Land and Water Use Interactions Emerging Trends and Impact on Land-use Changes in the Tungabhadra and Tagus River Basins

The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the issues, current status and complex interlinkages in land and water management, emerging trends and its impact in two river basins1 - the Tungabhadra sub-basin in India and the Tagus basin in Spain and Portugal. The paper covers a wide range of issues including changing water demands affected by erratic hydrological cycles, frequent fires affecting forests, biodiversity and soil thus influencing the livelihoods of marginal communities. The paper also brings to the forefront the need for integrated water management in view of poor integration across and within sectors. Therefore, an attempt is made to understand the dynamics of rain fed and irrigated farming highlighting the technological and institutional options required for improving water-use efficiency. There is still a long way to go in both the basins before suitable integration can be achieved leading to an effective Integrated Water Resource Management strategy

The Temporal Development of Fatty Infiltrates in the Neck Muscles Following Whiplash Injury: An Association with Pain and Posttraumatic Stress

Radiological findings associated with poor recovery following whiplash injury remain elusive. Muscle fatty infiltrates (MFI) in the cervical extensors on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with chronic pain have been observed. Their association with specific aspects of pain and psychological factors have yet to be explored longitudinally.44 subjects with whiplash injury were enrolled at 4 weeks post-injury and classified at 6 months using scores on the Neck Disability Index as recovered, mild and moderate/severe. A measure for MFI and patient self-report of pain, loss of cervical range of movement and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were collected at 4 weeks, 3 months and 6 months post-injury. The effects of time and group and the interaction of time by group on MFI were determined. We assessed the mediating effect of posttraumatic stress and cervical range of movement on the longitudinal relationship between initial pain intensity and MFI. There was no difference in MFI across all groups at enrollment. MFI values increased in the moderate/severe group and were significantly higher in comparison to the recovered and mild groups at 3 and 6 months. No differences in MFI values were found between the mild and recovered groups. Initial severity of PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between pain intensity and MFI at 6 months. Initial ROM loss did not.MFI in the cervical extensors occur soon following whiplash injury and suggest the possibility for the occurrence of a more severe injury with subsequent PTSD in patients with persistent symptoms

Water quality trends in the Manjeera River, Godavari Basin. [India].

In Nagothu, U. S.; Gosain, A. K.; Palanisami, Kuppannan (Eds.). Water and climate change: an integrated approach to address adaptation challenges. New Delhi, India: Macmilla

Summary and way forward.

In Nagothu, U. S.; Gosain, A. K.; Palanisami, Kuppannan (Eds.). Water and climate change: an integrated approach to address adaptation challenges. New Delhi, India: Macmilla

Regional variations in diffuse nitrogen losses from agriculture in the Nordic and Baltic regions

This paper describes nitrogen losses from, and the characteristics of. 35 selected catchments (112 to 2000 ha) in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Average annual losses of N in 1994-1997 ranged from 5 to 75 kg ha(-1). Generally, the lowest losses were observed in the Baltic countries and the highest in Norway. The N losses were also characterised by significant within-country and interannual variations, particularly in the Norwegian catchments. An important finding of the study is that the average nutrient losses varied greatly among the catchments studied. The main explanations for this variability were water runoff, fertiliser use (especially the amount of manure), soil type and erosion (including stream bank erosion). However, there were several exceptions, and it was difficult to find general relationships between the individual factors. For example, there was poor correlation between nitrogen losses and surpluses. Therefore, the results suggest that the observed variability in N losses cannot have been due solely to differences in farm management practices, although the studied catchments do include a wide range of nutrient application levels, animal densities and other relevant elements. There is considerable spatial variation in the physical properties (soil. climate, hydrology, and topography) and the agricultural management of the basins, and the interaction between and relative effects of these factors has an important impact on erosion and nutrient losses. In particular, hydrological processes may have a marked effect on N losses measured in the catchment stream water. The results indicate that significant differences in hydrological pathways (e.g. the relationship between fast- and slow-flow processes) lead to major regional differences in N inputs to surface waters and therefore also in the response to changes in field management practices. Agricultural practices such as crop rotation systems, nutrient inputs and soil conservation measuresVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Water allocation with use of the Building Block Methodology (BBM) in the Godavari Basin, India

Access to sufficient quantities of water of acceptable quality is a basic need for human beings and a pre-requisite to sustain and develop human welfare. In cases of limited availability, the allocation of water between different sectors can result in conflicts of interests. In this study, a modified version of the Building Block Methodology (BBM) was demonstrated for allocation of waters between different sectors. The methodology is a workshop-based tool for assessing water allocation between competing sectors that requires extensive stakeholder involvement. The tool was demonstrated for allocation of water in the Sri Ram Sagar water reservoir in the Godavari Basin, Andhra Pradesh, India. In this multipurpose reservoir, water is used for irrigation, drinking water supply and hydropower production. Possible water allocation regimes were developed under present hydrological conditions (normal and dry years) and under future climate change, characterized by more rain in the rainy season, more frequent droughts in the dry season and accelerated siltation of the reservoir, thus reducing the storage capacity. The feedback from the stakeholders (mainly water managers representing the various sectors) showed that the modified version of the BBM was a practical and useful tool in water allocation, which means that it may be a viable tool for application also elsewhere