State laws and instream flows /

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A Survery of Western United States Instream Flow Programs and The Policies that Protect a River's Ecosystem

The Western United States can best be described as a vast, varying land, with the high plains to the east and the jagged horizons of Rockies to the west. However there is one common trait shared by these states: the lack of water resources. With the continued development of this land, the fact that water is scarce is becoming more real. This issue became more difficult to handle as the public became more aware that many competing uses existed for the finite resource, and those different uses were degrading the natural environments of the surface waters. With this realization instream flow policies provides a comprehensive account of the policy framework a selected number of western states have established in order to protect instream flows and the overall health of a river's ecosystem. Also included is the identification of key policies that should be promoted or removed from a state's instream flow program. Ultimately, this thesis continues to add the the ever-evolving process of modernizing water law frameworks.

Effects of Coalbed Methane Production on Stream Flow

Coalbed methane production has the potential to reduce instream flows in Powder River Basin streams. Quantifying this effect is difficult, but important, for water users in both Wyoming and Montana. Isotope tracing of coal aquifer groundwater entering the streams can help.

Random error in willingness to pay measurement: A multiple indicators, latent variable approach to the reliability of contingent values

The reliability of measurement refers to unsystematic error in observed responses. Investigations of the prevalence of random error in stated estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) are important to an understanding of why tests of validity in CV can fail. However, published reliability studies have tended to adopt empirical methods that have practical and conceptual limitations when applied to WTP responses. This contention is supported in a review of contingent valuation reliability studies that demonstrate important limitations of existing approaches to WTP reliability. It is argued that empirical assessments of the reliability of contingent values may be better dealt with by using multiple indicators to measure the latent WTP distribution. This latent variable approach is demonstrated with data obtained from a WTP study for stormwater pollution abatement. Attitude variables were employed as a way of assessing the reliability of open-ended WTP (with benchmarked payment cards) for stormwater pollution abatement. The results indicated that participants' decisions to pay were reliably measured, but not the magnitude of the WTP bids. This finding highlights the need to better discern what is actually being measured in VVTP studies, (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Construction of habitat suitability models (HSMs) for benthic macroinvertebrate and their applications to instream environmental flows: A case study in Xiangxi River of Three Gorges Reservior region, China

Based on a long-term ecological monitoring, the present study chose the most dominant benthic macroinvertebrate (Baetis spp.) as target organisms in Xiangxi River, built the habitat suitability models (HSMs) for water depth, current velocity and substrate, respectively, which is the first aquatic organisms model for habitat suitability in the Chinese Mainland with a long-term consecutive in situ measurement. In order to protect the biointegrity and function of the river ecosystem, the theory system of instream environmental flow should be categorized into three hierarchies, namely minimum required instream flow (hydrological level), minimum instream environmental flow (biospecies level), and optimum instream environmental flow (ecosystem level). These three hierarchies of instream environmental flow models were then constructed with the hydrological and weighted usable area (WUA) method. The results show that the minimum required instream flow of Xiangxi River calculated by the Tennant method (10% of the mean annual flow) was 0.615 m(3) s(-1); the minimum instream environmental flow accounted for 19.22% of the mean annual flow (namely 1.182 m(3) s(-1)), which was the damaged river channel. ow in the dry season; and 42.91% of the mean annual flow (namely 2.639 m(3) s(-1)) should be viewed as the optimum instream environmental flow in order to protect the health of the river ecosystem, maintain the instream biodiversity, and reduce the impact of small hydropower stations nearby the Xiangxi River. We recommend that the hydrological and biological methods can help establish better instream environmental. ow models and design best management practices for use in the small hydropower station project. (C) 2008 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.

Lesser-known worlds : bridging the telematic flows with located human experience through game design

This paper represents a new theorization of the role of location-based games (LBGs) as potentially playing specific roles in peoples’ access to the culture of cities [22]. A LBG is a game that employs mobile technologies as tools for game play in real world environments. We argue that as a new genre in the field of mobile entertainment, research in this area tends to be preoccupied with the newness of the technology and its commercial possibilities. However, this overlooks its potential to contribute to cultural production. We argue that the potential to contribute to cultural production lies in the capacity of these experiences to enhance relationships between specific groups and new urban spaces. Given that developers can design LBGs to be played with everyday devices in everyday environments, what new creative opportunities are available to everyday people?

