|
Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > The hydrosphere > Hydrology (freshwater)
Rising at 11,750 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range and snaking 926
miles through New Mexico and Texas to the Rio Grande, the Pecos
River is one of the most storied waterways in the American West. It
is also one of the most troubled. In 1942, the National Resources
Planning Board observed that the Pecos River basin ""probably
presents a greater aggregation of problems associated with land and
water use than any other irrigated basin in the Western U.S."" In
the twenty-first century, the river's problems have only
multiplied. Bitter Waters, the first book-length study of the
entire Pecos, traces the river's environmental history from the
arrival of the first Europeans in the sixteenth century to today.
Running clear at its source and turning salty in its middle reach,
the Pecos River has served as both a magnet of veneration and an
object of scorn. Patrick Dearen, who has written about the Pecos
since the 1980s, draws on more than 150 interviews and a wealth of
primary sources to trace the river's natural evolution and man's
interaction with it. Irrigation projects, dams, invasive saltcedar,
forest proliferation, fires, floods, flow decline, usage conflicts,
water quality deterioration - Dearen offers a thorough and clearly
written account of what each factor has meant to the river and its
prospects. As fine-grained in detail as it is sweeping in breadth,
the picture Bitter Waters presents is sobering but not without
hope, as it also extends to potential solutions to the Pecos
River's problems and the current efforts to undo decades of damage.
Combining the research skills of an accomplished historian, the
investigative techniques of a veteran journalist, and the engaging
style of an award-winning novelist, this powerful and accessible
work of environmental history may well mark a turning point in the
Pecos's fortunes.
A floristic inventory of Bluestone National Scenic River, located
in southern West Virginia, was conducted from 2003 to 2006 by the
West Virginia Natural Heritage Program. Prior to field work,
literature and databases were reviewed to compile a list of
vascular plants already known to occur in Bluestone National Scenic
River. Six hundred sixty-eight vascular plant taxa were identified
during the 2003-2006 field surveys including 367 taxa not
previously documented from the study area.
The is the second book in a series about nature, village life,
sense of place in the Connecticut River Valley, and beyond. Seasons
in western New England, family, Red Sox lore and local heroes in
Fenway Park, encounters with bears and other memorable wild
creatures, Native American presence, and adventures in Ireland,
Brittany and France complete this collection. Lyrical nature
writing and tender remembrance connect the past and present,
helping record oral history of a corner of New England rural
culture.
"Hydrogeology: Principles and Practice" provides a comprehensive
introduction to the study of hydrogeology to enable the reader to
appreciate the significance of groundwater in meeting current and
future water resource challenges. This new edition has been
thoroughly updated to reflect advances in the field since 2004.The
book presents a systematic approach to understanding groundwater.
Earlier chapters explain the fundamental physical and chemical
principles of hydrogeology, and later chapters feature groundwater
investigation techniques in the context of catchment processes, as
well as chapters on groundwater quality and contaminant
hydrogeology. Unique features of the book are chapters on the
applications of environmental isotopes and noble gases in the
interpretation of aquifer evolution, and on regional
characteristics such as topography, compaction and variable fluid
density in the explanation of geological processes affecting past,
present and future groundwater flow regimes. The last chapter
discusses groundwater resources and environmental management, and
examines the role of groundwater in integrated river basin
management, including an assessment of possible adaptation
responses to the impacts of climate change.Throughout the text,
boxes and a set of colour plates drawn from the authors' teaching
and research experience are used to explain special topics and to
illustrate international case studies ranging from transboundary
aquifers and submarine groundwater discharge to the over-pressuring
of groundwater in sedimentary basins. The appendices provide
conversion tables and useful reference material, and include review
questions and exercises, with answers, to help develop the reader's
knowledge and problem-solving skills in hydrogeology.This
accessible textbook is essential reading for undergraduate and
graduate students primarily in earth sciences, environmental
sciences and physical geography with an interest in hydrogeology or
groundwater science. The book will also find use among
practitioners in hydrogeology, soil science, civil engineering and
planning who are involved in environmental and resource protection
issues requiring an understanding of groundwater.Additional
resources can be found at:
www.wiley.com/go/hiscock/hydrogeology
The Hudson is a mighty and magnificent river that holds a unique
place in world history. This book gives readers the tools they need
to understand the river and its variety of qualities that make up
this special waterway. The goal of this book is twofold. First and
foremost, it educates readers on the importance of the Hudson River
as a natural resource, key transportation artery, and chief
provider of food, oxygen, and water needed to sustain the local,
national, and global ecosystem. Second, this book mentions its
characteristics, tributaries, and how the river is an historic and
scenic treasure-a treasure that also economically benefits New York
and New Jersey by offering its residents and tourists many
attractions and recreational opportunities. Chapters include:
Hudson River: Overview of the Hudson River and Its Tributaries;
Aquatic Plants, Habitats, Hudson River Estuaries (tributaries
within the estuaries), Its Ecosystem, Fish and Wildlife; Hudson
Estuary Program, Its Ecosystem (including changes in it), Fish and
Other Wildlife (Con't)/River Pollution Problems & Solutions;
Photo Section; Hudson River Access/Transportation Links (Railroads,
Recreation and Commercial Vessels, Bridges, Tunnels, etc.); Hudson
River Historical Attractions/Recreational Activities and Sites;
Newly Completed & Future Hudson Riverfront Development Projects
and Hudson River Real Estate Market; Some Historical Highlights of
the Hudson River and Its Valley; and the Author's Summary.
