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Anthropogenic activity leads to changes in sediment dynamics, creating imbalances in sediment distributions across the landscape. These imbalances can be variable within a littoral system, with adjacent areas experiencing sediment starvation and excess sediment. Historically, sediments were viewed as an inconvenient biproduct destined for disposal; however, beneficial use of dredge material (BUDM) is a practice that has grown as a preferred methodology for utilizing sediment as a resource to help alleviate the sediment imbalances within a system. BUDM enables organizations to adopt a more innovative and sustainable sediment management approach that also provides ecological, economic, and social co-benefits. Although location data are available on BUDM sites, especially in the US, there is limited understanding on how these sites evolve within the larger landscape, which is necessary for quantifying the co-benefits. To move towards BUDM more broadly, new tools need to be developed to allow researchers and managers to understand the effects and benefits of this practice. The National Exposed Sediment Search and Inventory (NESSI) was built to show the capability of using machine learning techniques to identify dredged sediments. A combination of satellite imagery data obtained and processed using Google Earth Engine and machine learning algorithms were applied at known dredged material placement sites to develop a time series of dredged material placement events and subsequent site recovery. These disturbance-to-recovery time series are then used in a landscape analysis application to better understand site evolution within the context of the surrounding areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to observed impacts of sea level rise, many sediment management strategies in coastal settings are seeking ways to beneficially use locally dredged sediment in restoration, nourishment, and construction projects. The placement of sediment in shallow, near-marsh areas is a promising application of dredged material to both increase accretion and provide protection to marshes and intertidal flats in back bay areas. However, dredged material in these areas often include fine-grained (<63 mm) sediments (FGS), that frequently raise questions concerning dispersion, stability, and environmental impact of the placement project. In 2020, approximately 30,500 m³ of FGS from the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJIWW) was placed along the southern edge of Gull Island, New Jersey to evaluate the feasibility of using FGS for beneficial use projects in near marsh environments. Gull Island was experiencing extensive marsh edge erosion through margin collapse. The placement was unconfined and resulted in the formation of two intertidal muddy berm-like features up to 0.7 m thick along more than 500 m of marsh. Bathymetric surveys showed that approximately 60-70% of the berm volume remained 36 months after placement, however maximum berm thickness reduced to ~0.5 m. Field monitoring performed during construction found that turbidity plumes were localized to within 100 m of the placement site and sediment cores collected in June 2022 did not show systemic winnowing from the berm surface. Laboratory and field observations indicated that the berm material was cohesive in nature and produced large aggregates upon erosion, limiting the dispersal of FGS. Observations of current velocities and waves in the area indicate a low energy system such that the cohesive berm was largely resistant to erosion and that reduction in berm volume was largely due to consolidation and compaction. This suggests that shallow water features can be constructed with FGS in similar low energy environments with limited dispersal during and following construction, while being robust enough to help stabilize the marsh edge and improve marsh survivability against sea level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to observed impacts of sea level rise, many sediment management strategies in coastal settings are seeking ways to beneficially use locally dredged sediment in restoration, nourishment, and construction projects. The placement of sediment in shallow, near-marsh areas is a promising application of dredged material to both increase accretion and provide protection to marshes and intertidal flats in back bay areas. However, dredged material in these areas often include fine-grained (

Despite rapidly expanding interest in the use of natural coastal habitats for their ability to protect against erosion and flooding, implementation of coastal natural infrastructure (NI) projects has been limited to date. Uncertainty over how the benefits of NI will change over time as they mature and adapt to changing environmental drivers, and a lack of well-documented demonstrations of NI, are often cited as roadblocks to their widespread acceptance. Here, we begin to fill that knowledge gap by describing implementation and early (3 years post-implementation) monitoring results of an NI project at Swan Island, MD. Swan is an uninhabited marsh island in mid-Chesapeake Bay, United States whose position renders it a natural wave break for the downwind town of Ewell, MD. Prior to project implementation, Swan had experienced significant losses in areal extent due to subsidence and erosion. To reverse this trend, the island was amended with dredged sediments in the winter of 2018–2019. The overarching goal was to preserve the Island’s ability to serve as a wave break and make it more resilient to future sea level rise by increasing the elevation of the vegetated platform, while also increasing the diversity of habitats present. A monitoring program was implemented immediately after sediment placement to document changes in the island footprint and topography over time and to evaluate the extent to which project goals are met. Data from the initial three years of this effort (2019 through 2022) indicate an island that is still actively evolving, and point to the need for rapid establishment of vegetative communities to ensure success of coastal NI.

