National River Research Articles

A system dynamics simulation model for water conflicts in the Zhanghe River Basin, China

ABSTRACT This article presents a model that simulates the dynamics of water demand, water supply and the instability of water allocation schemes at the national river basin scale during water scarcity. The Zhanghe River Basin in China is used as a case study to demonstrate the model. The optimum solution, minimizing water allocation instability, allocated most of the river’s water to the downstream sub-basin, with most of the water assigned for downstream use allocated to Anyang city. The results show that the socioeconomic–environmental dynamics of the stakeholders in a water-sharing problem should be taken into account when allocating water.

Improvement of Detailed Indicators and Application of Methodology for Post-Evaluation of National River Project

Improvement of Detailed Indicators and Application of Methodology for Post-Evaluation of National River Project

Cultural Significance of Ganga, The Indian National River

Ganga is declared as National River due to its historical and cultural significance. Ganga is not only a source of agricultural prosperity of India but more than that it is culturally important and is an integral part of human life and its existence. The research paper is an analysis of cultural significance of Ganga river and how it is connected to the philosophy of life. It also depicts that how its uninterrupted flow is important for its purity and cleanliness.

Estimation of policy-relevant reference conditions throughout national river networks

A method for objectively estimating reference states for suspended fine sediment (turbidity) is presented. To be fit for water policy development and implementation the method had to satisfy four requirements: (1) the method must not be dependent on data from minimally-disturbed reference sites; (2) the method must facilitate characterization of reference states throughout heterogeneous river networks, given patchy data; (3) the classification of reference states must be relevant and legitimate to end-users; (4) the method should provide several classifications of reference states at different spatial resolutions allowing selection of the resolution yielding the most parsimonious classification of reference states throughout the network. Implementing the method involves two stages: (1) Development of a river classification based on sediment supply and retention regimes (defining ‘turbidity classes’) at multiple spatial resolutions. (2) At each resolution, for each turbidity class, estimation of a reference state based on relationships between turbidity and anthropogenic stressors, then objective selection of the resolution yielding the most parsimonious classification of reference states throughout the network. Implementing the method requires a river network GIS and turbidity data within classes, preferably from monitoring sites spanning the domains of the anthropogenic stressor variables used for model-based estimation of reference states.•A method is presented for estimating reference states for suspended fine sediment (turbidity) throughout spatially heterogeneous river networks.•Development of the method was guided by the requirements of policy analysts during reform of water policy in New Zealand.•The method presented was used to develop fine sediment regulatory thresholds of national water policy.

Applying and assessing multi-output support vector regression with rainfall as additional output for monthly river flow forecasting

Developing data-driven models for river flow forecasting has received great attention in recent years. However, no study has applied multi-output support vector regression (MSVR) for river flow forecasting. In this paper, we presented a monthly river flow forecasting model using MSVR with both river flow and rainfall data as model output. By experiments on two station data of the National River Flow Archive, we compared the proposed MSVR model with five commonly used single-output forecasting models. Besides, potential influencing factors of the proposed model related to the training samples size, the kernel function type, input variable scenario, and scenario of output combinations were tested. Results in our experiments revealed three significant findings. Firstly, MSVR outperformed the five single-output models in all test data. Secondly, the additional output-rainfall in MSVR can be conducive to forecast river flow only under the configuration of appropriate input variables and kernel type. Thirdly, with the tiny training sample size, the proposed model showed significantly superior to support vector regression. Based on these evidences, it is suggested that through the linkage of the output modeled by MSVR, more beneficial information can be learned for forecasting river flow. Therefore, the proposed method had a promising potential for river flow forecasting.

Trends and Patterns of Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Blood Plasma Samples of Bald Eagle Nestlings in Wisconsin and Minnesota, USA.

We analyzed concentrations and trends of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood plasma samples of bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nestlings at 6 study areas in the upper Midwest of the United States, 2006 to 2015, and long‐term trends at 2 Lake Superior (USA/Canada) sites, 1995 to 2015. Nestling blood plasma concentrations of the sum of 15 PFAS analytes (∑PFAS) differed among study areas and were highest at the 3 industrialized river sites: pools 3 and 4 of the Mississippi River (pools 3 + 4; geometric mean [GM] = 754 μg/L; range = 633–2930), the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (GM = 687 μg/L; range = 24–7371), and the lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (GM = 546 μg/L; range = 20–2400). Temporal trends in ∑PFAS in nestling plasma differed among study areas; concentrations decreased at pools 3 + 4, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, but not at the most remote sites, the upper St. Croix River and Lake Superior. Overall, perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) was the most abundant analyte at all study areas, and perfluorodecanesulfonate (PFDS) the second most abundant at industrialized river sites although not at Lake Superior; concentrations of both these analytes declined from 2006 to 2015 over the study area. In addition, nestling age significantly influenced plasma concentrations of ∑PFAS and 7 of the 12 analytes. For these analytes, concentrations increased by 1 to 2%/d as nestlings grew, indicating that age should be considered when using nestling plasma to assess PFAS. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:754–766. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Hydropower construction plans threaten the largest Brazilian national river

