Water Flows Toward Power: Socioecological Degradation of Lake Urmia,Iran

Water is an invaluable resource, and equitable access to it is a fundamental human right. Disenfranchised groups often lose access to water resources because their interests are not well represented by decision makers. Excluding these groups from resource management policy often results in myopic decisions that contribute to further ecosystem damage. We describe the ecological degradation of Lake Urmia in Iran, which has recently experienced increased salinity and declining water quantity. The lake is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar site, and supports unique biodiversity in the region. The lake's decline is driven by the destruction of Zagros forests and the government's water policies, which diverted water to more politically connected agricultural land users, increasing social inequity and prompting more deforestation. The most straightforward restoration solution is to discontinue the diversions and allow critical inflows to recharge Lake Urmia, preserving the lake and wetlands for migratory birds, tourists, and local communities.     

Potential risk of harmful algae transport by ballast waters: the case of Bilbao Harbour

Ballast water exchange was measured for the first time in Bilbao Harbour, one of the most active of northern Spain. Between 1997 and 2006, 41,900,980.34 ballast water tn were loaded and 13,272,709 tn were discharged. Bilbao Harbour appears to be mainly a source of ballast water, 90% of which would be discharged in European harbours. We estimated that vessels carrying liquid and solid bulk have higher probabilities of exporting ballast water, whereas those with liquid bulk and containers are more likely to introduce it. From 30 potentially harmful phytoplankton species identified to date near harbour facilities, there would be a high risk of exporting at least Alexandrium minutum, Dinophysis sp., Heterosigma akashiwo, Karlodinium sp., Ostreopsis cf. siamensis, Pfiesteria-like and Prorocentrum minimum. Invasion risk by ballast water was tested by analyzing the response of six strains of H. akashiwo from different geographic areas to varying salinity. Results show that successful growth of foreign strains would be possible.     

The infusion of sustainability into bilateral fisheries agreements with developing countries: The European Union example

The EU's bilateral fishing policy towards developing third countries has evolved over the years to increasingly emphasise sustainability, culminating in 2002 with the release of a ‘fisheries partnership approach’. The Community has begun to operationalise the policy in various West African coastal states, where its new fisheries partnership agreements are intended to function as ‘development vectors’. This paper introduces the EU's new policy, examines its potential implications for the role of sustainability in future bilateral fishing relations and highlights the impetus for it with reference to analysis of the EU's most recent agreement with Senegal based on empirical research.     

Effects of mining wastes on a seagrass ecosystem: metal accumulation and bioavailability, seagrass dynamics and associated community structure

Two different Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson beds growing in mining-contaminated sediments were compared with two reference beds in the Mar Menor coastal lagoon. The accumulation of Zn, Pb and Cd in different fractions of the plant, the sediment parameters that regulate the availability of metals, the seabed structure and dynamics of each seagrass bed and its associated macroinvertebrate community were studied. C. nodosa accumulates metals from the sediments and reflects their bioavailability for this seagrass. At each station, the metal content of the rhizomes was lower than that of leaves and roots. The concentration of acid-volatile sulfides does not seem to influence the availability of metals to the seagrass, possibly due to oxygen transport to underground tissues. The highest metal concentration in all the contaminated stations was found in the leaf-biofilm, due to the formation of complexes between metals and the extracellular polymeric substances that form the biofilm. All the seagrass beds were seen to be undergoing expansion, those growing in contaminated sediments accumulating great quantities of metals and showing highest photosynthetic leaf surface area and highest leaf biomass. However, these structural parameters were not seen to be responsible for the differences in the faunal composition observed between contaminated and reference beds. Moreover, the multivariate analysis identified the metal content of leaves, biofilm and sediments as important variables that may be responsible for these differences in faunal composition. In this study we have demonstrated that both the seagrass C. nodosa and the biofilm on the plant leaves may be used as environmental tools in the Mar Menor lagoon. The former is an useful indicator of sediment contamination, whereas the latter seems to be a good sentinel of water quality.     

Historical water resources in South Asia: the hydrological background

Abstract

The development of historical water resources in the South Asian subcontinent has been largely dependent on the hydrological background. The runoff patterns are derived from climate statistics and the historical developments in different areas are related to these patterns.

