Estimation of Water Environmental Capacity Considering Hydraulic Project Operation in the Xiangyang Reach of the Han River, Central China

Using the Xiangyang Reach of the Han River as an example, this paper evaluates the changes of water environmental capacity after the implementation of Cuijiaying Hydro-junction project. The allowable pollutant loads entering the Xiangyang Reach were estimated using two-dimensional steady state water quality model with different data sets. The water environmental capacity has declined in the reservoir area of the Cuijiaying Hydro-junction project during the low-flow period;it is appearing to increase slightly in the upper and lower stream of this reservoir. However, the state of flow may turn into the state of reservoirs flow in the reservoir area, and the changes of hydrological regime may cause the water flow and the nutrient contents suitable for the occurrence of ecological environment problems.

Flow Calculation of Water Environmental Capacity Controlling Units in a Small Watershed Based on GIS Technology

[Objeetive] We aimed to calculate the flow of controlling units in a small watershed based on GIS technology. [Method] Hydrologic analysis on Qingyi River was conducted by using ArcGIS9.0, and the controlling units with response of water-land were divided according to the riv- er monitoring sections of Xuchang City; considering the wastewater entering the river and the water from its upper reach, the runoff of controlling sections in the driest month （ with guarantee rate of 90% ） was calculated by means of isoline, runoff coefficient and hydrologic analogy method, and the calculated value of Gaocun Bridge section in Linying was contrasted with the measured value in 2010. [Result] The results showed that the cal- culated value and measured value of Gaecun Bridge section in Linying in the driest month of 2010 were 6.03 and 5.93 m^3/s respectively, with relative error of 1.69%, which revealed that the result of calculated runoff was reasonable. [ Conclusion] The way to divide controlling units was reason- able, and the calculation result of runoff was accurate and can meet the precision of water environment capacity calculation.

Quantitative Evaluation of Sustainable Development and Eco-Environmental Carrying Capacity in Water-Deficient Regions:A Case Study in the Haihe River Basin,China

Quantitative assessment of development sustainability could be a challenge to regional management and planning, especially for areas facing great risks of water shortage. Surface-water decline and groundwater over-pumping have caused serious environmental problems and limited economic development in many regions all around the world. In this paper, a framework for quantitatively evaluating development sustainability was established with water-related eco-environmental carrying capacity （EECC） as the core measure. As a case study, the developed approach was applied to data of the Haihe River Basin, China, during 1998 through 2007. The overall sustainable development degree （SDD） is determined to be 0.39, suggesting that this rate of development is not sustainable. Results of scenario analysis revealed that overshoot, or resource over- exploitation, of the Basin＇s EECC is about 20% for both population and economy. Based on conditions in the study area in 2007, in order to achieve sustainable development, i.e., SDD〉0.70 in this study, the EECC could support a population of 108 million and gross domestic product （GDP） of 2.72 trillion CNY. The newly developed approach in quantifying ecoenvironmental carrying capacity is anticipated to facilitate sustainable development oriented resource management in waterdeficient areas.

Effect of environmental temperature on damping capacity of Cu-Al-Mn alloy

The effect of environmental temperature on the damping capacity of Cu-7.66Al-9.52Mn (mass fraction, %) alloy was studied. The result shows that with increasing the environmental temperature, the logarithmic decrement increases firstly and reaches the maximal value of 0.118. The reason is that more phase interfaces and twinning boundaries can move at a higher temperature, leading to higher consumption of energy, in despite of the decreasing of the amount of martensite. When the environmental temperature is above Ms, with further increase in the environmental temperature, the logarithmic decrement decreases sharply mainly because there is little martensite remaining in the alloy.

Environmental capacity of chemical oxygen demand in the Bohai Sea: modeling and calculation

A three-dimensional advection-diffusion model coupled with the degradation process is established for describing the transport of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Comparison of the simulated distribution of COD at the surface in the Bohai Sea in August, 2001 with field observations, shows that the model simulates the dataset reasonably well. The Laizhou Bay, Bohai Bay, and Liaodong Bay were contaminated heavily near shore. Based on the optimal discharge flux method, the Environmental Capacity (EC) and allocated capacities of COD in the Bohai Sea are calculated. For seawater of Grades I to IV of the Chinese National Standard, the ECs of COD in the Bohai Sea were 77×104 t/a, 116×104 t/a, 154×104 t/a and 193×104 t/a, respectively. The Huanghe (Yellow) River pollutant discharge accounted for the largest percentage of COD at 14.3%, followed by that of from the Liugu River (11.5%), and other nine local rivers below 10%. The COD level in 2005 was worse than that of Grade II seawater and was beyond the environmental capacity. In average, 35% COD reduction is called to meet the standard of Grade I seawater.

