact analysis to determine whether repeated golden alga blooms have led to declines in the relative abundance and size structure of fish populations. Sustained declines were noted for 9 of 12 fish species surveyed in the upper Colorado River, whereas only one of eight species was impacted by golden alga in the Brazos River. In the upper Colorado River, White Bass Morone chrysops, White Crappie Pomoxis annularis, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, River Carpsucker Carpiodes carpio, Freshwater Drum Aplodinotus grunniens, Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus, Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris, and Blue Catfish I. furcatus exhibited sustained declines in relative abundance, size structure, or both; Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum, Longnose Gar Lepisosteus osseus, and Common Carp Cyprinus carpio did not exhibit those declines. In the Brazos River, only the relative abundance of Blue Catfish was impacted. Overall, toxic golden alga blooms can negatively impact fish populations over the long-term, but the patterns of impact can vary considerably among river basins and species. In the Brazos River, populations of most fish species appear to be healthy, suggesting a positive angling outlook for this basin. In the upper Colorado River, fish populations have been severely impacted, and angling opportunities have been reduced. Basin-specific management plans aimed at improving water quality and quantity will likely reduce bloom intensity and allow recovery of fish populations to the

  10. Elaboration of climatic maps using GIS. Case study: Olãnesti drainage basin, Romania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tîrlã, Laura

    2012-04-01

    Creating precise climatic maps (temperature and precipitation map especially) on small areas such as drainage basins or landform units is always very useful for ecology of plants, distribution of vegetation and also different types of agricultural land. The geographic information system (GIS) analysis of several key-factors (aspect and slope of terrain, insolation degree, thermal gradient, geology and structure of landforms) offers the necessary tools to operate with in order to create an accurate climatic map. This method was applied in order to create a map showing the distribution of temperatures in the Olanesti drainages basin, a 235 km2 area located at middle latitude, in Romania. After creating the DEM, aspect and slope of the terrain, reclassifying categories and calculating the thermal gradient, a map showing the distribution of the annual mean temperature is obtained. Other climatic parameters could be calculated for small areas too, with precise results. These demonstrate that not only elevation and mathematical location of an area are important factors in the distribution of temperature, but also the aspect, the gradient, the insolation, the type of rock and the structure.

  11. Stabilization of Aley river water content by forest stands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. G. Paramonov

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Aley river basin is one of the most developed territories in West Siberia. Initially, the development here was related to the development of ore mining in the Altai. Currently it is associated mainly with the agricultural orientation of economic development. The intensive involvement of basin lands into the economic turnover for the last 100 years contributed to the formation of a number of environmental problems, such as water and wind erosion, loss of soil fertility and salinization, and desertification of the territory. Besides, the decrease of Aley river water content due to natural and anthropogenic reasons was observed. A specific feature of water management in Aley river basin is a significant amount of water resources used for irrigation purposes and agricultural water supply. To ensure the economic and drinking water supply, two reservoirs and a number of ponds have been constructed and operate in the basin. Forest ecosystems of the basin are considered from the viewpoint of preservation and restoration of small rivers. The ability of forest to accumulate solid precipitation and intercept them during the snowmelt for a longer time reduces the surface drainage and promotes transfer into the subsurface flow, significantly influencing the water content of permanent watercourses, is shown. The state of protective forest plantations in Aley river basin is analyzed. Aley river tributaries are compared by area, the length of water flow, and forest coverage of the basin. It is proposed to regulate the runoff through drastic actions on the increase of forest cover in the plain and especially in the mountainous parts of the basin. Measures to increase the forest cover within water protection zones, afforestation of temporary and permanent river basins, and the protection of agricultural soil fertility are worked out.

  12. Use and occurrence of pesticides in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, 1960-91

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stell, Susan M.; Hopkins, Evelyn H.; Buell, Gary R.; Hippe, Daniel J.

    1995-01-01

    or above a minimum reporting level in about five percent of all analyses. Most of the pesticide analyses and most of the analyses having concentrations above minimum reporting levels in these databases are for organochlorine insecticides in samples collected five or more years before this study. With few exceptions, most of organochlorine insecticides are now banned from use in the United States. Concentrations of currently (1991) used pesticides were at or above a minimum reporting level in about 0.3 percent of the analyses. The geographic patterns in the occurrence and distribution of pesticides in the ACF River basin (as defined by data collected during 1960-91) are, as expected, somewhat defined by land-use patterns. DDT (together with DDD and DDE) were detected in wide distribution in the sediments and aquatic biota of primarily mainstem and reservoir sites in the Chattahoochee, Flint, and Apalachicola drainages. DDT was used through 1973 as an insecticide on cotton, fruits, and vegetables; and for mosquito control, so its widespread occurrence in both urban and agricultural settings is consistent with its use. Chlordane, heptachlor, dieldrin, and related compounds were agriculturally used through 1974, but predominantly as termiticides through the late 1980?s. Compounds in these groups have been found in the sediments and aquatic biota of tributary streams draining the Atlanta Metropolitan area and of mainstem reaches and reservoirs of the Chattahoochee River downstream from the Atlanta and Columbus, Ga., Metropolitan areas. The phenoxy-acid herbicides are widely used in residential, commercial/industrial, agricultural, and silvicultural areas of the ACF River basin. Detectable concentrations of 2,4-D were found in most of the surface-waters sampled in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. It is unfortunate that only limited inference can be drawn on temporal patterns. Many of the Federal and State agency pesticide-monitoring programs have been targeted

  13. River Basin Water Assessment and Balance in fast developing areas in Viet Nam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Van Chin; Ranzi, Roberto

    2010-05-01

    Uneven precipitation in space and time together with mismanagement and lack of knowledge about quantity and quality of water resources, have caused water shortages for water supply to large cities and irrigation areas in many regions of Viet Nam in the dry season. The rainy season (from June to October) counts for 80% of the total annual rainfall, while the water volume of dry season (from November to May of the following year) accounts for 20% only. Lack of sufficient water volumes occurs in some areas where the pressure of a fast increasing population (1.3% per year on average in the last decade in Viet Nam), intensive agricultural and industrial uses is one of the major problems facing sustainable development. For those areas an accurate water assessment and balance at the riverbasin scale is needed to manage the exploitation and appropriate use of water resources and plan future development. The paper describes the preliminary phase of the pilot development of the river basin water balance for the Day River Basin in the Red River delta in Viet Nam. The Day river basin includes a 7,897 km² area in the south-western part of the Red River in Viet Nam. The total population in the Day river basin exceeds 8 millions inhabitants, including the Hanoi capital, Nam Dinh and other large towns. Agricultural land covered 390,294 ha in 2000 and this area is going to be increased by 14,000 ha in 2010 due to land reclamation and expansion toward the sea. Agricultural uses exploit about 90% of surface water resources in the Day river basin but have to compete with industrial and civil needs in the recent years. At the background of the brief characterization of the Day River Basin, we concentrate on the application of a water balance model integrated by an assessment of water quality after consumptive uses for civil, agricultural and industrial needs to assist water management in the basin. In addition, future development scenarios are taken into account, considering less

  14. Water resources inventory of Connecticut Part 2: Shetucket River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Mendall P.; Bednar, Gene A.; Thomas, Chester E.; Wilson, William E.

    1967-01-01

    The Shetucket River basin has a relatively abundant supply of water of generally good quality which is derived from precipitation that has fallen on the basin. Annual precipitation has ranged from about 30 inches to 75 inches and has averaged about 45 inches over a 35-year period. Approximately 20 inches of water are returned to the atmosphere each year by evaporation and transpiration; the remainder of the annual precipitation either flows overland to streams or percolates downward to the water table and ultimately flows out of the basin in the Shetucket River or as underflow through the deposits beneath. During the autumn and winter months precipitation normally is sufficient to cause a substantial increase in the amount of water stored underground and in surface reservoirs within the basins whereas in the summer most of the precipitation is lost through evaporation and transpiration, resulting in sharply reduced streamflow and lowered groundwater levels. The mean monthly storage of water in the basin on an average is 3.5 inches higher in November than it is in June.

  15. The evolution and performance of river basin management in the Murray-Darling Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Ross

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available We explore bioregional management in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB in Australia through the institutional design characteristics of the MDB River Basin Organization (RBO, the actors and organizations who supported and resisted the establishment of the RBO, and the effectiveness of the RBO. During the last 25 years, there has been a major structural reform in the MDB RBO, which has changed from an interstate coordinating body to an Australian government agency. Responsibility for basin management has been centralized under the leadership of the Australian government, and a comprehensive integrated Basin plan has been adopted. The driving forces for this centralization include national policy to restore river basins to sustainable levels of extraction, state government difficulties in reversing overallocation of water entitlements, the millennium drought and its effects, political expediency on the part of the Australian government and state governments, and a major injection of Australian government funding. The increasing hierarchy and centralization of the MDB RBO does not follow a general trend toward multilevel participative governance of RBOs, but decentralization should not be overstated because of the special circumstances at the time of the centralization and the continuing existence of some decentralized elements, such as catchment water plans, land use planning, and water quality. Further swings in the centralization-decentralization pendulum could occur. The MDB reform has succeeded in rebalancing Basin water allocations, including an allocation for the environment and reduced diversion limits. There are some longer term risks to the implementation of reform, including lack of cooperation by state governments, vertical coordination difficulties, and perceived reductions in the accountability and legitimacy of reform at the local level. If implementation of the Basin plan is diverted or delayed, a new institution, the Commonwealth

  16. Evaluate Status of Pacific Lamprey in the Clearwater River Drainage, Idaho, Annual Report 2002.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cochnauer, Tim; Claire, Christopher

    2003-10-01

    In 2002 Idaho Department of Fish and Game continued investigation into the status of Pacific lamprey populations in Idaho's Clearwater River drainage. Trapping, electrofishing, and spawning ground redd surveys were used to determine Pacific lamprey distribution, life history strategies, and habitat requirements in the South Fork Clearwater River, Lochsa River, Selway River, and Middle Fork Clearwater River subbasins. Five-hundred forty-one ammocoetes were captured electroshocking 70 sites in the South Fork Clearwater River, Lochsa River, Selway River, Middle Fork Clearwater River, Clearwater River, and their tributaries in 2002. Habitat utilization surveys in Red River support previous work indicating Pacific lamprey ammocoete densities are greater in lateral scour pool habitats compared to riffles and rapids. Presence-absence survey findings in 2002 augmented 2000 and 2001 indicating Pacific lamprey macrothalmia and ammocoetes are not numerous or widely distributed. Pacific lamprey distribution was confined to the lower reaches of Red River below rkm 8.0, the South Fork Clearwater River, Lochsa River (Ginger Creek to mouth), Selway River (Race Creek to mouth), Middle Fork Clearwater River, and the Clearwater River (downstream to Potlatch River).

  17. Organizing cross-sectoral collaboration in river basin management : Case studies from the Rhine and the Zhujiang (Pearl River) basins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Silveira, André; Junier, S.J.; Hüesker, Frank; Qunfang, Fan; Rondorf, Andreas

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT: This paper analyses the drivers and constraints for effective cross-sectoral collaboration in river basin management and the extent to which factors identified in related literature determine success or failure of collaboration in selected case studies. Cases selected were from

  18. The Role of Physical and Human Landscape Properties on Carbon Composition of Organic Matter in Tropical Rivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballester, M. R.; Krusche, A. V.; Victoria, R. L.; Richey, J. E.; Deegan, L.; Neill, C.

    2011-12-01

    To evaluate physical and human controls organic matter carbon composition in tropical rivers, we applied an integrated analysis of landscape properties and riverine isotopic composition. Our goal was to establish the relationships between basin attributes and forms and composition of dissolved and particulate organic matter in rivers. A GIS template was developed as tool to support the understanding of the biogeochemistry of the surface waters of the Ji-Paraná (Western Amazonia) and the Piracicaba (southeastern of Brazil)rivers. Each basin was divided into drainage units, organized according to river network morphology and degree of land-use impact. The delineated drainage areas were individually characterized in terms of topography, soils and land use using data sets compiled as layers in ArcGis and ERDAS-IMAGINE software. DOM and POM carbon stable isotopic composition were determined at several sites along the main tributaries and small streams. The effects of these drivers on the fluvial carbon was quantified by a multiple linear regression analysis, relating basin characteristics and river isotopic composition. The results showed that relatively recent land cover changes have already had an impact on the composition of the riverine DOM and POM, indicating that, as in natural ecosystems, the vegetation plays a key role in the composition of the riverine organic matter in agricultural systems.

