Institutional and policy analysis of river basin management: the Fraser River Basin, Canada

The authors describe and analyze a nongovernmental, multi-stakeholder, consensus-based approach to river basin management in the Fraser River basin in Canada. The Fraser River drains 238,000 km2 of British Columbia, supporting nearly 3 million residents and a diverse economy. Water management issues include water quality and allocation, flood protection, and emerging scarcity concerns in portions of the basin. The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is a locally-initiated nongovernmental organization (NGO) with representation from public and private stakeholders. Since evolving in the 1990s from earlier programs and projects in the basin, FBC has pursued several objectives related to a broad concept of basin"sustainability"incorporating social, economic, and environmental aspects. The NGO approach has allowed FBC to match the boundaries of the entire basin, avoid some intergovernmental turf battles, and involve First Nations communities and private stakeholders in ways governmental approaches sometimes find difficult. While its NGO status means that FBC cannot implement many of the plans it agrees on and must constantly work to maintain diverse yet stable funding, FBC holds substantial esteem among basin stakeholders for its reputation for objectivity, its utility as an information sharing forum, and its success in fostering an awareness of interdependency within the basin.Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Water Conservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Sanitation and Sewerage,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Drought Management,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water and Industry,Water Conservation

Differential adaptation strategies by agro-ecological zones in African livestock management

This paper examines how farmers have adapted their livestock operation to the current climate in each agro-ecological zone in Africa. The authors examine how climate has affected the farmer's choice to raise livestock or not and the choice of animal species. To measure adaptation, the analysis regresses the farmer's choice on climate, soil, water flow, and socio-economic variables. The findings show that climate does in fact affect the farmer's decision about whether to raise livestock and the species. The paper also simulates how future climates may alter these decisions using forecasts from climate models and the estimated model. With a hot dry scenario, livestock ownership will increase slightly across all of Africa, but especially in West Africa and high elevation agro-ecological zones. Dairy cattle will decrease in semi-arid regions, sheep will increase in the lowlands, and chickens will increase at high elevations. With a mild and wet scenario, however, livestock adoption will fall dramatically in lowland and high latitude moist agro-ecological zones. Beef cattle will increase and sheep will fall in dry zones, dairy cattle will fall precipitously and goats will rise in moist zones, and chickens will increase at high elevations but fall at mid elevations. Livestock adaptations depend on the climate scenario and will vary across the landscape. Agro-ecological zones are a useful way to capture how these changes differ from place to place.Livestock&Animal Husbandry,Wildlife Resources,Peri-Urban Communities,Rural Urban Linkages,Dairies&Dairying

A ricardian analysis of the distribution of climate change impacts on agriculture across agro-ecological zones in Africa

This paper examines the distribution of climate change impacts across the 16 agro-ecological zones in Africa using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization combined with economic survey data from a Global Environment Facility/World Bank project. Net revenue per hectare of cropland is regressed on a set of climate, soil, and socio-economic variables using different econometric specifications"with"and"without"country fixed effects. Country fixed effects slightly reduce predicted future climate related damage to agriculture. With a mild climate scenario, African farmers gain income from climate change; with a more severe scenario, they lose income. Some locations are more affected than others. The analysis of agro-ecological zones implies that the effects of climate change will vary across Africa. For example, currently productive areas such as dry/moist savannah are more vulnerable to climate change while currently less productive agricultural zones such as humid forest or sub-humid zones become more productive in the future. The agro-ecological zone classification can help explain the variation of impacts across the landscape.Climate Change,Global Environment Facility,Common Property Resource Development,Rural Poverty Reduction,Transport and Environment

Institutions, impact synergies and food security: a methodology with results from the Kala Oya Basin, Sri Lanka

Institutional development / Development plans / Development policy / Impact assessment / River basins / Food security / Models

Uji Efek Analgesik Ekstrak Daun Mahkota Dewa (Phaleria Macrocarpa) Pada Mencit (Mus Musculus)