Türkiye’de kentsel dönüşüm projeleri nedeniyle oluşan agrega ihtiyacı, özellikle büyük şehirlerdeki sınırlı sayıdaki ocak sahalarında alan ve kaynak kullanımının optimizasyonunu gerektirmektedir. Bu çalışmada, İstanbul'da bir taş ocağından kırmataş üretimi sonrası açığa çıkan artık malzemenin yol kesimlerinde kullanılabilirliği değerlendirilmiştir. Kaba dane oranı KDO %75-51 arasında olan malzeme siltli kum (SM) sınıfındadır. Standart enerji SE (600 kN-m/m3) ve modifiye edilmiş ME enerjisinde (2700 kN-m/m3) belirlenen optimum su içeriği (wopt) değerleri, plastik olmayan artık numunelerindeki sınırlı kil fraksiyonu nedeniyle sırasıyla %11 ve %8 ile sınırlı kaldığı gözlenmiştir. Buna göre KDO ile doğru orantılı olarak artan ıslatılmış CBR değerleri SE'de %9-16, ME'de %45-67 arasında değişmektedir. D10 efektif çapı ile doğru orantılı olarak artan geçirgenlik değerleri SE’de 2,2 x 10-6 - 5,0 x 10-6 m/s ve ME'de 1,2 x 10-6 - 3,7 x 10-6 m/s'dir. Direk kesme kutusu testlerinde kohezyon (c) değerleri ihmal edilebilir düzeyde olduğu belirlenmiş ve iç sürtünme açısı (ϕ) sıkıştırma enerjisiyle orantılı olarak artmıştır. KDO ile doğru orantılı olarak artan ϕ değeri SE'de 38-40°, ME'de 43-47° arasında değişmektedir. Sonuç olarak, incelenen ocak artığının ince dane oranının sınırlandırılmasının yol dolgu ve temel altı uygulamalarında kullanılabilirliğini sağlayacağı öngörülmektedir.

