Cryptosporidium and Giardia in surface water: a case study from Michigan, USA to inform management of rural water systems.

Cryptosporidium and Giardia pose a threat to human health in rural environments where water supplies are commonly untreated and susceptible to contamination from agricultural animal waste/manure, animal wastewater, septic tank effluents and septage. Our goals for this paper are to: (1) explore the prevalence of these protozoan parasites, where they are found, in what quantities, and which genotypes are present; (2) examine relationships between disease and land use comparing human health risks between rural and urban environments; and (3) synthesize available information to gain a better understanding of risk and risk management for rural water supplies. Our results indicate that Cryptosporidium and Giardia were more prevalent in rural versus urban environments based on the number of positive samples. Genotyping showed that both the human and animal types of the parasites are found in rural and urban environments. Rural areas had a higher incidence of disease compared to urban areas based on the total number of disease cases. Cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis were both positively correlated (p < 0.001) with urban area, population size, and population density. Finally, a comprehensive strategy that creates knowledge pathways for data sharing among multiple levels of management may improve decision-making for protecting rural water supplies.

Coupling socioeconomic and lake systems for sustainability: a conceptual analysis using Lake St. Clair region as a case study.

Applying sustainability at an operational level requires understanding the linkages between socioeconomic and natural systems. We identified linkages in a case study of the Lake St. Clair (LSC) region, part of the Laurentian Great Lakes system. Our research phases included: (1) investigating and revising existing coupled human and natural systems frameworks to develop a framework for this case study; (2) testing and refining the framework by hosting a 1-day stakeholder workshop and (3) creating a causal loop diagram (CLD) to illustrate the relationships among the systems' key components. With stakeholder assistance, we identified four interrelated pathways that include water use and discharge, land use, tourism and shipping that impact the ecological condition of LSC. The interrelationships between the pathways of water use and tourism are further illustrated by a CLD with several feedback loops. We suggest that this holistic approach can be applied to other case studies and inspire the development of dynamic models capable of informing decision making for sustainability.

A test of porous pavement effectiveness on clay soils during natural storm events.

Porous pavements allow precipitation to infiltrate through the pavement to the soil, reducing the volume of stormwater runoff produced at a site. However, porous pavements are not widely used on fine-grained soils due to concerns about their performance. Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of porous pavements in controlling stormwater runoff on clay soils. We compared the performance of an asphalt parking lot and a porous pavement parking lot of grass pavers in Athens, Georgia, USA, over relatively small and low-intensity rain events. The porous lot produced 93% less runoff than the asphalt lot. The total volume of runoff at the porous lot was significantly less than the asphalt lot (t = 2.96, p = 0.009). Turbidity was significantly greater at the asphalt lot (t = 6.18, p < 0.001) whereas conductivity was significantly higher at the porous lot (t = 2.31, p = 0.03). Metal and nutrient concentrations were below detection limits at both lots during seven of nine small storm events. During events in which we could detect pollutants, calcium, zinc, silica, and total phosphorus concentrations were higher at the asphalt lot whereas total nitrogen concentrations were greater at the porous lot. Our results suggest porous pavements are a viable option for reducing stormwater runoff and some pollutants from small storms or the first flush from large storms on clay soils.