Onset and Persistence of Biogenic Meromixis in a Filling Pit Lake-A Limnological Perspective

Open pit mining usually results in a void that, over time, fills with water and becomes a pit lake. The goal for pit lakes is to create sustainable systems that positively contribute to local and regional watersheds. One long-standing hypothesis for attaining the goal of sustainability has been to create and maintain meromictic lakes (lakes that do not completely mix on a yearly cycle). It is believed that meromixis minimizes atmospheric oxygen exposure to pit walls and concomitant acid generation and minimizes reentrainment of metals to the upper waters during seasonal mixes. This seems to be a reasonable goal but few lakes achieve and maintain meromixis so it is not clear whether this should be the sustainable goal for pit lakes. The goal of this study was to determine the key limnological parameters (physical, chemical, and biological) that may facilitate meromixis within pit lakes with the assumption that meromixis should be the desired goal. This study was conducted at the Kennecott Ridgeway Gold mine in Ridgeway, South Carolina from April 2000 through April 2004. During the course of the study, a persistent meromictic state developed. Observations of the system\u27s response to stochastic perturbations were crucial in determining the mechanisms leading to the persistent meromixis. The most significant event was the introduction of a nutrient laden input (~25% of the pit lake volume) in the summer of 2000. Key factors regarding onset of meromixis resulting from this input included the biogeochemical cycling of calcium, sulfate, magnesium, sodium, carbonate, iron, and manganese. These elements were controlled by biological processes throughout the water column, which lead to a water column density discontinuity. Key factors regarding the persistence of the density discontinuity resulted from the interplay between the physical, chemical, and biological domains where biogeochemical cycles, meteorological forcing (wind field and precipitation), dilute watershed influents, and lake bathymetry were found to be significant. This study emphasized the importance of lake bathymetry and that this often disregarded factor may be the key to sustainability within meromictic systems and manmade pit lakes

Groundwater Recharge Rates in Isolated and Riverine Wetlands: Influencing Factors

2014 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Informing Strategic Water Planning to Address Natural Resource, Community and Economic Challenge

Results of a Tracker Study Conducted Within Constructed Wetlands with Varying Cell Characteristics

2010 S.C. Water Resources Conferences - Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Futur

Overview of Stable Isotope Results from a Comprehensive Savannah River Study

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Dynamics of Oxygen Demand Within the Middle and Lower Savannah River Basins

2010 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Futur

Understanding Hydrologic Variation Through Time-Series Analysis

2010 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Futur

Results of an Intensive Water Quality Study of the Middle and Lower Savannah River Basin

2010 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Futur

Patient clinical documentation in telehealth environment: Are we collecting appropriate and sufficient information for best practice?

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth for patient visits grew rapidly and served an important role as a valuable and necessary resource. Although clinical documentation is critical for telehealth patient visits, there is limited information about how healthcare facilities manage telehealth patient visit documentation, technology used for telehealth visits, and challenges encountered with telehealth patient visit documentation. This study aimed to assess the use of telehealth during the pandemic, the quality of clinical documentation in telehealth practice and to identify challenges and issues encountered with telehealth patient visits in order to develop a strategy for best practices for telehealth documentation and data management. METHODS: Data were collected for this cross-sectional study in January-February 2021 via a self-designed survey of administrators/managers from physicians\u27 offices and mental health facilities. Survey questions included four categories: health organization demographic information; telehealth visits; clinical documentation for telehealth visit; and challenges and barriers related to telehealth documentation technology use. RESULTS: Of 76 respondents, more than half (62%) of the healthcare facilities started using telehealth for patient visits within one year of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 94% of respondents indicating an increased use of telehealth for patient visits since the pandemic. The most common types of telehealth patient care provided during the pandemic included pediatrics, primary care, cardiology, and women\u27s health. The most consistent data documentation of telehealth visits included: date of service, patient identification number, communication methods, patient informed consent, diagnosis and impression, evaluation results, and recommendations. The telehealth visit data was most commonly used for patient care and clinical practice, billing and reimbursement, quality improvement and patient satisfaction, and administrative planning. The top barriers to telehealth use by the healthcare professionals included patient challenges with telehealth services, such as inequities in quality of technology, lack of patient understanding, and lack of patient satisfaction; this was followed by frustration with constant updates of telehealth guidelines and procedures, understanding required telehealth documentation for reimbursement purposes, payer denial for telehealth visits, and legal and risk issues. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study can assist government entities, policymakers, and healthcare organizations in developing and advocating best practices in telehealth usage and clinical documentation improvement strategies

Cyberinfrastructure for Preservation of Stream and River Ecology

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio