Design Strategy of Emergency Pools at Source Water Protection Areas

The pollution problem arising from the flushing of initial rainwater and wastewater from accidents while transporting dangerous goods to source water protection areas needs to be solved as soon as possible. Therefore, the design of corresponding environmental protection measures should be considered in the engineering design stage. It is necessary to analyze the specific work in combination with engineering examples. Under this background, this paper first briefly expounds the precautions in accident risk analysis and the design of tank capacity and tank body. Finally, by analyzing actual cases, this paper systematically studies the design strategy of emergency pool in source water protection area, hoping to provide new development ideas for the upgrading of relevant work.

The Political Ecology of the Decentralized Water Management in Zimbabwe

The chapter assesses the notion of local scale and decentralization that emanates from the IWRM principles. Evaluation of the benefits of decentralization was done through the political ecology lens that critically examines fairness and power struggles across spaces. Sanyati catchment was used to draw empirical evidence in light of the theoretical expectations of decentralization towards catchment water security. Qualitative approach was used to collect data. Interviews were the main sources of data collection. The findings showed that decentralization has failed to produce the desired results compared to what is assumed in the dominant narrative that highly esteems the decentralization management approach. The chapter showed that what brings results are not local scales and suggests that probably fair and transparent resource distribution and allocation at any scale may bring about water protection that does not trigger the tragedy of the commons.

Child Poverty in Rural Areas

Evidence from around the world suggests that children experience poverty as a condition that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. This chapter sheds light on the ways in which poverty impacts rural children and what poverty reduction means in the lives of African children. While children suffer the worst outcomes overall, children in rural areas are significantly more deprived than urban children. The three deprivations which overlap to impact rural children under two years old the most are water, protection (i.e., security), and housing. For these reasons, there are compelling economic, social, and moral grounds that compel us to evaluate child poverty in rural areas in order to understand its severity and urgently find relevant policy solutions.

Assessing state of water protection zones of Volga River within Ilyinka village area (Astrakhan region)

Anthropogenic pollution of water basins may become a serious threat for ecosystems and human health. Pollutants are transferred through food chains or directly when untreated water is used, released to soil through subsoil waters or during floods. The increased anthropogenic load on rivers’ hydrosystems, especially in their del-tas, is becoming rampant these days. The goal of the research is to study the coastal areas and to assess the state of vegetation. To achieve this goal, standard methods of biotesting and bioindication were applied in the territories of two water-protection zones – those of the Volga River and the Nozhovskiy erik (shallow channel in the Volga delta – translator’s note) near the Ilyinka village. The water quality in the Volga River, within the examined range, is stably characterized as “dirty” (4th class). The exceeded level of maximum permissible concentrations for petroleum products, heavy metals (mercury, zinc, molybdenum), sulfides and phenols is observed. The research has not revealed the impact of the quality of water on phytotoxicity of the soil and indices of abundance of the vegetation that grows in this territory. Toxicity of soils is weak in the area of the Nozhovskiy erik, it is very weak in the area of the Volga River: the germination capacity of the test object (watercress) ranges between 67 and 88%, morpho-metric indices of plants do not differ much from those in control groups. Within the summer period the monitoring sites were characterized by the maximum frequency-abundance indices of typical representatives of the local flora, which are camel thorn (Alhagi pseudalhagi) and greater burdock (Arctium lappa). Vegetation in these areas is abundant, its state is assessed as satisfactory.

INSPECTION AND STRENGTHENING OF COASTAL AREAS, COASTS, SEAS AND RIVERS OF THE ROSTOV REGION

In modern society, an important role is assigned to the protection of water protection zones, reservoirs, rivers and seas, because they are the main areas of life and recreation of the population. In the Rostov region they are: the coasts of the Black and Azov seas; Tsimlyanskoe, Manochevskoe, Veselovskoe reservoirs; the Don River and others, which requires the creation of new technical solutions for bank protection using composite heterogeneous multilayer structures that form a leveled complex bank, will determine the rational shape of the side walls of the junction of the streams. This requires the creation of design parameters for them.