The value of sediment for helping coastal habitats and infrastructure respond to sea level rise is widely recognized. Across the country, coastal managers are seeking ways to beneficially use sediment sourced from dredging and other projects to counter coastal erosion and protect coastal resources. However, these projects are difficult to permit and have been slow to actualize. This paper draws on interviews with sediment managers and regulators in California to explore the challenges and opportunities for habitat restoration and beach nourishment within the current permitting regime. We find that permits are costly, difficult to obtain, and sometimes stand as a barrier to more sustainable and adaptive sediment management. We next characterize streamlining approaches and describe entities and ongoing efforts within California that apply them. Finally, we conclude that to keep pace with coastal losses due to climate change impacts, efforts toward efficient permitting must be accelerated and approaches diversified to support coastal resilience practices state-wide, in a timeframe that will allow coastal managers to innovate and adapt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve water use efficiency and productivity, particularly in irrigated areas, reliable water accounting methodologies are essential, as they provide information on the status and trends in irrigation water availability/supply and consumption/demand. At the collective irrigation system level, irrigation water accounting (IWA) relies on the quantification of water fluxes from the diversion point to the plants, at both the conveyance and distribution network and the irrigated field level. Direct measurement is the most accurate method for IWA, but in most cases, there is limited metering of irrigation water despite the increasing pressure on both groundwater and surface water resources, hindering the water accounting procedures. However, various methodologies, tools, and indicators have been developed to estimate the IWA components, depending on the scale and the level of detail being considered. Another setback for the wide implementation of IWA is the vast terminology used in the literature for different scales and levels of application. Thus, the main objectives of this review, which focuses on IWA for collective irrigation services, are to (i) demonstrate the importance of IWA by showing its relationship with water productivity and water use efficiency; (ii) clarify the concepts and terminology related to IWA; and (iii) provide an overview of various approaches to obtain reliable data for the IWA, on the demand side, both at the distribution network and on-farm systems. From the review, it can be concluded that there is a need for reliable IWA, which provides a common information base for all stakeholders. Future work could include the development of user-friendly tools and methodologies to reduce the bridge between the technology available to collect and process the information on the various water accounting components and its effective use by stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering & Architectural Faculty of Eskisehir Osmangazi University / Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik ve Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Eskisehir Osmangazi University 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 abstract 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 abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In many parts of the world, ports and harbours lie adjacent to ecologically important areas of coastal habitat. In such areas port authorities, coastal managers and regulators are required to negotiate the tension between the demands of making ports ever more efficient, with wider and deeper approaches to accommodate vessels of deeper draft and larger handling areas, and the preservation of coastal habitats which are vitally important for bird and fish populations and which help protect the coast from flooding and erosion. The deepening of approach channels and berths usually results in an increased rate of sedimentation and maintenance dredging. There is an increasing recognition that such dredged sediment is a resource which should be utilised beneficially for human development activities and/or enhancement of ecological habitats. One form of beneficial use of dredged material, is termed “sediment recycling” or “strategic placement”. This form of beneficial use consists of the placement of cohesive sediment into the water column or onto the bed in such a way so that currents and waves then transport the released sediment onto the desired habitats. Sediment recycling is less widely practiced because the changes in bed level resulting from placement are generally of the order of a few centimetres/year or less and it is difficult to demonstrate whether such recycling is successful. This paper describes a methodology for the assessment of the effectiveness sediment recycling, implementing the methodology on a case study of a large-scale sediment recycling scheme in the Stour/Orwell Estuary system in the United Kingdom, designed to offset the identified adverse effects of an approach channel deepening on the estuary system. The study represents a major contribution to the consideration of non-direct beneficial use of cohesive sediment. For the first time a methodology for reliably evaluating the effects of sediment recycling, separating the effects of natural changes in morphology from the beneficial use, has been shown to be effective. This method, which is applicable anywhere where there are sufficient data, allows a robust evaluation of the effectiveness of such methods and crucially enables these methods to be tested and optimised using modelling before implementation.

Tidal marshes are important sites of silicon (Si) transformation, where dissolved Si (DSi) taken up by macrophytic vegetation and algal species is converted to biogenic silica (BSi), which can accumulate in the soil, be recycled within the marsh, or be exported to adjacent coastal waters. The role of restored and created tidal marshes in these processes is not well understood, nor is the impact of nutrient enrichment at either the plant or ecosystem level. Here, Si fluxes were examined to develop a Si mass balance in a nitrogen (N)-enriched marsh created with fine-grained dredged material from the Chesapeake Bay, United States. In addition, the effectiveness of Si soil amendments to ameliorate the negative effects of excess nitrogen on Spartina alterniflora was examined through laboratory and field experiments. Silicon was exported to the estuary as DSi (49 g m−2 y−1) and BSi (35 g m−2y−1) in stoichiometric excess of nitrogen and phosphorus. Rapid recycling of Si within both marsh and the tidal creeks appeared to be important in the transformation of Si and export from the marsh. Enhanced macrophyte SiO2 tissue concentrations were observed in the field experiment, with end-of-season mean values of 2.20–2.69% SiO2 in controls and 2.49–3.24% SiO2 in amended plots, among the highest reported for S. alterniflora; however, improved plant fitness was not detected in either experiment. Thus, tidal marshes created with a fine-grained, N-rich dredged material appear to function as a rich source of Si to the restored marsh and local estuarine environment, an overlooked ecosystem service. Soil Si amendments, however, did not appear likely to alleviate N-induced stress in S. alterniflora.

