A modelling approach to the development of an active management strategy for the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir

This article outlines the outcome of work that set out to provide one of the specified integral contributions to the overarching objectives of the EU- sponsored LIFE98 project described in this volume. Among others, these included a requirement to marry automatic monitoring and dynamic modelling approaches in the interests of securing better management of water quality in lakes and reservoirs. The particular task given to us was to devise the elements of an active management strategy for the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir. This is one of the larger reservoirs supplying the population of the London area: after purification and disinfection, its water goes directly to the distribution network and to the consumers. The quality of the water in the reservoir is of primary concern, for the greater is the content of biogenic materials, including phytoplankton, then the more prolonged is the purification and the more expensive is the treatment. Whatever good that phytoplankton may do by way of oxygenation and oxidative purification, it is eventually relegated to an impurity that has to be removed from the final product. Indeed, it has been estimated that the cost of removing algae and microorganisms from water represents about one quarter of its price at the tap. In chemically fertile waters, such as those typifying the resources of the Thames Valley, there is thus a powerful and ongoing incentive to be able to minimise plankton growth in storage reservoirs. Indeed, the Thames Water company and its predecessor undertakings, have a long and impressive history of confronting and quantifying the fundamentals of phytoplankton growth in their reservoirs and of developing strategies for operation and design to combat them. The work to be described here follows in this tradition. However, the use of the model PROTECH-D to investigate present phytoplankton growth patterns in the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir questioned the interpretation of some of the recent observations. On the other hand, it has reinforced the theories underpinning the original design of this and those Thames-Valley storage reservoirs constructed subsequently. The authors recount these experiences as an example of how simulation models can hone the theoretical base and its application to the practical problems of supplying water of good quality at economic cost, before the engineering is initiated.

Aspects of the washout of salmonid eggs. 1. Observations on the physical characteristics of real and artificial eggs, their rate of fall in a water column and their pattern of settlement in an experimental channel

When salmonid redds are disrupted by spates, the displaced eggs will drift downstream. The mean distance of travel, the types of locations in which the eggs resettle and the depth of reburial of displaced eggs are not known. Investigation of these topics under field conditions presents considerable practical problems, though the use of artificial eggs might help to overcome some of them. Attempts to assess the similarities and/or differences in performance between real and artificial eggs are essential before artificial eggs can validly be used to simulate real eggs. The present report first compares the two types of egg in terms of their measurable physical characteristics (e.g. dimensions and density). The rate at which eggs fall in still water will relate to the rate at which they are likely to resettle in flowing water in the field. As the rate of fall will be influenced by a number of additional factors (e.g. shape and surface texture) which are not easily measured directly, the rates of fall of the two types of egg have been compared directly under controlled conditions. Finally, comparisons of the pattern of settlement of the two types of egg in flowing water in an experimental channel have been made. Although the work was primarily aimed at testing the value of artificial eggs as a simulation of real eggs, several side issues more directly concerned with the properties of real eggs and the likely distance of drift in natural streams have also been explored. This is the first of three reports made on this topic by the author in 1984.

Investigations on phytoplankton with special reference to water usage

Experiments and observations on the phytoplankton of certain lakes in the English Lake District were made from early 1973 to the end of March, 1974. They included laboratory and lake bioassays and observations on the quantity and quality of the phytoplankton in six lakes. The introductory sections of the report are about algae, the ecology of phytoplankton and the scope of the contracted work. Laboratory bioassays on water from one lake, Blelham Tarn, showed that phosphorus, silicon (for diatoms) and organic substances forming complexes with iron were the major substances limiting the growth of the algae tested. The growth of the test algae was limited to different degrees by those substances and, to some extent, to a greater or lesser degree at different times of year. It is suggested that a relatively simple form of bioassay could give valuable information to water undertakings. Lake bioassays and other experiments were carried out by using large in situ tubular plastic enclosures. Two such investigations are described. The effects of a change in sewerage in two drainage basins on the phytoplankton of three lakes is described and some data given about changes since 1945 in three other lakes in the same overall drainage basin. These latter lakes have been affected too by changes in sewerage and by increasing inputs of domestic and agricultural wastes. Throughout, the relevance of the work done to practical problems of water usage is kept in mind and discussed. In the last section special reference is made to the largely unpredictable results of water transfers. The report ends with a note on river phytoplankton.

