The practice of Integrated Water Resources Management in South Africa: challenges of women in water user associations

South Africa’s National Water Act and National Water Resource Strategy set out an ambitious societal vision with a strong focus on the redistribution of water resources towards the marginalised and on empowering historically disadvantaged communities including women. This vision is reflected in the framework for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) that acknowledges women as pivotal in water management practices. Based on this premise, this paper examines the challenges women face in performing their roles in IWRM in rural South Africa. It draws on a study of a water user association that operates in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The design of the study was qualitative in nature with a semi-structured interview as the main data collection tool. The interview involved 14 respondents from Limpopo. The results showed marked gender difference in terms of roles performed. Based on the study, three kinds of roles were revealed: domestic, productive and decision-making roles. Men were significantly involved in productive roles, giving low priority to domestic roles. The key factors found to affect the role of women in decision-making in IWRM were cultural practices, low self-confidence, low levels of capacity, and high workloads. These factors were identified as key institutional inherent within the specific society. As such, these findings have significant implications for the efforts aimed at promoting gender equality. Particularly, the impact of culture on women in water management raises concerns regarding gender issues in rural and remote areas where people are poorer and more culturally conservative.     

An Improvized Core-Drilling Technique and a New Device for Osteohistology of Fossil Bones: Implementation on a Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaur from India

An improvized version of the conventional core drilling technique, based on a new device is introduced in the current work for extracting cores from fossil bones to understand their microanatomy. A powerful, low-speed electric drill with an autolubrication facility is used as the new device, and the bone specimen is placed on a permanently fixed platform beneath the drill bit. It avoids the vibration-induced wobbling of the conventional handheld drill machine and helps in precision sampling. Long drill bits of the new device result in extraction of long cores, reduce premature breakages of cores, and recovery of the entire bone microstructure for high resolution deduction of palaeobiological information. As this version of drilling technique is less destructive, it has better sampling coverage, where fossil bones can be restored to their original shapes and preserved with almost no loss in gross morphology. This is first time such a device for extraction of fossil drill cores has been installed. After test run on dummy samples, the new device has been successfully implemented for extraction of eleven cores from various long bones of the early Jurassic sauropod dinosaur Barapasaurus tagorei. The fossil bones are restored to their pre-coring shapes, the detail protocols of which are discussed here for the first time.     

Late Quaternary changes in surface productivity and oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the northwestern Arabian Sea: Micropaleontologic and sedimentary record at ODP site 728A

Changes in the abundance of selected planktic foraminiferal species and some sedimentological parameters at ODP site 728A were examined to understand the fluctuations in the surface productivity and deep sea oxygenation in the NW Arabian Sea during last ∼540 kyr. The increased relative abundances of high fertility taxa, i.e., Globigerinita glutinata and Globigerina bulloides mainly during interglacial intervals indicate intense upwelling. Strong SW summer monsoon probably increased the upwelling in the western Arabian Sea during interglacial intervals and caused high surface productivities due to the lateral transport of eutrophic waters. Most of the glacial periods (i.e., MIS 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12) are characterized by higher relative abundances of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei associated with Globigerinoides ruber. The more stratified condition and deep mixed layer due to increased NE winter monsoon are mainly responsible for the higher relative abundances of N. pachyderma during glacial periods. Some of the glacial intervals (i.e., MIS 6 and 8) are also characterized by pteropod spikes reflecting deepening of aragonite compensation depth (ACD) and relatively less intense oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in this region due to deep sea mixing and thermocline ventilation, and relatively less intense surface productivity during winter monsoon. The interglacial periods are largely devoid of pteropod shells indicating more aragonite dissolution due to increased intensity of OMZ in the northwestern Arabian Sea.     

Consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration variability over the Western Himalayas (WH)

Precipitation in solid form, i.e., snow, during winter season over the Western Himalayas (WH) leads to the build-up of seasonal snow cover. Seasonal snow cover build-up (snow cover depth and duration) largely depends on atmospheric variables such as temperature, precipitation, radiation, wind, etc. Integrated (combined) influence of atmospheric variables on seasonal snow cover gets reflected in terms of spatial and temporal variability in seasonal snow cover build-up pattern. Hence spatial and temporal variability of seasonal snow cover build-up can serve as a good indicator of climate change in high altitude mountainous regions like the WH. Consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration, delay days and early melt days of consistent seasonal snow cover at 11 stations spread across different mountain ranges over the WH were analyzed. Mean, maximum and percentiles (25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th) of consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration show decline over the WH in the recent past 2–3 decades. Consistent seasonal snow cover is found to melt early and snow cover build-up pattern is found to show changes over the WH. Decline in consistent seasonal snow cover depth, duration and changing snow cover build-up pattern over the WH in recent decades indicate that WH has undergone considerable climate change and winter weather patterns are changing in the WH.     

Hydrogeochemistry of coal mine water of North Karanpura coalfields,India: implication for solute acquisition processes,dissolved fluxes and water quality assessment

Mine water samples collected from different mines of the North Karanpura coalfields were analysed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), major anions, cations and trace metals to evaluate mine water geochemistry and assess solute acquisition processes, dissolved fluxes and its suitability for domestic, industrial and irrigation uses. Mine water samples are mildly acidic to alkaline in nature. The TDS ranged from 185 to 1343 mg L^?1 with an average of 601 mg L^?1. Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ are the dominant cations, while SO₄ ^2? and HCO₃ ^? are the dominant anions. A high concentration of SO₄ ^2? and a low HCO₃ ^?/(HCO₃ ^? + SO₄ ^2?) ratio (<0.50) in the majority of the water samples suggest that either sulphide oxidation or reactions involving both carbonic acid weathering and sulphide oxidation control solute acquisition processes. The mine water is undersaturated with respect to gypsum, halite, anhydrite, fluorite, aluminium hydroxide, alunite, amorphous silica and oversaturated with respect to goethite, ferrihydrite, quartz. About 40% of the mine water samples are oversaturated with respect to calcite, dolomite and jarosite. The water quality assessment shows that the coal mine water is not suitable for direct use for drinking and domestic purposes and needs treatment before such utilization. TDS, TH, F^?, SO₄ ^2?, Fe, Mn, Ni and Al are identified as the major objectionable parameters in these waters for drinking. The coal mine water is of good to suitable category for irrigation use. The mines of North Karanpura coalfield annually discharge 22.35 × 10⁶ m³ of water and 18.50 × 10³ tonnes of solute loads into nearby waterways.     

Stagnant low-energy ions in the near cusp region observed by Cluster

Measuring the low-energy ions in the Earth's magnetotail lobes is difficult, because a spacecraft becomes positively charged in a sunlit and tenuous plasma environment. Recent studies have introduced a new method, making use of the positive electric potential on the Cluster spacecraft, to measure the low-energy ions(less than a few tens of electronvolts) in the polar caps/magnetotail lobes in the years 2001–2010. With the measured velocities, we are able to study the trajectories of these low-energy ions. Particle tracing has been used in previous studies, confirming that ions of ionospheric origin are the dominant contributor to the ion population in the Earth's magnetotail lobes. In this work, we continue to study the source of low-energy ions measured in the lobes. We found that not all of the low-energy ions in the lobes come directly from the ionosphere. Particle tracing infers that some of the low-energy ions start to move tailward from the cusp/near-cusp region with a zero parallel velocity. In the following, we refer to these low-energy ions as stagnant low-energy ions. On the other hand, the in situ measurements by Cluster show a population of low-energy ions in the cusp/near-cusp region with pitch angles near 90°(i.e., no significant parallel velocity).The locations of stagnant low-energy ions are determined by particle tracing and in situ measurements. Similar ion energies and spatial distributions determined by these two methods confirm the presence of the stagnant low-energy ion population.     