Copyright of Revista Ambiente e Água is the property of Revista Ambiente e Agua 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 abstract 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 abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Ecological integrity has been criticized as a “bad fit as a value” for conservation biology and restoration ecology. But work over the past four decades centered on ecological integrity—especially biological integrity—has given rise to effective methods for biological monitoring and assessment to better understand the disintegration of living systems, including under scenarios of rapid climate change. Revealing when and where living systems have been altered by human activity, such methods have been adapted and applied most comprehensively in streams and rivers, but also in other ecosystems, ranging from tropical forests to marine coral reefs and on all continents except Antarctica. Equally important, restoration and maintenance of biological integrity is already a fundamental goal in law and offers an inspiring framework for communication and engagement—among scientists, resource managers, law‐ and policymakers, and the public. This essay builds the case that ecological integrity has proved both real and valuable as a conservation paradigm.

Ecological integrity has been criticized as a "bad fit as a value" for conservation biology and restoration ecology. But work over the past four decades centered on ecological integrity—especially biological integrity—has given rise to effective methods for biological monitoring and assessment to better understand the disintegration of living systems, including under scenarios of rapid climate change. Revealing when and where living systems have been altered by human activity, such methods have been adapted and applied most comprehensively in streams and rivers, but also in other ecosystems, ranging from tropical forests to marine coral reefs and on all continents except Antarctica. Equally important, restoration and maintenance of biological integrity is already a fundamental goal in law and offers an inspiring framework for communication and engagement—among scientists, resource managers, law‐ and policymakers, and the public. This essay builds the case that ecological integrity has proved both real and valuable as a conservation paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bu çalışma, dip taramafaaliyetleri neticesinde ortaya çıkan dip tarama malzemelerinin (DTM) betonuygulamalarında ince agrega olarak faydalı kullanımı için bir yıkama-elemetesisi tasarlanmasını, bu tesise ait ilk yatırım ve işletme maliyetlerininortaya konulmasını ve laboratuvar ölçekli DTM yıkama-eleme denemeleri sonucundaortaya çıkan atıksuyun karakterizasyonunun ve yönetiminin belirlenmesini kapsamaktadır.Bu çalışma ile DTM’nin yıkama-eleme ön işlemine tabi tutulması durumunda yüksekklorür, sülfat ve su içeriğinin giderilerek ince agrega olarak betonçalışmalarında kullanılabileceği, oluşan yıkama-eleme atıksuyununkanalizasyona/denize deşarjına risk oluşturacak herhangi bir kirleticiiçermediği tespit edilmiş olup olası 1.500 m3/gün kapasiteli DTMyıkama-eleme tesisinin ilk yatırım ve işletme maliyetlerinin sırasıyla6.753.600 TL ve 2.366.810 TL ve birim maliyeti ise 6,3 TL/ton olarakhesaplanmıştır.

Beneficial use of dredged sediments, either in harbours or waterways, is based on their potential as alternative resources. Such sediments can be considered as bulk materials for industrial needs, which is predicated on their current waste status or meeting end-of-waste constraints. They also can be an integral part of beneficial use projects using sediments as a bulk component, including civil engineering and landscaping. This is particularly important for beneficial use projects focusing on climate change effects mitigation, such as flood protection works, coastline defence or littoral urban areas redevelopment. When dredged sediment is used as a bulk material, its acceptability is based on an assumed homogeneity of its properties. On-site analyses allow pre-dredging detailed mapping at a denser scale than laboratory ones; monitoring dredgings during operations and during processing; and continuous control of their properties at the implementation site. This is currently possible only for a selection of inorganic analytes. When dredgings are part of a larger beneficial use project, on-site analyses facilitate first the baseline survey and the sediment source characterisation. Continuous monitoring of the sediment load allows a fast detection of contamination hot spots and their adequate management. Site survey via on-site instruments allow end users and communities to check themselves the contamination level, hence acceptability is better. On-site dredged sediment analyses monitor both building properties and environmental compliance; soil and sediment analyses at receiving sites; surface and groundwater, either for impact assessment or for monitoring works. On-site instruments provide immediate results and allow dynamic or adaptive sampling strategies, as well as allowing operational decisions in real time. Confirmation by laboratory analyses is required for validation, but on-site sample screening for laboratory analyses improves their efficiency. The present paper was developed on the basis of an earlier presentation, which it developed and updated extensively.

