County Resource Research Articles

Interpreting Variations in Groundwater Flows from Repeated Distributed Thermal Perturbation Tests.

To better understand the groundwater resources of southern Nye County, Nevada, a multipart distributed thermal perturbation sensing (DTPS) test was performed on a complex of three wells. These wells penetrate an alluvial aquifer that drains the Nevada National Security Site, and characterizing the hydraulic properties and flow paths of the regional groundwater flow system has proven very difficult. The well complex comprised one pumping well and two observation wells, both located 18 m from the pumping well. Using fiber-optic cables and line heaters, DTPS tests were performed under both stressed and unstressed conditions. Each test injects heat into the water column over a period of one to two days, and observes the rising temperature during heat injection and falling temperatures after heating ceases. Aquifer thermal properties are inferred from temperature patterns in the cased section of the wells, and fluxes through the 30-m screened section are estimated based on a model that incorporates conductive and advective heat fluxes. Vertical variations in flux are examined on a scale of tens of cm. The actively flowing zones of the aquifer change between the stressed and unstressed test, and anisotropy in the aquifer permeability is apparent from the changing fluxes between tests. The fluxes inferred from the DTPS tests are compared to solute tracer tests previously performed on the same site. The DTPS-based fluxes are consistent with the fastest solute transport observed in the tracer test, but appear to overestimate the mean flux through the system.

Abstract P005: Association Between County Elementary and Secondary Educational Policy With Cardiovascular Health

BACKGROUND: Recent research recognizing the socioeconomic influence of educational attainment on population health, including cardiovascular health (CVH), suggests that modifying educational policy to improve educational outcomes could be an effective approach to improving health outcomes. Although the positive association of educational level with health status is well documented, the effect of education policy on health outcomes is not as thoroughly studied. Identifying relationships amongst educational policy and CVH could provide a target for public policy initiatives designed to positively impact population health. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the potential effect of varying county educational policy on county and individual CVH outcomes. METHODS: Variables of county educational policy were expenditures per pupil, percent of total revenue from each state and local sources, and pupil teacher ratios. School district data from 1997-2005 sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics were adjusted for inflation using the U.S. Dept. of Labor Consumer Price Index as well as regional cost differences using the NCES Comparable Wage Index by school district, and grouped by county. County and individual CVH for 2011 was scored using the AHA’s CVH metric and data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Linear regression models were used to compare the county means for each education policy variable with both county and individual CVH scores. RESULTS: Mean percent revenue from local sources and mean pupil teacher ratio were both shown to be positively associated with county level CVH (p=0.007 and p=0.023). Individual CVH was inversely associated with mean expenditures per pupil (p=0.023), and positively associated with mean percent revenue from local (p<0.01), mean percent revenue from state (p<0.01), and mean pupil teacher ratio (p<0.001). There was an interactive effect between mean expenditure per pupil and county urbanicity on county CVH (p<0.05), which differed in rural counties compared to the most urban. There was also an interactive effect between mean percent revenue from local and county urbanicity on county CVH (p<0.001). Although no significant effect was observed for mean expenditures per pupil on county CVH, mean expenditures per pupil was inversely related to county CVH in the most urban counties (b=-3.58e-06), and positively related to county CVH in most rural counties (b=4.62e-06). Evidence of relationships between county educational policies and resources with CVH suggests the need for continued research more thoroughly examining variables of education policy as indicators for CVH. CONCLUSION: Further clarification of these relationships will help determine if educational policy adjustments driven by health improvement initiatives would be a useful addition to current strategies aimed at improving population health.

County government led EIP development using municipal biomass resources for clean energy production, a case study of the Catawba County North Carolina EcoComplex

The Catawba County North Carolina, USA EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility is an eco-industrial park (EIP) whose mission is synergistic waste and resource management, renewable energy production, and local economic development through public and private partnerships. The EcoComplex is a 326 hectare site centred on the Blackburn Landfill with 2.4 million metric tons of waste in place and serves the 156,000 county residents, receiving 484 tons/day of MSW and 80 tons of construction wastes per day. The site hosts a grid-tied 3MW landfill gas to energy project (LFGTE) using three GE-Jenbacher spark-ignition engines, a biodiesel facility with 379,000 LPY capacity and a crop processing facility that provides feedstock utilising buffer lands on-site to grow oilseed crops. This paper details the existing and impending biomass energy systems, applications of industrial symbiosis, and the use of public and private partnerships to leverage this municipal landfill as a hub for clean energy development.