Citation Sutcliffe, J., Shaw, J. & Brown, E. (2011) Historical water resources in South Asia: the hydrological background. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(5), 775–788.     

A high‐altitude temporary spring in a compartmentalized carbonate aquifer: the role of low‐permeability faults and karst conduits

The aim of this research was to refine the actual conceptual model related to the activation of high‐altitude temporary springs within the carbonate Apennines in southern Italy. The research was carried out through geophysical, hydrogeological, hydrochemical and isotopic investigations at the Acqua dei Faggi experimental site during five hydrologic years. The research demonstrated that, in carbonate aquifers where low‐permeability faults cause the aquifer system to be compartmentalized, high‐altitude temporary springs may be recharged by groundwater. In such settings, neither surface water infiltration in karst systems nor perched temporary aquifers play a role of utmost importance. The rare (once or a few time a year) activation of such springs is due to the fact that groundwater unusually reach the threshold head that allows the spring to flow. The activation of the studied high‐altitude temporary spring also depended on relationships between a low‐permeability fault core and a karst system that locally interrupts the low‐permeability barrier. In fact, when the hydraulic head did not reach the karst system, the concentrated head loss within the fault core did not allow the spring to flow, because the groundwater entirely flowed through the fault towards the downgradient compartment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A less disastrous disaster: Managing response to climate-driven hazards in the Cayman Islands and NE Brazil

This paper explores the relationship between disaster risk reduction and long-term adaptive capacity building in two climate vulnerable areas—the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean and Ceará, in NE Brazil. Drawing on past applications of the disaster risk reduction framework, we identify four critical factors that have led to reductions in risk: flexible, learning-based, responsive governance; committed, reform-minded and politically active actors; disaster risk reduction integrated into other social and economic policy processes; and a long-term commitment to managing risk. We find that while the presence of these factors has reduced overall risk in both regions, in Ceará, disaster response as it is currently practiced, has fallen short of addressing the fundamental causes of vulnerability that leave those prone to hazards able to cope in the short term, yet enmeshed in poverty and at risk from the longer-term changes associated with climate change. Although calls for integration of disaster risk management with poverty eradication are not new, there has been insufficient attention paid in the literature on how to foster such integration. Based on the two case studies, we argue that the adoption of good governance mechanisms (such as stakeholder participation, access to knowledge, accountability and transparency) in disaster risk reduction policy may create the policy environment that is conducive to the kind of structural reform needed to build long-term adaptive capacity to climate-driven impacts. We conclude that without a synergistic two-tiered approach that includes both disaster risk reduction and structural reform, disaster risk reduction, in the face of climate changes, will prove to be an expensive and ineffective palliative treatment of changing risks.     

Mineral fibres and environmental monitoring:A comparison of different analytical strategies in New Caledonia

Covered by ultrabasic units for more than a third of its surface,the New Caledonia(South West Pacific)is one of the largest world producers of Ni-ore from lateritic deposits.Almost all outcrops of geological units and open mines contain serpentine and amphibole,also as asbestos varieties.In this geological context,in which weathering processes had a great contribution in the production and dispersion of mineral fibres into the environment,the development of a routinely analytical strategy,able to discriminate an asbestiform fibre from a non-harmful particle,is a pivotal requisite.However,the acquisition of all these parameters is necessary for determining the risk associated to fibres exposition.A multidisciplinary routinely approach,based on the use of complementary simply-to-use but reliable analytical methods is the only possible strategy.In addition,the instrumental apparatus must be easily transportable on the field,directly on the mining site.The employment of specialized tools such as Polarized Light Microscopy associated to Dispersion Staining method(PLM/DS)and portable Raman spectroscopy for identification of environmental asbestos,are proved extremely effective in the improvement of the performance and rapidity of data acquisition and interpretation.Both PLM/DS and handheld Raman devices confirmed to be discriminant in the detection and characterization of asbestos fibres for both serpentine and amphibole.Furthermore,these techniques proved extremely effective even in the presence of strongly fibrous and altered samples.