Reviews on Soil Environmental Capacity and Carrying Capacity

The research introduced the current development of carrying capacity of environment and population size. Based on analysis of atmosphere environment bearing capacity and water environment carrying capacity, it further studied and summarized the soil environmental capacity on pollutants and social activities. The soil environmental capacity on pollutants is the maximum pollutants contained in a unit of soil within a limited time. Current research mainly focuses on background values, limit and migration coefficient of soil and the relevant modeling. The soil environmental capacity on social activities refers to the limit values of soil on the size,density and pace of development of social activities, while maintaining the normal structure and function of the bio-and eco-system of the soil. In other words, it not only refers to the capacity on pollutants, but also refers to the capacity on social and economic activities. Based on the research ＂Criteria on the standards of soil system＂, this report is mainly focused on the capacity of soil system on heavy metals. Further studies are still needed to come up with a universal definition of the soil environmental capacity and its theory system, as well as the standard and complete evaluating system.

Integrated water risk early warning framework of the semi-arid transitional zone based on the water environmental carrying capacity (WECC)

Water risk early warning systems based on the water environmental carrying capacity(WECC)are powerful and effective tools to guarantee the sustainability of rivers.Existing work on the early warning of WECC has mainly concerned the comprehensive evaluation of the status quo and lacked a quantitative prejudgement and warning of future overload.In addition,existing quantitative methods for short-term early warning have rarely focused on the integrated change trends of the early warning indicators.Given the periodicity of the socioeconomic system,however,the water environmental system also follows a trend of cyclical fluctuations.Thus,it is meaningful to monitor and use this periodicity for the early warning of the WECC.In this study,we first adopted and improved the prosperity index method to develop an integrated water risk early warning framework.We also constructed a forecast model to qualitatively and quantitatively prejudge and warn about the development trends of the water environmental system.We selected the North Canal Basin(an essential connection among the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region)in China as a case study and predicted the WECC in 25 water environmental management units of the basin in 2018–2023.We found that the analysis of the prosperity index was helpful in predicting the WECC,to some extent.The result demonstrated that the early warning system provided reliable prediction(root mean square error of 0.0651 and mean absolute error of 0.1418),and the calculation results of the comprehensive early warning index(CEWI)conformed to the actual situation and related research in the river basin.From 2008 to 2023,the WECC of most water environmental management units in the basin had improved but with some spatial differences:the CEWI was generally poor in areas with many human disturbances,while it was relatively good in the upstream regions with higher forest and grass covers as well as in the downstream areas with larger water volume.Finally,through a sensitivity analysis of the indicators,we proposed specific management measures for the sustainability of the water environmental system in the North Canal Basin.Overall,the integrated water risk early warning framework could provide an appropriate method for the water environmental administration department to predict the WECC of the basin in the future.This framework could also assist in implementing corresponding management measures in advance,especially for the performance evaluation and the arrangement of key short-term tasks in the River Chief System in China.

Relation between Economic Development Level and Resource and Environment Carrying Capacity of Central Area of Yunnan Province Based on Decoupling Analysis

Based on the decoupiing theory and method, an indicator system was built for the relation between economic development level and resource and environment carrying capacity. And the study was carried out on decoupling degree and temporal changes of economic development level and resource and environment carrying ca- pacity in the central area of Yunnan Province. Results indicated that （i） the economic development level and resource and environment carrying capacity in the central area of Yunnan Province mainly experienced strong decoupling, weak decoupling, and ex- pansive negative coupling, and in general it was strong decoupling, and it took on re- verse ＂N＂ in temporal changes. （ii） Change rate of economic development level in the central area of Yunnan Province was greater than zero, but the amplitude of change was not large, while the change rate of resource and environment carrying capacity was negative in 2007-2008, and it was positive in the rest years; from 2007, it took on gradual expansion trend, and scissors difference gradually increased after experi- encing reverse ＂V＂ change. （iii） The strong decoupling was the main situation and it reached the peak value in T5 period and T6 pedod.