The Dredged Material Decision Tool (DMDT) was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to allow project managers, stakeholders, and communities to quantify environmental, economic, and social considerations of using dredged material for beneficial purposes. Dredged material may be disposed in a confined disposal facility (CDF); however, this option is unfavorable because of the finite capacity problems these facilities pose. A more sustainable option is to use dredged materials beneficially such as construction material, for habitat restoration, or for brownfield remediation projects. This study demonstrates the applicability of the DMDT to three relevant candidate projects: (1) Dog Beach, Greenwood, and Lee Street Beaches (Evanston, IL, USA); (2) New York-New Jersey Harbor (New York/New Jersey); and (3) Poplar Island (Chesapeake Bay). The DMDT requires the project information and then completion of worksheets with each criteria (biophysical environment, economic, governance, social, and built environment) ranked, weighed, and scored. The DMDT is applied for all potential alternatives and the results are then analyzed to select the best beneficial reuse alternative. It was found that for the beaches in Evanston, the most beneficial option was on-beach placement with hydraulic dredging. The best option for the New Jersey Harbor was found to be using for brownfield and landfill remediation. The best option for Poplar Island was the lateral and vertical expansion of 50% uplands and 50% wetlands. Overall, DMDT is found to be a valuable tool to facilitate the evaluation of multi-criteria based on the project-specific data and help select the best beneficial use alternative for the dredged material.

As known, marine dredged materials (DMs) are highly nuisance wastes if they are not correctly reused or removed. In this work, the usability of DMs to the technical terms as manufactured topsoil (MT) in the urban landscaping works is discussed. Firstly, the leaching potentials of DMs were determined according to the related legislations to identify their hazardousness features. Secondly, DMs were subject to some treatment stages such as sieving, desalination, organic amelioration via peat and sheep manure, and pH adjustment to turn into an alternative natural soil pursuant to the British Standard in the scope of soil quality improvement studies as there is not any national standard in Turkey for the production of topsoil from different materials. Then, MT mixtures were prepared with washed and unwashed DM, peat and sheep manure in different mixing ratios (v/v); 33%, 50% and 67% DM, respectively. Consequently, high quality grass seed mixtures used for the landscaping applications were monitored for six months. The results demonstrate the availability of DM as alternative MT in the urban landscaping areas. Thus, important data were obtained as to the use of DM at alternative areas such as green city, green roof, shopping centers, organized industry, etc.

Tidal marsh restoration using dredged material is being undertaken in many coastal areas to replace lost habitat and ecosystem services due to tidal marsh loss. The fate of high levels of nitrogen (N) in fine-grained dredged material used as a substrate for marsh restoration is uncertain, but if exported tidally may cause subtidal habitat degradation. In this study, a mass balance was developed to characterize N fluxes in a two-year-old restored tidal marsh constructed with fine-grained dredged material at Poplar Island, MD, in Chesapeake Bay, and to evaluate the potential impact on the adjacent submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitat. Denitrification and N accumulation in Spartina organic matter were identified as the major sinks (21.31 and 28.5 mg N m−2 d−1, respectively), while tidal export of TN was more modest (9.4 mg N m−2 d−1) and inorganic N export was low (1.59 mg N m−2 d−1). Internal cycling helped retain N within the marsh. Mineralization of N associated with labile organic matter in the dredged material was likely a large, but unquantified, source of N supporting robust plant growth and N exports. Exceedances of SAV water quality habitat requirements in the subtidal region adjacent to the marsh were driven by elevated Chesapeake Bay concentrations rather than enrichment by the marsh.

