Comments on “Large-scale afforestation significantly increases permanent surface water in China's vegetation restoration regions” by Zeng, Y., Yang, X., Fang, N., & Shi, Z. (2020). Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 290, 108001

2021 ◽  
Vol 296 ◽  
pp. 108213
Author(s):  
Ge Sun ◽  
Hongkai Gao ◽  
Lu Hao
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Forest Meteorology

Managing the impacts of mining on Ghana’s water resources from a legal perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasirudeen Abdul Fatawu
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Environmental Laws ◽  
Mining Areas ◽  
Legal Perspective

Recent floods in Ghana are largely blamed on mining activities. Not only are lives lost through these floods, farms andproperties are destroyed as a result. Water resources are diverted, polluted and impounded upon by both large-scale minersand small-scale miners. Although these activities are largely blamed on behavioural attitudes that need to be changed, thereare legal dimensions that should be addressed as well. Coincidentally, a great proportion of the water resources of Ghana arewithin these mining areas thus the continual pollution of these surface water sources is a serious threat to the environmentand the development of the country as a whole. The environmental laws need to be oriented properly with adequate sanctionsto tackle the impacts mining has on water resources. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure needs to bestreamlined and undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and not the company itself.

scholarly journals Effects of Vegetation Restoration on Soil Erosion on the Loess Plateau: A Case Study in the Ansai Watershed

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6266
Author(s):  
Hui Wei ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Han Wang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Local Soil ◽  
Erosion Environment

Large-scale vegetation restoration greatly changed the soil erosion environment in the Loess Plateau since the implementation of the “Grain for Green Project” (GGP) in 1999. Evaluating the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion is significant to local soil and water conservation and vegetation construction. Taking the Ansai Watershed as the case area, this study calculated the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration, using the Chinese Soil Loess Equation (CSLE), based on rainfall and soil data, remote sensing images and socio-economic data. The effect of vegetation restoration on soil erosion was evaluated by comparing the average annual soil erosion modulus under two scenarios among 16 years. The results showed: (1) vegetation restoration significantly changed the local land use, characterized by the conversion of farmland to grassland, arboreal land, and shrub land. From 2000 to 2015, the area of arboreal land, shrub land, and grassland increased from 19.46 km2, 19.43 km2, and 719.49 km2 to 99.26 km2, 75.97 km2, and 1084.24 km2; while the farmland area decreased from 547.90 km2 to 34.35 km2; (2) the average annual soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration was 114.44 t/(hm²·a) and 78.42 t/(hm²·a), respectively, with an average annual reduction of 4.81 × 106 t of soil erosion amount thanks to the vegetation restoration; (3) the dominant soil erosion intensity changed from “severe and light erosion” to “moderate and light erosion”, vegetation restoration greatly improved the soil erosion environment in the study area; (4) areas with increased erosion and decreased erosion were alternately distributed, accounting for 48% and 52% of the total land area, and mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the watershed, respectively. Irrational land use changes in local areas (such as the conversion of farmland and grassland into construction land, etc.) and the ineffective implementation of vegetation restoration are the main reasons leading to the existence of areas with increased erosion.

scholarly journals Impact of climate change on groundwater point discharge: backflooding of karstic springs (Loiret, France)

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 2235-2262
Author(s):  
E. Joigneaux ◽  
P. Albéric ◽  
H. Pauwels ◽  
C. Pagé ◽  
L. Terray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Weather Type ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Large Scale Atmospheric Circulation

Abstract. Under certain hydrological conditions it is possible for spring flow in karst systems to be reversed. When this occurs, the resulting invasion by surface water, i.e. the backflooding, represents a serious threat to groundwater quality because the surface water could well be contaminated. Here we examine the possible impact of future climate change on the occurrences of backflooding in a specific karst system, having first established the occurrence of such events in the selected study area over the past 40 yr. It would appear that backflooding has been more frequent since the 1980s, and that it is apparently linked to river flow variability on the pluri-annual scale. The avenue that we adopt here for studying recent and future variations of these events is based on a downscaling algorithm relating large-scale atmospheric circulation to local precipitation spatial patterns. The large-scale atmospheric circulation is viewed as a set of quasi-stationary and recurrent states, called weather types, and its variability as the transition between them. Based on a set of climate model projections, simulated changes in weather-type occurrence for the end of the century suggests that backflooding events can be expected to decrease in 2075–2099. If such is the case, then the potential risk for groundwater quality in the area will be greatly reduced compared to the current situation. Finally, our results also show the potential interest of the weather-type based downscaling approach for examining the impact of climate change on hydrological systems.

scholarly journals MEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE DEGRADATION OF THE PERMAFROST ZONE: PROBLEM OF PALEOVIRAL CONTAMINATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
pp. 706-711
Author(s):  
Leonid I. Elpiner ◽  
A. V. Dzyuba
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Contamination ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Permafrost Zone ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Drinking Purposes

We present the concept of a possible global viral infestation associated with the processes of permafrost melting and probability of groundwater contamination with paleoviruses. The most realistic mechanism of the development of this process is considered, as well as possible ways of forming of a new epidemic situation, depending on characteristics of groundwater and surface water use for drinking purposes by the population of the permafrost zone (permafrost). The necessity of in-depth development of large-scale multi-disciplinary researches in order to clarify the pathogenetic significance of paleoviruses in the permafrost zone and assess the need of the development of the composition and the nature of the complex environmental and anti-epidemic measures is substantiated.

Conceptualizing Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions within the Ogallala Aquifer Region using Electrical Resistivity Imaging

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-199
Author(s):  
Weston J. Koehn ◽  
Stacey E. Tucker-Kulesza ◽  
David R. Steward
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Resistivity ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Movement ◽  
Alluvial Aquifer ◽  
Electrical Resistivity Imaging ◽  
Ogallala Aquifer ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Arkansas River ◽  
Resistivity Imaging

Dynamic interactions between rivers and aquifers are controlled by the underlying hydrogeologic environment, as well as the type of hydrologic connection between the riverbed and saturated zone. The Arkansas River supplies groundwater to a heavily exploited region of the Ogallala Aquifer across Western Kansas. Site characterizations of this region using existing well and borehole data reveal large scale geologic features that significantly impact recharge processes, such as the Bear Creek fault. However, the existing hydrogeologic data do not provide the level of detail needed to fully understand the contribution of the losing river system to Arkansas Alluvial aquifer recharge. Knowledge about riverbed hydrogeology is acquirable using electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) surveys. ERI surveys and soil sample analysis were conducted at three sites along the Arkansas River to characterize the hydrogeologic environment within the Arkansas River Alluvial aquifer, which overlies the Ogallala aquifer. Temporal changes in electrical resistivity served as an indicator of the hydrologic response of the alluvial sediments to changes in river discharge as different patterns of water movement from the Arkansas River to Arkansas River Alluvial aquifer were observed. The ERI surveys revealed both fully connected and disconnected regions between the riverbed and groundwater table. The results supplement the existing geologic characterization of this region, and provide a more spatially detailed view of the hydrogeologic environment that has a direct causative effect on groundwater surface water interactions. Understanding the behavior of river-aquifer interactions is vital to the ability to predict the future holds of this important groundwater system.

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