The Susquehanna River basin encompasses south-central New York,
central Pennsylvania, and a small part of northern Maryland. The
part of the basin in New York is mostly an upland area of
till-covered bedrock hills.
Water samples were collected from 25 production and domestic wells
in the Upper Hudson River Basin from August through November 2007
to characterized the groundwater quality. The Upper Hudson River
Basin covers 4,600 square miles in the upstate New York, Vermont,
and Massachusetts; the study area encompasses the 4,000 square
miles that lie within New York.
A vital and volatile part of the New Orleans landscape and
lifestyle, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin actually contains three
major bodies of water--Lakes Borgne, Pontchartrain, and Maurepas.
These make up the Pontchartrain estuary. Robert W. Hastings
provides a thorough examination of the historical and environmental
research on the basin, with emphasis on its environmental
degradation and the efforts to restore and protect this estuarine
system. He also explores the current biological condition of the
lakes.
Hastings begins with the geological formation of the lakes and
the relationship between Native Americans and the water they
referred to as Okwa'ta, the "wide water." From the historical
period, he describes the forays of French explorer Pierre Le Moyne
D'Iberville in 1699, and traces the environmental history of the
basin through the development of the New Orleans metropolitan area.
Using the lakes for transportation and then recreation, the
surrounding population burgeoned, and this growth resulted in
severe water pollution and other environmental problems. In the
1980s the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation led a concerted drive
to restore the lakes, an ongoing effort that has proved
significant.
The South Yuba River (SYR), located on the western portion of the
Sierra Nevada in California, is highly contaminated with mercury
(Hg) as a result of historical gold (Au) mining that took place
throughout this region starting in the mid 1800s and continuing
into the early 1900s. During this period, the hydraulic mining of
alluvial Au deposits formed during the Tertiary period (65.5 to 2.6
million years before present) was responsible for mobilizing
hundreds of millions of tons of hydraulic mining debris (HMD),
which was and continues to be redeposited in the SYR, its
tributaries, and the San Francisco Bay Delta. Hydraulic mining was
used in combination with the mercurygold (Hg-Au) amalgamation
process. Elemental mercury (Hg(0)) was introduced into Au recovery
sluices to trap Au flakes, which were mixed with the sediment-water
slurry produced from the hydraulic mobilization of sediment. As a
result of inefficient trapping, some amount of both Hg(0) and Hg-Au
amalgam was lost in this process. And along with the HMD, both can
still be found throughout the SYR watershed, downstream of the
major historic mining areas.
We compared cui-ui (Chasmistes cujus) recruitment from two reaches
of the Truckee River with histories of severe erosional downcutting
caused by a decline in Pyramid Lake surface elevation. In 1975,
Marble Bluff Dam (MBD) was constructed 5 kilometers upstream of the
extant mouth of the Truckee River to stabilize the upstream reach
of the river; the downstream reach of the river remained unstable
and consequently unsuitable for cui-ui recruitment. By the early
2000s, there was a decrease in the Truckee River's slope from MBD
to Pyramid Lake after a series of wet years in the 1990s. This was
followed by changes in river morphology and erosion abatement.
These changes led to the question as to cui-ui recruitment
potential in the Truckee River downstream of MBD. In 2012, more
than 7,000 cui-ui spawners were passed upstream of MBD, although an
indeterminate number of cui-ui spawned downstream of MBD. In this
study, we compared cui-ui recruitment upstream and downstream of
MBD during a Truckee River low-flow year (2012). Cui-ui larvae
emigration to Pyramid Lake began earlier and ended later downstream
of MBD.
In 2006, we collected larval Lost River sucker Deltistes luxatus
(LRS), shortnose sucker Chasmistes brevirostris (SNS), and Klamath
largescale sucker Catostomus snyderi (KLS) emigrating from spawning
areas in the Williamson and Sprague Rivers. This work is part of a
multi-year effort to characterize the relative abundance, drift
timing, and length frequencies of larval suckers in this watershed
prior to the removal of Chiloquin Dam on the lower Sprague River.
Additional larval drift samples were collected from the Fremont
Bridge on Lakeshore Drive on the south end of Upper Klamath Lake
near its outlet to the Link River. Because of difficulties in
distinguishing KLS larvae from SNS larvae, individuals identified
as either of these two species were grouped together and reported
as KLS-SNS in this report.
The lower Chetco River is a wandering gravel-bed river flanked by
abundant and large gravel bars formed of coarse bed-material
sediment. The large gravel bars have been a source of commercial
aggregate since the early twentieth century for which ongoing
permitting and aquatic habitat concerns have motivated this
assessment of historical channel change and sediment transport
rates. Analysis of historical channel change and bed-material
transport rates for the lower 18 kilometers show that the upper
reaches of the study area are primarily transport zones, with bar
positions fixed by valley geometry and active bars mainly providing
transient storage of bed material. Downstream reaches, especially
near the confluence of the North Fork Chetco River, have been zones
of active sedimentation and channel migration.
A one-dimensional daily averaged water temperature model was used
to simulate Klamath River temperatures for two management
alternatives under historical climate conditions and six future
climate scenarios.
|
|