  19. Hydrological River Drought Analysis (Case Study: Lake Urmia Basin Rivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Nazeri Tahrudi

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Drought from the hydrological viewpoint is a continuation of the meteorological drought that cause of the lack of surface water such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs and groundwater resources. This analysis, which is generally on the surface streams, reservoirs, lakes and groundwater, takes place as hydrological drought considered and studied. So the data on the quantity of flow of the rivers in this study is of fundamental importance. This data are included, level, flow, river flow is no term (5. Overall the hydrological drought studies are focused on annual discharges, maximum annual discharge or minimum discharge period. The most importance of this analysis is periodically during the course of the analysis remains a certain threshold and subthresholdrunoff volume fraction has created. In situations where water for irrigation or water of a river without any reservoir, is not adequate, the minimum flow analysis, the most important factor to be considered (4. The aim of this study is evaluatingthe statistical distributions of drought volume rivers data from the Urmia Lake’s rivers and its return period. Materials and Methods: Urmia Lake is a biggest and saltiest continued lake in Iran. The Lake Urmia basin is one of the most important basins in Iran region which is located in the North West of Iran. With an extent of 52700 square kilometers and an area equivalent to 3.21% of the total area of the country, This basin is located between the circuit of 35 degrees 40 minutes to 38 degrees 29 minutes north latitude and the meridian of 44 degrees 13 minutes to 47 degrees 53 minutes east longitude. In this study used the daily discharge data (m3s-1 of Urmia Lake Rivers. Extraction of river drought volume The drought durations were extracted from the daily discharge of 13 studied stations. The first mean year was calculated for each 365 days using the Eq 1 (14. (1 (For i=1,2,3,…,365 That Ki is aith mean year, Yijis ith day discharge in jth

  20. Geohydrology of the Aucilla-Suwannee-Ochlockonee River Basin, south-central Georgia and adjacent parts of Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torak, Lynn J.; Painter, Jaime A.; Peck, Michael F.

    2010-01-01

    Major streams and tributaries located in the Aucilla-Suwannee-Ochlockonee (ASO) River Basin of south-central Georgia and adjacent parts of Florida drain about 8,000 square miles of a layered sequence of clastic and carbonate sediments and carbonate Coastal Plain sediments consisting of the surficial aquifer system, upper semiconfining unit, Upper Floridan aquifer, and lower confining unit. Streams either flow directly on late-middle Eocene to Oligocene karst limestone or carve a dendritic drainage pattern into overlying Miocene to Holocene sand, silt, and clay, facilitating water exchange and hydraulic connection with geohydrologic units. Geologic structures operating in the ASO River Basin through time control sedimentation and influence geohydrology and water exchange between geohydrologic units and surface water. More than 300 feet (ft) of clastic sediments overlie the Upper Floridan aquifer in the Gulf Trough-Apalachicola Embayment, a broad area extending from the southwest to the northeast through the center of the basin. These clastic sediments limit hydraulic connection and water exchange between the Upper Floridan aquifer, the surficial aquifer system, and surface water. Accumulation of more than 350 ft of low-permeability sediments in the Southeast Georgia Embayment and Suwannee Strait hydraulically isolates the Upper Floridan aquifer from land-surface hydrologic processes in the Okefenokee Basin physiographic district. Burial of limestone beneath thick clastic overburden in these areas virtually eliminates karst processes, resulting in low aquifer hydraulic conductivity and storage coefficient despite an aquifer thickness of more than 900 ft. Conversely, uplift and faulting associated with regional tectonics and the northern extension of the Peninsular Arch caused thinning and erosion of clastic sediments overlying the Upper Floridan aquifer southeast of the Gulf Trough-Apalachicola Embayment near the Florida-Georgia State line. Limestone dissolution in

  1. A market-based approach to share water and benefits in transboundary river basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arjoon, Diane; Tilmant, Amaury; Herrmann, Markus

    2016-04-01

    The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived as efficient, as well as equitable, in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement. In this methodology (i) a hydro-economic model is used to efficiently allocate scarce water resources to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges are equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users. The amount of monetary compensation, for each water user, is determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The technique ensures economic efficiency and may lead to more equitable solutions in the sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins because the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as would be the case if existing methods, such as game theory, were applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness.

  2. Research on monitoring system of water resources in Shiyang River Basin based on Multi-agent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, T. H.; Yin, Z.; Song, Y. Z.

    2012-11-01

    The Shiyang River Basin is the most populous, economy relatively develop, the highest degree of development and utilization of water resources, water conflicts the most prominent, ecological environment problems of the worst hit areas in Hexi inland river basin in Gansu province. the contradiction between people and water is aggravated constantly in the basin. This text combines multi-Agent technology with monitoring system of water resource, the establishment of a management center, telemetry Agent Federation, as well as the communication network between the composition of the Shiyang River Basin water resources monitoring system. By taking advantage of multi-agent system intelligence and communications coordination to improve the timeliness of the basin water resources monitoring.

  3. Research on monitoring system of water resources in Shiyang River Basin based on Multi-agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, T h; Yin, Z; Song, Y Z

    2012-01-01

    The Shiyang River Basin is the most populous, economy relatively develop, the highest degree of development and utilization of water resources, water conflicts the most prominent, ecological environment problems of the worst hit areas in Hexi inland river basin in Gansu province. the contradiction between people and water is aggravated constantly in the basin. This text combines multi-Agent technology with monitoring system of water resource, the establishment of a management center, telemetry Agent Federation, as well as the communication network between the composition of the Shiyang River Basin water resources monitoring system. By taking advantage of multi-agent system intelligence and communications coordination to improve the timeliness of the basin water resources monitoring.

  4. Ecosystem based river basin management planning in critical water catchment in Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tugjamba, Navchaa; Sereeter, Erdenetuul; Gonchigjav, Sarantuya

    2014-05-01

    Developing the ecosystem based adaptation strategies to maintain water security in critical water catchments in Mongolia would be very significant. It will be base by reducing the vulnerability. "Ecosystem Based adaptation" is quite a new term in Mongolia and the ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. To strengthen equitable economic development, food security, climate resilience and protection of the environment, the implementation of sustainable river basin management in critical water catchments is challenging in Mongolia. The Ulz river basin is considered one of the critical water catchments due to the temperature has increased by in average 1.30Ñ over the period 1976 to 2011. It is more intense than the global warming rate (0.740C/100 years) and a bit higher than the warming rate over whole Mongolia as well. From long-term observations and measurements it is clear that Ulz River has low water in a period of 1970-1980 and since the end of 1980s and middle of 1990s there were dominated years of the flood. However, under the influence of the global warming, climate changes of Mongolia and continuation of drought years with low water since the end of 1990s until today river water was sharply fallen and dried up. For the last ten years rivers are dried up and annual mean run-off is less by 3-5 times from long term mean value. The Ulz is the transboundary river basin and taking its origin from Ikh and Baga Burd springs on territory of Norovlin soum of Khentii province that flows through Khentii and Dornod provinces to the northeast, crossing the state border it flows in Baruun Tari located in Tari Lake concavity in Russia. Based on the integrative baseline study on the 'The Ulz River Basin Environmental and Socioeconomic condition', ecosystem based river basin management was planned. 'Water demand Calculator 3' (WDC) software was used to

  5. Process-based distributed modeling approach for analysis of sediment dynamics in a river basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. A. Kabir

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Modeling of sediment dynamics for developing best management practices of reducing soil erosion and of sediment control has become essential for sustainable management of watersheds. Precise estimation of sediment dynamics is very important since soils are a major component of enormous environmental processes and sediment transport controls lake and river pollution extensively. Different hydrological processes govern sediment dynamics in a river basin, which are highly variable in spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents a process-based distributed modeling approach for analysis of sediment dynamics at river basin scale by integrating sediment processes (soil erosion, sediment transport and deposition with an existing process-based distributed hydrological model. In this modeling approach, the watershed is divided into an array of homogeneous grids to capture the catchment spatial heterogeneity. Hillslope and river sediment dynamic processes have been modeled separately and linked to each other consistently. Water flow and sediment transport at different land grids and river nodes are modeled using one dimensional kinematic wave approximation of Saint-Venant equations. The mechanics of sediment dynamics are integrated into the model using representative physical equations after a comprehensive review. The model has been tested on river basins in two different hydro climatic areas, the Abukuma River Basin, Japan and Latrobe River Basin, Australia. Sediment transport and deposition are modeled using Govers transport capacity equation. All spatial datasets, such as, Digital Elevation Model (DEM, land use and soil classification data, etc., have been prepared using raster "Geographic Information System (GIS" tools. The results of relevant statistical checks (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and R–squared value indicate that the model simulates basin hydrology and its associated sediment dynamics reasonably well. This paper presents the

  6. Climate change adaptation in European river basins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huntjens, P.; Pahl-Wostl, C.; Grin, J.

    2010-01-01

    This paper contains an assessment and standardized comparative analysis of the current water management regimes in four case-studies in three European river basins: the Hungarian part of the Upper Tisza, the Ukrainian part of the Upper Tisza (also called Zacarpathian Tisza), Alentejo Region

  7. U-Pbdating on detrital zircon and Nd and Hf isotopes related to the provenance of siliciclastic rocks of the Amazon Basin: Implications for the origin of Proto-Amazonas River

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dantas, Elton Luiz; Silva Souza, Valmir; Nogueira, Afonso C. R.; Ventura Santos, Roberto; Poitrasson, Franck; Vieira Cruz, Lucieth; Mendes Conceição, Anderson

    2014-05-01

    Previous provenance studies along the Amazonas river have demonstrated that the Amazon drainage basin has been reorganized since the Late Cretaceous with the uplift of the Andes and the establishment of the transcontinental Amazon fluvial system from Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene (Hoorn et al., 1995; Potter, 1997, Wesselingh et al., 2002; Figueiredo et al. 2009, Campbell et al., 2006, Nogueira et al. 2013).There is a lack of data from Eastern and Central Amazonia and only limited core data from the Continental Platform near to current Amazonas river mouth. Central Amazonia is strategic to unveil the origin of Amazonas River because it represents the region where the connection of the Solimões and Amazonas basin can be studied through time (Nogueira et al. 2013). Also, there is a shortage of information on the old Precambrian and Paleozoic sediment sources relative to Cretaceous and Miocene siliciclastic deposits of the Solimões and Amazonas basins. We collected stratigraphic data, detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Nd and Hf isotopes from Precambrian, Paleozoic, Cretaceous and Miocene siliciclastic deposits of the Northwestern border of Amazonas Basin. They are exposed in the Presidente Figueiredo region and in the scarps of Amazon River, and occur to the east of the Purus Arch. This Northwest-Southeast trending structural feature that divides the Solimões and Amazonas basin was active at various times since the Paleozoic. Detrital zircon ages for the Neoproterozoic Prosperança Formation yielded a complex signature, with different populations of Neoproterozoic (550, 630 and 800 Ma) and Paleoproterozoic to Archean sources (1.6, 2.1 and 2.6 Ga). Also Nd and Hf isotopes show two groups of TDM model ages between 1.4 to 1.53 Ga and 2.2 and 3.1 Ga. Sediments typical of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Nhamundá and Manacapuru Formations revealed NdTDM model ages of 1.7, 2.2 and 2.7 Ga, but Hf isotopes and U-Pb zircon ages are more varied. They characterize a

  8. Estimation of potential runoff-contributing areas in the Kansas-Lower Republican River Basin, Kansas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juracek, Kyle E.

    1999-01-01

    Digital soils and topographic data were used to estimate and compare potential runoff-contributing areas for 19 selected subbasins representing soil, slope, and runoff variability within the Kansas-Lower Republican (KLR) River Basin. Potential runoff-contributing areas were estimated separately and collectively for the processes of infiltration-excess and saturation-excess overland flow using a set of environmental conditions that represented high, moderate, and low potential runoff. For infiltration-excess overland flow, various rainfall intensities and soil permeabilities were used. For saturation-excess overland flow, antecedent soil-moisture conditions and a topographic wetness index were used. Results indicated that the subbasins with relatively high potential runoff are located in the central part of the KLR River Basin. These subbasins are Black Vermillion River, Clarks Creek, Delaware River upstream from Muscotah, Grasshopper Creek, Mill Creek (Wabaunsee County), Soldier Creek, Vermillion Creek (Pottawatomie County), and Wildcat Creek. The subbasins with relatively low potential runoff are located in the western one-third of the KLR River Basin, with one exception, and are Buffalo Creek, Little Blue River upstream from Barnes, Mill Creek (Washington County), Republican River between Concordia and Clay Center, Republican River upstream from Concordia, Wakarusa River downstream from Clinton Lake (exception), and White Rock Creek. The ability to distinguish the subbasins as having relatively high or low potential runoff was possible mostly due to the variability of soil permeability across the KLR River Basin.

  9. Investigating the ancient landscape and Cenozoic drainage development of southern Yukon (Canada), through restoration modeling of the Cordilleran-scale Tintina Fault.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayward, N.; Jackson, L. E.; Ryan, J. J.

