A suite of instruments was deployed in a coastal wetland ecosystem in the Albemarle estuarine system, North Carolina (USA), to characterize wind‐driven transport of saltwater through a constructed ...(man‐made) channel. Flow velocity, electrical conductivity, and stage were measured in a representative channel over a 2‐month period from May to July 2014, during which 4 wind tides were observed. Collected data show that thousands of metric tons of salt were advected through the channel into coastal wetlands during each event, which lasted up to 4 days. The results reveal that as much as 36% of advected salts accumulated in the wetlands, suggesting that the cumulative effects of these events on the health of coastal wetlands in the Albemarle system may be substantial due to the abundance of constructed channels and the frequency of wind‐driven tidal events. This study is the first to quantify wind‐driven salt fluxes through constructed channels in coastal wetland settings.
Fracturesis Jointitis is a grammatical disorder characterized by failure or inability to understand the difference between overarching and specific terms of brittle deformation features. The disorder ...leads to the use of the word “fracture” as a specific type of discontinuity rather than as an overarching term for mechanical breaks in rocks. This condition appears to be prevalent among groundwater practitioners working with fractured rocks. Common signs and symptoms of Fracturesis Jointitis include the use of terms such as “joints and fractures” and “joints, faults and fractures” when describing fractures in rocks. At best, such terms imply that a “fracture” is one of many kinds of features like joints and faults, and at worst that joints and faults are not fractures but something else. Using proper terms to identify specific fracture types is critical because fractures may act as either barriers to groundwater flow (e.g., faults or deformation bands) or conduits for flow (e.g., faults and joints), The treatment for Fracturesis Jointitis involves an education campaign highlighting to the groundwater community the different fracture types that exist, the modes by which fractures propagate and the role that these fractures play in facilitating or hindering groundwater flow. Those afflicted by Fracturesis Jointitis can be cured of the condition by avoiding the word “fractures” in phrases such as “joints and fractures” or by adding descriptive words before the word “fractures” to specify fracture types (e.g., “foliation‐parallel” fractures). Only with a concerted education campaign can we rid our community of Fracturesis Jointitis.
Citizen science is the participation of non-scientists in the collection of scientific data and other aspects of the scientific process. In this manuscript, we explore what it means to participate in ...citizen science from two perspectives-that of a researcher designing and facilitating a citizen science project, and that of a citizen scientist volunteering the time and energy required for participation. We examine the methods and goals of the projects, describing the challenges faced by researchers and science volunteers alike as they participate in research processes aimed to increase community involvement in science and, by extension, environmental management issues. We describe how the constraints of citizen science models and methods underscore the importance of incorporating alternative anthropological and ethnographic approaches in coastal research, and offer eco-ethnography as a way for scientists to extend their citizen science projects to better reflect the needs and concerns of local communities impacted by climate change and sea-level rise.
Public participation in groundwater projects is increasing, however, the efficacy of the data collected in such studies, is not well‐documented in the literature. In this study, the authors describe ...a citizen science project focused on measuring and recording groundwater levels in an aquifer and evaluate whether the groundwater data collected by the participants are trustworthy. A total of 31 participants were initially recruited to measure and record groundwater levels from 29 monitoring wells on a barrier island. Following recruitment, the authors provided training to the citizen scientists by introducing groundwater concepts, and showing the participants how to measure, record and report groundwater level data (over an 81‐day period) with an electronic water level meter. The water level data recorded by the citizen scientists (i.e., 35 time series datasets with over 450 unique measurements) were then compared to high frequency data recorded by automated water level loggers that were already deployed in the groundwater monitoring wells to assess the trustworthiness of the data. Trustworthiness was evaluated using measures of reliability (i.e., consistency in measuring the same thing), validity (i.e., degree to which results are truthful), and other standard graphical and statistical techniques. The results suggest that with proper training, guidance, and motivation, citizen scientists can collect trustworthy groundwater level data that could be useful for monitoring the sustainability of aquifers and managing of groundwater levels. It is noted however, that such positive outcomes require significant investments of time and effort on the part of the project managers.
Article impact statement: Groundwater level data collected by citizen scientists are trustworthy, but project managers of citizen science projects are cautioned that acquisition of robust data requires significant investments of time and effort.
Saline water intrusion is degrading water quality in the channelized coastal wetlands of the southern Albemarle estuarine system (AES). The source, transport and fate of the saline water in the ...southern AES was determined by monitoring specific conductivity and water levels in small artificial channels, the Alligator River, the Alligator–Pungo Canal and the groundwater system for ~12 months. Results indicate that water levels are affected by wind tides which trigger the movement of saline water into the interior of the wetlands via the small canals. The wind tides are mostly driven by episodic southerly winds pushing saline water into the canal network and the groundwater regime proximal to the Alligator River. The saline waters persist in the canals as long as the wind tide events last. Specific conductivities from canals and groundwater are shown to be unexpectedly higher closer to the source of the Alligator River than toward the Albemarle Sound, suggesting that the large Alligator–Pungo Canal facilitates the northward migration of saline water from the Pamlico Sound to the Alligator River. Overwash and reversals in the flow directions between groundwater and surface water bodies suggest that saline water that is present during wind tide events may migrate into the groundwater system from surface water bodies. The results of this study reveal that whereas the large Alligator–Pungo Canal channels saline water to the AES, small artificial channels may also play significant roles in degrading water quality in the interior of channelized coastal wetlands.