Intellectual Capacity of Children Exposed to Environmental Pollution in the Extreme South of Brazil

Objective： The study evaluated the intellectual capacity of children who live in areas that were E （exposed） or NE （not exposed） to environmental pollution. Method： 246 students between the ages of 8 and 11 years and 8 months were evaluated. Data were collected between May and June 2010 using a semi-structured questionnaire to examine factors that were related to compromised intellectual capacity. Intellectual capacity was evaluated with Raven＇s Colored Progressive Matrices Scale. The intellectual capacity of children who live in areas that were exposed or not exposed was compared using chi-squared tests and raw and adjusted analyses were conducted using Poisson regression. Results： The general occurrence of intellectual impairment was 28.9%, with 22.0% in the non-exposed area and 36.1% in the exposed area （p = 0.01）. The outcome was associated with the following： a lack of companionship （RP = 2.77; p 〈 0.00）, maternal education of less than five years （RP = 2.13; p 〈 0.00）, the mother not being Caucasian （RP = 1.57;p 〈 0.00）, residing in an exposed area （RP = 1.88;p 〈 0.00）, and nutritional risk/malnutrition （RP = 2.83; p 〈 0.00）. Conclusions： The results showed a high occurrence of intellectual impairment and a significant difference between the environmental areas. Additional research is needed to improve the understanding of several results. The town＇s priorities should include efforts related to environmental health.

Approach to estimating non-point pollutant load removal rates based on water environmental capacity: a case study in Shenzhen

An innovative approach based on water environmental capacity for non-point source NPS pollution removal rate estimation was discussed by using both univariate and multivariate data analysis.Taking Shenzhen city as the study case a 67% to 74% NPS pollutant load removal rate can lead to meeting the chemical oxygen demand COD pollution control target for most watersheds.In contrast it is hardly to achieve the ammonia nitrogen NH4-N total phosphorus TP and biological oxygen demand BOD5 pollution control target by simply removing NPS pollutants. This highlights that the pollution control strategies should be taken according to different pollutant species and sources in different watersheds rather than one-size-fits-all .

Analysis on the Development Trend of Contemporary Local Governance Mode from the perspective of Economic Policy and Environmental Capacity Optimization

As the basic level of national governance, local governance is deeply influenced by administrative tradition, political system and economic development level of a country. With more than thirty years of reform and opening up, the pattern of local governance has become diversified. The diversity of governance model cannot be managed in the same way, however, it cannot affect the government’s ability to play the initiative role of governance. We need to innovate and improve the existing local governance models.

Study on Environmental Capacity and Sustainable Development Strategy of Scenic Areas ——Taking the Scenic Area of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou for an Example

Taking the scenic area of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou for an example, the quantitative evaluation model of environmental capacity and impact factors limiting sustainable development of scenic area were put forward, and targeted control measures were correspondingly proposed.

Research on Resources and Environmental Carrying Capacity

This paper, in the context of resources and environmental carrying capaci-ty, systematic reviewed resources and environmental carrying capacity in monitoring, evaluation and early warning, and then putted forward the development direction for promoting the sustainable development of China’s social and economic environment.

Quantitative evaluation of Tibet’s resource and environmental carrying capacity

This study identifies the carrying state and value of Tibet’s resource and environmental carrying capacity.A new theoretical framework is proposed for exploring the resource and environmental carrying capacity based on two perspectives of“growth limit”and“stability of Human-Earth relationship system”.On this basis,an ideal growth model that accords with the“short board”effect is established to predict the population limitation.Analytical results show that the holistic state of resource and environmental carrying capacity in Tibet is in jeopardy.From 2010 to 2016,Tibet’s carrying state continued to decline,moreover,the negative forces still overwhelm the positive forces.Although the resource reserves still have room for more population,the environmental capacity and ecological capacity have been overloaded.Meanwhile,the Human-Earth relationship system is in an unstable stage.Three scenarios that respond to different socioeconomic developments are implemented to predict the population limitation of resource and environmental carrying capacity in Tibet;thus,authors argue that Tibet should keep its population size within 4 million around 2025.This research will provide reference for sustainable development and resources and environmental conservation in Tibet.

Atmospheric Environmental Capacity of S_2 in Winter over Lanzhou in China:A Case Study

The total emission control method based on atmospheric environmental capacity is the most effective in air pollution mitigation. The atmospheric environmental capacities of SO2 on representative days over Lanzhou are estimated using the numerical models RAMS, HYPACT and a linear programming model, according to the national ambient air quality standard of China （NAAQSCHN）. The results show that the fields of meteorological elements and SO2 simulated by the models agree reasonably well with observations. The atmospheric environmental capacity of SO2 over Lanzhou is around 111.7 × 10^3 kg d^-1, and in order to meet the air quality level Ⅱ of the NAAQSCHN, SO2 emissions need to be reduced by 20%.