    2017-12-01

    This study of southern Yukon (Canada) challenges the notion that the landscape in the long-lived, tectonically active, northern Canadian Cordillera is implicitly young. The impact of Cenozoic displacement along the continental- scale Tintina Fault on the development of the Yukon River and drainage basins of central Yukon is investigated through geophysical and hydrological modeling of digital terrain model data. Regional geological evidence suggests that the age of the planation of the Yukon plateaus is at least Late Cretaceous, rather than Neogene as previously concluded, and that there has been little penetrative deformation or net incision in the region since the late Mesozoic. The Tintina Fault has been interpreted as having experienced 430 km of dextral displacement, primarily during the Eocene. However, the alignment of river channels across the fault at specific displacements, coupled with recent seismic events and related fault activity, indicate that the fault may have moved in stages over a longer time span. Topographic restoration and hydrological models show that the drainage of the Yukon River northwestward into Alaska via the ancestral Kwikhpak River was only possible at restored displacements of up to 50-55 km on the Tintina Fault. We interpret the published drainage reversals convincingly attributed to the effects of Pliocene glaciation as an overprint on earlier Yukon River reversals or diversions attributed to tectonic displacements along the Tintina Fault. At restored fault displacements of between 230 and 430 km, our models illustrate that paleo Yukon River drainage conceivably may have flowed eastward into the Atlantic Ocean via an ancestral Liard River, which was a tributary of the paleo Bell River system. The revised drainage evolution if correct requires wide-reaching reconsideration of surficial geology deposits, the flow direction and channel geometries of the region's ancient rivers, and importantly, exploration strategies of placer gold

  10. Evolution of canals system linking the Vistula, Dnieper and Neman basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brykala, Dariusz; Badziai, Vitali

    2014-05-01

    The aim of this study is to reconstruct landscape changes in the Polesie Region - one of the largest European swampy areas (Belarus), as a result of the creation and operation of a network of canals. From the 16th century efforts were undertaken to connect the Polish areas located in the drainage basins of the Black Sea and Baltic Sea with canals. Already in 1631 the Polish Sejm (parliament) approved the project to build a canal linking the River Berezina (Dnieper basin) with the River Neris (Neman basin). However, the complicated political and economic situation of the country did not allow doing this. Only in the second half of the 18th c. hetman Ogiński financed the construction of a canal linking the Dnieper and Neman basins. The canal connecting the River Szczara (Neman basin) with the River Jasiołda (Pripyat basin) was named after its creator - the Ogiński Canal. At the same time the construction of the Królewski (Royal) Canal linking the River Muchavets (Vistula basin) and the River Pina (Pripyat basin) was under way. The construction of the canal was completed in 1783. The winding channels of the Pina and Muchavets were straightened, and the numerous canals feeding the waterway system drained vast area of marshes and wetlands of the Polesia Region. The last element that connects the catchments of the Vistula and Neman is the Augustów Canal built in the years 1825-1839 (linking the catchments of the Biebrza and Neman). Numerous changes in political boundaries in the watershed area between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea drainage basins caused the destruction of the hydraulic structures. All the analysed canals were completely destroyed during the two world wars. In the last 200 years the amount and type of locks and weirs has changed. For example, there were no weirs on the Royal Canal in the late 18th c., in the middle of the 19th c. there were 22 such structures, while now that number has gone down to 10. All canals were created for economic reasons

  11. Development of river sediment monitoring in Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frančišković-Bilinski, Stanislav; Bilinski, Halka; Mlakar, Marina; Maldini, Krešimir

    2017-04-01

    Establishment of regular river sediment monitoring, in addition to water monitoring, is very important. Unlike water, which represents the current state of a particular watercourse, sediment represents a sort of record of the state of pollution in the long run. Sediment monitoring is crucial to gain a real insight into the status of pollution of particular watercourses and to determine trends over a longer period of time. First scientific investigations of river sediment geochemistry in Croatia started 1989 in the Krka River estuary [1], while first systematic research of a river basin in Croatia was performed 2005 in Kupa River drainage basin [2]. Up to now, several detailed studies of both toxic metals and organic pollutants have been conducted in this drainage basin and some other rivers, also Croatian scientists participated in river sediment research in other countries. In 2008 Croatian water authorities (Hrvatske Vode) started preliminary sediment monitoring program, what was successfully conducted. In the first year of preliminary program only 14 stations existed, while in 2014 number of stations increased to 21. Number of monitored watercourses and of analysed parameters also increased. Current plan is to establish permanent monitoring network of river sediments throughout the state. The goal is to set up about 80 stations, which will cover all most important and most contaminated watercourses in all parts of the country [3]. Until the end of the year 2016, regular monitoring was conducted at 31 stations throughout the country. Currently the second phase of sediment monitoring program is in progress. At the moment parameters being determined on particular stations are not uniform. From inorganic compounds it is aimed to determine Cd, Pb, Ni, Hg, Cu, Cr, Zn and As on all stations. The ratio of natural concentrations of those elements vs. anthropogenic influence is being evaluated on all stations. It was found that worse situation is with Ni, Hg and Cr, who

  12. Geohydrologic reconnaissance of the upper Potomac River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trainer, Frank W.; Watkins, Frank A.

    1975-01-01

    The upper Potomac River basin, in the central Appalachian region in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is a humid temperate region of diverse fractured rocks. Three geohydrologic terranes, which underlie large parts of the basin, are described in terms of their aquifer characteristics and of the magnitude and duration of their base runoff: (1) fractured rock having a thin regolith, (2) fractured rock having a thick regolith, and (3) carbonate rock. Crystalline rock in the mountainous part of the Blue Ridge province and shale with tight sandstone in the folded Appalachians are covered with thin regolith. Water is stored in and moves through fairly unmodified fractures. Average transmissivity (T) is estimated to be 150 feet squared per day, and average storage coefficient (S), 0.005. Base runoff declines rapidly from its high levels during spring and is poorly sustained during the summer season of high evapotranspiration. The rocks in this geohydrologic terrane are the least effective in the basin for the development of water supplies and as a source of dry-weather streamflow. Crystalline and sedimentary rocks in the Piedmont province and in the lowland part of the Blue Ridge province are covered with thick regolith. Water is stored in and moves through both the regolith and the underlying fractured rock. Estimated average values for aquifer characteristics are T, 200 feet squared per day, and S, 0.01. Base runoff is better sustained in this terrane than in the thin-regolith terrane and on the average .is about twice as great. Carbonate rock, in which fractures have been widened selectively by solution, especially near streams, has estimated average aquifer characteristics of T, 500 feet squared per day, and S, 0.03-0.04. This rock is the most effective in the basin in terms of water supply and base runoff. Where its fractures have not been widened by solution, the carbonate rock is a fractured-rock aquifer much like the noncarbonate rock. At low

  13. Constraining frequency–magnitude–area relationships for rainfall and flood discharges using radar-derived precipitation estimates: example applications in the Upper and Lower Colorado River basins, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. A. Orem

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Flood-envelope curves (FECs are useful for constraining the upper limit of possible flood discharges within drainage basins in a particular hydroclimatic region. Their usefulness, however, is limited by their lack of a well-defined recurrence interval. In this study we use radar-derived precipitation estimates to develop an alternative to the FEC method, i.e., the frequency–magnitude–area-curve (FMAC method that incorporates recurrence intervals. The FMAC method is demonstrated in two well-studied US drainage basins, i.e., the Upper and Lower Colorado River basins (UCRB and LCRB, respectively, using Stage III Next-Generation-Radar (NEXRAD gridded products and the diffusion-wave flow-routing algorithm. The FMAC method can be applied worldwide using any radar-derived precipitation estimates. In the FMAC method, idealized basins of similar contributing area are grouped together for frequency–magnitude analysis of precipitation intensity. These data are then routed through the idealized drainage basins of different contributing areas, using contributing-area-specific estimates for channel slope and channel width. Our results show that FMACs of precipitation discharge are power-law functions of contributing area with an average exponent of 0.82 ± 0.06 for recurrence intervals from 10 to 500 years. We compare our FMACs to published FECs and find that for wet antecedent-moisture conditions, the 500-year FMAC of flood discharge in the UCRB is on par with the US FEC for contributing areas of  ∼ 102 to 103 km2. FMACs of flood discharge for the LCRB exceed the published FEC for the LCRB for contributing areas in the range of  ∼ 103 to 104 km2. The FMAC method retains the power of the FEC method for constraining flood hazards in basins that are ungauged or have short flood records, yet it has the added advantage that it includes recurrence-interval information necessary for estimating event probabilities.

  14. Evaluation of ecological instream flow considering hydrological alterations in the Yellow River basin, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qiang; Zhang, Zongjiao; Shi, Peijun; Singh, Vijay P.; Gu, Xihui

    2018-01-01

    The Yellow River is the second largest river in China and is the important source for water supply in the northwestern and northern China. It is often regarded as the mother river of China. Owing to climatic change and intensifying human activities, such as increasing withdrawal of water for meeting growing agricultural irrigation needs since 1986, the flow of Yellow River has decreased, with serious impacts on the ecological environment. Using multiple hydrological indicators and Flow Duration Curve (DFC)-based ecodeficit and ecosurplus, this study investigates the impact of hydrological alterations, such as the impact of water reservoirs or dams, on downstream ecological instream flow. Results indicate that: (1) due to the impoundment and hydrological regulations of water reservoirs, occurrence rates and magnitudes of high flow regimes have decreased and the decrease is also found in the magnitudes of low flow events. These changes tend to be more evident from the upper to the lower Yellow River basin; (2) human activities tend to enhance the instream flow variability, particularly after the 1980s;(3) the ecological environment in different parts of the Yellow River basin is under different degrees of ecological risk. In general, lower to higher ecological risk can be detected due to hydrological alterations from the upper to the lower Yellow River basin. This shows that conservation of ecological environment and river health is facing a serious challenge in the lower Yellow River basin; (4) ecological instream flow indices, such as ecodeficit and ecosurplus, and IHA32 hydrological indicators are in strong relationships, suggesting that ecodeficit and ecosurplus can be regarded as appropriate ecological indicators for developing measures for mitigating the adverse impact of human activities on the conservation of ecological environment in the Yellow River basin.

  15. Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

    OpenAIRE

    D. Arjoon; A. Tilmant; M. Herrmann

    2016-01-01

    The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit-sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the cont...

  16. Water pollution control in river basin by interactive fuzzy interval multiobjective programming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chang, N.B.; Chen, H.W. [National Cheng-Kung Univ., Tainan (Taiwan, Province of China). Dept. of Environmental Engineering; Shaw, D.G.; Yang, C.H. [Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan, Province of China). Inst. of Economics

    1997-12-01

    The potential conflict between protection of water quality and economic development by different uses of land within river basins is a common problem in regional planning. Many studies have applied multiobjective decision analysis under uncertainty to problems of this kind. This paper presents the interactive fuzzy interval multiobjective mixed integer programming (IFIMOMIP) model to evaluate optimal strategies of wastewater treatment levels within a river system by considering the uncertainties in decision analysis. The interactive fuzzy interval multiobjective mixed integer programming approach is illustrated in a case study for the evaluation of optimal wastewater treatment strategies for water pollution control in a river basin. In particular, it demonstrates how different types of uncertainty in a water pollution control system can be quantified and combined through the use of interval numbers and membership functions. The results indicate that such an approach is useful for handling system complexity and generating more flexible policies for water quality management in river basins.

  17. Geographical Information Systems for International River Basin Management in the Third World

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kammerud, Terje Andre

    1998-12-31

    This thesis discusses implementation and application of Geographical Information systems (GIS) in international River Basin Organizations (RBOs) in the Third World. Third World countries sharing the same river basin are increasingly experiencing conflicts because they exploit the same water resource. Empirical knowledge is derived from two case studies. (1) The Mekong River Commission Secretariat`s experiences in applying GIS are investigated. The conditions assessed are related to institutional, funding, expertise, training and technology issues for successful application of GIS. (2) The prospects for the implementation of GIS at a future WATERNET Centre in Amman are investigated. Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have decided to establish a regional GIS Centre in the lower Jordan River Basin. The study assesses political, legal and institutional conditions for the successful implementation of GIS. It is concluded that implementing and applying GIS successfully in RBOs in the Third World is challenging, although not for technological reasons. 265 refs., 28 figs., 13 tabs.

  18. Geographical Information Systems for International River Basin Management in the Third World

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kammerud, Terje Andre

    1997-12-31

    This thesis discusses implementation and application of Geographical Information systems (GIS) in international River Basin Organizations (RBOs) in the Third World. Third World countries sharing the same river basin are increasingly experiencing conflicts because they exploit the same water resource. Empirical knowledge is derived from two case studies. (1) The Mekong River Commission Secretariat`s experiences in applying GIS are investigated. The conditions assessed are related to institutional, funding, expertise, training and technology issues for successful application of GIS. (2) The prospects for the implementation of GIS at a future WATERNET Centre in Amman are investigated. Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have decided to establish a regional GIS Centre in the lower Jordan River Basin. The study assesses political, legal and institutional conditions for the successful implementation of GIS. It is concluded that implementing and applying GIS successfully in RBOs in the Third World is challenging, although not for technological reasons. 265 refs., 28 figs., 13 tabs.