Hydropower construction plans threaten the largest Brazilian national river

Long-term treatment leads to reduction of tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) populations in the Buffalo National River

AbstractIn this case study, we used point mapping data to evaluate long-term treatment of invasive tree-of-heaven [Ailanthus altissima(Mill.) Swingle]. This study at the Buffalo National River included 21 project areas ranging in size from 0.02 to 11.3 ha and spanned 5 to 8 yr depending on the site. The control techniques varied depending on the year and included the application of herbicide, which also varied over the course of the study and included imazapyr, triclopyr, and triclopyr+fluroxypyr. Treatments during the first year reduced localA. altissimapopulations by an average of 66%. Long-term repeated treatments led to decreases of at least 90% in 70% of the project areas and at least 73% in 95% of the project areas. Only one project area was found to support no plants during the final treatment year.Ailanthus altissimaincreased at most project areas during an unusually wet year and was more likely to increase than decrease in intervals >1 yr with no treatment. Over the temporal and spatial scales of this case study, we observed high levels of control that will likely meet the specified levels and ecological benefits required in many similar efforts. Land managers must, however, make a long-term commitment of resources to achieve lasting control of this invasive species.

CAMELS-GB: hydrometeorological time series and landscape attributes for 671 catchments in Great Britain

Abstract. We present the first large-sample catchment hydrology dataset for Great Britain, CAMELS-GB (Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies). CAMELS-GB collates river flows, catchment attributes and catchment boundaries from the UK National River Flow Archive together with a suite of new meteorological time series and catchment attributes. These data are provided for 671 catchments that cover a wide range of climatic, hydrological, landscape, and human management characteristics across Great Britain. Daily time series covering 1970–2015 (a period including several hydrological extreme events) are provided for a range of hydro-meteorological variables including rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, temperature, radiation, humidity, and river flow. A comprehensive set of catchment attributes is quantified including topography, climate, hydrology, land cover, soils, and hydrogeology. Importantly, we also derive human management attributes (including attributes summarising abstractions, returns, and reservoir capacity in each catchment), as well as attributes describing the quality of the flow data including the first set of discharge uncertainty estimates (provided at multiple flow quantiles) for Great Britain. CAMELS-GB (Coxon et al., 2020; available at https://doi.org/10.5285/8344e4f3-d2ea-44f5-8afa-86d2987543a9) is intended for the community as a publicly available, easily accessible dataset to use in a wide range of environmental and modelling analyses.

A strategy for the implementation of water-quality-based discharge limits for the regulation of hazardous substances.

Many developing countries apply technology-based discharge standards that set quantitative limits on pollutant discharges. These standards do not inherently consider ambient constraints and, therefore, cannot guarantee to protect aquatic life from hazardous pollutants. It is a challenge for developing countries to enforce water-quality-based limits for wastewater discharges and guarantee the intended use of water. This study aims to develop a strategy that suits the needs of developing countries for a transition from technology-based discharge standards to water-quality-based discharge limits. To this end, a pilot monitoring program was carried in the Gediz River Basin in Turkey. Surface water, industrial, and urban wastewater samples were collected and analyzed for 45 priority pollutants identified by the European Union and 250 national river basin specific pollutants. The monitoring results revealed that the environmental quality standards (EQSs) were exceeded for 8 priority, and 28 specific pollutants. This finding indicated that the existing technology-based discharge standards are not satisfactory to guarantee the intended water quality, and there is a need for adopting a new strategy for the implementation of water-quality-based discharge limits in Turkey. As a widely applied approach for determining water-quality-based discharge limits, firstly, conservative mass balance with and without consideration of mixing zone was evaluated. The results indicated that this approach was not applicable due to the receiving environment concentrations being higher than the EQSs. As an alternative approach, the dilution methodology, which considers the level of dilution occurring at the immediate discharge point, was tested. The results proved that the dilution methodology is the most appropriate strategy for developing countries with relatively poor surface water quality to improve the water quality to the level where the conservative mass balance approach can be applicable.

