Targeting Environmental Water from Irrigators in the Murray Darling Basin

The extended dry conditions in the Murray Darling Basin have resulted in unprecedented levels of reduced water availability for both irrigators and the environment. Concerns over environmental degradation and the health of the river Murray have prompted the Federal and State Governments to cooperate in a range of environmental water restoration programs, including environmental water purchases. These programs have been subjected to varying levels of criticism as to the environmental effectiveness and the economic merit in addressing the central problem of over allocation of a spatially distributed multiple use resource. This paper investigates the economic-environmental tradeoffs under the assumption of unrestricted trade in the Basin. Using a bio-economic model of the Murray Darling Basin we will investigate the opportunity costs of not allowing unrestricted trade, and then consider alternative Environmental Water Allocations (EWAs) to environmental Icon Sites. The model suggests that if unrestricted trade was implemented across the Basin, there would be potential for massive water savings compared to the current long term average cap, and benefits to trade in the order of $96 million. The model also suggests that, under unrestricted trade, the provision of large EWA’s will lead to large reductions in water use (40 percent), however the relative reduction in agricultural value will be much less (12 percent). This brings to question the current objective of the government buybacks as a transition to the Water Act 2009 Sustainable Diversions while allowing State enforced barriers to trade.Murray Darling Basin, water, environmental flows

Cartas y salones: mujeres que leen y escriben la nación en la Sudamérica del siglo XIX

Este ensayo se basa en la correspondencia de tres destacadas mujeres de principios del siglo diecinueve en la Sudamérica española (Manuela Sáenz, Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson y Carmen Arriagada) para analizar sus ideas sobre la identidad nacional y el l

Climate change, mitigation and adaptation: the case of the Murray–Darling Basin in Australia

Climate change is likely to have substantial effects on irrigated agriculture. It is anticipated that many areas that are already dry will become drier, while areas that already receive high rainfall may experience further increases. Extreme climate events such as droughts are likely to become more common. These patterns are evident in projections of climate change for the Murray–Darling Basin in Australia. To understand the effects of climate change, as modified by mitigation and adaptation, active management responses designed to improve returns in particular states of nature, such as in the case of drought must be considered. A change in the frequency of drought will induce a change in the allocation of land and water between productive activities. Even with action to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of CO2 at or near current levels, climate change will continue for some decades and adaptation will therefore be necessary. Conversely, most adaptation strategies are feasible only if the rate and extent of climate change is limited by mitigation. In this paper, a simulation model of state-contingent production is used to analyze these issues.Irrigation, Uncertainty, Climate Change

Climate change, uncertainty and adaptation: the case of irrigated agriculture in the Murray–Darling Basin in Australia

Climate change is likely to have substantial effects on irrigated agriculture. Extreme climate events such as droughts are likely to become more common. These patterns are evident in median projections of climate change for the Murray–Darling Basin in Australia. Understanding climate change effects on returns from irrigation involves explicit representation of spatial changes in natural stocks (i.e. water supply) and their temporal variability (i.e. frequency of drought states of nature) and the active management responses to capital stocks represented by mitigation and alternative adaptation strategies by state of nature . A change in the frequency of drought will induce a change in the allocation of land and water between productive activities. In this paper, a simulation model of state-contingent production is used to analyze the effects of climate change adaptation and mitigation. In the absence of mitigation, climate change will have severe adverse effects on irrigated agriculture in the Basin. However, a combination of climate mitigation and adaptation through changes in land and water use will allow the maintenance of agricultural water use and environmental flows.Irrigation, Uncertainty, Climate Change

Editorial - Talking about sex, relationships and intimacy: new guidance and standards for nurses and other health and social care professionals working with young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions

Publication of Sexuality Standards and Guidance for nurses and other health and social care professionals working with life-limited young adults, care staff and their families (December 2015 and July 2016). In 2013, The Open University Sexuality Alliance was established. This is a collaborative partnership which brings together young people and adults with Life-threatening and life-limiting conditions (LLTCs), representatives from the public and third sector, policy makers, doctors, lawyers, academics and nurses with particular expertise in addressing the sexuality of young people with an uncertain life-course. In partnership with Together for Short Lives, the UK charity for children and young people with LLTCs, the Alliance brought together a range of individuals and organisations, including Family Planning Association and Action Duchenne (the full membership is provided in Appendix 1). The primary focus for the Alliance was to develop Sexuality Guidance and Standards. These were published in December 2015 and a second edition is currently in press. The Sexuality Guidance provides important information about sex and sexuality for health, education and social care staff working with young people with LLTCs. The need for the Sexuality Guidance and Standards for people with LLTCs has been recognized by young people themselves, and practitioners in health, social care and education settings across the public and third sectors, particularly nurses

Foundational Checklist of the Amphibians of Wise County, Virginia

The Appalachian Mountains are arguably home to the highest degree of amphibian diversity in the world, particularly caudate (salamander) biodiversity. Despite the high degree of amphibian endemism in the Appalachians, several regions remain unsurveyed for amphibian species. In addition to this knowledge gap, we are in the midst of alarming amphibian biodiversity loss. Thus, it is of the utmost importance to bridge this knowledge gap by conducting surveys before some of these amphibian species are lost. We surveyed Wise County (previously unsurveyed county in the Appalachian Mountains with no records existing in the primary literature) over two years to assess amphibian species presence. We found 23 different species of amphibians (eight species of frogs and toads; 15 species of salamanders). In addition, we report five new amphibian species occurrences previously unreported in the primary literature within Wise County. However, not all amphibian species expected to occur in Wise County were observed. The primary suspected reason for their lack of occurrence involves habitat loss and/or modification, since the region is heavily exploited for coal and lumber. Overall, our study provides invaluable data in current times of amphibian biodiversity concern as they clarify and expand our knowledge of known amphibian species within the area. Using our work as a foundation, future surveying could assess whether amphibian biodiversity of Wise County are experiencing growth, stability, or decline

Open Source Migrations: Experiences from the European public administrations

The landscape of public organizations in Europe is diverse and complex. Public administrations differ in the services that they provide and on their characteristics, but they all rely on computing to deliver their services, even if it is to varying degrees. This paper analyzes the experience of a group of European public organizations investigating the possibility of supporting their services through the use of Open Source. Open Source is software developed inside a community committed to producing software that is free to use, modify and redistribute. The group under examination is composed of a number of public administrations varying in size, from four different countries. While the motivation for starting the migration varies across the members, the results from the different experiences are consistent and show that Open Source is a realistic opportunity to consider. Technical, strategic, and environmental aspects that arose during the migration have been investigated and analyzed

NASA ROVER, Tackling Citizen Science With Grand Challenges and Everyday Problems

ROVER is the Citizen Science arm of the NASA Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) Project. Since 2007, participants around the world have been making and reporting ground truth observations of clouds to assist in the validation of the NASA CERES satellite instrument. NASA scientists are very interested in learning how clouds affect our atmosphere, weather, and climate (relating to climate change). It is the clouds, in part, that affect the overall temperature and energy balance of the Earth. The more we know about clouds, the more we will know about our Earth as a system and citizen scientists are an important piece of that puzzle! As a ROVER cloud observer, all participants follow simple online tutorials to collect data on cloud type, height, cover and related conditions. Observations are sent to NASA to be matched to similar information obtained from satellites and sent back to participants for comparison and analysis. The supporting ROVER website houses a searchable database archiving all participant reports and matching satellite data. By involving Citizen Scientists in cloud observations and reporting we can gain a valuable set of data that would have been previously unavailable to science teams due to funding, manpower, and resource limitations or would have taken an unreasonable amount of time to collect. Reports from a wide range of Citizen Scientist locations are helpful to assess the satellite data under different conditions. With nothing more than their eyes and an internet connection participants provide a different perspective and analysis of clouds, adding to a more complete picture of what's happening in the atmosphere in which we live