  19. Evaluation of the Life History of Native Salmonids in the Malheur River Basin; Cooperative Bull Trout/Redband Trout Research Project, 2000-2001 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzales, Dan; Schwabe, Lawrence; Wenick, Jess (Burns Paiute Tribe, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Burns, OR)

    2001-08-01

    The Malheur basin lies within southeastern Oregon. The Malheur River is a tributary to the Snake River, entering at about River Kilometer (RK) 595. The hydrological drainage area of the Malheur River is approximately 12,950 km{sup 2} and is roughly 306 km in length. The headwaters of the Malheur River originate in the Blue Mountains at elevations of 6,500 to 7,500 feet, and drops to an elevation of 2000 feet at the confluence with the Snake River near Ontario, Oregon. The climate of the Malheur basin is characterized by hot dry summers, occasionally exceeding 38 C and cold winters that may drop below -29 C. Average annual precipitation is 300 centimeters and ranges from 100 centimeters in the upper mountains to less than 25 centimeters in the lower reaches (Gonzalez 1999). Wooded areas consist primarily of mixed fir and pine forest in the higher elevations. Sagebrush and grass communities dominate the flora in the lower elevations. Efforts to document salmonid life histories, water quality, and habitat conditions have continued in fiscal year 2000. The Burns Paiute Tribe (BPT), United States Forest Service (USFS), and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), have been working cooperatively to achieve this common goal. Bull trout ''Salvenlinus confluentus'' have specific environmental requirements and complex life histories making them especially susceptible to human activities that alter their habitat (Howell and Buchanan 1992). Bull trout are considered to be a cold-water species and are temperature dependent. This presents a challenge for managers, biologists, and private landowners in the Malheur basin. Because of the listing of bull trout under the Endangered Species Act as threatened and the current health of the landscape, a workgroup was formed to develop project objectives related to bull trout. This report will reflect work completed during the Bonneville Power contract period starting 1 April 2000 and ending 31 March 2001. The

  20. The politics of water payments and stakeholder participation in the Limpopo River Basin, Mozambique

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alba, Rossella; Bolding, Alex; Ducrot, Raphaëlle

    2017-01-01

    Drawing from the experience of the Limpopo River Basin in Mozambique, the chapter analyses the articulation of a water rights framework in the context of decentralised river basin governance and IWRM-inspired reforms. The nexus between financial autonomy, service provision, stakeholder participation

  1. The politics of water payments and stakeholder participation in the Limpopo River Basin, Mozambique

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alba, R.; Bolding, J.A.; Ducrot, R.

    2016-01-01

    Drawing from the experience of the Limpopo River Basin in Mozambique, the paper analyses the articulation of a water rights framework in the context of decentralised river basin governance and IWRM-inspired reforms. The nexus between financial autonomy, service provision, stakeholder participation

  2. Delivery and fate of fluvial water and sediment to the sea: a marine geologist's view of European rivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John D. Milliman

    2001-12-01

    Full Text Available Despite their relatively small drainage areas, European rivers reflect a wide variety of hydrologic regimes, although with very few exceptions they have been strongly affected by human activity. Scandinavian rivers (particularly those draining Iceland and western Norway can have high runoff, and, except for those draining Iceland, all have very low suspended and dissolved sediment loads. Northern and western European rivers have somewhat lower runoff, among the lowest suspended sediment yields in the world, and anthropogenically enhanced dissolved solid loads. Annual discharge of many of these rivers appears to vary inversely with the North Atlantic Oscillation index. Rivers discharging from the southern Alps into the Mediterranean Sea have relatively high runoff, high suspended sediment yields (reflecting younger, more easily erodable rocks as well as generally smaller drainage basins, and high dissolved yields, although presumably with somewhat less human influence. European rivers and their estuaries tend to reflect the terrestrial environments of their drainage basins (i.e. climate, landscape geomorphology, geology, but they also display strong anthropogenic signatures. Sediment erosion increased dramatically in the last several millenia in response to deforestation, farming and mining. In the past 50 years, however, increased soil conservation and local reversion of agricultural land to forest, as well as river diversion and dam construction, have decreased the suspended sediment loads of many European rivers. Improved mining and manufacturing techniques, as well as more effective use of fertilizers and improved waste treatment, almost surely will result in lower dissolved solids and nutrient fluxes to the coastal environments, which presently are the highest in the world. The long-range effects of changed land use on estuarine and coastal environments remain to be seen, although decreased sediment loads in the past 20-40 years have already

  3. Irrigation Depletions 1928-1989 : 1990 Level of Irrigation, Snake Yakima and Deschutes River Basins.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    United States. Bonneville Power Administation; A.G. Crook Company

    1993-07-01

    The vast amount of irrigation in relation to the available water and extensive system of reservoirs located in the Snake River Basin above Brownlee reservoir precludes this area from using methods such as Blaney-Criddle for estimating irrigation depletions. Also the hydrology, irrigation growth patterns, and water supply problems are unique and complex. Therefore regulation studies were utilized to reflect the net effect on streamflow of the changes in irrigated acreage in terms of corresponding changes in storage regulation and in the amount of water depleted and diverted from and returned to the river system. The regulation study for 1990 conditions was conducted by the Idaho Department of Water Resources. The end product of the basin simulation is 61 years of regulated flows at various points in the river system that are based on 1990 conditions. Data used by the Idaho Department of Water Resources is presented in this section and includes natural gains to the river system and diversions from the river system based on a 1990 level of development and operation criteria. Additional information can be obtained for an Idaho Department of Water Resources Open-File Report ``Stream Flows in the Snake River Basin 1989 Conditions of Use and Management`` dated June 1991. Similar considerations apply to the Yakima and Deschutes river basins.

  4. Modeling the hydrologic effects of land and water development interventions: a case study of the upper Blue Nile river basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haregeweyn, Nigussie; Tsunekawa, Atsushi; Tsubo, Mitsuru; Meshesha, Derege; Adgo, Enyew; Poesen, Jean; Schütt, Brigitta

    2014-05-01

    Over 67% of the Ethiopian landmass has been identified as very vulnerable to climate variability and land degradation. These problems are more prevalent in the Upper Blue Nile (UBN, often called Abay) river basin covering a drainage area of about 199,800 km2. The UBN River runs from Lake Tana (NW Ethiopia) to the Ethiopia-Sudan border. To enhance the adaptive capacity to the high climate variability and land degradation in the basin, different land and water management measures (stone/soil bunds, runoff collector trenches, exclosures) have been extensively implemented, especially since recent years. Moreover, multipurpose water harvesting schemes including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD, reservoir area of ca. 4000 km2) and 17 other similar projects are being or to be implemented by 2025. However, impact studies on land and water management aspects rarely include detailed hydrological components especially at river basin scale, although it is generally regarded as a major determinant of hydrological processes. The main aim of this study is therefore to model the significance of land and water management interventions in surface runoff response at scale of UBN river basin and to suggest some recommendations. Spatially-distributed annual surface runoff was simulated for both present-day and future (2025) land and water management conditions using calibrated values of the proportional loss model in ArcGIS environment. Average annual rainfall map (1998-2012) was produced from calibrated TRMM satellite source and shows high spatial variability of rainfall ranging between ca. 1000 mm in the Eastern part of the basin to ca. 2000 mm in the southern part of the basin. Present-day land use day condition was obtained from Abay Basin Master Plan study. The future land use map was created taking into account the land and water development interventions to be implemented by 2025. Under present-day conditions, high spatial variability of annual runoff depth was observed

  5. Modeling discharge and water quality in a temporary river basin using SWAT model: A case-study on the Ardila river

    OpenAIRE

    Durão, Anabela; Serafim, António; Brito, David; Morais, Manuela

    2012-01-01

    Temporary rivers have a hydrologic variability, which are characterized by long drought periods and short floods events, that influences water quality. Analysis of river flow generated in the Ardila river basin (temporary regime) using precipitation data (from 1931 to 2003) from a weather station, located within the basin, at the Portuguese side (which represents only 22% of the study area) showed a discrepancy between the modeled and observed runoff since 1981. It was also revealed a satisfa...

  6. Struggling with scales: revisiting the boundaries of river basin management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warner, J.F.; Wester, P.; Hoogesteger van Dijk, J.D.

    2014-01-01

    This article reviews, illustrated by two case studies, how struggles around scales play out in three globally hegemonic trends in river governance: (1) stakeholder participation for (2) integrated water resources management (IWRM), conceived at (3) the watershed or river basin level. This ‘holy

  7. Mapping mean annual and monthly river discharges: geostatistical developments for incorporating river network dependencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sauquet, Eric

    2004-01-01

    Regional hydrology is one topic that shows real improvement in partly due to new statistical development and computation facilities. Nevertheless theoretical difficulties for mapping river regime characteristics or recover these features at un gauged location remain because of the nature of the variable under study: river flows are related to a specific area that is defined by the drainage basin, are spatially organised by the river network with upstream-downstream dependencies. Estimations of hydrological descriptors are required for studying links with ecological processes at different spatial scale, from local site where biological or/and water quality data are available to large scale for sustainable development purposes. This presentation aims at describing a method for runoff pattern along the main river network. The approach dedicated to mean annual runoff is based on geostatistical interpolation procedures to which a constraint of water budget has been added. Expansion in Empirical Orthogonal Function has been considered in combination with kriging for interpolating mean monthly discharges. The methodologies are implemented within a Geographical Information System and illustrated by two study cases (two large basins in France). River flow regime descriptors are estimated for basins of more than 50km 2 . Opportunities of collaboration with a partition of France into hydro-eco regions derived from geology and climate considerations is discussed. (Author)

  8. Hydrogeologic framework and selected components of the groundwater budget for the upper Umatilla River Basin, Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera, Nora B.; Ely, Kate; Mehta, Smita; Stonewall, Adam J.; Risley, John C.; Hinkle, Stephen R.; Conlon, Terrence D.

    2017-05-31

    Executive SummaryThis report presents a summary of the hydrogeology of the upper Umatilla River Basin, Oregon, based on characterization of the hydrogeologic framework, horizontal and vertical directions of groundwater flow, trends in groundwater levels, and components of the groundwater budget. The conceptual model of the groundwater flow system integrates available data and information on the groundwater resources of the upper Umatilla River Basin and provides insights regarding key hydrologic processes, such as the interaction between the groundwater and surface water systems and the hydrologic budget.The conceptual groundwater model developed for the study area divides the groundwater flow system into five hydrogeologic units: a sedimentary unit, three Columbia River basalt units, and a basement rock unit. The sedimentary unit, which is not widely used as a source of groundwater in the upper basin, is present primarily in the lowlands and consists of conglomerate, loess, silt and sand deposits, and recent alluvium. The Columbia River Basalt Group is a series of Miocene flood basalts that are present throughout the study area. The basalt is uplifted in the southeastern half of the study area, and either underlies the sedimentary unit, or is exposed at the surface. The interflow zones of the flood basalts are the primary aquifers in the study area. Beneath the flood basalts are basement rocks composed of Paleogene to Pre-Tertiary sedimentary, volcanic, igneous, and metamorphic rocks that are not used as a source of groundwater in the upper Umatilla River Basin.The major components of the groundwater budget in the upper Umatilla River Basin are (1) groundwater recharge, (2) groundwater discharge to surface water and wells, (3) subsurface flow into and out of the basin, and (4) changes in groundwater storage.Recharge from precipitation occurs primarily in the upland areas of the Blue Mountains. Mean annual recharge from infiltration of precipitation for the upper

  9. Assessment of environmental flow requirements for river basin planning in Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazvimavi, D.; Madamombe, E.; Makurira, H.

    There is a growing awareness and understanding of the need to allocate water along a river to maintain ecological processes that provide goods and services. Legislation in Zimbabwe requires water resources management plans to include the amount of water to be reserved for environmental purposes in each river basin. This paper aims to estimate the amount of water that should be reserved for environmental purposes in each of the 151 sub-basins or water management units of Zimbabwe. A desktop hydrological method is used to estimate the environmental flow requirement (EFR). The estimated EFRs decrease with increasing flow variability, and increase with the increasing contribution of base flows to total flows. The study has established that in order to maintain slightly modified to natural habitats along rivers, the EFR should be 30-60% of mean annual runoff (MAR) in regions with perennial rivers, while this is 20-30% in the dry parts of the country with rivers, which only flow during the wet season. The inclusion of EFRs in water resources management plans will not drastically change the proportion of the available water allocated to water permits, since the amount of water allocated to water permit holders is less than 50% of the MAR on 77% of the sub-basins in the country.

  10. Temporal and Spatial Variation of Water Yield Modulus in the Yangtze River Basin in Recent 60 Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Xiaoqing; Weng, Baisha; Qin, Tianling

    2018-01-01

    The Yangtze River Basin is the largest river basin of Asia and the third largest river basin of the world, the gross water resources amount ranks first in the river basins of the country, and it occupies an important position in the national water resources strategic layout. Under the influence of climate change and human activities, the water cycle has changed. The temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation in the basin is more uneven and the floods are frequent. In order to explore the water yield condition in the Yangtze River Basin, we selected the Water Yield Modulus (WYM) as the evaluation index, then analyzed the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of the WYM in the Yangtze River Basin by using the climate tendency method and the M-K trend test method. The results showed that the average WYM of the Yangtze River Basin in 1956-2015 are between 103,600 and 1,262,900 m3/km2, with an average value of 562,300 m3/km2, which is greater than the national average value of 295,000 m3/km2. The minimum value appeared in the northwestern part of the Tongtian River district, the maximum value appeared in the northeastern of Dongting Lake district. The rate of change in 1956-2015 is between -0.68/a and 0.79/a, it showed a downward trend in the western part but not significantly, an upward trend in the eastern part reached a significance level of α=0.01. The minimum value appeared in the Tongtian River district, the largest value appeared in the Hangjia Lake district, and the average tendency rate is 0.04/a in the whole basin.