Despite the need to validate the assumptions that intend to participate in the construction of the theory, the digital divide of frequent Internet users in the socioterritorial approach constitutes an unusual path. Considering this situation, this contribution has the objective of determining the validity of a multistage accessibility model moderated by the population size of Mexican localities. The research is based on microdata from the National Survey on Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households, and for the validation of its hypothesis, it recurs to modeling with structural equations. Within the framework of this exploration, the multidimensionality and the high level of abstraction of the second-order constructs used in the research model are verified, revealing significant differences between groups of population size. Overall, the findings seem to show a frequent use that does not reflect in all cases skills of use and benefits use of the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Berkowitz, J.F.; VanZomeren, C.M., and Priestas, A.M., 2018. Potential color change dynamics of beneficial use sediments. Sediment color is important in determining aesthetic and habitat suitability for beach nourishment projects; however, sediment derived from dredging operations must meet locally established color compatibility requirements (i.e. cannot be too dark). Often, potential sediment sources are close to meeting specified thresholds, and previous observations suggest that sediments may lighten over time following beach nourishment. This work seeks to characterize the degree of color change potential based on the removal of constituents affecting sediment color. Thus, a sequential chemical treatment was developed to examine color changes associated with the removal of carbonates, organic matter, and iron oxide coatings from sediments collected from eight U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging operations. The results show that Munsell values increased by an average of 1.0 unit (became lighter in color) upon removal of these secondary constituents. In addition, five of the eight sediments examined surpassed established color thresholds (Munsell value ≥ 5) from their pretreated state. This procedure is meant to serve as a proxy for removal of these constituents by natural processes. Study findings suggest that sediments with initially unacceptable color, and high capacity for color change, may increase potential use of limited sediment resources. Future work will further relate color shifts to sediment composition, sediment mixing, and solar bleaching to predict sediment color changes under real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sakarya University Journal of Science (SAUJS) / Sakarya Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Dergisi is the property of Sakarya University 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 abstract 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 abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the present study was to characterize Lavandula stoechas (Ladastacho) from the region of Saidona by means of physico-chemical parameters, phenolic profile, in vitro antioxidant activity and volatile compounds. Physico-chemical parameters (pH, acidity, salinity, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity and liquid resistivity) were determined using conventional methods. The phenolic profile was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS), whereas a quantitative determination was also accomplished using the total phenolics assay. In vitro antioxidant activity was determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl assay. Finally, volatile compounds were determined using headspace solid phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The results showed that Lavandula stoechas aqueous extract had a slightly acidic pH, low salinity content and considerable electrochemical properties (electrical conductivity and liquid resistivity along with electric potential). In addition, aqueous fractions showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant activity, whereas phenolic compounds, such as caffeic acid, quercetin-O-glucoside, lutelin-O-glucuronide and rosmarinic acid, were identified. Finally, numerous volatile compounds were found to dominate the volatile pattern of this flowering plant, producing a strong, penetrating, cool and menthol-like odour.

This paper presents the technical usability of marine dredged material (DM) as a manufactured topsoil (MT) in the municipality’s landscaping works. In the first part of this study, the physico-chemical and toxicological properties and leaching potentials of DMs taken from two sampling points (Istanbul Ambarlı Port and Mersin Erdemli Fishery Harbor) from Marmara and Mediterranean Sea of Turkey were determined and compared pursuant to the National Legislation. In the second part, various improvement studies such as screening, desalination (washing), dewatering, organic amelioration via peat and sheep manure and pH adjustment were carried out on DM samples in order to transform DMs into an alternative natural soil in compliance with the British Standard BS 3882:2015. A total of five different MT mixtures were prepared; then, soil quality and soil nutrient characteristics were examined. Finally, grass seeds were planted into topsoil mixtures, and plant growth performances were followed for 3 months. The results of this study showed that improved DMs can be beneficially used as an alternative MT in order to cultivate grass in municipality’s landscaping applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moringa oleifera L. (moringa) is known as one of the most useful multipurpose plants. It can be effectively utilized as a natural biopesticide and inhibitor of several plant pathogens. Thus, it can be included in integrated pest management strategies. Moringa and its products have different uses in many agricultural systems. The use of moringa as a crop enhancer is an eco-friendly way of improving crop yields at the lowest possible cost. This inexpensive increase in productivity can contribute to meeting some of the food needs in some parts of the world as the global population increases and poverty rates rise. One of the most important characteristics of moringa is that it has high biological and nutritional values and can be used as animal feed, green fertilizer, medicine, biopesticide and in seed production. Moringa has been characterized as a potentially useful animal feed owing to its high content of protein, carotenoids, several minerals and vitamins (such as iron and ascorbic acid) and certain phytochemicals (kaempferitrin, isoquercitrin, rhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin). This review aims to provide more knowledge about the nature, nutritional value, phytochemicals and uses of Moringa oleifera as a promising material in the fields of soil and plant management, water treatment, as well as animal and poultry production.