Study of industrially relevant boundary layer and axisymmetric flows, including swirl and turbulence

Micropolar and RNG-based modelling of industrially relevant boundary layer and recirculating swirling flows is described. Both models contain a number of adjustable parameters and auxiliary conditions that must be either modelled or experimentally determined, and the effects of varying these on the resulting flow solutions is quantified. To these ends, the behaviour of the micropolar model for self-similar flow over a surface that is both stretching and transpiring is explored in depth. The simplified governing equations permit both analytic and numerical approaches to be adopted, and a number of closed form solutions (both exact and approximate) are obtained using perturbation and order of magnitude analyses. Results are compared with the corresponding Newtonian flow solution in order to highlight the differences between the micropolar and classical models, and significant new insights into the behaviour of the micropolar model are revealed for this flow. The behaviour of the RNG-bas based models for swirling flow with vortex breakdown zones is explored in depth via computational modelling of two experimental data sets and an idealised breakdown flow configuration. Meticulous modeling of upstream auxillary conditions is required to correctly assess the behavior of the models studied in this work. The novel concept of using the results to infer the role of turbulence in the onset and topology of the breakdown zone is employed.

Bow and stern flows with constant vorticity

Free surface flows of a rotational fluid past a two-dimensional semi-infinite body are considered. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid, incompressible, and of finite depth. A boundary integral method is used to solve the problem for the case where the free surface meets the body at a stagnation point. Supercritical solutions which satisfy the radiation condition are found for various values of the Froude number and the dimensionless vorticity. Subcritical solutions are also found; however these solutions violate the radiation condition and are characterized by a train of waves upstream. It is shown numerically that the amplitude of these waves increases as each of the Froude number, vorticity and height of the body above the bottom increases.

Smoothly attaching bow flows with constant vorticity

The free surface flow of a finite depth fluid past a semi-infinite body is considered. The fluid is assumed to have constant vorticity throughout and the free surface is assumed to attach smoothly to the front face of the body. Numerical solutions are found using a boundary integral method in the physical plane and it is shown that solutions exist for all supercritical Froude numbers. The related problem of the cusp-like flow due to a submerged sink in a corner is also considered. Vorticity is included in the flow and it is shown that the behaviour of the solutions is qualitatively the same as that found in the problem described above.

Mapping intermedia news flows : topical discussions in the Australian and French political blogospheres

The growth of technologies and tools branded as =new media‘ or =Web 2.0‘ has sparked much discussion about the internet and its place in all facets of social life. Such debate includes the potential for blogs and citizen journalism projects to replace or alter journalism and mainstream media practices. However, while the journalism-blog dynamic has attracted the most attention, the actual work of political bloggers, the roles they play in the mediasphere and the resources they use, has been comparatively ignored. This project will look at political blogging in Australia and France - sites commenting on or promoting political events and ideas, and run by citizens, politicians, and journalists alike. In doing so, the structure of networks formed by bloggers and the nature of communication within political blogospheres will be examined. Previous studies of political blogging around the world have focussed on individual nations, finding that in some cases the networks are divided between different political ideologies. By comparing two countries with different political representation (two-party dominated system vs. a wider political spectrum), this study will determine the structure of these political blogospheres, and correlate these structures with the political environment in which they are situated. The thesis adapts concepts from communication and media theories, including framing, agenda setting, and opinion leaders, to examine the work of political bloggers and their place within the mediasphere. As well as developing a hybrid theoretical base for research into blogs and other online communication, the project outlines new methodologies for carrying out studies of online activity through the analysis of several topical networks within the wider activity collected for this project. The project draws on hyperlink and textual data collected from a sample of Australian and French blogs between January and August 2009. From this data, the thesis provides an overview of =everyday‘ political blogging, showing posting patterns over several months of activity, away from national elections and their associated campaigns. However, while other work in this field has looked solely at cumulative networks, treating collected data as a static network, this project will also look at specific cases to see how the blogospheres change with time and topics of discussion. Three case studies are used within the thesis to examine how blogs cover politics, featuring an international political event (the Obama inauguration), and local political topics (the opposition to the =Création et Internet‘, or HADOPI, law in France, the =Utegate‘ scandal in Australia). By using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, the study analyses data collected from a population of sites from both countries, looking at their linking patterns, relationship with mainstream media, and topics of interest. This project will subsequently help to further develop methodologies in this field and provide new and detailed information on both online networks and internet-based political communication in Australia and France.

Submarine pyroclastic deposits formed at the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat (1995–2003) : what happens when pyroclastic flows enter the ocean?

The Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, West Indies, has undergone a series of dome growth and collapse events since the eruption began in 1995. Over 90% of the pyroclastic material produced has been deposited into the ocean. Sampling of these submarine deposits reveals that the pyroclastic flows mix rapidly and violently with the water as they enter the sea. The coarse components (pebbles to boulders) are deposited proximally from dense basal slurries to form steep-sided, near-linear ridges that intercalate to form a submarine fan. The finer ash-grade components are mixed into the overlying water column to form turbidity currents that flow over distances >30 km from the source. The total volume of pyroclastic material off the east coast of Montserrat exceeds 280 × 106 m3, with 65% deposited in proximal lobes and 35% deposited as distal turbidites.