  11. A Water Resources Planning Tool for the Jordan River Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher Bonzi

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The Jordan River basin is subject to extreme and increasing water scarcity. Management of transboundary water resources in the basin is closely intertwined with political conflicts in the region. We have jointly developed with stakeholders and experts from the riparian countries, a new dynamic consensus database and—supported by hydro-climatological model simulations and participatory scenario exercises in the GLOWA (Global Change and the Hydrological Cycle Jordan River project—a basin-wide Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP tool, which will allow testing of various unilateral and multilateral adaptation options under climate and socio-economic change. We present its validation and initial (climate and socio-economic scenario analyses with this budget and allocation tool, and invite further adaptation and application of the tool for specific Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM problems.

  12. Modeling of Flood Mitigation Structures for Sarawak River Sub-basin Using Info Works River Simulation (RS)

    OpenAIRE

    Rosmina Bustami; Charles Bong; Darrien Mah; Afnie Hamzah; Marina Patrick

    2009-01-01

    The distressing flood scenarios that occur in recent years at the surrounding areas of Sarawak River have left damages of properties and indirectly caused disruptions of productive activities. This study is meant to reconstruct a 100-year flood event that took place in this river basin. Sarawak River Subbasin was chosen and modeled using the one-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling approach using InfoWorks River Simulation (RS), in combination with Geographical Information S...

  13. Stream-channel and watershed delineations and basin-characteristic measurements using lidar elevation data for small drainage basins within the Des Moines Lobe landform region in Iowa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eash, David A.; Barnes, Kimberlee K.; O'Shea, Padraic S.; Gelder, Brian K.

    2018-02-14

    Basin-characteristic measurements related to stream length, stream slope, stream density, and stream order have been identified as significant variables for estimation of flood, flow-duration, and low-flow discharges in Iowa. The placement of channel initiation points, however, has always been a matter of individual interpretation, leading to differences in stream definitions between analysts.This study investigated five different methods to define stream initiation using 3-meter light detection and ranging (lidar) digital elevation models (DEMs) data for 17 streamgages with drainage areas less than 50 square miles within the Des Moines Lobe landform region in north-central Iowa. Each DEM was hydrologically enforced and the five stream initiation methods were used to define channel initiation points and the downstream flow paths. The five different methods to define stream initiation were tested side-by-side for three watershed delineations: (1) the total drainage-area delineation, (2) an effective drainage-area delineation of basins based on a 2-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) 12-hour rainfall, and (3) an effective drainage-area delineation based on a 20-percent AEP 12-hour rainfall.Generalized least squares regression analysis was used to develop a set of equations for sites in the Des Moines Lobe landform region for estimating discharges for ungaged stream sites with 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent AEPs. A total of 17 streamgages were included in the development of the regression equations. In addition, geographic information system software was used to measure 58 selected basin-characteristics for each streamgage.Results of the regression analyses of the 15 lidar datasets indicate that the datasets that produce regional regression equations (RREs) with the best overall predictive accuracy are the National Hydrographic Dataset, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and profile curvature of 0.5 stream initiation methods combined with

  14. Geomorphic Drainage Capture Recorded by Oxygen Isotopes of Green River Formation Lacustrine Mudstone, Eocene, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doebbert, A. C.; Booth, A. L.; Carroll, A.; Chamberlain, C.; Rhodes, M.

    2005-12-01

    The isotopic composition of cement and other meteoric precipitates are increasingly being used to interpret orogenic uplift histories, based on the relationship between altitude and rainwater δ18O. However, other variables such as changing regional drainage patterns may also affect the downstream composition of surface waters, especially when multiple drainages commingle in a lake. The Green River Formation contains some of the best documented lacustrine deposits in the world, making it ideal for examining such issues. Carbonate mudstone in balanced-fill facies of the lower LaClede Bed averages 3.41‰ (PDB), and records a deep, saline to brackish lake that fluctuated near its sill. In contrast, overfilled facies of the upper LaClede Bed record a freshwater lake, and δ18O reaches values as low as -9.72‰. This transition occurred shortly after deposition of the Analcite Tuff at 48.94 ± 0.12 Ma (Smith et al., 2003), and was geologically abrupt. Based on 40Ar/39Ar-calibrated sediment accumulation rates it required no more than 200-300 ky. An almost identical transition occurs in two cores separated by about 30 km, making local diagenesis an unlikely cause. The magnitude of δ18O change is similar to that in some uplift studies, but its rapidity virtually excludes uplift as a controlling mechanism. Instead, we propose that both the change in sedimentation and the sharp decrease in δ18O are the result of a drainage capture event. The addition of a new drainage to the basin may have adjusted isotopic values in two ways: by introducing runoff with relatively low δ18O, and by decreasing residence time (and therefore evaporation) of lake water. Decreasing 87Sr/86Sr across the same transition suggests that the newly added waters may have been sourced from rising volcanic topography to the north in the Absaroka province. Although this rising topography allows for the possibility of some uplift component, the rate of change in lacustrine δ18O is consistent with

  15. MULTI-TEMPORAL LAND USE GENERATION FOR THE OHIO RIVER BASIN

    Science.gov (United States)

    A set of backcast and forecast land use maps of the Ohio River Basin (ORB) was developed that could be used to assess the spatial-temporal patterns of land use/land cover (LULC) change in this important basin. This approach was taken to facilitate assessment of integrated sustain...

  16. Spatial heterogeneity study of vegetation coverage at Heihe River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Lijuan; Zhong, Bo; Guo, Liyu; Zhao, Xiangwei

    2014-11-01

    Spatial heterogeneity of the animal-landscape system has three major components: heterogeneity of resource distributions in the physical environment, heterogeneity of plant tissue chemistry, heterogeneity of movement modes by the animal. Furthermore, all three different types of heterogeneity interact each other and can either reinforce or offset one another, thereby affecting system stability and dynamics. In previous studies, the study areas are investigated by field sampling, which costs a large amount of manpower. In addition, uncertain in sampling affects the quality of field data, which leads to unsatisfactory results during the entire study. In this study, remote sensing data is used to guide the sampling for research on heterogeneity of vegetation coverage to avoid errors caused by randomness of field sampling. Semi-variance and fractal dimension analysis are used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation coverage at Heihe River Basin. The spherical model with nugget is used to fit the semivariogram of vegetation coverage. Based on the experiment above, it is found, (1)there is a strong correlation between vegetation coverage and distance of vegetation populations within the range of 0-28051.3188m at Heihe River Basin, but the correlation loses suddenly when the distance greater than 28051.3188m. (2)The degree of spatial heterogeneity of vegetation coverage at Heihe River Basin is medium. (3)Spatial distribution variability of vegetation occurs mainly on small scales. (4)The degree of spatial autocorrelation is 72.29% between 25% and 75%, which means that spatial correlation of vegetation coverage at Heihe River Basin is medium high.

  17. seasonal variation in water quality of orle river basin, sw nigeria.

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    LUCY

    The seasonal variation of water quality of Orle River and its tributatries in S.W. Nigeria was investigated forthnightly or two ... KEYWORD: water quality, river basin, wet and dry seasons; pollution. ..... Environmental Modeling and Software,.

  18. Geohydrology and numerical simulation of groundwater flow in the central Virgin River Basin of Iron and Washington Counties, Utah

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilweil, V.M.; Freethey, G.W.; Wilkowske, C.D.; Stolp, B.J.; Wilberg, D.E.

    2000-01-01

    Because rapid growth of communities in Washington and Iron Counties, Utah, is expected to cause an increase in the future demand for water resources, a hydrologic investigation was done to better understand ground-water resources within the central Virgin River basin. This study focused on two of the principal ground-water reservoirs within the basin: the upper Ash Creek basin ground-water system and the Navajo and Kayenta aquifer system.The ground-water system of the upper Ash Creek drainage basin consists of three aquifers: the uppermost Quaternary basin-fill aquifer, the Tertiary alluvial-fan aquifer, and the Tertiary Pine Valley monzonite aquifer. These aquifers are naturally bounded by the Hurricane Fault and by drainage divides. On the basis of measurements, estimates, and numerical simulations of reasonable values for all inflow and outflow components, total water moving through the upper Ash Creek drainage basin ground-water system is estimated to be about 14,000 acre-feet per year. Recharge to the upper Ash Creek drainage basin ground-water system is mostly from infiltration of precipitation and seepage from ephemeral and perennial streams. The primary source of discharge is assumed to be evapotranspiration; however, subsurface discharge near Ash Creek Reservoir also may be important.The character of two of the hydrologic boundaries of the upper Ash Creek drainage basin ground-water system is speculative. The eastern boundary provided by the Hurricane Fault is assumed to be a no-flow boundary, and a substantial part of the ground-water discharge from the system is assumed to be subsurface outflow beneath Ash Creek Reservoir along the southern boundary. However, these assumptions might be incorrect because alternative numerical simulations that used different boundary conditions also proved to be feasible. The hydrogeologic character of the aquifers is uncertain because of limited data. Differences in well yield indicate that there is considerable

  19. Groundwater quality in the Delaware and St. Lawrence River Basins, New York, 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nystrom, Elizabeth A.

    2012-01-01

    Water samples were collected from 10 production and domestic wells in the Delaware River Basin in New York and from 20 production and domestic wells in the St. Lawrence River Basin in New York from August through November 2010 to characterize groundwater quality in the basins. The samples were collected and processed by standard U.S. Geological Survey procedures and were analyzed for 147 physiochemical properties and constituents, including major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radionuclides, and indicator bacteria.

  20. Bull trout population assessment in the Columbia River Gorge/annual report fy2000; ANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Byrne, Jim; McPeak, Ron

    2001-01-01

    We summarized existing knowledge regarding the known distribution of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) across four sub-basins in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington. The Wind River, Little White Salmon River, White Salmon River, and the Klickitat River sub-basins were analyzed. Cold water is essential to the survival, spawning, and rearing of bull trout. We analyzed existing temperature data, installed Onset temperature loggers in the areas of the four sub-basins where data was not available, and determined that mean daily water temperatures were and lt;15 C and appropriate for spawning and rearing of bull trout. We snorkel surveyed more than 74 km (46.25 mi.) of rivers and streams in the four sub-basins (13.8 km at night and 60.2 km during the day) and found that night snorkeling was superior to day snorkeling for locating bull trout. Surveys incorporated the Draft Interim Protocol for Determining Bull Trout Presence (Peterson et al. In Press). However, due to access and safety issues, we were unable to randomly select sample sites nor use block nets as recommended. Additionally, we also implemented the Bull Trout/Dolly Varden sampling methodology described in Bonar et al. (1997). No bull trout were found in the Wind River, Little White Salmon, or White Salmon River sub-basins. We found bull trout in the West Fork Klickitat drainage of the Klickitat River Sub-basin. Bull trout averaged 6.7 fish/100m(sup 2) in Trappers Creek, 2.6 fish/100m(sup 2) on Clearwater Creek, and 0.4 fish/100m(sup 2) in Little Muddy Creek. Bull trout was the only species of salmonid encountered in Trappers Creek and dominated in Clearwater Creek. Little Muddy Creek was the only creek where bull trout and introduced brook trout occurred together. We found bull trout only at night and typically in low flow regimes. A single fish, believed to be a bull trout x brook trout hybrid, was observed in the Little Muddy Creek. Additional surveys are needed in the West Fork Klickitat and mainstem

  1. Interlinking feasibility of five river basins of Rajasthan in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Kumar Vyas

    2016-09-01

    Annual surplus water of about 1437 MCM in the river Chambal is going waste and ultimately reaches to sea after creating flood situations in various places in India including Rajasthan, while on the other hand 1077 MCM water is a requirement in the four other basins in Rajasthan i.e. Banas, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati at 75% dependability. Interlinking and water transfer from Chambal to these four river basins is the prime solution for which 372 km link channel including 9 km tunnel of design capacity of 300 cumec with 64 m lift is required.

  2. Geometry of river networks. III. Characterization of component connectivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dodds, Peter Sheridan; Rothman, Daniel H.

    2001-01-01

    Essential to understanding the overall structure of river networks is a knowledge of their detailed architecture. Here we explore the presence of randomness in river network structure and the details of its consequences. We first show that an averaged view of network architecture is provided by a proposed self-similarity statement about the scaling of drainage density, a local measure of stream concentration. This scaling of drainage density is shown to imply Tokunaga's law, a description of the scaling of side branch abundance along a given stream, as well as a scaling law for stream lengths. We then consider fluctuations in drainage density and consequently the numbers of side branches. Data are analyzed for the Mississippi River basin and a model of random directed networks. Numbers of side streams are found to follow exponential distributions, as are intertributary distances along streams. Finally, we derive a joint variation of side stream abundance with stream length, affording a full description of fluctuations in network structure. Fluctuations in side stream numbers are shown to be a direct result of fluctuations in stream lengths. This is the last paper in a series of three on the geometry of river networks

  3. Boundaries of Consent: Stakeholder Representation in River Basin Management in Mexico and South Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wester, P.; Merrey, D.J.; Lange, M.

