Impervious Surface Analysis for Durham Under Current and Build-Out Conditions In Support of Stormwater Management

An analysis was performed to determine current and projected impervious surface areas in the Town of Durham, New Hampshire with the purpose of generating data to guide the adoption of stormwater management practices in the Town. Because impervious surfaces affect stormwater runoff peak flows and volumes significantly, it is critical to understand the Town’s impervious area characteristics (and the resulting stormwater management implications) under current conditions in order to develop appropriate stormwater management policies

Improving Water Quality in Four Austin Area Streams

This Working paper provides brief information on a project to improve the water quality of four Austin creeks, including Waller Creek, by reducing the amount of bacteria in the water. The aim of this project is to protect contact recreation in the creeks.Waller Creek Working Grou

Portsmouth Vernal Pool Inventory

West Environmental, Inc. (WEI) conducted a city-wide Vernal Pool Inventory to locate, document and map vernal pools in Portsmouth. This effort was coordinated with the Portsmouth Planning Department and Conservation Commission to help the City of Portsmouth in vernal pool identification and mapping. The goal of this project was to locate isolated wetlands that provide vernal pool habitat. Currently the City of Portsmouth’s wetland regulations exempt wetlands less than 5,000 square feet from the local 100’ buffer zone. This study identified smaller wetlands which have the potential to provide vernal pool habitat that may deserve the 100 foot buffer protection. It should be noted that vernal pool habitat can exist in a variety of freshwater wetlands including larger red maple swamps. These areas were also mapped when encountered. A field workshop was held for the Conservation Commission members to give them hands-on training in vernal pool ecology. The results of this Vernal Pool Inventory were presented to the Portsmouth Conservation Commission in July of 2008. Based on the results of this study and the recent revisions to the NHDES Wetlands Bureau regulations which added rules for vernal pool protection, the Portsmouth Conservation Commission has recommended a change to the Article 8 - Environmental Protection Standards of the City of Portsmouth to include vernal pool identification and protection with a 100’ buffer

Cumulative Impacts of Development on Water Quality and Endangered Species in the Bull and West Bull Creek Watersheds

This article mentions Waller Creek as a representative for urban creeks in Austin In comparison to the focus of this report, Bull Creek, Waller Creek has a notably lower Water Quality Index.Waller Creek Working Grou

Optical Brightener Study of Spruce Creek

Elevated bacteria levels in the Spruce Creek Watershed have led to shellfish bed closures in the Spruce Creek Estuary and impaired waters listings by the State of Maine. Since 2005, the Town of Kittery, Spruce Creek Association and numerous partners have assessed the local waters to attempt to determine the sources of bacteria impairment. Stormwater outfalls and residential septic systems have been identified as potential sources of impairment. To help address these concerns, the Town of Kittery received a grant in 2009 through the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership to further investigate potential bacteria hotspots. Project staff worked with Federal, State and local partners to identify potential hotspots through targeted fecal coliform testing and testing and analysis for optical brighteners. Spring and autumn testing revealed elevated levels of bacteria which has led to immediate repair of a school septic system, and further assessment of a residential neighborhood

Adaptation and development pathways for different types of farmers

One of the greatest challenges humanity faces is feeding the world's human population in a sustainable, nutritious, equitable and ethical way under a changing climate. Urgent transformations are needed that allow farmers to adapt and develop while also being climate resilient and contributing minimal emissions. This paper identifies several illustrative adaptation and development pathways, recognising the variety of starting points of different types of farmers and the ways their activities intersect with global trends, such as population growth, climate change, rapid urbanisation dietary changes, competing land uses and the emergence of new technologies. The feasibility of some pathways depends on factors such as farm size and land consolidation. For other pathways, particular infrastructure, technology, access to credit and market access or collective action are required. The most viable pathway for some farmers may be to exit agriculture altogether, which itself requires careful management and planning. While technology offers hope and opportunity, as a disruptor, it also risks maladaptations and can create tradeoffs and exacerbate inequalities, especially in the context of an uncertain future. For both the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Agreement to be achieved, a mix of levers that combine policy, technology, education and awareness-raising, dietary shifts and financial/economic mechanisms is required, attending to multiple time dimensions, to assist farmers along different pathways. Vulnerable groups such as women and the youth must not be left behind. Overall, strong good governance is needed at multiple levels, combining top-down and bottom-up processes

Public Perceptions of the Midwest’s Pavements - Wisconsin - Phase I (Winter Ride)

The Wisconsin Winter Ride Survey was designed to determine the extent to which drivers were tolerant of the rougher ride of pavements on rural two-lane highways in the winter. Survey objectives, as such, were centered around this primary question of winter ride tolerance. A telephone survey was conducted by the Wisconsin Survey Research Laboratory (WSRL), which added questions to its quarterly Wisconsin Opinion Poll for the data collection period of January 15 to March 15, 1997. A similar survey focusing only on the topic of winter driving on rural highways was conducted in Minnesota during the same period. Random digit dial samples were drawn for both states according to accepted sampling procedure. The survey data set provided by WSRL included 417 respondents. Conclusions derived from the Wisconsin Winter Ride Survey included the following. Overall, Wisconsin respondents were predominately tolerant of the pavement’s potentially rougher ride in winter. Three-fourths of the 173 respondents who had noticed a change in the pavement indicated that they were more tolerant of the rough ride in winter than they would be the rest of the year. The extent to which motorists noticed changes in the pavement was influenced by the driving and vehicle characteristics. Respondents who drove more frequently on rural two-lane highways and those driving trucks, full-size vans or sport utility vehicles were more 2 likely to notice changes. The latter finding suggests that differences in suspension and ride entered in for respondents driving cars versus those driving trucks. It follows, therefore, that noticing pavement changes generally increased as ratings of the vehicle’s ride quality declined