Kaw Lake is one of the reservoirs built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1976 for the purpose of flood control, recreation, water supply, navigation and fish and wildlife conservation. The Arkansas River flows from Colorado and Kansas before reaching Oklahoma. As it passes through these states, the water carries various kinds of pollutants such as metals from mine waste discharge, salinity from the geology of the area, nutrients, pesticides and sediment from the agricultural fields and the surrounding watersheds. Sediment and other dissolved particles flow with the water and are deposited at the bottom of the Kaw Lake. These sediments may impede fish migration and act as bedding for nuisance aquatic species, decreasing the water quantity and quality affecting future development of many cities that depend on the water supply of Kaw Lake. The objective of this study was to assess the amount of sediment inflow through the Ark City and Winfield gauging stations into the Kaw Lake using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The study found that SWAT model predicted 691 M tones a year of sediment flow through the two gauging stations into Kaw Lake with an average annual sediment rate of 1.75 M tons per year. SWAT is a good predictor of sediment yield in that the observed and predicted sediment values matched very well. Since the Arkansas River is impaired for sediment because of runoff from the surrounding area, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) be developed and Best Management Practices (BMP) carried out to protect, preserve an improve the aquatic habitat and natural resources of the watershed.
This paper investigated the indigenous environmental knowledge (IEK) of Borana pastoralists in Dhas district of Borana zone in Southern Ethiopia. To select participants for key informant interview and focus group discussion (FGD), snowball sampling was used to pinpoint people who have IEK of Borana pastoralists. Results show that the customary practices of Borana pastoralists that linked to multi-dimensional natural resources management (NRM) include the taxonomy of pastureland and water resources instituted on the season of utility and gazing dimensions, range scouts, herd splitting, cattle mobility, herd diversification, and bush burning. However, currently owing to various factors the IEKs of Borana pastoralists have been facing threatening challenges that question their existence. The study incorporated the capitalization on the customary institutions that advance the IEK and cattle productivity finally improving the livelihoods of the Borana pastoralists. This research intends to help various stakeholders, predominantly pastoralist development office, ecologists and other development partners in a bid to develop Borana pastoralists, to boost their sustainability, and to promote sustainable NRM.
The Kaw Nation has been collecting water, sediment, and fish samples from Kaw Lake and upper Arkansas River from 2007 to present to examine the concentrations of Mercury and other heavy metals to protect the health of the tribal members. Kaw Lake is in the North-Central part of Oklahoma. Kaw Lake is a permanent water body constructed in 1976 by the Army of Corps of Engineers. The Lake is consistently fed by the Arkansas River and other tributaries as runoff coming all the way from Colorado through Kansas to Kaw Lake of Oklahoma. The Lake has a surface area of 26.64 square miles (69 km 2 ) and shoreline of 168 miles (270 km) with a total drainage area of 56,345 square miles (145,393 km 2 ) and an average water depth of 8 meters. The water and fish samples were collected from 7 sites of Kaw Lake, once in a month and the fish samples once in a year during summertime, early July to end of July. The fish samples focused on 5 sport, predator, and bottom dwelling species of large consumable size, greater than 200 mm length and 560 grams weight. The five fish sampled were Catfish, White bass, Largemouth and Smallmouth bass, Black and White crappie. The fish and water samples were sent to Accurate Environmental Labs for detailed analysis. Predator species were analyzed as fillet and the bottom dwellings as a whole fish using EPA Method 7471A-M. Mercury from Water and Fish Tissue Samples were analyzed by Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry. The laboratory analysis indicated that all the Mercury concentration in the fish samples except in Blue Catfish and Spotted Bass fall below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 0.5 mg/kg.
The Kaw Nation and Black land Research Center in July 2012 conducted a sediment core sampling from Kaw Lake. Kaw Lake is a reservoir constructed in 1976 by the Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of water supply and recreation. It is located 11 miles east of Ponca City, Kay County, Oklahoma. This reservoir covers approximately 17,040 acres (69 km 2 ) and is also known to be the seventh largest lake in Oklahoma by surface area. This lake holds 428,600 acre feet (528,700, 00 m 3 ) of water which is said to be the ninth largest lake in Oklahoma. The lake is fed by the Arkansas River that flows from Colorado, through kansas and into Kaw Lake. The Arkansas River flows through Kaw Lake shared by several small creeks and empties into the Mississippi River. The purpose of the study was to determine the rate of sediment accumulation and examine the level of nutrient and heavy metals accumulation or deposition at the bottom of the lake. Four core samples from different parts of the lake at different depth were sampled for analysis. Each core sample was sectioned into 20 cm, dried and ground into homogenous powder. Samples from each section were tested for organic carbon content and heavy metals. Organic carbon content was verified by burning through a muffle furnace, while the remaining core samples were digested into a solution and ran through an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals. Particle size analyses were also determined. Results were organized by depth, concentration, particle size distribution and bulk density. Data showed phosphorous and some heavy metals concentrations at core 3 and 4 were higher than core 1 and 2. Phosphorous concentration at four sediment core sites ranged from 350 mg kg −1 to 550 mg kg −1 .Whereas Aluminum concentration was 40,000 mg kg −1 to 70,000 mg kg −1 , Barium 280 mg kg −1 to 420 mg kg −1 , manganese 600 mg kg −1 to 710 mg kg −1 , iron 30,000 mg kg −1 to 48,000 mg kg −1 are few to be cited. Bulk density, a measure of soil mass per unit of volume of soil in a water increased with water depth as the water content decreased.
Air quality in most parts of Kay County is good and unlikely to cause major health problems. However, Kaw Nation wants to know if the concentration of Particulate matters (PM 2.5 ) and Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) released from power plants, refinery and carbon black plant in Oklahoma reaches the Tribal land at Kanza Travel Plaza, Braman, Kay Co. Oklahoma. Kanza Travel Plaza is located in the north central Oklahoma 22 miles Northwest of Ponca City at a latitude of 36.9395 degrees North and longitude of -97.3453 degrees West. In order to estimate the concentration of PM 2.5 and SO 2 that reaches the Tribal land, Kaw Nation run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulatory air quality model called AERMOD (Version 15181). AERMOD is a steady state plume model that measures dispersion of gases and particulate matters from the source to the point of impact within source radius. The study sites are flat and rural conditions with less complex terrain. Meteorological data representative of the study area was preprocessed using AERMET program. AERMET prepares hourly surface data and upper air data. The hourly surface data was obtained from Station #3965 (Stillwater Regional), while the upper air data was obtained from Station #3948 (Norman). The Building parameters such as height and length were processed using the building profile called BPIB. To calculate the concentration of PM 2.5 and SO 2 air pollutants released from the coal power plant the Gaussian air molding (AERMOD) used Control, Source, Receptor, Metrological and Output pathways. The AERMOD result indicates at least 19-26% of PM 2.5 and SO 2 released from the stacks of the power plants, refinery and carbon black plant into the atmosphere reaches the Tribal land. Based on the Gaussian air modeling (AERMOD and BAM 1020 Continuous Air monitor) less than 12 µg/m 3 of pollutant has been captured that falls within the attainment zone as per the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
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