    2003-01-01

    Increasing the capacity of water users to influence decision-making is crucial in river basin management reforms. This article assesses emerging forums for river basin management in Mexico and South Africa and concludes that the pace of democratization of water management in both is slow. Mexico is

  4. River water quality assessment using environmentric techniques: case study of Jakara River Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustapha, Adamu; Aris, Ahmad Zaharin; Juahir, Hafizan; Ramli, Mohammad Firuz; Kura, Nura Umar

    2013-08-01

    Jakara River Basin has been extensively studied to assess the overall water quality and to identify the major variables responsible for water quality variations in the basin. A total of 27 sampling points were selected in the riverine network of the Upper Jakara River Basin. Water samples were collected in triplicate and analyzed for physicochemical variables. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship of water quality parameters and revealed a significant relationship between salinity, conductivity with dissolved solids (DS) and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and nitrogen in form of ammonia (NH4). Partial correlation analysis (r p) results showed that there is a strong relationship between salinity and turbidity (r p=0.930, p=0.001) and BOD5 and COD (r p=0.839, p=0.001) controlling for the linear effects of conductivity and NH4, respectively. Principal component analysis and or factor analysis was used to investigate the origin of each water quality parameter in the Jakara Basin and identified three major factors explaining 68.11 % of the total variance in water quality. The major variations are related to anthropogenic activities (irrigation agricultural, construction activities, clearing of land, and domestic waste disposal) and natural processes (erosion of river bank and runoff). Discriminant analysis (DA) was applied on the dataset to maximize the similarities between group relative to within-group variance of the parameters. DA provided better results with great discriminatory ability using eight variables (DO, BOD5, COD, SS, NH4, conductivity, salinity, and DS) as the most statistically significantly responsible for surface water quality variation in the area. The present study, however, makes several noteworthy contributions to the existing knowledge on the spatial variations of surface water quality and is believed to serve as a baseline data for further studies. Future

  5. Water resources in the Blackstone River basin, Massachusetts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Eugene H.; Krejmas, Bruce E.

    1983-01-01

    The Blackstone River heads in brooks 6 miles northwest of Worcester and drains about 330 square miles of central Massachusetts before crossing into Rhode Island at Woonsocket. The primary source of the Worcester water supply is reservoirs, but for the remaining 23 communities in the basin, the primary source is wells. Bedrock consists of granitic and metamorphic rocks. Till mantles the uplands and extends beneath stratified drift in the valleys. Stratified glacial drift, consisting of clay, silt, and fine sand deposited in lakes and coarse-textured sand and gravel deposited by streams, is found in lowlands and valleys. The bedrock aquifer is capable of sustaining rural domestic supplies throughout the Blackstone River basin. Bedrock wells yield an average of 10 gallons per minute, but some wells, especially those in lowlands where bedrock probably contains more fractures and receives more recharge than in the upland areas, yield as much as 100 gallons per minute. Glacial sand and gravel is the principal aquifer. It is capable of sustaining municipal supplies. Average daily pumpage from this aquifer in the Blackstone River basin was 10.4 million gallons per day in 1978. The median yield of large-diameter wells in the aquifer is 325 gallons per minute. The range of yields from these wells is 45 to 3,300 gallons per minute. The median specific capacity is about 30 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown.

  6. Santa Lucia River basin. Development of water resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1970-01-01

    The main objective of this study was to orient the development of water resources of the Santa Lucia River basin to maximum benefit in accordance with the priorities established by Government in relation to the National Development Plans

  7. Groundwater quality in the Mohawk River Basin, New York, 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nystrom, Elizabeth A.; Scott, Tia-Marie

    2013-01-01

    Water samples were collected from 21 production and domestic wells in the Mohawk River Basin in New York in July 2011 to characterize groundwater quality in the basin. The samples were collected and processed using standard U.S. Geological Survey procedures and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radionuclides, and indicator bacteria. The Mohawk River Basin covers 3,500 square miles in New York and is underlain by shale, sandstone, carbonate, and crystalline bedrock. The bedrock is overlain by till in much of the basin, but surficial deposits of saturated sand and gravel are present in some areas. Nine of the wells sampled in the Mohawk River Basin are completed in sand and gravel deposits, and 12 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Mohawk River Basin was typically neutral or slightly basic; the water typically was very hard. Bicarbonate, chloride, calcium, and sodium were the major ions with the greatest median concentrations; the dominant nutrient was nitrate. Methane was detected in 15 samples. Strontium, iron, barium, boron, and manganese were the trace elements with the highest median concentrations. Four pesticides, all herbicides or their degradates, were detected in four samples at trace levels; three VOCs, including chloroform and two solvents, were detected in four samples. The greatest radon-222 activity, 2,300 picocuries per liter, was measured in a sample from a bedrock well, but the median radon activity was higher in samples from sand and gravel wells than in samples from bedrock wells. Coliform bacteria were detected in five samples with a maximum of 92 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters. Water quality in the Mohawk River Basin is generally good, but concentrations of some constituents equaled or exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinking-water standards. The standards

  8. Biological signatures of dynamic river networks from a coupled landscape evolution and neutral community model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, M.; Perron, J. T.

    2017-12-01

    Freshwater systems host exceptionally species-rich communities whose spatial structure is dictated by the topology of the river networks they inhabit. Over geologic time, river networks are dynamic; drainage basins shrink and grow, and river capture establishes new connections between previously separated regions. It has been hypothesized that these changes in river network structure influence the evolution of life by exchanging and isolating species, perhaps boosting biodiversity in the process. However, no general model exists to predict the evolutionary consequences of landscape change. We couple a neutral community model of freshwater organisms to a landscape evolution model in which the river network undergoes drainage divide migration and repeated river capture. Neutral community models are macro-ecological models that include stochastic speciation and dispersal to produce realistic patterns of biodiversity. We explore the consequences of three modes of speciation - point mutation, time-protracted, and vicariant (geographic) speciation - by tracking patterns of diversity in time and comparing the final result to an equilibrium solution of the neutral model on the final landscape. Under point mutation, a simple model of stochastic and instantaneous speciation, the results are identical to the equilibrium solution and indicate the dominance of the species-area relationship in forming patterns of diversity. The number of species in a basin is proportional to its area, and regional species richness reaches its maximum when drainage area is evenly distributed among sub-basins. Time-protracted speciation is also modeled as a stochastic process, but in order to produce more realistic rates of diversification, speciation is not assumed to be instantaneous. Rather, each new species must persist for a certain amount of time before it is considered to be established. When vicariance (geographic speciation) is included, there is a transient signature of increased

  9. Predicted channel types - Potential for Habitat Improvement in the Columbia River Basin

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Basin-wide analysis of potential to improve tributary habitats in the Columbia River basin through restoration of habitat-forming processes. Identification of...

  10. Predicted riparian vegetation - Potential for Habitat Improvement in the Columbia River Basin

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Basin-wide analysis of potential to improve tributary habitats in the Columbia River basin through restoration of habitat-forming processes. Identification of...

  11. Disaster mitigation at drainage basin of Kuranji Padang City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utama, L.; Yamin, M.

    2017-06-01

    Floods is flooding of effect of exit water groove river because big river debit sudden its accomodation energy, happened swiftly knock over areas which is debasement, in river basin and hollow. Flow debris or which is recognized with galodo have knock over river of Kuranji year 2012 in Padang city. Area is floods disaster are: 19 Sub-District in 7 district, and hard that is district of Pauh and district of Nanggalo. Governmental claim tired loss of Rp 263,9 Billion while Government of Provinsi West Sumatera appraise loss estimated by Fourty Billion Rupiah (Padang Ekspress 28 July 2012), with detail of damage house counted 878 unit, damage religious service house 15 unit, damage irrigation 12 unit, damage bridge 6 unit, damage school 2 unit, damage health post 1 unit. Result of calculation, by using rainfall of year 2003 until year 2015 with method Gumbel, Hasper and Wedwen, got high rainfall plan is 310,00 mm, and method Melchior and Hasper floods is 1125,86 m³ / second. From result of study analyse at Citra map of correlation and image to parameters cause of floods, and use software Watershed Modelling System (WMS) this region have two class that is middle susceptance and low susceptance. Middle susceptance area is there are in middle river and downstream river, with inclination level off. Low susceptance area there is middle river. Area which have potency result the happening of floods is headwaters, because having keen ramp storey level ( 45 - 55%) and is hilly. For the mitigasi of floods disaster determined by three area evacuate that are: Sub-District Of Kelurahan Limau Manis District Of Pauh, Sub-District Of Surau Gadang District Of Nanggalo, and Sub-District Of Lambung Bukik District of Pauh, in the form of map.

  12. Differential Rate of Deforestation in Two Adjoining Indian River Basins: Does Resource Availability Matters?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, P.; Behera, M. D.

    2017-12-01

    Deforestation is one of the key factors of global climate change by altering the surface albedo reduces the evapotranspiration and surface roughness leads to warming in tropical regions. River basins are always subjected to LULC changes, especially decline in forest cover to give way for agricultural expansion, urbanisation, industrialisation etc. We generated LULC maps at three decadal intervals i.e., 1985, 1995 and 2005 in two major river basins of India using Landsat data employing on-screen visual image interpretation technique. In Rain-fed, Mahanadi river basin (MRB), 30.64% forest cover in 1985 was reduced to 30.13% in 2005, wherein glacier-fed, Brahmaputra river basin (BRB) this change was 63.44% to 62.32% during 1985 to 2005. Though conversion of forest land for agricultural activities was the major LULC changes in both the basins, the rate was more than two times higher in BRB than MRB. Scrub land in few zones acted as an intermediate class for mixed forest conversion to cropland land in both the basins. Analysing the drivers, in deforestation we observed the proximity zones around habitat and socio-economic drivers contributed higher compared to topographic, edaphic and climate. Using Dyna-CLUE modelling approach, we have predicted the LULC for 2025. For validation, comparing the predicted result with actual LULC of 2005, we obtained > 97% modeling accuracy; therefore it is expected that the Dyna-CLUE model has very well predicted the LULC for the year 2025. The predicted LULC of 2025 captured the similar trend of deforestation around 0.52% in MRB and 1.18% in BRB during 2005 to 2025. Acting as early warning, and with the past 2-decadal change analysis this study is believed to help the land use planners for improved regional planning to create balanced ecosystem, especially in a changing climate. On the basis of driver analysis, we believe that availability of more forest resources in Brahmaputra River basin provided extra liberty for higher

  13. Sustainable Land Management in the Lim River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grujic, Gordana; Petkovic, Sava; Tatomir, Uros

    2017-04-01

    In the cross-border belt between Serbia and Montenegro are located more than one hundred torrential water flows that belong to the Lim River Basin. Under extreme climate events they turned into floods of destructive power and great energy causing enormous damage on the environment and socio-economic development in the wider region of the Western Balkans. In addition, anthropogenic factors influence the land instability, erosion of river beds and loss of topsoil. Consequently, this whole area is affected by pluvial and fluvial erosion of various types and intensity. Terrain on the slopes over 5% is affected by intensive degree of erosion, while strong to medium degree covers 70% of the area. Moreover, in the Lim River Basin were built several hydro-energetic systems and accumulations which may to a certain extent successfully regulate the water regime downstream and to reduce the negative impact on the processes of water erosion. However, siltation of accumulation reduces their useful volume and threatens the basic functions (water reservoirs), especially those ones for water supply, irrigation and energy production that have lost a significant part of the usable volume due to accumulated sediments. Facing the negative impacts of climate change and human activities on the process of land degradation in the Lim River basin imposes urgent need of adequate preventive and protective measures at the local and regional level, which can be effectively applied only through enhanced cross-border cooperation among affected communities in the region. The following set of activities were analyzed to improve the actual management of river catchment: Identifying priorities in the spatial planning, land use and water resources management while respecting the needs of local people and the communities in the cross border region; development of cooperation and partnership between the local population, owners and users of real estate (pastures, agricultural land, forests, fisheries

  14. Water Stress in Global Transboundary River Basins: Significance of Upstream Water Use on Downstream Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munia, H.; Guillaume, J. H. A.; Mirumachi, N.; Porkka,M.; Wada, Yoshihide; Kummu, M.

    2016-01-01

    Growing population and water demand have increased pressure on water resources in various parts of the globe, including many transboundary river basins. While the impacts of upstream water use on downstream water availability have been analyzed in many of these international river basins, this has not been systematically done at the global scale using coherent and comparable datasets. In this study, we aim to assess the change in downstream water stress due to upstream water use in the world's transboundary river basins. Water stress was first calculated considering only local water use of each sub-basin based on country-basin mesh, then compared with the situation when upstream water use was subtracted from downstream water availability. Wefound that water stress was generally already high when considering only local water use, affecting 0.95-1.44 billion people or 33%-51% of the population in transboundary river basins. After accounting for upstream water use, stress level increased by at least 1 percentage-point for 30-65 sub-basins, affecting 0.29-1.13 billion people. Altogether 288 out of 298 middle-stream and downstream sub-basin areas experienced some change in stress level. Further, we assessed whether there is a link between increased water stress due to upstream water use and the number of conflictive and cooperative events in the transboundary river basins, as captured by two prominent databases. No direct relationship was found. This supports the argument that conflicts and cooperation events originate from a combination of different drivers, among which upstream-induced water stress may play a role. Our findings contribute to better understanding of upstream-downstream dynamics in water stress to help address water allocation problems.

  15. Appropriate modelling in DSSs for river basin management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xu, YuePing; Booij, Martijn J.; Pahl-Wostl, Claudia; Schmidt, Sonja; Rizzoli, Andrea E.; Jakeman, Anthony J.