Temporal and spatial dynamical simulation of groundwater characteristics in Minqin Oasis

Application scope of geostatistics has been gradually extended from original geologic field to soil science and ecological field, etc. and its successful application results have been widely demonstrated. But little information is reported as to the direct use of geostatistical method to work out the distribu- tion map of groundwater characteristics. In this paper the semivariogram of geostatistics, in combina- tion with GIS, was used to quantitatively study the spatial variation characteristics of groundwater table depth and mineralization degree and their relation to the landuse changes. F test of the used spherical model reached a very significant level, and the theoretical model can well reflect the spatial structural characteristics of groundwater table depth and mineralization degree and achieve an ideal result. This shows that the application of the method in the dynamical simulation of groundwater is feasible. And this paper also provides useful reference for the application of geostatistics in the study of the dy- namical variations of groundwater resources in the oasis.     

Tectonic Subsidence of California Estuaries Increases Forecasts of Relative Sea-Level Rise

Even along the generally uplifting coast of the Pacific US, local geologic structures can cause subsidence. In this study, we quantify Holocene-averaged subsidence rates in four estuaries (Carpinteria Slough, Goleta Slough, Campus Lagoon, and Morro Bay) along the southern and central California coast by comparing radiocarbon-dated estuarine material to a regional sea-level curve. Holocene-averaged rates of vertical motion range from subsidence of 1.4?±?2.4, 1.2±0.4, and 0.4?±?0.3 mm/year in Morro Bay, Carpinteria Slough, and Goleta Slough, respectively, to possible uplift in Campus Lagoon (?0.1?±?0.9 mm/year). The calculated rates of subsidence are of the same magnitude as rates of relative sea-level rise experienced over the late Holocene and effectively double the ongoing rates of relative sea-level rise experienced over the last five decades on other parts of the coast. The difference in rates of vertical motion among these four estuaries is attributed to their geological settings. Estuaries developed in subsiding geological structures such as synclines and fault-bounded basins are subsiding at much higher rates than those developed within flooded river valleys incised into marine terraces. Restoration projects accounting for future sea-level rise must consider the geologic setting of the estuaries and, if applicable, include subsidence in future sea-level rise scenarios, even along the tectonically uplifting US Pacific Coast.     

Density-Stratified Flow Events in Great Salt Lake,Utah, USA: Implications for Mercury and Salinity Cycling

Density stratification in saline and hypersaline water bodies from throughout the world can have large impacts on the internal cycling and loading of salinity, nutrients, and trace elements. High temporal resolution hydroacoustic and physical/chemical data were collected at two sites in Great Salt Lake (GSL), a saline lake in the western USA, to understand how density stratification may influence salinity and mercury (Hg) distributions. The first study site was in a causeway breach where saline water from GSL exchanges with less saline water from a flow restricted bay. Near-surface-specific conductance values measured in water at the breach displayed a good relationship with both flow and wind direction. No diurnal variations in the concentration of dissolved (<0.45 μm) methylmercury (MeHg) were observed during the 24-h sampling period; however, the highest proportion of particulate Hg_total and MeHg loadings was observed during periods of elevated salinity. The second study site was located on the bottom of GSL where movement of a high-salinity water layer, referred to as the deep brine layer (DBL), is restricted to a naturally occurring 1.5-km-wide “spillway” structure. During selected time periods in April/May, 2012, wind-induced flow reversals in a railroad causeway breach, separating Gunnison and Gilbert Bays, were coupled with high-velocity flow pulses (up to 55 cm/s) in the DBL at the spillway site. These flow pulses were likely driven by a pressure response of highly saline water from Gunnison Bay flowing into the north basin of Gilbert Bay. Short-term flow reversal events measured at the railroad causeway breach have the ability to move measurable amounts of salt and Hg from Gunnison Bay into the DBL. Future disturbance to the steady state conditions currently imposed by the railroad causeway infrastructure could result in changes to the existing chemical balance between Gunnison and Gilbert Bays. Monitoring instruments were installed at six additional sites in the DBL during October 2012 to assess impacts from any future modifications to the railroad causeway.