A national macroinvertebrate dataset collected for the biomonitoring of Ireland\u2019s river network, 2007\u20132018

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Ireland is responsible for the ecological monitoring and assessment of 37 hydrometric areas covering 46 river catchments and over 13,000 km of river channel nationwide. The national river monitoring program commenced in 1971 and has developed further since 2007 into the National Rivers Water Framework Directive (WFD) Monitoring Program following the implementation of the WFD across the European Union. The monitoring program is designed to obtain sufficiently representative information to assess ecological quality for each water body assessed. Consequently, macroinvertebrate data have been collected at over 2,900 river survey stations on a minimum 3-year cycle to fulfil these requirements. While the EPA has collected these data for water quality assessments we recognize that the data have value beyond this one purpose. We provide a summary of how these 10,987 data records, covering the years 2007 to 2018, have been collected and used to deepen understanding of water quality, biodiversity and general ecological health of Ireland’s river network.

Current and Potential Contribution of the Colombian Ministry of Defense to the National River Master Plan and the Accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals through COTECMAR

This article aims to present the current and potential contributions made by the Ministry of National Defense through the Corporation of Science and Technology for the Development of the Naval Maritime and River Industry - COTECMAR - and the National Navy to the River Master Plan and to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Objectives defined in the United Nations Agenda 2030. To this end, the contributions that have been generated so far are explored, such as the case of the river piers, the pilot project for the River Information System (RIS) and the integration of the Small Vessels Committee that is essential for the operation of a future National Port Agency. Likewise, potential solutions that can operate to meet regional needs in health, education, transport, tourism, etc. are highlighted. Finally, the opportunity to integrate the ODS, the development plans and the River Master Plan in the structuring of interregional project portfolios focused on closing social gaps in Colombia is foreseen.

A national‐scale study of spatial variability in the relationship between turbidity and suspended sediment concentration and sediment properties

AbstractTurbidity, an index of light side‐scattering, depends on the mass concentration of suspended sediment (SS) within water. Turbidity of river water is regulated by the presence of suspended particulate matter and is used to identify visual changes in response to SS. We used data from the New Zealand National River Water Quality Network, to calculate “specific turbidity” (K; turbidity normalised to mass concentration of suspended particulates). Specific turbidity is shown here to be an effective metric to assess the effect of suspended material composition and particle size distribution of suspended particulate matter over different landscape characteristics, and the effect on SS‐turbidity relationships. Of the catchment characteristics considered in our study, specific turbidity was most responsive to lithological factors, and relatively insensitive to land use and soil parameters. Decreasing particle size has a positive linear response to K, attributed to the higher proportion of ultra‐fine particulate material that is generated by certain lithologies, underscoring the lithological influence on K. SS‐turbidity relationships, therefore, vary spatially across New Zealand's national record of water clarity, and K is considered a useful index for inter‐catchment comparison of SS than turbidity alone.

Design of River Cleaning Machine

This project emphasizes on design of a sewage waste collecting machine. The work has been done looking at the current situation of our national rivers which are dump with crores of liters of sewage and loaded with pollutants, toxic materials, debris etc., by taking this all into account, this machine has been designed for an effort not to put floating garbage into water bodies. There are several methods to achieve the above-mentioned objective but in this review paper we shall discuss a mechanically simple yet efficient method. And also, with an effort to minimize human intervention throughout the process by automating it. Today, automation plays an important role in mass production. In this project we have designed a water-propelled river cleaning machine. The main aim of the project was to come up with a mechanically simple as well as electronically simple mechanism which also reduces man power and time spent in cleansing water bodies, whilst achieving the goal of floating waste removal from sewage streams.

RIVER ECOSYSTEM SERVICE IN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF COASTAL BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY ON KACHUA UPAZILLA

In Bangladesh every single settlement, whether it is urban or rural is situated alongside a form of inland water network. Livelihood, culture and civilization of these settlements maintain an intrinsic relationship with the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin System. Inland water eco-system service plays a significant role in the establishment of a settlement and its socio-economic activities. The traditional role of the water network has however, deteriorated over the years due to the lack of ecological knowledge, dearth of proper strategies and policy guidelines and various anthropogenic activities in the face of accelerated climate change scenarios. This study attempts to find out the ecosystem services of Bhiarab River in the context of the national river management strategies and policies in cooperation with riverdependent community and challenges thereof. The paper explains the background of this River’s channelbased navigation, along with the discussion of issues and challenges faced by the settlements. The findings reveal various strategic policies that have been implemented over the years on piecemeal basis to manage water resources which did not end up well due to the absence of a holistic approach. It is suggested in this paper that future management plans for this River should involve local communities to avail their willingness to conserve the River, while making them resilient against anthropogenic and natural impacts through enhancement of socio-economic outputs from it. The community willingness and its dependence, as unearthed in this research, provides compelling ground for the authors to state that integrated planning with proper respect for local ecology is a mandatory strategic element for successful implementation of the policies in this regard.

Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the Buffalo National River, Arkansas

Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the Buffalo National River, Arkansas

Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, an Urban National Park in the Twin Cities Area, Minnesota

The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) Network is a collaborative effort to establish a series of experimental silvicultural trials across different forest ecosystem types. A variety of partners have developed trial sites as part of this multi-regional study researching long-term ecosystem responses to a range of climate change adaptation actions. We are currently implementing an affiliate trial within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a national park along the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities Metro Area of Minnesota.

Predicting land use and land cover scenario in Indian national river basin: the Ganga

A reliable LULC model aims at predicting the spatial distribution of specific LULC classes for a later year by utilizing the trends from previous years thereby helps in appropriate LULC planning. The Ganga River Basin (GRB) has undergone significant LULC changes during past decades. The changes in LULC pattern was investigated for 1975 and 2010 to have better understanding of the conversion process and thereby predicting the future trend for 2045 using Dyna-CLUE (Conversion of Land-Use and its Effects) model. Four types of data were fed into the model i.e., (a) spatial policies and restrictions; (b) LULC type specific conversion settings; (c) LULC requirements (demands) and (d) location characteristics. The possible and impossible conversions among LULC classes were dealt with through Restriction and No Restriction area. The land conversion allocation was determined by establishing preference between LULC classes and the driving factors using binary logistic regression. Relative Operating Characteristic curves provided an overall value of 0.86 implying acceptability of regression results. The simulated result (with ‘no restriction’ area criteria) showed 578,296 km2 agriculture area in 2010 and 579,235 km2 for 2045, wherein 575,874 km2 (99.58%) of agriculture area could remain unchanged during 2010–2045; while with the restricted area, agriculture area of 577,675 km2 in 2010 and 578,516 km2 for 2045; whereas 576,242 km2 (99.75%) of agriculture area may remain unchanged during 2010–2045. Biophysical drivers namely altitude, slope, aspect, soil types, precipitation and temperature, emerged as major controlling factors for LULC change in GRB. Logistic regression analysis showed that population density is positively related with agriculture and expansion of settlements.

Cherokee relationships to land: Reflections on a historic plant gathering agreement between Buffalo National River and the Cherokee Nation

Author(s): Carroll, Clint | Abstract: This piece reflects on my involvement in a historic agreement between Buffalo National River and the Cherokee Nation regarding the implementation of the “Gathering of Certain Plants or Plant Parts by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes for Traditional Purposes” rule, 36 CFR Part 2 (Code of Federal Regulations, title 32, sec. 2.6., 2016). This rule allows federally recognized tribes to gather plants within national parks with which they are traditionally associated. Representatives from the Cherokee Nation’s formally constituted body of elder knowledge keepers—the Cherokee Medicine Keepers—lent their expertise on land-based knowledge and stewardship practices that provid- ed the basis for such a landmark agreement. Plant gathering within Buffalo National River offers Cherokee people a way to continue traditional cultural practices that are impacted by climate change in eastern Oklahoma. In many cases, plants are more plentiful and healthier within the park boundaries than on our limited tribal trust lands that are threatened by climate change and contemporary agricultural and development practices. The agreement also acknowledges our ancestral and political relationships to the lands within the park and allows Cherokee people to reestablish our connection to the park lands as a collective source of traditional sustenance, cultural knowledge, and health. In this piece, I offer some context for the project, specifically in terms of Cherokee relationships to land, given my previous scholarship and my longtime work with the Medicine Keepers.

Hubristic Hydraulics: Water, Dictatorship, and Modernity in the Dominican Republic

In this article, I focus on how water operated as symbolic capital during the notoriously repressive dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (1930–61) in the Dominican Republic. Under his regime, alongside an apex of territorial control and modern aesthetics came a nadir of political freedoms. During Trujillo's tenure, water took on important symbolic and material dimensions as a conduit for authoritarianism: it served as a tool to bind together dictatorial power and spatial order through a mode of territorial and urban design rooted in hubristic hydraulics. With hubristic hydraulics I refer to the strategic ways that water flow was harnessed through infrastructure and choreographed through landscape and monumental architecture to embody and lionize the dictator's power. Channeled into reflecting pools, nationwide irrigation works, and monumental fountains, water functioned at the juncture of aesthetics and politics as an important tool in the modernization of urban space and the territory at large. Water was a strategic resource that enabled Trujillo to be cast as the “arquitecto de la patria nueva” (the architect of a new fatherland), and the ways it was made to flow through modern architecture and infrastructure offer an illuminating means to expose the entanglement of territorial control, urban modernity, and authoritarian politics.