Optimal spatial allocation of water resources based on Pareto ant colony algorithm

The spatial allocation of water resources is optimised using the multi-objective functions and multi-constrained conditions of the Pareto ant colony algorithm (PACA). The objective function is the highest benefit to the economy, society and the environment, while the constraints include water supply, demand and quality. The PACA is improved by limiting local pheromone scope and dynamically updating global pheromone levels. Since both strategies guide the ant towards borders of high-pheromone concentration, the new approach enhances the global search capability and convergence speed. Programming, database management and interface tools are then integrated into geographic information systems (GIS) software. The study area is located in Zhenping County, Henan Province, China, and water resource data are obtained using remote sensing (RS) and GIS technology. The improved PACA is solved in the GIS environment. Optimal spatial allocation schemes are obtained for surface, ground and transferred water and the model yields optimal spatial benefit schemes of water resources, embracing economic, social and ecological benefits. The results of improved PACA are superior to those of other intelligent optimisation algorithms, including the ant colony algorithm, multi-objective genetic algorithm and back-propagation artificial neural network. Therefore, the integration of RS, GIS and PACA can effectively optimise the large-scale, multi-objective allocation of water resources. The model also enhances the global search capability, convergence speed and result precision, and can potentially solve other optimal spatial problems with multi-objective functions.

Implementation of Best Management Practices to Reduce Agricultural Total Maximum Daily Loads in the Calleguas Creek and Santa Clara River Watersheds: A Case Study of Water Contaminant Mitigation in California

Agriculture is a major industry in California, with cool-season crops grown along the state’s coasts, warm-season crops grown in the hot deserts, and many temperate crops grown in the state’s valleys. In coastal communities such as Ventura County, the Calleguas Creek and the Santa Clara River watersheds have 50,000 and 60,000 irrigated acres of farm crops, respectively. These watersheds are considered impaired by nutrients, salts, pesticides, and other agricultural contaminants. Mitigation of chemical and sediment runoff through grower-implemented best management practices (BMPs) is therefore one of the highest priorities in the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Basin Plan. A 3-year project was designed to assist Ventura County growers in meeting regional water quality objectives. The University of California Cooperative Extension Ventura County and the University of California, Riverside, collaborated with the Ventura County Resource Conservation District and the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Lands Group (VCAILG) to address three project goals: increase grower and landowner understanding of local agricultural water quality issues; identify gaps or deficiencies in current management practices in agricultural operations; and reduce the contribution of nutrients, pesticides, and other pollutants to impaired water bodies. To achieve these goals, 469 surveys of agricultural water quality management practices were collected to assess the extent of current adoption of BMPs. Over 160 growers who farm more than 14,000 acres that drain into Calleguas Creek and 7,000 acres that drain into the Santa Clara River watersheds were assisted. Using the survey, growers developed site-specific farm water quality plans and received on-farm recommendations for BMPs. Additionally, 12 water quality educational programs, “including demonstrations of successful BMPs,” were developed and more than 2500 copies of educational materials published by the University of California, the Resource Conservation District, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were distributed at on-farm visits, workshops, and other grower events. The project resulted in improved understanding, by growers and landowners, of water quality issues and significantly increased the implementation of appropriate on-farm BMPs to protect water quality. Nearly 100 new BMPs primarily aimed at managing erosion, sediment movement, and irrigation runoff were identified and documented through annual reassessments for more than 8000 acres draining into Calleguas Creek. A total of 518 people attended the educational programs, and over 90% of participants who completed evaluations rated the programs highly. In the final year of the project, 75% of attendees indicated they plan to implement new BMPs within the next 5 years, especially in the areas of irrigation, erosion, and pest management.

Admissions for CABG Procedure in the Elderly: Was There a Change in Access to Teaching Hospitals After 1997?

