BMP treatment technologies, monitoring needs, and knowledge gaps: status of the knowledge and relevance within the Tahoe Basin

This Technical memorandum fulfills Task 2 for Agreement 03-495 between El Dorado County and the Office of Water Programs at California State University Sacramento and their co-authors, Bachand & Associates and the University of California Tahoe Research Group: 1) a review of current stormwater treatment Best Management Practices (BMP) in the Tahoe Basin and their potential effectiveness in removing fine particles and reducing nutrient concentrations; 2) an assessment of the potential for improving the performance of different types of existing BMPs through retrofitting or better maintenance practices; 3) a review of additional promising treatment technologies not currently in use in the Tahoe Basin; and 4) a list of recommendations to help address the knowledge gaps in BMP design and performance. ... (PDF contains 67 pages

Chemical Treatment Methods Pilot (CTMP) System for Treatment of Urban Runoff – Phase I. Feasibility and Design

(pdf contains 418 pages

2017 OFR demonstration site monitoring and analyses: Effects on soil hydrology and salinity, and potential implications on soil oxygen

On-farm recharge (OFR) is a practice that uses surface water to alleviate demand on and replenish groundwater supplies. It can take on two forms: in lieu recharge and direct recharge. In lieu recharge utilizes surface water supplies instead of groundwater to irrigate crops. Direct recharge applies water beyond the needs of the crop and replenishes the groundwater supply. ... The present study examined OFR with grapes, walnuts, and pistachios at six sites in the San Joaquin Valley, plus one additional site from a previous study, also in the San Joaquin Valley. Each site was comprised of a recharge plot that received direct recharge paired with a control plot with the same crop and soil characteristics, but meant to receive in lieu recharge (via the flood system) or drip application with groundwater. At the end of the 2017 recharge demonstration, however, three control plots had also received direct recharge from water applications that exceeded the crop’s water demand. At another site, both control and test plots had only received in lieu recharge due to limited surface water amounts or the host growers’ more conservative volume of water application. ... The present study only covers one season of recharge. Long-term effects of recharge are not described by the present study and will require further monitoring. Further study is needed of the dynamics of soil oxygen during and after recharge events. Similarly, the fate of the water after it infiltrates past the root zone is not always known and the rate at which recharged water will reach an aquifer is seldom known for deep aquifers. A method to predict the fate of water quickly and broadly would be quite helpful in developing an on-farm recharge strategy. The present study does not look at the effects of recharge on soil biological processes, such as microbial respiration and plant oxygen demand. Further study of the recharge tolerance of specific species and rootstocks, as well as the impact on plant disease, is crucial

Bodies Moving in Space: Ancient Mesoamerican Human Sculpture and Embodiment

Judith Butler’s proposal that embodiment is a process of repeated citation of precedents leads us to consider the experiential effects of Mesoamerican practices of ornamenting space with images of the human body. At Late Classic Maya Copán, life-size human sculptures were attached to residences, intimate settings in which body knowledge was produced and body practices institutionalized. Moving through the space of these house compounds, persons would have been insistently presented with measures of their bodily decorum. These insights are used to consider the possible effects on people of movement around Formative period Olmec human sculptures, which are not routinely recovered in such well-defined contexts as those of the much later Maya sites

Le prisme identitaire du cinéma québécois. Figures paternelles et interculturalité dans Mémoires affectives et Littoral

Deux motifs principaux se dégagent de la production cinématographique québécoise de ce début de xxie siècle : les relations père-fils et l’interculturalité. Ces deux vecteurs du questionnement identitaire convergent dans l’interrogation des fondements du sujet du point de vue des filiations individuelle et collective. La réception critique et l’analyse du récit sont mises à contribution dans l’exploration du rapport dialectique entre l’identité et l’altérité tel qu’il se manifeste dans deux films : Mémoires affectives de Francis Leclerc (2004) et Littoral de Wajdi Mouawad (2004). Ces deux fictions déclinent des variations sur un même thème, celui du récit des origines et de ses violences constitutives ; ils thématisent la genèse de l’être, la naissance et le geste culpabilisant à l’origine d’un refoulement ou d’un secret qui façonne en creux l’imaginaire du sujet dans le travail d’élaboration psychique ; ils font écho à la multiplicité des composantes culturelles de la société québécoise contemporaine.Two principal motifs have emerged from Quebec cinema since 2000: father-son relations and interculturalism. These two vectors for enquiring into identity converge in the present article in analyses of the bases of the topic from the perspective of individual and group relations. Critical reception and discussion of the storyline are used to explore the dialectical relationship between identity and alterity as it is seen in two films: Francis Leclerc’s Mémoires affectives (2004) and Wajdi Mouawad’s Littoral (2004). These two fiction films examine variations on a theme, that of the narrative of origins and their constituent forms of violence. They render thematic the genesis of the individual and their birth and guilt-inducing gestures at the origin of repression or a secret which creates an image of the subject’s imagination in the process of psychic development. These films reflect the multiplicity of cultural elements in contemporary Quebec society