The use of water is a basic and universal human right while the right to use water is one of the most contested rights. There are common problems and debates in relation to setting the order of priority to promote equitable utilization aligned with equitable allocation under water resources governance. This article examines different literature, theories, laws and policies to search the standard tests. There are priorities related to conflicting interests. Moreover, there are problems of depletion, pollution, water grabbing, wastage of water, and water crisis that are attributable to lack of comprehensive regulations, or confusions in putting policy options. The regulatory tools lack clarity and sufficiency with regard to the incorporation of standard tests. There is thus the need for a relatively exhaustive order of priorities that embody human rights to water and other situational and policy justifications. The justifications are expected to reinforce the reasonablebeneficial use standard tests with due flexibility in re-ordering priorities where they are incompatible. The technical application of the standard tests in ordering priorities can control water grabbing and wastage of water. This requires policy options that are helpful to avoid water grabbing and water wastage thereby facilitating the attainment of the 'highest social and economic benefits'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amendment of concrete with waste products serves as an avenue to decrease the volume of wastes landfilled and to reduce the use of naturally mined materials, therefore, minimizing the footprint and impact that the construction industry has on the environment. This manuscript summarizes the current state of practice with regard to the use of waste products as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in portland cement concrete (PCC) and provides a summary of the comparatively sparse information on under-utilized waste materials such as: sugarcane bagasse ash, rice husk ash, waste wood biomass ash, and waste glass. The latter are all waste products that have the potential to be employed alongside traditional SCM, however much of the use to date has been done at the laboratory scale. This document will serve as a guide for the use of non-traditional waste SCM, to highlight areas likely requiring further refinement or research, and to indicate potential negative impacts from utilization of these products that might occur. The beneficial use of waste materials as SCM outside the United States has grown in recent years, mainly out of necessity; however, current research indicates that these materials typically provide a benefit when amending PCC and mortar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a consistent insight into the results and experience related to the implementation of activities fostering the development of marine economy in Lithuania. EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Blue Growth concept explicitly focuses on maintenance of the good status of the marine environment of the European seas. Recently developed Lithuanian integrated maritime spatial plan aims to create the favourable conditions for sustainable development of marine economy, and particularly the offshore wind energy. Proposed and tested innovative solutions for selection of new disposal sites as well as handling the dredged soil in ports, contributes to more environmentally sound and economically feasible operations of the south-eastern Baltic Sea ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) in the United States generates a significant amount (∼6.6 million mtons) of ash annually, yet the utilization of this ash in beneficial use applications is nearly non-existent. In some European and Asian nations, policy regulates the use of MSWI bottom ash in construction with an accepted degree of environmental and human health risk. Both federal and state-level solid waste policy in the United States largely does not address ash reuse. U.S. MSWI industry practices have been adapted to avoid hazardous waste generation and primarily practice ash disposal in monofills. Numerous case studies and laboratory experiments have characterized MSWI ashes with regard to the potential environmental contaminants and have demonstrated the efficacy of bottom ash in specific reuse scenarios. In reviewing these studies, and by analyzing the reuse policy in several nations, the authors identify key aspects of effective MSWI ash reuse. These are discussed within the framework of available data and information, and examples are provided. Moving toward the sustainable management of resources such as MSWI bottom ash will require U.S. state-level policy to address the conditions under which ashes may or may not be reused. Suggestions on practices (often already occurring in many other areas of the world) to facilitate the reuse of MSWI ashes are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]