Perception of tools for assessing on-farm nutrient losses and mitigation options

<p>This research focuses on the prominent issue of degraded water quality in New Zealand caused by the intensification of agricultural land use, resulting in increased levels of diffuse pollutants such as sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways (Duncan, 2017). Degraded water quality is a critical issue that needs to be addressed both socially and scientifically. It needs to be addressed socially as human behaviour is influencing this degradation, and the science is needed to further our understanding and implementation of the best mitigation solutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate how information surrounding potential nutrient mitigation measures provided by decision support tools is understood and interpreted by farmers facing tightening environmental regulations and a changing social outlook on environmental sustainability. To achieve this aim, the following activities were conducted: (i) A review of current theories and tools available to understand and encourage pro-environmental behaviour. (ii) A case study using the Land Utilisation Capability Indicator (LUCI) model to determine stakeholder engagement was carried out through interviews with 6 farmers in the Mangatarere Catchment. The review showed that while information alone does not drive behaviour change, it is an essential component that when used in collaboration with other methods and incentives, can be very successful (Kennedy, 2010; Mackenzie-Mohr, 2000; Stern, 2000). From this review a method that was identified as having huge potential in terms of managing water quality was the use of land use models alongside targeted on-farm advice (Bouraoui & Grizzetti, 2014). To understand the stakeholder perception and uptake of the information this method provides a case study was carried out using the LUCI model with 6 farmers in the Mangatarere Catchment. The results showed that LUCI proved to be a valuable tool for both the case study farmers and the wider farming community. Farmer feedback highlighted the importance of ensuring that information provided by such tools is communicated in a consolidated manner. This thesis shows that land use models such as LUCI have the potential to be a beneficial method of engaging stakeholders in prominent issues such as degrading water quality.</p>

Perception of tools for assessing on-farm nutrient losses and mitigation options

<p>This research focuses on the prominent issue of degraded water quality in New Zealand caused by the intensification of agricultural land use, resulting in increased levels of diffuse pollutants such as sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways (Duncan, 2017). Degraded water quality is a critical issue that needs to be addressed both socially and scientifically. It needs to be addressed socially as human behaviour is influencing this degradation, and the science is needed to further our understanding and implementation of the best mitigation solutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate how information surrounding potential nutrient mitigation measures provided by decision support tools is understood and interpreted by farmers facing tightening environmental regulations and a changing social outlook on environmental sustainability. To achieve this aim, the following activities were conducted: (i) A review of current theories and tools available to understand and encourage pro-environmental behaviour. (ii) A case study using the Land Utilisation Capability Indicator (LUCI) model to determine stakeholder engagement was carried out through interviews with 6 farmers in the Mangatarere Catchment. The review showed that while information alone does not drive behaviour change, it is an essential component that when used in collaboration with other methods and incentives, can be very successful (Kennedy, 2010; Mackenzie-Mohr, 2000; Stern, 2000). From this review a method that was identified as having huge potential in terms of managing water quality was the use of land use models alongside targeted on-farm advice (Bouraoui & Grizzetti, 2014). To understand the stakeholder perception and uptake of the information this method provides a case study was carried out using the LUCI model with 6 farmers in the Mangatarere Catchment. The results showed that LUCI proved to be a valuable tool for both the case study farmers and the wider farming community. Farmer feedback highlighted the importance of ensuring that information provided by such tools is communicated in a consolidated manner. This thesis shows that land use models such as LUCI have the potential to be a beneficial method of engaging stakeholders in prominent issues such as degrading water quality.</p>

Mitigating Source Water Risks with Improved Wildfire Containment

In many fire-prone watersheds, wildfire threatens surface drinking water sources with eroded contaminants. We evaluated the potential to mitigate the risk of degraded water quality by limiting fire sizes and contaminant loads with a containment network of manager-developed Potential fire Operational Delineations (PODs) using wildfire risk transmission methods to partition the effects of stochastically simulated wildfires to within and out of POD burning. We assessed water impacts with two metrics—total sediment load and frequency of exceeding turbidity limits for treatment—using a linked fire-erosion-sediment transport model. We found that improved fire containment could reduce wildfire risk to the water source by 13.0 to 55.3% depending on impact measure and post-fire rainfall. Containment based on PODs had greater potential in our study system to reduce total sediment load than it did to avoid degraded water quality. After containment, most turbidity exceedances originated from less than 20% of the PODs, suggesting strategic investments to further compartmentalize these areas could improve the effectiveness of the containment network. Similarly, risk transmission varied across the POD boundaries, indicating that efforts to increase containment probability with fuels reduction would have a disproportionate effect if prioritized along high transmission boundaries.