On-Farm Flood Capture and Recharge (OFFCR) at an Organic Almond Orchard, Recharge Rates and Soil Profile Responses Groundwater Recharge Project, 2016

Groundwater in much of California’s Central Valley (CV) has been critically over-drafted resulting in the implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). As Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) work to comply with SGMA requirements and timelines, On-Farm Floodwater Capture and Recharge (OFFCR) is being studied to help increase recharge capacity. We implemented an OFFCR test on an organic almond orchard in the CV to assess achievable recharge rates attained through over-irrigation, and potential soil and water quality impacts. Irrigation water was applied via flood irrigation. We developed study sites and installed soil sensors for moisture and salinity monitoring, took post-irrigation deep cores to assess changes in soil and porewater nitrogen and salt concentrations through the vadose zone, and monitored agronomic practices, recharge loading and crop yields. These studies were conducted on three recharge treatments with three replicated stations for each: 1) Control at about 6 inches of flooded water to meet ET as typical for irrigation (Control treatment), 2) Low Flooding of about 12 inches per irrigation application (Mid treatment), and 3) High Flooding of about 24 inches per irrigation application (High treatment)

Toxoplasma gondii in wildlife traditionnally harvested by Inuit of Nunavik, Canada

For centuries, Inuit have consumed wildlife. For decades, high levels of Inuit exposure to Toxoplasma gondii have been reported in Nunavik, Canada. This is puzzling given the rare occurrence of felids, the only definitive host for T. gondii, throughout this region. The handling and/or consumption of wildlife, more particularly the consumption of raw tissues, have been identified as risk factors for T. gondii exposure in Inuit. Yet, little is known about wildlife as reservoirs for T. gondii throughout Nunavik, largely due to lack of a sensitive direct detection method needed for a large-scale study. The rationale for this thesis was to determine whether wildlife poses a risk for Inuit exposure to T. gondii in Nunavik. This thesis first set out to confirm whether the magnetic capture and real-time PCR technique can be used to detect DNA of T. gondii in wildlife by assessing the PCR prevalence in tissues of foxes trapped throughout Nunavik. Then, seroprevalence (MAT) and PCR prevalence (MC-PCR) of T. gondii were compared in ringed seals, geese, ptarmigan and caribou to determine whether serological results can predict an animal’s infection status. The probability that Inuit are exposed to T. gondii through consumption of goose tissues was then estimated in a quantitative exposure assessment. Lastly, we determined whether Inuit awareness, knowledge and risk perceptions ofparasites in wildlife influence the adoption of health-protective behaviors that mitigate exposure to foodborne parasites based on multivariable logistic regression analysis. DNA of T. gondii was detected in 44% (95% CI: 28-60%) of foxes from four locations in Nunavik. DNA of T. gondii was also detected in 9% (CI: 3-15%) of geese, but not in other wildlife species including 20% (95% CI: 12-31%) of ringed seals and 26% (95% CI: 14-43%) of caribou seropositive on MAT. In geese, parasite load was quantified as highest in heart, followed by brain, breast muscle, liver, and gizzard. Overall, given the consumption of 4 goose tissues, there was a 32% probability that Inuit were exposed to at least 1 bradyzoite during a one month period. Finally, approximately 61% (95% CI: 53-69%) of Inuit were aware of parasites and 47% (95% CI: 39-56%) were knowledgeable about their transmission. Both perceived severity and response efficacy positively influenced the adoption of health-protective behaviors. This is the first account of T. gondii detection in wildlife using the MC-PCR technique. In Nunavik, foxes are a good sentinel for T. gondii. Wild geese harbor the parasite and hunter-harvested geese are a plausible source of T. gondii, although the probability of exposure is low based on consumer data collected during this thesis. Risk communication messages should provide information on specific zoonotic parasites, as well as remind people that cooking their meat above 67ºC is effective at reducing their probability of exposure. An alternative, perhaps more culturally-appropriate means of inactivating the parasite could be by freezing at -12º C or colder for 3 days. Future research is needed to validate the use of serological assays in wildlife as a screening tool for food safety decision-making. For now, it is not recommended to extrapolate serological results on the infection status of individual animals for wildlife species included in this thesis. Future research is also needed to identify whether other wildlife species consumed by Inuit are infected with T. gondii including other migratory birds potentially highly exposed in the south