Determination of the minimum target saturated thickness needed for drought protection in a critical cell

The Grand Prairie region of Arkansas is underlain by a Quaternary aquifer which is utilized primarily for the irrigation of rice and soybeans. Irrigators have been concerned with wells going dry and with decreased well capacities. In this report the term drawdown refers to the distance between an arbitrarily assigned datum at or above the ground surface, and the elevation of the groundwater table. The cumulative drawdown (day to day decrease in the groundwater table elevation) resulting from withdrawal of groundwater from interacting wells has caused yields in some wells to be less than design discharge. Drawdown is a function of the groundwater , withdrawal rate and various aquifer characteristics including saturated thickness. The saturated thickness is the difference between the bottom of the aquifer and the groundwater table. If preventing loss of well design capacity during the irrigation season is to be achieved, adequate saturated thickness must be maintained at all well locations

Estimated potential water needs for the eastern Grand Prairie region by irrigation scheduling

Prepare maps showing the annual, monthly and peak weekly volume of irrigation water required in each 3 mile by 3 mile cell of the study area for the selected cropping pattern. Maps are presented for average and dry climatological conditions

Monitoring of groundwater levels for real‑time conjunctive water management

Water users in the Arkansas Grand Prairie wish to maintain sufficient groundwater levels to: insure adequate groundwater reserves for time of drought, protect themselves from litigation caused by wells going dry, and insure a sustained yield. Achievement of these goals requires regular measurement of groundwater levels. Review of monitoring practice and technology indicates that spring and fall measurements taken over the entire area using steel tape and acoustic device is preferred for most long range planning. Continuous monitoring is indicated for critical parts of the region where saturated thicknesses are small. Desirable attributes of a data collection/transmission system for such areas are as follow: Data should be stored in digital format on machine readable medium. Collection device should be installable in existing wells and not require special well construction. Device should be able to monitor pump status, and time and water level at programmable intervals. Device should be upgradable to be able to transmit data as it is collected. A system which has these capabilities was built. It consists of an acoustic probe, interface, computer and cassette recorder

Seniors, and their food handlers and caregivers, need food safety and nutrition education

Seniors are at greater risk than other adults for foodborne illness, poor nutrition and high rates of nutrition- and lifestyle-related chronic diseases. They also represent a major underserved segment of the UC Cooperative Extension client population. The Make Food Safe for Seniors (MFSFS) initiative assessed food safety and nutrition education needs of fixed-income seniors and food handlers and caregivers serving seniors in 10 California counties. Baseline survey results found unsafe practices by over 50% of the participants in six areas - and by over 65% of participants in three of those areas. After one food safety training, a post-test showed an average knowledge gain of 18.1%; seniors had gained the least knowledge, food handlers had gained some knowledge, and caregivers had gained the most. The unsafe food handling practices of a majority of the study group, as well as poor food behaviors, suggested areas in which education could reinforce or improve food safety, healthy eating and disease prevention practices of seniors, caregivers and food handlers serving seniors

Crafting a Foundation for Evaluating a Worksite Wellness Program

Background: Businesses have been exposed to many positive accounts of the benefits of employee wellness to improve employee performance as well as reduce health and injury claims costs for the employer. However, many do not have the tools or experience to effectively demonstrate the benefits of a workplace wellness program for their own management and other stakeholders. Purpose: This paper presents a) basic components for evaluating a workplace wellness program, b) observations gleaned from evaluating a wellness project, and c) a design for a simple evaluation system that provides information about the efficacy of the wellness program and establishes a foundation for more formal wellness program evaluation. Setting: Maine Intervention: Evaluating a wellness program and creating a system of measures for a sustainable evaluation system. Research Design: Steps in wellness program evaluation are delineated (common definitions, evaluation design, i.e., logic model, data collection tools, data collection, comparison analyses, and ROI) and carried out. Particulars for a sustainable wellness program evaluation are rendered. Data Collection and Analysis: We describe how to apply the process and measurements depicted in the logic model. We illustrate a method for calculating return on investment (determine the ratio of known wellness program costs to decreases in injury claims costs and sick leave costs). We recommend components for a sustainable evaluation system based on our experience in actualizing the logic model. Findings: Applying the analyses we found positive benefits of employee wellness in our Maine DOT case. Workers’ compensation hours claims dropped from 875 hours in 2006, to 236 hours in 2007. Strains contributed roughly 17% of the overall injury costs reported for all three years, and almost one third of the costs for 2005. We computed a four-year ROI of $2.90. To help establish regular and routine wellness program evaluation we describe and recommend additional data sources and measurement points