Closure of German Hard Coal Mines: Effects and Legal Aspects of Mine Flooding

Following the closure of the last hard coal mines in Germany, pumping is no longer necessary. However, the resulting rise of mine water can affect the environment. Laws have been enacted at the European and national level to protect properties. Within the framework of the approval procedure, it must be determined whether the cessation of pumping may cause unacceptable effects, including water pollution. With regard to water protection, the European Union has issued the Water Framework and Groundwater Directives, which have been implemented into German national law. These contain the prohibition of deterioration and the requirement for improvement, with the aim of maintaining or achieving good ecological and chemical status. However, before the target mine water level is reached, the water does not need to comply, since although the pumps are switched off, no mine water is being discharged. This also rules out permit requirements, which only go into effect when the target mine water level has been reached and mine water is discharging. Obviously, however, detailed planning before then is necessary.

Estimating the societal benefits from wildfire mitigation activities in a payments for watershed services program in Colorado

Payments for watershed services (PWS) programs are becoming a popular governance approach in the western United States (US) to fund forest management aimed at source water protection. In this paper we conduct a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of one of the first collaboratively funded PWS programs in the US, located in the municipal watersheds servicing Denver, Colorado. We combine wildfire modeling, sediment modeling, and primary and secondary data on economic values to quantify the impact of the program on protecting multiple values at risk. Our results show that while the program has led to diverse societal benefits, it is only economically efficient (benefit-cost ratio greater than one) when all co-benefits beyond source water protection are considered and fuels treatments are assumed to encounter wildfire. When the probability of wildfire is accounted for, economic benefits would need to be triple what was estimated in our analysis to achieve economic efficiency. Our findings suggest that improving spatial prioritization of interventions would increase economic benefits and better data on treatment placement and costs would help facilitate future CBA of PWS programs focused on wildfire mitigation.

Comparison of Existing Legal Assessment Values for Heavy Metal Deposition in Western Europe and Calculation of Assessment Values for Luxembourg

The protection against eco- and human-toxicological impairments caused by atmospheric deposition of heavy metals requires legally defined assessment values. Since such values are missing for Luxembourg, the aim of this investigation was to evaluate different approaches to derive assessment values for the regulation of heavy metals that are in accordance with scientific and legal standards. To this end, assessment values for heavy metals were derived from the compilation of respective values implemented in European countries. In addition, (1) precipitation-related assessment values for the protection of soil for Cr, Zn, and Cu and (2) precautionary assessment values (critical loads for Cr, Zn, and Cu, as well as As, Cd, Ni, and Pb) for the protection of human health and ecosystems were calculated. The calculation of the regionally differentiated precipitation-related assessment values resulted in ranges of 17–272 g Cu ha−1 a−1, 167–2672 g Zn ha−1 a−1 and 17–272 g Crtotal ha−1 a−1. The critical loads for drinking water protection vary in the ranges from 1.23 to 2.14 g Cd ha−1 a−1, from 4.05 to 8.63 g Pb ha−1 a−1, from 2.6 to 5.9 g As ha−1 a−1, from 258 to 564 g Cu ha−1 a−1, from 1292 to 2944 g Zn ha−1 a−1, and from 12.9 to 29.9 g Crtotal ha−1 a−1. Ecosystems are significantly more sensitive to Pb, Cu, and Zn inputs than humans. For As and Cr, humans react much more sensitively than ecosystems. For Cd, the critical loads for drinking water, ecosystems, and wheat products are about the same.

Biochar Capacity to Mitigate Acidity and Adsorb Metals—Laboratory Tests for Acid Sulfate Soil Drainage Water

A 96-h laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the potential of biochar as a water protection tool for acid sulfate soil runoff. Acid sulfate soils pose a risk to water bodies due to acid, metal-rich runoff, especially in drained peatland forests. New water protection methods, such as adsorption with biochar, are needed. We investigated the capability of spruce and birch biochar to adsorb metals and reduce acidity in the water. Water from an acid sulfate site was stirred with biochar, biochar with lime, and biochar with ash. We determined water Al, S, Fe, Cu, Co, Cd, Ni, and Zn concentrations periodically, as well as pH and total organic carbon at the beginning and the end of the experiment. The studied substances are considered the most abundant and environmentally harmful elements in the acid sulfate soils in Finland. Biochar surface characteristics were analyzed with FTIR spectroscopy. Concentration changes were used to parametrize adsorption kinetics models. Biochar adsorbed metals and increased pH, but lime and ash additives did not always improve the adsorption. Spruce biochar and ash addition had generally higher adsorption than birch biochar and lime addition. The adsorption was dominated by Al and Fe at lower pH, while increasing pH improved the adsorption of Cd and Zn. The results show that biochar can increase the water pH, as well as adsorb Al, Fe, Co, Cd, Ni, and Zn. Further work could include an actual-scale biochar reactor in a laboratory and field conditions.