Geological resources and environmental carrying capacity evaluation review,theory, and practice in China

Evaluations of resources and environmental carrying capacities (GRECC)are the premise of land space planning and use control.Resource allocations and environmental capacity are the basic conditions that restrict development in a region.In this paper,based on a systematic review of China's geological environment,groundwater resources,mineral resources,other geological resources and the environmental carrying capacity research status,the relationship between the natural resource environmental system and the socio-economic system is studied.Then a "coordination theory of resources and environmental carrying"is proposed.Next,on the basis of an evaluation experiment performed at different scales and for different types of regions,the technical methods for an evaluation of the geological resources and environmental carrying capacity at the regional (inter-provincial)and provincial scales in China are established for the first time.This paper presents a standardized method based on technical ideas, evaluation methods,and index systems for geological resource and environmental carrying capacity evaluation.Finally,an evaluation of the groundwater resource carrying capacity in China is used as an example for the demonstration of the groundwater resource background and use of state evaluation methods.

Variation Characteristics of Water Environmental Capacity in Poyang Lake under the Scheduling of Three Gorges Reservoir

[Objective] The aim was to study the variation characteristics of water environmental capacity in Poyang Lake under the scheduling of Three Gorges Reservoir.[Method] Choosing chemical oxygen demand (COD),total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) as the control indexes of pollutants in Poyang Lake,the variation characteristics of water environmental capacity in Poyang Lake under the scheduling of Three Gorges Reservoir were analyzed based on the water environment mathematical models of organic compounds and nutrients.[Result] After the operation of Three Gorges Project,high water level in Poyang Lake lasted for a long time in flood season when Three Gorges Reservoir increased discharge volume,while water level went down obviously with the accelerating of recession flow when reservoir decreased discharge volume to store water,so Three Gorges Project had obvious effects on the hydrological regime of Poyang Lake.In 2009,when Three Gorges Reservoir stored water,the water environmental capacity of COD,TN and TP in Poyang Lake in October decreased by 14.0%,15.4% and 15.4% compared with those before operation,while they increased by 3.64%,4.88% and 4.88% in August when reservoir discharged water to prevent flood.[Conclusion] The study could provide scientific foundation for the water pollution control and water environment management of lakes.

Carrying Capacity of Water Leisure Environment in Eco-cities-A Case Study of Ancient Canal Scenic Area in Yangzhou City

Water leisure tourism is an emerging theme in urban planning, and its planning mode and operation level directly influence the eco-cycle degree of urban development. Tourism activities inevitably impact environmental quality of urban water spaces, and the research on the environmental carrying capacity of such spaces has also become an important prerequisite of tourism planning. Taking the Yangzhou Ancient Canal Scenic Area for an example, the paper constructed the estimated indicators of water leisure tourism environmental carrying capacity on the basis of analyzing scenic geographical resources and tourism economic conditions, and calculated the scenic area's water leisure tourism environmental integrated carrying capacity by the method of barrel extrapolation, providing a reasonable foundation for evaluating the planning conditions in the eco-cycle urban water leisure tourism planning.

Environmental Capacity of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Jiaozhou Bay, China: Modeling and Calculation

An environmental capacity model for the petroleum hydrocarbon pollutions （PHs） in Jiaozhou Bay is constructed based on field surveys, mesocosm, and parallel laboratory experiments. Simulated results of PHs seasonal successions in 2003 match the field surveys of Jiaozhou Bay resaonably well with a highest value in July. The Monte Carlo analysis confirms that the variation of PHs concentration significantly correlates with the river input. The water body in the bay is reasonably subjected to self-purification processes, such as volatilization to the atmosphere, biodegradation by microorganism, and transport to the Yellow Sea by water exchange. The environmental capacity of PHs in Jiaozhou Bay is 1500 tons per year IF the seawater quality criterion （Grade Ⅰ/Ⅱ, 0.05 mgLl） in the region is to be satisfied. The contribution to self-purification by volatilization, biodegradation, and transport to the Yellow Sea accounts for 48%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, which make these three processes the main ways of PHs purification in Jiaozhou Bay.

The comprehensive evaluation on resource environmental bearing capacity of central cities in the Yellow River Delta-A case study on Dongying City

Dongying City, which is the most important central city in the Yellow River Delta, is located in the estuary of the Yellow River. With a short land formation time, ecological environment is very weak in this area. To realize the sustainable economic development of the Yellow River Delta, resource environment and resource environmental bearing capacity(REBC) must be improved. This study builds assessment system of regional REBC through resource and economic characteristics in Yellow River Delta and uses principal component analysis(PCA) method to evaluate REBC of five counties and districts in Dongying City in 2011-2015 on the dimensions of time and space. Results show that, on the time dimension, Guangrao County is ranked first, Dongying district second for four years and Hekou and Kenli districts with lower ranks in 2012-2015, indicating that more attention needs to be paid to REBC of Hekou and Dongying districts and these two districts should be included into key monitoring areas. From space scale, REBC in five counties and districts has been gradually improving. In order to further develop REBC in Dongying City, measures such as intensifying protection of urban ecological environment and developing circular economy, etc. should be implemented.