The plant of Mahkota Dewa is a traditional plant which is used as a medicinal plant whose benefits are located in almost parts where it contains flavonoid and saponin compounds that have a variety of effects and one of them is analgesic effect. This research aims to determine the analgesic effect of the extract of Mahkota Dewa leaf (Phaleria macrocarpa) in mices (Mus musculus). This research uses an experimental method using nine male and female mices which are divided into three groups: the positive control group that was given aspirin and the negative control that was given aquades and the treatment group that was given the extract of the Mahkota Dewa leaf. The research is done by giving the stimulus of pain in the form of heat 55o.C and then observes the response of the tested animal such as jumping or licking its legs and at the minute of 0 before treatment, and at the minutes of 30, 60, 90, 120 after the treatment. The average value of the number of respons of mices which were given the extract of the Mahkota Dewa leaf decreases from the 30th minute until the 90th minute. Conclusion. The extract of Mahkota Dewa leaf has an analgesic effect in Mouse

Patterns of Engagement: How States Negotiate International Water Agreements

Conflicts over transboundary freshwater resources arise, to a large degree, because property rights are not clearly defined. International water law provides only hints and suggestions as to how states should resolve their water disputes -- legal principles and clauses are rather ambiguous and contradictory. But conflict creates the need for cooperation, achieved by means of negotiations, and the specific outcome of negotiations is almost always codified in an international treaty. While this work discusses and analyzes the broader aspects of conflict and cooperation over international fresh water, it specifically investigates bilateral water agreements for rivers with specific geographical configurations and aims to answer a fundamental question: how and why bilateral treaties vary in their design? In fact, by considering actual treaties, one can "back out" the implicit property right. (For example, if a downstream state pays an upstream state to reduce its pollution, it can be said that the no harm principle does not stand). This paper will examine international freshwater treaties to deduce the nature of treaty remedies used for resolving conflict for rivers shared by two countries. Geography and economics are the main variables used to explore treaty design. This work is important not only because it investigates how particular variables determine different outcomes (by means of hypotheses testing). It will also tell us how international legal principles and property right conflicts are expressed and negotiated in practice and will therefore have implications for the resolution of ongoing or future interstate conflicts over a given river

The Diversity of Gastropod as Bio-Indicator of Contamination of Leachate of Jatibarang Dumping Ground in Kreo River Semarang City

Gastropod is a biotic component which is important in river ecosystem. Gastropod will respond the changes of physical and chemical condition of the river so that it can be the bio-indicator of the contamination. This research is aimed to know the diversity of gastropod as bio-indicator of contamination of leachate of Jatibarang dumping ground in Kreo river Semarang City. This research was conducted on April until June 2015. Gastropod sample was got using purposive sampling using Surber Net. Gastropod sampling was conducted in three station with three sampling spots in each station, physical-chemical factor measurement including temperature, brightness, pH, COD, DO and BOD was also conducted in every station. The analysis of research result showed that diversity index and the number of gastropod decreased in station which was contamined by leachate. The contaminated station was station II. Diversity index was 0,66094 and the number of gastropod was 114 ind/m2. This condition was different compared to station I which had not been contaminated. In station I, diversity index was 1,03255 and the number of gastropod was 175 ind/m2. So was the station which got the recovery, the station III, where diversity index was 0,82691 and the number of gastropod was 140 ind/m2. Statistical analysis result also showed that gastropod diversity correlated strongly to temperature, brightness, pH, COD, DO and BOD on Kreo river. This result showed that gastropod responded the changes of physical-chemical condition of Kreo river which was caused by the contamination of leachate of Jatibarang dumping ground. From the research result, it can be concluded that gastropod diversity on Kreo river can be used as bio-indicator of the contamination of leachate of Jatibarang dumping ground

Comprehensive identification of sensitive and stable ISFET sensing layer high-k gate based on ISFET/electrolyte models

The ISFET sensing membrane is in direct contact with the electrolyte solution, determining the starting sensitivity of these devices. A SiO2 gate dielectric shows a low response sensitivity and poor stability. This paper proposes a comprehensive identification of different high-k materials which can be used for this purpose, rather than SiO2. The Gouy-Chapman and Gouy-Chapman-Stern models were combined with the Site-binding model, based on surface potential sensitivity, to achieve the work objectives. Five materials, namely Al2O3, Ta2O5, Hfo2, Zro2 and SN2O3, which are commonly considered for micro-electronic applications, were compared. This study has identified that Ta2O5 have a high surface potential response at around 59mV/pH, and also exhibits high stability in different electrolyte concentrations. The models used have been validated with real experimental data, which achieved excellent agreement. The insights gained from this study may be of assistance to determine the suitability of different materials before progressing to expensive real ISFET fabrication