The purpose of the study is to identify patient attributes associated with teaching hospital admissions in the elderly for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and to determine whether admission patterns in teaching hospitals by vulnerable subgroups of the elderly changed during 1997 to 2001, a period with significant changes in CABG admission patterns and financial situation faced by teaching hospitals. The study sample comprises elderly residents in two states, New York and Pennsylvania, and uses Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient data of the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. Patient characteristics in major teaching hospitals are compared with those in rest of hospitals in a logistic regression framework using a pre-/postdesign, and controlling for county characteristics and resources, distance to hospitals, and hospital size and volume of procedures. Significant patient characteristics associated with a higher likelihood of admission to teaching hospitals included racial/ethnic minority status, transfer cases, Medicaid and private health maintenance organization insurance. A lower volume of CABG cases and an increased propensity to admit more complex cases characterized the admission patterns in teaching hospitals during 1997 to 2001. Although higher use of teaching hospitals by racial/ethnic minorities persisted, access for Medicaid patients disproportionately declined.

OPERATING A 250 KW LANDFILL GAS FIRED MICROTURBINE AT A 0.4 HECTARE RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION GREENHOUSE

A 250 kW landfill gas-fired microturbine system was installed at a 0.4 ha research and demonstration greenhouse located at the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex in Columbus, NJ. The landfill gas is scrubbed of sulfur (H 2 S), compressed, and chilled (to remove moisture and siloxanes) prior to combustion in the turbine. Waste heat contained in the exhaust gasses is reclaimed using a gas-to-liquid heat exchanger. The captured waste heat is used to help heat the greenhouse and is distributed through the hot water heating system. The electricity generated by the turbine is used to power electrical equipment (including the supplemental lighting system) in the greenhouse facility. Excess electricity is exported to the local utility grid. The exported electricity provides a separate revenue stream in addition to the crops produced in the greenhouse. Furthermore, every 1000 kWh of electricity produced generates a renewable energy credit that can be sold to third parties to satisfy requirements for renewable energy portfolios. The microturbine uses the relatively low energy content landfill gas (-17.1 MJ m -3 ) at a rate of approximately 51.9 L s -1 and converts it into 220 kW of electricity (yearly average). Approximately 30 kW of electricity is required to operate the equipment, primarily the compressor and chiller (parasitic losses). In addition, approximately 1.16 GJ h -1 of heat energy is recovered. The estimated annual run-time percentage is 80% or higher. This paper includes operational data as well as a discussion of potential management strategies for operating the equipment as economically as possible. Since grid electricity prices fluctuate rapidly depending on demand, time-of-day, season, etc., and crop requirements change depending on weather conditions, crop stage, harvesting schedule, etc., the operational management of the combined heat and power equipment and greenhouse equipment can be quite challenging. Consequently, decision support tools for growers and operators were developed.

An application of spatially autoregressive models to the study of US county mortality rates

AbstractCounty mortality rates in the US tend to be associated with social and economic resources of counties and the unequal distribution of these resources across space. The processes that generate these social and economic inequalities are often tied to geographical location. In this paper, we present an application of spatially autoregressive models of US county mortality rates that control for the social and economic conditions that often influence mortality rates and the effects of spatial structure of counties in the US. We suggest that arguments are missing from the social science and demographic literatures to offer possible explanations for the spatial patterning of county mortality rates and ecological correlates of these rates at the county level. We find that, after controlling for spatial structure in the data, several key social variables become insignificant in the analysis. We suggest that spatial statistical models are valuable tools in the social and behavioural sciences but that the use of these methods needs to be well grounded in considerations about the spatial process inherent to the outcome studied, and the applications of these methods should not be used solely for post hoc statistical correction. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rural Preparedness for Traffic Control in Agricultural Emergencies

This paper explores the extent to which rural areas are prepared to handle the traffic control required for a large-scale quarantine related to an agricultural emergency. On the basis of a literature review and interviews with law enforcement, agriculture, transportation, and emergency response officials in several rural counties around the country, the current level of state and local preparedness for an agricultural emergency such as a foreign animal disease is explored. The gaps in such preparedness at both the state and local levels, related primarily to traffic control, are the next focus. Remedial recommendations follow and encompass constraints, such as the limited resources of rural counties and the division of responsibility among federal, state, and local officials. Finally, a set of tools for planning and implementing traffic control in an agricultural emergency is provided for local responders. These tools include a table of roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in each of the three phases of response, a description of three levels of traffic control, a route prioritization scheme, and traffic control diagrams. These tools are taken from A Guide to Traffic Control of Rural Roads in an Agricultural Emergency, which was produced as part of NCHRP Project 20-59(22).