Strategic management of degrading coastal aquifers in eastern North Carolina (USA) became imperative after a severe imbalance occurred between withdrawal and recharge rates. To ameliorate this ...growing problem, an aggressive water policy was developed through public input by creating the Central Coastal Plain Capacity Use Area (CCPCUA) to maintain beneficial use of groundwater resources. Insights from social psychology, and socio‐legal studies are used to evaluate how procedural justice and public participation played major roles to resolving groundwater resource management problems. A mixed methods approach uses archival data and interviews with various rule‐making participants to assess the process of stakeholder involvement that led to creation of the policy. In addition, data analysis techniques are utilized to evaluate the effects of the policy on aquifer health (through water levels) over a ∼10 year period. Results suggest that not only did a stakeholder group participate in a process that was deemed fair, understandable, and relatively easy to administer for users and regulators, but public participation resulted in an effective plan that ensures the long‐term sustainable use of groundwater. Declining groundwater withdrawals and recovering water levels suggest that the rule is achieving its intended goal of protecting the aquifers from depletion and degradation. This paper touches on global themes that are essential to water demand and consumption, water management techniques, and water resources protection.
Key Points
Incorporate social psychological and socio‐legal concepts into policy process
Groundwater management process as an example for coastal communities
Acceptable policy results in groundwater recovery and sustainability
Nitrogen inputs to coastal watersheds have been linked to eutrophication. However, the role that domestic sources of wastewater play in contributing nitrogen to coastal watersheds is not well known ...in the southeastern USA. In a yearlong study (2011–2012), nitrogen concentrations were compared in watersheds served by septic systems and a centralized sewer system in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina. Surface and groundwater samples from septic systems and sewer watersheds were analyzed for total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), total nitrogen, and nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in nitrate. Groundwater beneath the drainfield and adjacent to streams had median concentrations of TDN at 5.9 and 4.4 mg/L, respectively. Additionally, median groundwater-transported loads of TDN to the stream from septic systems sites (0.6 kg-TDN/year) were significantly greater than sites in sewer watersheds (0.2 kg-TDN/year). Isotopic analyses revealed that effluent from septic systems was the primary source of nitrate in watersheds served by septic systems, while fertilizer and/or soil organic matter were dominant sources of nitrate in sewer watersheds. Nitrogen exported from septic systems contributed to elevated nitrogen concentrations in groundwater and streams throughout the watershed, whereas nitrogen exports from sewers were focused at a single point source and affected surface water concentrations. Based on watershed TDN exports from septic systems minus TDN exports from sewers watersheds, it was estimated that septic systems contributed 1.6 kg TDN/ha/year to watershed exports of TDN. Overall, septic systems and sewers contributed to elevated nitrogen loading and should be considered in nutrient-sensitive watershed management.
•Siting of well pads for unconventional gas is primarily driven by geologic factors.•Landscape and environmental variables are coincidental to geologic considerations when siting well pads for ...unconventional gas.•Landscape and environmental variables associated with well pads will vary considerably by region.
In modeling and prediction of natural gas fracking pad landscapes in the Marcellus Shale region, USA, the author asserts that landscape and environmental characteristics are the driving factors behind the siting of natural gas pads in the southwestern area of the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania, USA. In the article, the author largely dismisses the importance of geology for site prediction. Although the study is useful for understanding landscape characteristics in a small area of the Marcellus Shale, his premise that “the key variables for natural gas fracking can be landscape and environmental variables rather than geological variables” is flawed and thus could lead to erroneous assumptions when creating land use plans. A more reasonable assumption is that the surface siting of natural gas wells is secondary to geologic considerations, as the current topography bears little influence on the geology.
A majority of well pads for unconventional gas wells that are drilled into the Marcellus shale (northeastern USA) consist of multiple wells (in some cases as many as 12 wells per pad), yet the ...influence of the evolution of well pad development on the extent of environmental violations and wastewater production is unknown. Although the development of multi-well pads (MWP) at the expense of single well pads (SWP) has been mostly driven by economic factors, the concentrated nature of drilling activities from hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling operations on MWP suggests that MWP may create less surface disturbance, produce more volumes of wastewater, and generate more environmental violations than SWP. To explore these hypotheses, we use geospatial techniques and statistical analyses (i.e., regression and Mann–Whitney tests) to assess development of unconventional shale gas wells, and quantify environmental violations and wastewater volumes on SWP and MWP in Pennsylvania. The analyses include assessments of the influence of different types of well pads on potential, minor and major environmental events. Results reveal that (a) in recent years, a majority of pads on which new wells for unconventional gas were drilled are MWP, (b) on average, MWP have about five wells located on each pad and thus, had the transition to MWP not occurred, between two and four times as much land surface disturbance would have occurred per year if drilling was relegated to SWP, (c) there were more environmental violations on MWP than SWP, but when the number of wells were taken into account, fewer environmental violations per well were observed on MWP than on SWP, (d) there were more wastewater and recycled wastewater volumes per pad and per well produced on MWP than on SWP, and (e) the proportion of wastewater that was recycled was higher on MWP than SWP. This study sheds light on how the evolution from SWP to MWP has influenced environmental violations and wastewater production in a field that has undergone rapid development in recent years.
•Multi- and single well pad trends for natural gas in Marcellus shale are studied.•Land surface disturbance for multi- and single well pads investigated.•Multi-well pads have lower environmental violations per well than single well pads.•Multi-well pads have larger wastewater volumes/well than single well pads.•Multi-well pads have larger recycled wastewater volumes/well than single well pads.
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