Institutional requirements for optimal water quality management in arid urban areas

Summarizes Completion reports no. 45-47.AER72-73WRW-GVS-RCW-TLH28.Funded in part by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1964, and pursuant to Grant Agreement no. 14-31-0001-3567

Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Volume I

New observations and new research have increased our understanding of past, current, and future climate change since the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA3) was published in May 2014. This Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) is designed to capture that new information and build on the existing body of science in order to summarize the current state of knowledge and provide the scientific foundation for the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4)

Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII Binds to Two Distant Regions of coa mRNA to Arrest Translation and Promote mRNA Degradation

Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII is the intracellular effector of the quorum sensing system that temporally controls a large number of virulence factors including exoproteins and cell-wall-associated proteins. Staphylocoagulase is one major virulence factor, which promotes clotting of human plasma. Like the major cell surface protein A, the expression of staphylocoagulase is strongly repressed by the quorum sensing system at the post-exponential growth phase. Here we used a combination of approaches in vivo and in vitro to analyze the mechanism used by RNAIII to regulate the expression of staphylocoagulase. Our data show that RNAIII represses the synthesis of the protein through a direct binding with the mRNA. Structure mapping shows that two distant regions of RNAIII interact with coa mRNA and that the mRNA harbors a conserved signature as found in other RNAIII-target mRNAs. The resulting complex is composed of an imperfect duplex masking the Shine-Dalgarno sequence of coa mRNA and of a loop-loop interaction occurring downstream in the coding region. The imperfect duplex is sufficient to prevent the formation of the ribosomal initiation complex and to repress the expression of a reporter gene in vivo. In addition, the double-strand-specific endoribonuclease III cleaves the two regions of the mRNA bound to RNAIII that may contribute to the degradation of the repressed mRNA. This study validates another direct target of RNAIII that plays a role in virulence. It also illustrates the diversity of RNAIII-mRNA topologies and how these multiple RNAIII-mRNA interactions would mediate virulence regulation

Science for a Sustainable Future of the Great Plains: Water-Quality Assessment in Central Nebraska

Data activities were designed to provide field information on surface and ground water quality, biology, and habitat. Data site locations were selected that represented the four environmental settings in central Nebraska. Environmental setting is defined by specific combinations of hydrologic, geologic, physiographic, water use, and land use characteristics

High Plains aquifer

Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was "Water district management and governance."Includes bibliographical references.Kansas faces complex challenges in managing the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer for the future. This aquifer, one of the largest in the world, is critical to a sustainable economy for Kansas and the other seven states that rely on it. Kansas withdraws between 3 and 4.5 million acre feet annually from this source for irrigation of corn, sorghum, and alfalfa that supports some of the largest livestock feeding and meat packing industries in the world. Overall declines of the aquifer, which occurred in about one generation of family farmers, threatens an economy that is projected to no longer be possible in 50 to 100 years in many areas and less than 25 years in some areas. Established rates of withdrawal exceed natural recharge by such large amounts that very large decreases in use must be considered to achieve any measurable decrease in depletion. An urgent need to begin a transition to a less water intensive economy has motivated organizations representing local water users and state agencies to cooperate in a proactive management strategy. Under this strategy, three local ground water management districts have been given the responsibility for developing a protocol for more intensive management. The protocol includes defining hydrologic sub-units, determining priority sub-areas to focus implementation activities, and setting goals for extending the life of the aquifer to protect the economy. Local Groundwater Management Districts and state agencies are working cooperatively to ensure that regulatory authorities of the Division of Water Resources and the policies of the state support local efforts through the State Water Plan developed by the Kansas Water Office.Sponsored by USCID; co-sponsored by Association of California Water Agencies and International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management

Irrigation and drainage in the new millennium

Presented at the 2000 USCID international conference, Challenges facing irrigation and drainage in the new millennium on June 20-24 in Fort Collins, Colorado.The High Plains aquifer provides the sole source of water supply for most of the western third of Kansas (figure 1). This unconfined or water table aquifer includes the Ogallala formation and hydraulically connected alluvial deposits. Regional withdrawals from this aquifer exceed recharge substantially in many areas. Water level declines have decreased the saturated thickness so that well capacities are limiting in many areas. Reporting annual water use is a statutory requirement in Kansas for all beneficial uses except domestic use. Additional data available as a condition of appropriated and vested water rights are: location of diversion, place of use, maximum annual quantity, maximum rate of diversion, and type of use. More than 95% of the water use is for irrigation and the arid climate results in very small amounts of precipitation. Comparisons of the reported water used, maximum authorized quantity, consumptive use of crops, and aquifer recharge provide basic information useful in setting regulatory priorities that will protect the public interest in addressing depletion of the water supply in this area

Towards Sustainable Management of the Ogallala High Plains Aquifer [abstract]

2 pages