Indices of Industrial Diversity and Regional Economic Composition

ABSTRACT Attempts to differentiate regions from one another, whether in social, demographic, or economic terms, have led to the development of numerous indices to summarize the economic composition of regions. This study revisits classic indices of industrial diversity to evaluate their applicability for benchmarking local and regional economies. Specifically, we explore a multivariate extension of these diversity indices for measuring concentration in an effort to evaluate their ability to accurately depict spatial relationships of county level resources for the contiguous U.S. The relative abilities of the classic indices are compared to a developed measure of resource concentration, the County Similarity Index (CS‐Index), which represents a computationally simple and flexible alternative to these indices. Results suggest the CS‐Index produces superior results to the indices evaluated, particularly with regard to the spatial relationships of county resource concentrations, which are quantified using global and local indicators of spatial association.

IMPERVIOUSNESS: A PERFORMANCE MEASURE OF A DELAWARE WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION AREA ORDINANCE1

ABSTRACT: The New Castle County Resource Protection Area Technical Advisory Committee (RPATAC) requested that the University of Delaware utilize impervious cover estimates to evaluate the performance of the Water Resource Protection Area (WRPA) ordinance. This 1991 ordinance was the first in Delaware to protect the quantity and quality of drinking water supplies by limiting new development in WRPAs ‐ such as areas of ground water recharge, wellhead protection, drainage above reservoirs (reservoir watersheds), and limestone aquifers ‐ to a maximum 20 percent impervious cover. The research used geographic information system (GIS) techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of the ordinance in attaining its objective. The analysis indicated that 138 new developments were proposed in WRPAs since the ordinance was approved in 1991. The composite impervious cover of the 231 square kilometers of WRPAs in New Castle County is 15 percent, less than the 20 percent code requirement, ranging from 7 percent in recharge areas to 41 percent in several wellhead protection areas. To further protect drinking water supplies, the study results indicate, New Castle County should discourage code variances for applications in the more developed WRPAs, those where impervious cover already exceeds 20 percent, and should acquire parks and open space to protect the healthier WRPAs where impervious cover is currently less than 20 percent.

Landfill Gas to Energy: A Demonstration Controlled Environment Agriculture System

A qualitative systems approach to controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is presented by means of several multi-institutional projects integrated into a demonstration greenhouse at the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex (BCRRC), N.J. The greenhouse has about 0.4 ha of production space, and is located about 800 m from the about 40-ha BCRRC landfill site. A portion of the landfill gas produced from the BCRRC site is used for microturbine electricity generation and for heating the greenhouse. The waste heat from the turbines, which are roughly 15 m from the greenhouse, is used as the main heat source for the greenhouse in the winter months, and to desalinate water when heating is not required. Recovery of this waste heat increases the energy efficiency of the four 30-kW turbines from about 25% to 75%. Within the greenhouse, aquaculture and hydroponic crop production are coupled by recycling the aquaculture effluent as a nutrient source for the plants. Both the sludge resulting from the filtered effluent and the inedible biomass from harvested plants are vermicomposted (i.e., rather than being sent to the landfill), resulting in marketable products such as soil amendments and liquid plant fertilizer. If suitably cleaned of contaminants, the CO2 from the landfill gas may be used to enrich the plant growing area within the greenhouse to increase the yield of the edible products. Landfill gas from the BCRRC site has successfully been processed to recover liquid commercial grade CO2 and contaminant-free methane-CO2, with the potential for this gas mixture to be applied as a feedstock for fuel cells or for methanol production. Carbon dioxide from the turbine exhaust may also be recovered for greenhouse enrichment. Alternatively, algal culture may be used to assimilate CO2 from the turbine exhaust into biomass, which may then be used as a biofuel, or possibly as fish feed, thus making the system more self-contained. By recycling energy and materials, the system described would displace fossil fuel use, mitigating negative environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, and generate less waste in need of disposal. Successful implementation of the coupled landfill (gas-to-energy · aquaponic · desalination) system would particularly benefit developing regions, such as those of the Greater Caribbean Basin.

The role of area-level influences on prostate cancer grade and stage at diagnosis

Background. This research explores area-level social influences on prostate cancer, to test whether area-level influences explain disparities in U.S. prostate cancer burden. Methods. The authors geocoded 23,993 1992–1997 Maryland prostate cancer cases, and linked cases to 1990 census data. The authors examined the effect of 17 area-level social variables, measured at block group, tract, and county, modeling individual and multilevel predictors of later stage and higher tumor grade. Results. Younger age, black race, higher grade or ungraded tumors, and earlier year of diagnosis were associated with later stage. Block group percentage of white-collar workers (O.R. = 0.93, 95% C.I. = 0.89, 0.98), and county resources (O.R. = 0.94, 95% C.I. = 0.89, 0.98), were protective of later stage. Older age, black race, and earlier year of diagnosis were associated with higher grade. Block group income was protective for white men (O.R. = 0.92, 95% C.I. = 0.87, 0.96), but for all men, county resources increased risk of higher grade (O.R. = 1.23, 95% C.I. = 1.16, 1.31). Conclusions. Social resources did not significantly reduce racial differences. Results suggest tumor biology is related to relative resources, with better outcomes associated with greater small-area wealth in low-resource counties, but stage at diagnosis is associated with absolute resources, with better outcomes associated with higher small-area social class in high-resource counties.

The Effect of Governmental Geospatial Data Programs and Policy on Innovation in the Private Sector

This article, written by a member of the private sector geospatial data industry, considers the effect of governmental geospatial data programs and policy on innovation in the private sector. The authors note that the DeLorme Publishing Company competes, in part, in a marketplace built largely upon data produced and made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other governmental agencies. The National Map, as proposed by the USGS (2001), has the potential for further stimulating this marketplace, thereby resulting in more and better geospatial products, ultimately further benefiting citizens. The authors outline the role of the private sector in augmenting and improving The National Map as it develops. The authors conclude by voicing concerns that the USGS will be unable to carry out a project of such magnitude without adequate funding and unless the collective resources of Federal, state, county, and local governments, in addition to the private sector, can be brought to bear through sustained and mutually beneficial partnerships.

Out-of-area travel from rural and urban counties: a study of ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations for New York State residents.

Rural patients who are admitted to hospitals outside their residence county or who travel great distances for hospitalization deprive local rural hospitals of revenue. To provide more information about such rural residents, we studied their characteristics compared to those admitted in the same county. Characteristics studied included illness severity, demographics and county resources. To validate the findings and to provide a different analytic approach, characteristics of residents who travel long distances for admission were also studied. We studied admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, as they might be most responsive to policy changes such as increasing recruitment of local primary-care physicians. Hospital discharges during 1994 for 248,656 New York State residents were studied. We constructed multivariate models using logistic regression and ordinary least squares methods. The models were applied to residents in three types of geographic location along an urban-rural continuum. Outside admissions were associated with younger age, higher illness severity and fewer county hospital resources. Same county admissions were associated with nonwhite race, and lack of insurance. Surprisingly, in rural counties, outside admissions were directly associated with increased primary-care providers. Results from the distance model generally supported findings from the outside admission model.

Comparison of Experimental and Analytical Load-Rating Methodologies for a Pony-Truss Bridge

Vehicle and environmental loading, combined with the effects of deicing salts and inadequate maintenance, have resulted in a large number of structurally deficient bridges in the United States. Because of the limited resources of county and district bridge owners, aging structures must be evaluated and rated to facilitate suitable bridge repair, replacement, and posting strategies. A 1937 riveted pony-truss bridge in Pennsylvania was studied to evaluate the effect of increasingly refining rating parameter inputs to the analysis of the bridge. The study considered results from experimental field testing of the bridge, a detailed sectionloss inspection, and a refined analytical modeling using STAAD III, a commercially available software package, to increase the accuracy of the rating analysis. The research team evaluated the relative effect of using ( a) allowable stress versus load-factor design methodologies; ( b) experimentally derived versus code-specified impact and distribution factors; ( c) experimental stress measurements versus manual- and computer-stress calculations; and ( d) member fixity and composite action for both inventory and operating rating with an AASHTO HS20-44 and ML-80 rating vehicle. Results for selected truss members, floor beams, and stringers are presented. The investigators found that the rating increased with increasingly refined parameter input, with the rating factor increasing as much as 60 percent over a standard manual rating analysis when an experimentally based rating analysis was used. The best agreement with experimental results was obtained by using reduced deck stiffness to model deck deterioration, fully composite action between stringers and the deck, pinned stringer-floor beam connections, and fixed floor beam-to-truss connections. The study procedures can be applied to other similar bridge structures.

Municipal landfill Leachate management

AbstractFrom 1995 to 1997, the Montgomery County Leachate Pretreatment Facility (MCLPF) has successfully pretreated in excess of 18,000,000 gallons of leachate generated by the county's municipal solid waste landfill. The collection system directs leachate from the original landfill, the new lined section, and the ash cell to the leachate pump station. The leachate, prior to being pumped to the leachate pretreatment system, is equalized in two storage lagoons with a combined capacity of more than 5,000,000 gallons.The innovative leachate treatment system, incorporating a biological reactor system equipped with a submerged fixed‐film reactor using a patented Matrix Biological Film (MBF) media, continues to provide excellent pretreatment results for the leachate generated at the Oaks Landfill in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1995 and 1996, the system responded to the substantial challenges imposed by the changing characteristics of the material being landfilled and by the significant amounts of incinerator ash, received in 1995 from the county's resource recovery facility (RRF), which influenced the influent leachate characteristics. The extremely wet weather caused the collection and equalization system to be overloaded and required the biological reactor system to operate at peak flow and loading conditions for extended periods of time. In fact, the facility pretreated in excess of 12,500,000 gallons of leachate in 1996 compared to only 5,500,000 gallons for all of 1995, and continued to meet permit requirements. Although the landfill closed in 1997, technological challenges to the system will continue. The past performance indicates that this system will continue to provide excellent pretreatment results and, in future years, may provide an effluent suitable for direct discharge.

Resourcing Visually Impaired Children and Youth in Rural Settings

The authors provide information on the accessing of community and school based services for the visually impaired by parents and general/special educational teachers. Development of community services is discussed. Potential groups are presented which can provide services for visually impaired students in the areas of education; employment; family support and advocacy; recreation; social/interpersonal development and medical; financial and other social source agencies. Local and county level resources development is examined and the need and procedures for developing volunteer programs are explored.

Experimental Load Rating Study of a Historic Truss Bridge

A field test of a complicated statically indeterminate floor system on a historic steel truss bridge has been conducted to obtain a more accurate load rating of the structure than possible using calculated predic­ tions of wheel load distributions. The empirically determined wheel load distributions resulted in the identifi­ cation of the floor system, particularly the transverse floor beams, as the element governing the load rating of the structure. Favorable lateral distribution of wheel loads among the stringers by a glued laminated treated timber deck was noted. The experimental determination of wheel load distributions has provided an inexpensive means of intelligently allocating limited county resources for the maintenance and rehabilitation of an inventory of aging bridges.

SUBSTATE INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION FOR MANAGING LAKES AND WATERSHEDS: A WISCONSIN CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: Since the 1970s, there has been extensive experimentation with new approaches to water and land resources management at the state and local levels. There is a critical need to document, assess, and synthesize lessons learned from the nation's recent experience with subnational institutional changes in environmental management. This paper examines institutional changes aimed at more integrated water and related resources management at the substate level of government. We describe innovative institutional changes in a case study of Dane County, Wisconsin, and assess the implementation and preliminary consequences of these changes.Dissatisfaction with watershed and lake management results and perceptions of institutional inadequacy led to significant changes in the structure and rules for county resources management. A new entity was created to focus watershed management responsibilities. The scope of authority and powers were expanded. However, these changes all occurred within the framework of a general purpose unit of government. The new institutional arrangements have achieved a number of milestones, although it is premature to fully assess resource outcomes. The substantive changes, implementation tactics, and overall experience in Dane County's reforms ‐ especially with regard to addressing intergovernmental tensions and decentralized management, limited authorities and funding, and public and constituency support ‐ have useful implications for other substate efforts at more comprehensive and integrated water resources management.