Disease ecology in marine conservation and management

While disease is a part of all natural systems, emerging marine diseases are on the rise and many are exacerbated by anthropogenic stressors. Marine and terrestrial environments are fundamentally different, requiring a suite of new approaches to understanding and managing the host–pathogen–environment relationship. Promising strategies include establishing marine protected areas, developing forecasting tools, and using natural ecosystem filters to control pathogens. Aquaculture is one measurable avenue by which natural systems come into direct contact with managed systems, often with negative consequences. This chapter presents examples where pathogens, invasive species, and degraded water quality are associated with impacts on adjacent natural systems. While effective regulatory procedures exist, international transport presents a challenge to implementation and needs special attention. Ecological restoration, a growing management science, would benefit from consideration of disease processes, such as genotyping to determine differences in natural resistance that could be used to guide selective breeding efforts.

Drinking water microbiology in a water-efficient building: stagnation, seasonality, and physicochemical effects on opportunistic pathogen and total bacteria proliferation

The rising trend in water conservation has led to the use of water-efficient fixtures for residential potable water systems, which raises concerns about increasing water age and degraded water quality at the tap.

The Impacts of Land Use Patterns on Water Quality in a Trans-Boundary River Basin in Northeast China Based on Eco-Functional Regionalization

The relationships between land use patterns and water quality in trans-boundary watersheds remain elusive due to the heterogeneous natural environment. We assess the impact of land use patterns on water quality at different eco-functional regions in the Songhua River basin during two hydrological seasons in 2016. The partial least square regression indicated that agricultural activities associated with most water quality pollutants in the region with a relative higher runoff depth and lower altitude. Intensive grazing had negative impacts on water quality in plain areas with low runoff depth. Forest was related negatively with degraded water quality in mountainous high flow region. Patch density and edge density had major impacts on water quality contaminants especially in mountainous high flow region; Contagion was related with non-point source pollutants in mountainous normal flow region; landscape shape index was an effective indicator for anions in some eco-regions in high flow season; Shannon’s diversity index contributed to degraded water quality in each eco-region, indicating the variation of landscape heterogeneity influenced water quality regardless of natural environment. The results provide a regional based approach of identifying the impact of land use patterns on water quality in order to improve water pollution control and land use management.

KARAKTERISTIK LINGKUNGAN PERAIRAN KEPULAUAN SERIBU

An identification of the environment characteristics of the Seribu Islands was conducted by using the physical and chemical data obtained from various sources. The characteristics of the water quality at the Seribu Island was identified as a moderate level in the middle part and better in the northern part. While in the southern part was poor due to the effect of the degraded water quality at Jakarta Bay as indicated by low transparency and high heavy metal concentration of the Cd and Pb. Keywords : Karakteristik lingkungan perairan, Kepulauan Seribu

Economics of Water

Water resources provide services of economic value to different sectors through consumptive uses, non-consumptive uses, nonuse, and as a waste receptor. The diverse array of goods and services provided by water create a challenge for efficiently allocating the resource. Furthermore, water resources are often subject to market failures because they lack the conditions of excludability and rivalry. These market failures result in depleted water supplies and degraded water quality. This chapter discusses various policy approaches that have attempted to address these market failures, many of which have created additional economic inefficiencies. It also discusses some of the scale and jurisdiction issues in water management—such as local self-governing institutions and transboundary policy formation—from an economics perspective. It primarily analyzes policies affecting agricultural water use and the impacts of agriculture on water quality because agriculture is the largest user of water and is a major contributor to water quality problems.

Assessing aluminium toxicity in streams affected by acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage (AMD) has degraded water quality and ecology in streams on the Stockton Plateau, the site of New Zealand's largest open-cast coal mining operation. This has previously been attributed largely to the effects of acidity and elevated aluminium (Al) concentrations. However, the toxicity of dissolved Al is dependent on speciation, which is influenced by pH which affects Al hydrolysis, as well as the concentrations of organic carbon and sulphate which complex Al. Methods for the assessment of the toxic fraction of Al, by chemical analysis and geochemical modelling, have been investigated in selected streams on the Stockton Plateau, where dissolved Al concentrations ranged from 0.034 to 27 mg L−1. Modelling using PHREEQC indicated that between 0.2 and 85% of the dissolved Al was present as the free ion Al3+, the most toxic Al species, which dominated in waters of pH = 3.8–4.8. Al-sulphate complexation reduced the Al3+ concentration at lower pH, while Al-organic and –hydroxide complexes dominated at higher pH. Macroinvertebrate richness in the streams identified an Al3+ ‘threshold’ of approximately 0.42 mg/L, above which taxa declined rapidly. Colorimetric ‘Aluminon’ analysis on unpreserved, unfiltered waters provided a better estimation of Al3+ concentrations than inductively couple plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) on filtered, acidified waters. The Aluminon method does not react with particulate Al or strong Al complexes, often registering as little as 53% of the dissolved Al concentration determined by ICP-MS.