The East Mountain Area septic system user\u27s guide to the Bernalillo County Wastewater Ordinance : ensuring groundwater sustainability

On June 29, 2000, Bernalillo County released a draft wastewater ordinance, Bernalillo County Wastewater Ordinance, for public comment; in the fall of 2000, this ordinance was adopted. The ordinance is intended to protect public health and safety by establishing minimum criteria for the design, installation, inspection, treatment, and management of commercial and domestic wastewater systems. The ordinance is detailed and perhaps difficult to understand for the average homeowner in the East Mountain Area (EMA). It encompasses engineering, permitting, and maintenance requirements for new or modified septic systems in place after the effective date of this ordinance. Without thorough review and understanding of the ordinance, the homeowner could easily jeopardize his/her ability to operate their individual septic systems and/or face serious monetary consequences if their septic systems are not in compliance with the ordinance. The WR 573 summer 2000 class has prepared a simple, straightforward guidebook for EMA residents of Bernalillo County to use as a tool for understanding and complying with the new ordinance. Topics were researched and discussed within the context of the guidebook to help EMA homeowners fulfill their responsibilities under the ordinance, including inspection, compliance, permitting, and maintenance requirements of their individual septic tank systems. The guidebook is written in question-and-answer format, and each answer builds upon information provided within the guidebook. The guidebook was written for the average homeowner and is presented in non-technical language. We assumed that most homeowners would be neither qualified for nor desirous of doing most of the work required to bring their systems into compliance and would therefore hire a contractor. The guidebook was written to help the homeowner understand the process; most of the details are left to the contractor. Most of our information was drawn from the ordinance, studies of the East Mountain Area hydrologic system, or discussions with knowledgeable people. As a public-oriented user guide, specific references to documents were eliminated from the body of text. References are included at the end of the guidebook. The summer 2000 Water Resources 573 class, under the guidance of instructors Dr. Michael Campana and Dr. Michele Minnis, has synthesized our combined research into this guidebook entitled, East Mountain Area Septic System User\u27s Guide to the 2000 Bernalillo County Wastewater Ordinance. The guidebook will be edited and published as a Water Resources Program publication and copies provided to NOAA and Bernalillo County.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wr_fmr/1003/thumbnail.jp

Conflict, Cooperation, and the New Great Game in the Kura-Araks Basin of the South Caucasus

The strategic significance of the region has increased in recent years due to the Caspian Basin hydrocarbon resources that are essential to the West. A resurgent, wealthy Russia and the West, engaged in a new Great Game , are jockeying for position in this all-important region; water resources play an increasing role in this geopolitical realm. Cooperation among the three riparians and stability in the region thus become very important to the West

Conflict and cooperation in the south Caucasus : the Kura-Araks Basin of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

In this chapter we focus on problems of inter-state cooperation and conflict around a transboundary water basin, namely the Kura-Araks. This river basin ... comprises the major river system in the South Caucasus. Both rivers originate in Turkey and flow into the Caspian Sea after joining in Azerbaijan. The Kura-Araks is one of the \u27new\u27 transboundary river systems of the former \u27Second World\u27 whose problems are largely terra incognita (van Harten 2002)

The Economic Value of Water: Results of a Workshop in Caracas, Venezuela, November 2000

In November 2000 a small workshop of 14 people met in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss the value\u27 of water. The meeting was sponsored by the International Water Resources Network (IWRN), the Organization of American States (OAS), The Nature Conservancy, the University of New Mexico, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The meeting was hosted by Jose Ochoa-Iturbe, Director of the School of Civil Engineering at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. The participants represented a mix of academics, water administrators, government officials and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) from around the Americas. Although many of the participants are economists, multiple disciplines and perspectives were represented. The meeting occurred as part of a process for stimulating discussion about water issues in the Americas. During and after IWRN\u27s Dialog III in Panama, the participants at a session on water valuation discussed the need for an intermediate meeting that would keep the discussion moving forward. The feeling was that the time interval between Dialogs was too long and significant time was spent at each Dialog repeating conversations that had occurred before. An intermediate conference was organized in Caracas to fill that need. This document was produced as a result of the Caracas meeting and is meant to serve as an input to IWRN\u27s Dialog IV in Brazil. The document should not be looked on as the final word but as an intermediate step meant to stimulate additional discussion

Shark predation on migrating adult american eels (Anguilla rostrata) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In an attempt to document the migratory pathways and the environmental conditions encountered by American eels during their oceanic migration to the Sargasso Sea, we tagged eight silver eels with miniature satellite pop-up tags during their migration from the St. Lawrence River in Québec, Canada. Surprisingly, of the seven tags that successfully transmitted archived data, six were ingested by warm-gutted predators, as observed by a sudden increase in water temperature. Gut temperatures were in the range of 20 to 25°C-too cold for marine mammals but within the range of endothermic fish. In order to identify the eel predators, we compared their vertical migratory behavior with those of satellite-tagged porbeagle shark and bluefin tuna, the only endothermic fishes occurring non-marginally in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We accurately distinguished between tuna and shark by using the behavioral criteria generated by comparing the diving behavior of these two species with those of our unknown predators. Depth profile characteristics of most eel predators more closely resembled those of sharks than those of tuna. During the first days following tagging, all eels remained in surface waters and did not exhibit diel vertical migrations. Three eels were eaten at this time. Two eels exhibited inverse diel vertical migrations (at surface during the day) during several days prior to predation. Four eels were eaten during daytime, whereas the two night-predation events occurred at full moon. Although tagging itself may contribute to increasing the eel's susceptibility to predation, we discuss evidence suggesting that predation of silver-stage American eels by porbeagle sharks may represent a significant source of mortality inside the Gulf of St. Lawrence and raises the possibility that eels may represent a reliable, predictable food resource for porbeagle sharks