    2004-01-01

    There is increasing interest in the development of decision support systems (DSSs) for river basin management. Moreover, new ideas and techniques such as sustainability, adaptive management, Geographic Information System, Remote Sensing and participations of new stakeholders have stimulated their

  16. Impact of Water Scarcity on the Fenhe River Basin and Mitigation Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiwei Shao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This study produced a drought map for the Fenhe River basin covering the period from 150 BC to 2012 using regional historical drought records. Based on meteorological and hydrological features, the characteristics and causes of water scarcity in the Fenhe River basin were examined, along with their impact on the national economy and ecological environment. The effects of water scarcity in the basin on the national economy were determined from agricultural, industrial, and domestic perspectives. The impact on aquatic ecosystems was ascertained through an evolution trend analysis of surface water systems, including rivers, wetlands, and slope ecosystems, and subterranean water systems, including groundwater and karst springs. As a result of these analyses, strategies are presented for coping with water scarcity in this basin, including engineering countermeasures, such as the construction of a water network in Shanxi, and the non-engineering approach of groundwater resource preservation. These comprehensive coping strategies are proposed with the aim of assisting the prevention and control of water scarcity in the arid and semi-arid areas of China.

  17. Rural Settlement Development and Environment Carrying Capacity Changes in Progo River Basin

    OpenAIRE

    Su Ritohardoyo; P Priyono

    2016-01-01

    Generally the broader rural settlement the heavier population pressure on agricultural land. It indicates that carrying capacity of the rural environment threatened lower. The spatial distribution of the threat in a river basin is quite important as one of the river basin management inputs. Therefore, this article aims at exposing result of research about influence rural population growth and rural settlement land changes to environment carrying capacity. This research was carried out in the ...

  18. Hydrochemistry of the Densu River Basin of Ghana

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adomako, D.; Osae, S.; Fianko, J. R.

    2007-01-01

    Planned hydrochemical assessment of groundwater quality have been carried out to understand the sources of dissolved ions in the aquifers supporting groundwater systems in the Densu River basin. The basin is underlain mainly by the proterozoic basin type granitoids with associated gnesis, with dominant mineral such as plagioclase feldspars. The groundwater is Ca-HCO 3 and Na-HCO 3 facies, due to weathering and ion-exchange of minerals underlying the aquifers. The enrichment of the cation and anions are Na>Ca>Mg>K and HCO 3 >Cl>SO 4 >NO 3 respectively. Some of the elevated values of both cations and anions may be due to seawater intrusions, ion-exchange, oxidation and anthropogenic activities. Based on these studies, proper management would be recommended to address groundwater quality in the basin. (au)

  19. Spatio-temporal trends of rainfall across Indian river basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bisht, Deepak Singh; Chatterjee, Chandranath; Raghuwanshi, Narendra Singh; Sridhar, Venkataramana

    2018-04-01

    Daily gridded high-resolution rainfall data of India Meteorological Department at 0.25° spatial resolution (1901-2015) was analyzed to detect the trend in seasonal, annual, and maximum cumulative rainfall for 1, 2, 3, and 5 days. The present study was carried out for 85 river basins of India during 1901-2015 and pre- and post-urbanization era, i.e., 1901-1970 and 1971-2015, respectively. Mann-Kendall ( α = 0.05) and Theil-Sen's tests were employed for detecting the trend and percentage of change over the period of time, respectively. Daily extreme rainfall events, above 95 and 99 percentile threshold, were also analyzed to detect any trend in their magnitude and number of occurrences. The upward trend was found for the majority of the sub-basins for 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-day maximum cumulative rainfall during the post-urbanization era. The magnitude of extreme threshold events is also found to be increasing in the majority of the river basins during the post-urbanization era. A 30-year moving window analysis further revealed a widespread upward trend in a number of extreme threshold rainfall events possibly due to urbanization and climatic factors. Overall trends studied against intra-basin trend across Ganga basin reveal the mixed pattern of trends due to inherent spatial heterogeneity of rainfall, therefore, highlighting the importance of scale for such studies.

  20. Parameterization and Uncertainty Analysis of SWAT model in Hydrological Simulation of Chaohe River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jie, M.; Zhang, J.; Guo, B. B.

    2017-12-01

    As a typical distributed hydrological model, the SWAT model also has a challenge in calibrating parameters and analysis their uncertainty. This paper chooses the Chaohe River Basin China as the study area, through the establishment of the SWAT model, loading the DEM data of the Chaohe river basin, the watershed is automatically divided into several sub-basins. Analyzing the land use, soil and slope which are on the basis of the sub-basins and calculating the hydrological response unit (HRU) of the study area, after running SWAT model, the runoff simulation values in the watershed are obtained. On this basis, using weather data, known daily runoff of three hydrological stations, combined with the SWAT-CUP automatic program and the manual adjustment method are used to analyze the multi-site calibration of the model parameters. Furthermore, the GLUE algorithm is used to analyze the parameters uncertainty of the SWAT model. Through the sensitivity analysis, calibration and uncertainty study of SWAT, the results indicate that the parameterization of the hydrological characteristics of the Chaohe river is successful and feasible which can be used to simulate the Chaohe river basin.

  1. Hydrochemistry of the Parauari-Maues Acu river basin (Amazon region, Brazil)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bringel, S.R.B.

    1980-08-01

    The chemical composition of the Parauari-Maues Acu basin is studied through the determination of pH, calcium, magnesium, iron, chloride, sodium, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese. Four expeditions were made and samples were collected in 16 different points of the main course. Chemical analysis of the rivers waters shows seasonal flutuations of the concentrations of the elements in the main river as well as in the main afluents like Nambi river, Amana river and Urupadi river. (Author) [pt

  2. An analytical study on groundwater flow in drainage basins with horizontal wells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jun-Zhi; Jiang, Xiao-Wei; Wan, Li; Wang, Xu-Sheng; Li, Hailong

    2014-06-01

    Analytical studies on release/capture zones are often limited to a uniform background groundwater flow. In fact, for basin-scale problems, the undulating water table would lead to the development of hierarchically nested flow systems, which are more complex than a uniform flow. Under the premise that the water table is a replica of undulating topography and hardly influenced by wells, an analytical solution of hydraulic head is derived for a two-dimensional cross section of a drainage basin with horizontal injection/pumping wells. Based on the analytical solution, distributions of hydraulic head, stagnation points and flow systems (including release/capture zones) are explored. The superposition of injection/pumping wells onto the background flow field leads to the development of new internal stagnation points and new flow systems (including release/capture zones). Generally speaking, the existence of n injection/pumping wells would result in up to n new internal stagnation points and up to 2n new flow systems (including release/capture zones). The analytical study presented, which integrates traditional well hydraulics with the theory of regional groundwater flow, is useful in understanding basin-scale groundwater flow influenced by human activities.

  3. Environmental status of the Lake Michigan region. Volume 16. Amphibians and reptiles of the Lake Michigan drainage basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pentecost, E.D.; Vogt, R.C.

    1976-07-01

    The focus of this report is on regional distribution of the herpetofauna of the Lake Michigan Drainage Basin. The introduction includes a brief discussion of plant communities and their associated herpetofauna, and the importance of hibernacula and migration routes. Some aspects of the status, distribution, habitat, and life history of the amphibians and reptiles of the Basin are described in an annotated checklist. Special attention is given to uncommon and endangered species. Species range is shown on distribution maps.

  4. Environmental status of the Lake Michigan region. Volume 16. Amphibians and reptiles of the Lake Michigan drainage basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pentecost, E.D.; Vogt, R.C.

    1976-07-01

    The focus of this report is on regional distribution of the herpetofauna of the Lake Michigan Drainage Basin. The introduction includes a brief discussion of plant communities and their associated herpetofauna, and the importance of hibernacula and migration routes. Some aspects of the status, distribution, habitat, and life history of the amphibians and reptiles of the Basin are described in an annotated checklist. Special attention is given to uncommon and endangered species. Species range is shown on distribution maps

  5. Surface-water hydrology of the Little Black River basin, Missouri and Arkansas, before water-land improvement practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berkas, W.R.; Femmer, Suzanne R.; Mesko, T.O.; Thompson, B.W.

    1987-01-01

    The U. S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in accordance with Public Law 566, is implementing various types of water-land improvement practices in the Little Black River basin in southeastern Missouri. These practices are designed, in part, to decrease the suspended sediment (SS) transport in the basin, decrease flood damage in the basin, and improve drainage in the agricultural area. The general features of the basin, such as geology, groundwater hydrology, soils, land use, water use, and precipitation are described; surface water quantity, quality, and suspended sediment discharge are also described. The aquifers are the Mississippi River valley alluvial aquifer, which can yield about 3,500 gal/min to properly constructed wells, and the Ozark and St. Francois aquifers, which can yield from about 30 to 500 gal/min to properly constructed wells. Soils in the area have formed in loess and cherty residuum in the uplands or have formed in alluvial sediment in the lowlands. About 93% of the estimated 3 billion gal/year of water used in the basin is for crop irrigation. The average monthly precipitation varies slightly throughout the year, with an average annual precipitation of about 47 inches. Water quality data were collected at seven stations. Specific conductance values ranged from 50 to 400 microsiemens/cm at 25 C. Water temperatures ranged from 0.0 C in the winter to 33.5 C in summer. pH values ranged from 6.4 to 8.5 units. Dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged from 2.2 to 12.8 ml/l. Total nitrogen concentrations ranged from 0.13 to 2.20 ml/l as nitrogen, with organic nitrogen as the most abundant form. Phosphorus concentrations ranged from zero to 0.29 ml/l as phosphorus. Bacterial counts were largest during storm runoff in the basin with livestock waste as the significant contributor. For the period from October 1, 1980, to September 30, 1984, the average annual SS discharge ranged from 2,230 tons/yr in the headwater areas to 27,800 tons

  6. Aquifer depletion in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: challenges and solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) is a nationally- and internationally-important region of intensive agricultural production that relies heavily on the underlying Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA) for row crop irrigation. Extensive irrigation coupled with the region’s geology ...

  7. Assessment of Salmonids and Their Habitat Conditions in the Walla Walla River Basin within Washington, Annual Report 2002-2003.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mendel, Glen; Trump, Jeremy; Gembala, Mike

    2003-09-01

    trutta) had low densities, and limited distribution throughout the basin. A large return of adult spring chinook to the Touchet River drainage in 2001 produced higher densities of juvenile chinook in 2002 than have been seen in recent years, especially in the Wolf Fork. The adult return in 2002 was substantially less than what was seen in 2001. Due to poor water conditions and trouble getting personnel hired, spawning surveys were limited in 2002. Surveyors found only one redd in four Walla Walla River tributaries (Cottonwood Ck., East Little Walla Walla, West Little Walla Walla, and Mill Ck.), and 59 redds in Touchet River tributaries (10 in the North Fork Touchet, 30 in the South Fork Touchet, and 19 in the Wolf Fork). Bull trout spawning surveys in the upper Touchet River tributaries found a total of 125 redds and 150 live fish (92 redds and 75 fish in the Wolf Fork, 2 redds and 1 fish in the Burnt Fork, 0 redds and 1 fish in the South Fork Touchet, 29 redds and 71 fish in the North Fork Touchet, and 2 redds and 2 fish in Lewis Ck.). A preliminary steelhead genetics analysis was completed as part of this project. Results indicate differences between naturally produced steelhead and those produced in the hatchery. There were also apparent genetic differences among the naturally produced fish from different areas of the basin. Detailed results are reported in Bumgarner et al. 2003. Recommendations for assessment activities in 2003 included: (1) continue to monitor the Walla Walla River (focusing from the stateline to McDonald Rd.), the Mill Ck system, and the Little Walla Walla System. (2) reevaluate Whiskey Ck. for abundance and distribution of salmonids, and Lewis Ck. for bull trout density and distribution. (3) select or develop a habitat survey protocol and begin to conduct habitat inventory and assessment surveys. (4) summarize bull trout data for Mill Ck, South Fork Touchet, and Lewis Ck. (5) begin to evaluate temperature and flow data to assess if the habitat

  8. Subsurface drainage volume reduction with drainage water management: Case studies in Ohio, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    One of the main contributors to poor water quality in the Mississippi River and aeral increase in the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico is intensive drainage of the cropland within the watershed. Controlled drainage has been demonstrated as an approach to curb totla drainage outflow and nutrient di...

  9. Earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of the Columbia River basin assessment area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sam. James

    2000-01-01

    Earthworms are key components of many terrestrial ecosystems; however, little is known of their ecology, distribution, and taxonomy in the eastern interior Columbia River basin assessment area (hereafter referred to as the basin assessment area). This report summarizes the main issues about the ecology of earthworms and their impact on the physical and chemical status...

  10. Summer habitat use by Columbia River redband trout in the Kootenai River drainage, Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Bennett, David H.

