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Currently Skimming:

3 Strategic Research for Integrated Water and Environmental Management
Pages 55-66

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From page 55...
... The identified research needs are broad, especially in comparison with specific disciplinary topics. They reflect a strategy based on initial research that focuses on large-scale, near-term questions in the Mississippi River delta region, and proceeds toward longer-term studies, including comparative international research.
From page 56...
... The lack of a comprehensive synthesis inhibits broad systemic understanding of the research landscape, knowledge gaps, general findings and conclusions, key uncertainties, and related error bands or confidence intervals. A vast body of relevant water resources and related research has been conducted over past decades in the lower Mississippi River region, and for the Louisiana 2012 Coastal Master Plan (e.g., Mesehle et al., 2012a)
From page 57...
... For a system such as the lower Mississippi River delta that is studied by scientists from a variety of disciplines, prior research projects have been conducted using baselines developed at different times or in different locations that are relevant to the specific hypothesis being tested. Without a common time-space baseline, it will be difficult for future research to examine quantitatively the cross-disciplinary effects associated with complex interactions.
From page 58...
... . However, the WISDOM: German-Vietnamese collaboration on the Mekong delta deserves study for its well-structured archiving of interdisciplinary sources that encompass hydrologic and ecological processes, cartographic data layers, time series data, livelihood studies, and information on landscape formation processes.2 • A comprehensive State of the Delta baseline for data across water, landscape, and human factors has not been established.
From page 59...
... . Given the size and many complexities of lower Mississippi River hydrology and ecology, and related social and economic systems, some management decisions will need to be adjusted and improved in the future.
From page 60...
... . • Design of scientific research to support adaptive management of large-scale ecosystem restoration projects is a significant research opportunity in the Mississippi River delta context.
From page 61...
... . Natural levees form when floodwaters overflow the channel, their velocity slows, and coarser sediments in suspension settle out, building up a berm of sand along the channel margin that slopes gently downward away from the channel into the floodplain.
From page 62...
... . All levees provide protection only up to a specified design flood, typically determined based on assessment of risks and costs of various "levels of protection." In the Netherlands, levees around urban areas are typically built to protect against river floods with return intervals of 1,250 years, while delta and coastal levees are designed to provide 4,000- to 10,000-year flood protection (Jonkman et al., 2008)
From page 63...
... The reality, however, is that given traditional lines of authority and decision making, existing institutions in the Mississippi Delta are unlikely to want to address the issue directly. • There are research opportunities in the lower Mississippi River delta for analyzing changing land use and building patterns and trends, and for explaining how projects and policies can influence those trends in ways that advance or constrain the paths and prospects for integrated water and environmental management.
From page 64...
... FIGURE 3-2  Fault zones in the Mississippi River delta. SOURCE: Gagliano, 2002.
From page 65...
... The precise fault alignments are not always clear, but much of the region south of this fault zone is inherently unstable, and land loss rates continue at a rapid pace. Although oil and gas and groundwater extraction contribute to land loss in this area, tectonics is a primary driver, and as such it is critical that tectonic stability be considered in regional planning processes.


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