Estimating Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Regional and Local Suitability: A Case Study in Washington State, USA

Developing aquifers as underground water supply reservoirs is an advantageous approach applicable to meeting water management objectives. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a direct injection and subsequent withdrawal technology that is used to increase water supply storage through injection wells. Due to site-specific hydrogeological quantification and evaluation to assess ASR suitability, limited methods have been developed to identify suitability on regional scales that are also applicable at local scales. This paper presents an ASR site scoring system developed to qualitatively assess regional and local suitability of ASR using 9 scored metrics to determine total percent of ASR suitability, partitioned into hydrogeologic properties, operational considerations, and regulatory influences. The development and application of a qualitative water well suitability method was used to assess the potential groundwater response to injection, estimate suitability based on predesignated injection rates, and provide cumulative approximation of statewide and local storage prospects. The two methods allowed for rapid assessment of ASR suitability and its applicability to regional and local water management objectives at over 280 locations within 62 watersheds in Washington, USA. It was determined that over 50% of locations evaluated are suitable for ASR and statewide injection potential equaled 6400 million liters per day. The results also indicate current limitations and/or potential benefits of developing ASR systems at the local level with the intent of assisting local water managers in strategic water supply planning

Black Hole and Neutron Star Transients in Quiescence

We consider the X-ray luminosity difference between neutron star and black hole soft X-ray transients (NS and BH SXTs) in quiescence. The current observational data suggest that BH SXTs are significantly fainter than NS SXTs. The luminosities of quiescent BH SXTs are consistent with the predictions of binary evolution models for the mass transfer rate if (1) accretion occurs via an ADAF in these systems and (2) the accreting compact objects have event horizons. The luminosities of quiescent NS SXTs are not consistent with the predictions of ADAF models when combined with binary evolution models, unless most of the mass accreted in the ADAF is prevented from reaching the neutron star surface. We consider the possibility that mass accretion is reduced in quiescent NS SXTs because of an efficient propeller and develop a model of the propeller effect that accounts for the observed luminosities. We argue that modest winds from ADAFs are consistent with the observations while strong winds are probably not.Comment: LateX, 37 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

New Evidence for Black Hole Event Horizons from Chandra

Previously we claimed that Black Hole X-ray Novae (BHXN) in quiescence are much less luminous than equivalent Neutron Star X-ray Novae (NSXN). This claim was based on the quiescent detection of a single short period BHXN (A0620-00, P(orb)=7.8 hrs) and two longer period BHXN (GRO J1655-40, P(orb)=62.9 hrs; V404 Cyg, P(orb)=155.3 hrs), along with sensitive upper limits. We announce the detection of two more short period BHXN (GRO J0422+32, P(orb)=5.1 hrs; GS 2000+25, P(orb)=8.3 hrs), an upper limit for a third which is improved by two orders of magnitude (4U 1543-47, P(orb)=27.0 hrs) and a new, much lower quiescent measurement of GRO J1655-40. Taken together, these new Chandra measurements confirm that the quiescent X-ray luminosities of BHXN are significantly lower than those of NSXN. We argue that this provides strong evidence for the existence of event horizons in BHXN.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters, 4 pages, 2 figure

The Swift X-ray flaring afterglow of GRB 050607

The unique capability of the Swift satellite to perform a prompt and autonomous slew to a newly detected Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) has yielded the discovery of interesting new properties of GRB X-ray afterglows, such as the steep early lightcurve decay and the frequent presence of flares detected up to a few hours after the GRB trigger. We present observations of GRB 050607, the fourth case of a GRB discovered by Swift with flares superimposed on the overall fading X-ray afterglow. The flares of GRB 050607 were not symmetric as in previously reported cases, showing a very steep rise and a shallower decay, similar to the Fast Rise, Exponential Decay that are frequently observed in the gamma-ray prompt emission. The brighter flare had a flux increase by a factor of approximately 25,peaking for 30 seconds at a count rate of approximately 30 counts s-1, and it presented hints of addition short time scale activity during the decay phase. There is evidence of spectral evolution during the flares. In particular, at the onset of the flares the observed emission was harder, with a gradual softening as each flare decayed. The very short time scale and the spectral variability during the flaring activity are indicators of possible extended periods of energy emission by the GRB central engine. The flares were followed by a phase of shallow decay, during which the forward shock was being refreshed by a long-lived central engine or by shells of lower Lorentz factors, and by a steepening after approximately 12 ks to a decay slope considered typical of X-ray afterglows.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa

Forgiveness-Reconciliation and Communication-Conflict-Resolution Interventions Versus Retested Controls in Early Married Couples

The first 6 months of marriage are optimal for marriage enrichment interventions. The Hope-Focused Approach to couple enrichment was presented as two 9-hr interventions--(a) Handling Our Problems Effectively (HOPE), which emphasized communication and conflict resolution, and (b) Forgiveness and Reconciliation through Experiencing Empathy (FREE). HOPE and FREE were compared with repeated assessment controls. Couples were randomly assigned and were assessed at pretreatment (t1); 1 month posttreatment (t2) and at 3- (t3), 6- (t4), and 12-month (t5) follow-ups using self-reports. In addition to self-report measures, couples were assessed at t1, t2, and t5 using salivary cortisol, and behavioral coding of decision making. Of 179 couples who began the study, 145 cases were analyzed. Both FREE and HOPE produced lasting positive changes on self-reports. For cortisol reactivity, HOPE and FREE reduced reactivity at t2, but only HOPE at t5. For coded behaviors, control couples deteriorated; FREE and HOPE did not change. Enrichment training was effective regardless of the focus of the training