    2001-01-01

    The reported decline in the abundance, distribution, and genetic diversity of Columbia River redband trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri (a rainbow trout subspecies) has prompted fisheries managers to investigate their habitat requirements, identify critical habitat, and develop effective conservation and recovery programs. We analyzed the microhabitat, mesohabitat, and macrohabitat use and distribution of Columbia River redband trout by means of snorkel surveys in two watersheds in the Kootenai River drainage, Montana and Idaho, during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Juvenile (36–125 mm total length, TL) and adult (>=126 mm TL) fish preferred deep microhabitats (>=0.4 m) with low to moderate velocities (thalweg. Conversely, age-0 (<=35 mm) fish selected slow water (<=0.1 m/s) and shallow depths (<=0.2 m) located in lateral areas of the channel. Age-0, juvenile, and adult fish strongly selected pool mesohabitats and avoided riffles; juveniles and adults generally used runs in proportion to their availability. At the macrohabitat scale, density of Columbia River redband trout (35 mm) was positively related to the abundance of pools and negatively related to stream gradient. The pool: riffle ratio, gradient, and stream size combined accounted for 80% of the variation in density among 23 stream reaches in five streams. Our results demonstrate that low-gradient, medium-elevation reaches with an abundance of complex pools are critical areas for the production of Columbia River redband trout. These data will be useful in assessing the impacts of land-use practices on the remaining populations and may assist with habitat restoration or enhancement efforts.

  11. Links between river water acidity, land use and hydrology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saarinen, T.; Celebi, A.; Kloeve, B. [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Water Resources and Environmental Eng. Lab.], Email: tuomas.saarinen@oulu.fi

    2013-11-01

    In western Finland, acid leaching to watercourses is mainly due to drainage of acid sulphate (As) soils. This study examined how different land-use and land-cover types affect water acidity in the northwestern coastal region of Finland, which has abundant drained AS soils and peatlands. Sampling conducted in different hydrological conditions in studied river basins revealed two different catchment types: catchments dominated by drained forested peatlands and catchments used by agriculture. Low pH and high electric conductivity (EC) were typical in rivers affected by agriculture. In rivers dominated by forested peatlands and wetlands, EC was considerably lower. During spring and autumn high runoff events, water quality was poor and showed large spatial variation. Thus it is important to ensure that in river basin status assessment, sampling is carried out in different hydrological situations and in also water from some tributaries is sampled. (orig.)

  12. Knickpoint retreat and transient bedrock channel morphology triggered by base-level fall in small bedrock river catchments: The case of the Isle of Jura, Scotland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castillo, Miguel; Bishop, Paul; Jansen, John D.

    2013-01-01

    A sudden drop in river base-level can trigger a knickpoint that propagates throughout the fluvial network causing a transient state in the landscape. Knickpoint retreat has been confirmed in large fluvial settings (drainage areas > 100 km2) and field data suggest that the same applies to the case of small bedrock river catchments (drainage areas UK), where rivers incise into dipping quartzite. The mapping of raised beach deposits and strath terraces, and the analysis of stream long profiles, were used to identify knickpoints that had been triggered by base-level fall. Our results indicate that the distance of knickpoint retreat scales to the drainage area in a power law function irrespective of structural setting. On the other hand, local channel slope and basin size influence the vertical distribution of knickpoints. As well, at low drainage areas (~ 4 km2) rivers are unable to absorb the full amount of base-level fall and channel reach morphology downstream of the knickpoint tends towards convexity. The results obtained here confirm that knickpoint retreat is mostly controlled by stream discharge, as has been observed for other transient landscapes. Local controls, reflecting basin size and channel slope, have an effect on the vertical distribution of knickpoints; such controls are also related to the ability of rivers to absorb the base-level fall.

  13. Chromium and nickel in the soils of industrial areas at Asopos river basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Athanassios Karayannis

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present and compare previous efforts aiming to investigate whether previous wastewater disposal practices in selected (four metal finishing facilities, located at Asopos river basin (near Athens at East-Central Greece, and resulted in relevant soil contamination. The work is focused mainly on Cr and Ni, which are the primary elements of concern in the Asopos river Basin area. To assess the natural geochemical levels of Cr and Ni, 30 soil samples were collected from locations that were assumed free of contamination. In these 30 soil samples, Cr concentration varied from 60 to 418 mg/kg, and Ni concentrations varied between 91 and 1200 mg/kg. A second group of soil samples consisted of more than 100 samples from drill cores and surface soil samples, assumed affected by the disposal of effluents of the metal finishing facilities and/or the relevant drainage of runoff water. A third group of samples consisted of 10 more surface soil samples collected in summer 2015 (campaigns by Sybilla ltd in the framework of EU IED Directive Baseline Site Investigation Study for two metal finishing units. The above mentioned groups of data were evaluated and compared with a fourth group of data (collected from Inofyta industrial area in the framework of EU funded project LIFE-CHARM “Chromium in Asopos groundwater system: Remediation technologies and Measures”. The conclusion of this study is that there is no indication of downstream pollution migration from the land-based treated effluents disposal of the above mentioned metal finishing facilities. Cr and Ni concentrations in the lower soil layers were of the same order of magnitude to those of the reference soils. On the contrary Inofyta Industrial Area soil seems to be rather contaminated and requires special attention.

  14. Documentation of input datasets for the soil-water balance groundwater recharge model of the Upper Colorado River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillman, Fred D.

    2015-01-01

    The Colorado River and its tributaries supply water to more than 35 million people in the United States and 3 million people in Mexico, irrigating more than 4.5 million acres of farmland, and generating about 12 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power annually. The Upper Colorado River Basin, encompassing more than 110,000 square miles (mi2), contains the headwaters of the Colorado River (also known as the River) and is an important source of snowmelt runoff to the River. Groundwater discharge also is an important source of water in the River and its tributaries, with estimates ranging from 21 to 58 percent of streamflow in the upper basin. Planning for the sustainable management of the Colorado River in future climates requires an understanding of the Upper Colorado River Basin groundwater system. This report documents input datasets for a Soil-Water Balance groundwater recharge model that was developed for the Upper Colorado River Basin.

  15. Radiocesium dynamics in the Hirose River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuramoto, T.; Taniguchi, K.; Arai, H.; Onuma, S.; Onishi, Y.

    2017-12-01

    A significant amount of radiocesium was deposited in Fukushima Prefecture during the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In river systems, radiocesium is transported to downstream in rivers. For the safe use of river and its water, it is needed to clarify the dynamics of radiocesium in river systems. We started the monitoring of the Hirose River from December 2015. The Hirose River is a tributary of the Abukuma River flowing into the Pacific Ocean, and its catchment is close to areas where a large amount of radiocesium was deposited. We set up nine monitoring points in the Hirose River watershed. The Water level and turbidity data are continuously observed at each monitoring point. We regularly collected about 100 liters of water at each monitoring point. Radiocesium in water samples was separated into two forms; the one is the dissolved form, and the other is the suspended particulate form. Radionuclide concentrations of radiocesium in both forms were measured by a germanium semiconductor detector. Furthermore, we applied the TODAM (Time-dependent One-dimensional Degradation And Migration) code to the Hirose River basin using the monitoring data. The objectives of the modeling are to understand a redistribution pattern of radiocesium adsorbed by sediments during flooding events and to determine the amount of radiocesium flux into the Abukuma River.

  16. Applicability of GLDAS in the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin under Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, L.; Hong, Z.; Linglei, Z.; Yun, D.

    2017-12-01

    The change of runoff has a great influence on global water cycle, and migration or transformation of biogenic matters. As the Tibet's most important economic region, the Yarlung Zangbo River basin is extremely sensitive and fragile to the global climate change. But the river is a typical lack-data basin, where the quantity of available runoff data is extremely limited and the spatial and temporal resolutions are very low. This study Chooses middle reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River basin as the study area, 4 models of Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and the water balance equation are used to calculate surface runoff of Nuxia hydrological station from year of 2009 to 2013. Through the analysis of hydrological elements change, the impact of climate factors to surface runoff is discussed. At last, Statistical method is used to compare correlation and error between the 4 models results and in situ runoff observation. The Broke ranking method is applied to evaluate data quality and applicability of the 4 models in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin. The results reveal that the total runoff calculated from 4 models all have similar change cycle around 12 months, and the values all tend to have slight increase as in situ runoff data during research period. Moreover, it can conclude that the runoff time series show obvious period and mutation characters. During study period, monthly mean precipitation and temperature both have obvious seasonal variability, and the variation trend is relatively consistent. Through the analysis of the runoff affecting factors, it shows that the changes of precipitation and temperature are the most direct factors affecting runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Correlation between precipitations, temperature with runoff of Nuxia hydrological station is good, and the correlation coefficients are in the range of 0.727 to 0.924.It shows that climate change controls basin runoff change to some extent. At last, runoff estimated from GLDAS

  17. An annotated bibliography for lamprey habitat in the White Salmon River, Washington

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, M. Brady

    2012-01-01

    The October 2011 decommissioning of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River at river kilometer (rkm) 5.3 removed a significant fish passage barrier from the White Salmon River basin for the first time in nearly a century. This affords an opportunity to regain a potentially important drainage basin for Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) production. In anticipation of Pacific lamprey recolonization or reintroduction, aquatic resource managers, such as the Yakama Nation (YN), are planning to perform surveys in the White Salmon River and its tributaries. The likely survey objectives will be to investigate the presence of lamprey, habitat conditions, and habitat availability. In preparation for this work, a compilation and review of the relevant aquatic habitat and biological information on the White Salmon River was conducted. References specific to the White Salmon River were collected and an annotated bibliography was produced including reports containing:

  18. Malheur River Basin cooperative bull trout/redband trout research project, annual report FY 1999; ANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schwabe, Lawrence; Tiley, Mark

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to document the seasonal distribution of adult/sub-adult bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Malheur River basin. Due to the decline of bull trout in the Columbia Basin, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed bull trout as a threatened species in June 1998. Past land management activities; construction of dams; and fish eradication projects in the North Fork and Middle Fork Malheur River by poisoning have worked in concert to cumulatively impact native species in the Malheur Basin (Bowers et. al. 1993). Survival of the remaining bull trout populations is severely threatened (Buchanan 1997). 1999 Research Objects are: (1) Document the migratory patterns of adult/sub-adult bull trout in the North Fork Malheur River; (2) Determine the seasonal bull trout use of Beulah Reservoir and bull trout entrainment; and (3) Timing and location of bull trout spawning in the North Fork Malheur River basin. The study area includes the Malheur basin from the mouth of the Malheur River located near Ontario, Oregon to the headwaters of the North Fork Malheur River (Map 1). All fish collected and most of the telemetry effort was done on the North Fork Malheur River subbasin (Map 2). Fish collection was conducted on the North Fork Malheur River at the tailwaters of Beulah Reservoir (RK 29), Beulah Reservoir (RK 29-RK 33), and in the North Fork Malheur River at Crane Crossing (RK 69) to the headwaters of the North Fork Malheur. Radio telemetry was done from the mouth of the Malheur River in Ontario, Oregon to the headwaters of the North Fork Malheur. This report will reflect all migration data collected from 3/1/99 to 12/31/99

  19. The Human Threat to River Ecosystems at the Watershed Scale: An Ecological Security Assessment of the Songhua River Basin, Northeast China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuan Shen

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Human disturbances impact river basins by reducing the quality of, and services provided by, aquatic ecosystems. Conducting quantitative assessments of ecological security at the watershed scale is important for enhancing the water quality of river basins and promoting environmental management. In this study, China’s Songhua River Basin was divided into 204 assessment units by combining watershed and administrative boundaries. Ten human threat factors were identified based on their significant influence on the river ecosystem. A modified ecological threat index was used to synthetically evaluate the ecological security, where frequency was weighted by flow length from the grids to the main rivers, while severity was weighted by the potential hazard of the factors on variables of river ecosystem integrity. The results showed that individual factors related to urbanization, agricultural development and facility construction presented different spatial distribution characteristics. At the center of the plain area, the provincial capital cities posed the highest level of threat, as did the municipal districts of prefecture-level cities. The spatial relationships between hot spot locations of the ecological threat index and water quality, as well as the distribution areas of critically endangered species, were analyzed. The sensitivity analysis illustrated that alteration of agricultural development largely changed the ecological security level of the basin. By offering a reference for assessing ecological security, this study can enhance water environmental planning and management.

  20. Mapping the Soil Texture in the Heihe River Basin Based on Fuzzy Logic and Data Fusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Lu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Mapping soil texture in a river basin is critically important for eco-hydrological studies and water resource management at the watershed scale. However, due to the scarcity of in situ observation of soil texture, it is very difficult to map the soil texture in high resolution using traditional methods. Here, we used an integrated method based on fuzzy logic theory and data fusion to map the soil texture in the Heihe River basin in an arid region of Northwest China, by combining in situ soil texture measurement data, environmental factors, a previous soil texture map, and other thematic maps. Considering the different landscape characteristics over the whole Heihe River basin, different mapping schemes have been used to extract the soil texture in the upstream, middle, and downstream areas of the Heihe River basin, respectively. The validation results indicate that the soil texture map achieved an accuracy of 69% for test data from the midstream area of the Heihe River basin, which represents a much higher accuracy than that of another existing soil map in the Heihe River basin. In addition, compared with the time-consuming and expensive traditional soil mapping method, this new method could ensure greater efficiency and a better representation of the explicitly spatial distribution of soil texture and can, therefore, satisfy the requirements of regional modeling.