Paciano II: the report of a conversation on whaling and science, 1-3 March 2008 (Paciano, Umbria)

In 2006 the UK-based charity, Global Ocean, with local support from the Third Millennium Foundation, convened a Conversation among specialists about the problems facing the conservation of whales. Called "A consultation on whaling", this gathering was held in the ancient village of Paciano, in Umbria near the border with Tuscany, 15 – 17 October 2006. There were 15 participants from 11 countries. Dr Kees Lankester served as moderator. The outcome was an Aide Memoire which served to guide the participants in the run-up to the 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), held in Anchorage, Alaska, in June. One point of agreement was that a second consultation should be held in the months following the Anchorage meeting, involving some but not necessarily all of the participants in the first, but concentrating this time on scientific issues – especially those encountered in the Scientific Committee of the IWC –with particular attention to informing a wider public about those scientific activities in relation to the problems confronting the IWC and the views of scientists about them. This document is the report of that Conversation, referred to as Paciano II. The moderator was Dr Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara and the Report was written by Kieran Mulvaney in consultation with all participants, and with reference to an Aide Memoire prepared by the Rapporteur, Dr Russell Leaper. The sponsor and organisers have agreed with the general sentiment expressed by participants in Paciano II that further such conversations should be held at roughly yearly intervals and they will try to satisfy that desire. Although these future gatherings would be concerned with the living ocean they would not necessarily be restricted in future to consideration of whales and whaling. Discussions are on-going for selection of a theme which is of both scientific interest and practical concern for conservation of marine life and management of the uses of ocean space. (Document has 18 pages)

Paciano II: a report of a conversation on whaling and science, 1-3 March 2008

In 2006 the UK-based charity, Global Ocean, with local support from the Third Millennium Foundation, convened a Conversation among specialists about the problems facing the conservation of whales. Called "A consultation on whaling", this gathering was held in the ancient village of Paciano, in Umbria near the border with Tuscany, 15 – 17 October 2006. There were 15 participants from 11 countries. Dr Kees Lankester served as moderator. The outcome was an Aide Memoire which served to guide the participants in the run-up to the 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), held in Anchorage, Alaska, in June. One point of agreement was that a second consultation should be held in the months following the Anchorage meeting, involving some but not necessarily all of the participants in the first, but concentrating this time on scientific issues – especially those encountered in the Scientific Committee of the IWC –with particular attention to informing a wider public about those scientific activities in relation to the problems confronting the IWC and the views of scientists about them. This document is the report of that Conversation, referred to as Paciano II. The moderator was Dr Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara and the Report was written by Kieran Mulvaney in consultation with all participants, and with reference to an Aide Memoire prepared by the Rapporteur, Dr Russell Leaper. The sponsor and organisers have agreed with the general sentiment expressed by participants in Paciano II that further such conversations should be held at roughly yearly intervals and they will try to satisfy that desire. Although these future gatherings would be concerned with the living ocean they would not necessarily be restricted in future to consideration of whales and whaling. Discussions are on-going for selection of a theme which is of both scientific interest and practical concern for conservation of marine life and management of the uses of ocean space. (19 page document)

Environmental Assessment of Vancouver Harbour Data Report for the PICES Practical Workshop

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.13 Mb] Section I - Practical Workshop Description [pdf, 21.22 Mb] Section II - Site Description and Oceanography [pdf, 0.40 Mb] Section III - Extended Abstracts Contaminant Concentrations in Sediment and Biota [pdf, 1.36 Mb] Biochemical and Physiological Studies [pdf, 0.77 Mb] Community Studies [pdf, 1.01 Mb] Harmful Algae Studies [pdf, 0.67 Mb] Section IV - Comprehensive Data Tables Site Locations [pdf, 0.10 Mb] Sediment Chemistry [pdf, 0.54 Mb] Tissue Chemistry – Fish [pdf, 1.20 Mb] Tissue Chemistry – Bivalves [pdf, 0.49 Mb] Lipid and Fatty Acids in Mytilus trossulus [pdf, 0.15 Mb] Biochemical, Physiological and Histopathological Parameters [pdf, 1.20 Mb] Biological Community Data – Fish and Mussels [pdf, 0.87 Mb] Biological Community Data – Macrobenthos [pdf, 0.85 Mb] Harmful Algae [pdf, 0.07 Mb] (Document contains 205 pages)

Surface water resources of Polk County, Florida

The rapid increase in population in Polk County during the last decade has been accompanied by a several-fold increase in the number and complexity of problems pertaining tothe use andcontrolof the streams andlakes of the county. The increase in problems has increased the need for more information about the occurrence and movement of surface water. The primary purpose of this report is to give that information. Its secondary purpose is to give information that will promote an understanding of the nature and causes of the problems or that will aid in arriving at practical solutions. (PDF contains 133 pages.)