ABSTRACT
The outbreak of COVID-19 led to restrictions on movements and activities, which presented a serious challenge to the resilience of the water sector. It is essential to understand how successfully water companies responded to this unprecedented event so effective plans can be built for future disruptive events. This study aimed to evaluate how the water sectors in the UK and Ireland were affected from a holistic sustainability and resilience-based perspective. Using pre-COVID data for 18 indicators of company performance and comparing them to the first year of the pandemic, the direction and magnitudes of change varied across companies. Financial indicators were significantly negatively affected, with interest cover ratio, post-tax return on regulated equity, and operating profit, exhibiting the greatest average declines of 21%, 21%, and 18%, respectively, a trend that would be dangerous to provisions and company operations if continued. Despite this, service and environmental indicators improved during the first year of the pandemic, exemplified by unplanned outage, risk of sewer storm flooding, and water quality compliance risk decreasing by a mean average of 37%, 32%, and 27%, respectively. Analysis using the Hicks-Moorsteen Productivity Index concluded that average productivity increased by 35%. The results suggest that the water sector was relatively resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of services, but adverse effects may have manifested in a deteriorated financial position that could exacerbate future challenges arising from exogenous pressures such as climate change. Specific advice for the UK water sector is to scrutinize non-critical spending, such as shareholder payments, during periods of economic downturn to ensure essential capital projects can be carried out. Although results are temporal and indicator selection sensitive, we recommend that policy, regulation, and corporate culture embrace frameworks that support long-term resilience to since the relative success in response to COVID-19 does not guarantee future success against differing challenges. This study generates a timely yet tentative insight into the diverse performance of the water sector during the pandemic, pertinent to the water industry, regulators, academia, and the public.
ABSTRACT
We received funding for a USDA SAS project that began in September (2019) that involves 7 institutions and approximately 30 faculty. Overarching goals of the project are to improve the system wide efficiency of nutrient and water use in broiler production through a) a better understanding and manipulation of the host physiology and microbial influence on water and nutrient efficiency, b) implementation of novel algal-based technology, and c) effecting educationalbehavioral changes through enhanced education and extension programs. To date: a) We have had group progress report meetings 6-8 times per year, and b) we have supported or involved 19 undergraduate students, 22 grad students, and 6 post-docs on the project. The group collectively has published 15 book chapters, 74 refereed publications, 7 theses/dissertations, and filed 2 patents. We also had a symposium at a national meeting. Despite restrictions due to Covid, we have been able to have students take part in internships at U of A and Cornell. A minor in Sustainable Agriculture Systems has been established at Cornell. A class offered by Cornell (The global food, energy, and water nexus - engaging students from the US, China, and India to Chart a Sustainable Future) enables students to participate in the class and receive credit from their home institution. This class incorporates faculty involved in the SAS grant as well as many international guest speakers who are experts in their field. An area we hope to improve upon is getting our message out to our clientele and general public via several different methods. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Animal Science is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
• The accuracy of the temperature, radiation and hybrid models improved by 12.05 %, 11.06% and 10.46% after being optimized by WOA. • The estimation accuracy of the temperature, radiation and hybrid models optimized by the whale algorithm were higher than the prediction result of the ELM model. • The empirical model with more input parameters has higher estimation accuracy than the empirical model with fewer parameters. The accurate estimation of reference crop evapotranspiration (ET 0) is of great significance to improve agricultural water use efficiency and optimize regional water resources management. At present, the applicability evaluation system of ET 0 models is still lacking in several climate regions in China, leading to the confusion in application of the ET 0 model in some specific regions. In this study, the daily meteorological data of 84 representative stations in four climate regions of China during the past 30 years (1991–2019) were selected to evaluate the ET 0 simulation results of twelve empirical models (four temperature models, five radiation models, and three hybrid models) on the daily scale, and the optimal models suitable for each climate region were screened. Whale optimization algorithm (WOA) was used to optimize the optimal model to improve the simulation accuracy, and the ET 0 results were compared with those predicted by extreme learning machine (ELM). The results showed that the estimation accuracy of the hybrid model was the best throughout China, followed by the radiation model, and the temperature model was relatively poor, with R2 ranges of 0.77–0.88, 0.60–0.86, and 0.58–0.82, respectively. Among the temperature-based models, Hargreaves-Samani and Improve Baier-Robertson model had the highest accuracy, with R2 of 0.80 and 0.79. Among the radiation-based models, Priestley-Taylor and Jensen-Haise models had the best accuracy, with R2 of 0.82 and 0.79. Among the hybrid models, Penman model had the highest accuracy, with R2 of 0.84. The accuracy of Hargreaves-Samani and Improve Baier-Robertson model in SMZ climate region was higher than TCZ, TMZ, and MPZ, and the accuracy of Jensen-Haise model in TCZ was the highest. The estimation accuracy of Priestley-Taylor and Penman models was similar in SMZ, TCZ, TMZ and MPZ. Using WOA to optimize the optimal temperature, radiation, and hybrid models, the prediction accuracy was improved by 12.05 %, 11.06 %, and 10.46 %, which were higher than the result of ELM model, with R2 of 0.90, 0.91, 0.95 and 0.90, respectively. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt WOA to optimize the empirical model to estimate the ET 0 all over China. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Hydrology is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Climate change poses significant challenges, and the global community is not on track to meet sustainable development goals or the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic and necessary government measures to curb the spread of the virus has put climate action on hold and shut down economies. The need for improved ventilation as an important mitigating factor against the risk of COVID-19 transmission has additional implications for costs and emissions for businesses. Leisure centres, as large users of water and energy, account for significant emissions and operational costs. However, there is scope for significant reductions in water and water-related energy demands and associated emissions and costs without impacting service quality and delivery. These reductions can be a promising response to the current challenges of climate change and post-COVID-19 economic recovery, particularly given current UK energy crises and inflation trends. We have been working with leisure centres to support them in improving energy efficiency through water-use efficiency as part of the cross-border, interdisciplinary Interreg Dwr Uisce research project on improving the energy performance and long-term sustainability of the water sectors in Ireland and Wales. In this paper, we discuss the potential of energy efficiency gains based on the framework on water management hierarchy which prioritises management actions in order of preference of implementation, where the next hierarchy should only be considered once all potential savings from the hierarchy above have been exhausted. We also discuss how these interventions are not one-size-fits-all – although leisure centres typically have the same water-use types, they differ significantly in age, size, location, building types and materials, functionality, and efficiency;and why therefore, interventions must be considered on a site-specific and case-by-case basis. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Summer maize crop development, yield, and water use characteristics under water deficit conditions at different growth stages were investigated in this study using different irrigation regime treatments at the seedling (S), jointing (J), tasseling (T), and grain filling stages (F) in 2018 and 2019 in China. Ten different irrigation treatments were set, including three-irrigation application intervals (JTFi, STFi, SJFi, SJTi), two-irrigation applications (STi, JTi, JFi), and single-irrigation applications (Ti, Ji). These were compared to the control treatment (CK), which had sufficient irrigation provided at four intervals (SJTFi). The results showed that compared to CK, a water deficit at the seedling and jointing stages had a greater effect on plant height, whereas a water deficit at the tasseling and filling stages had a greater effect on the leaf area index, and a continuous water deficit had an effect on the stem diameter of summer maize. Limitations in terms of the growth and development of summer maize increased with less frequent irrigation. As irrigation decreased, the grain yield decreased, and the water use efficiency increased, and a water deficit at the tasseling stage had the greatest effect on the yield and water use efficiency. The JTFi treatment was the optimal irrigation regime with a yield decline, and its water consumption was reduced by 16.9% (p < 0.05) on average. However, compared to CK, the water use efficiency of the JTFi treatment increased by 17.3% (p < 0.05). Moreover, the JTFi treatment had the smallest maize yield response factor value (Ky) of 0.16, and its comprehensive score was the second highest after CK. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Agronomy is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The cultivation mode of planting offseason crops, such as cucumber, with drip irrigation has been widely used in greenhouses in North China to achieve high yields, obtain large economic benefits, and improve water use efficiency. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of drip irrigation on the irrigation water amount, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), and cucumber yield and the corresponding economic benefits. These objectives were achieved using data from a seven-season experiment in a commercial greenhouse with cucumber plants in North China. Local furrow irrigation was used as the control. The results showed that the cucumber yields and income with drip irrigation were 4.3% and 3.1% higher than those under furrow irrigation, respectively. However, the seasonal total irrigation depth for drip irrigation was approximately 50% lower than that for furrow irrigation. The IWUE averaged 0.41 in furrow irrigation but increased to 0.79 in drip irrigation. The irrigation water productivity and the economic irrigation water productivity for drip irrigation were approximately 100% higher than those for furrow irrigation. The mean economic irrigation water productivity was 19.8 US$ m−3 for drip irrigation, which is 7 times higher than the 2019 value of 2.7 US$ m−3 in the agricultural sector in China, indicating potential high economic benefits. In conclusion, drip irrigation is recommended in greenhouses to reduce irrigation water by approximately 50% and increase cucumber yield and economic benefits by approximately 3–4% compared to traditional furrow irrigation in North China. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Irrigation Science is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)