The State of Bihar, India experienced substantial flooding in the Ganges Basin as a result of lev... more The State of Bihar, India experienced substantial flooding in the Ganges Basin as a result of levee (embankment) non performance. As a result of the 2008 failures the Bihar Water Resources Department is examining, as a programmatic model, the US experience in establishing and conducting the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Levee Safety Program. This case model examination is intended to structure a new program for managing the Bihari embankment infrastructure. Similar to many historical flood control initiatives throughout the world, India’s embankment infrastructure shows the effects of aging and multi-purpose use of the facilities. To examine what practices that could be employed to increase the reliable performance of the embankment system; the World Bank facilitated a detailed case history examination of the USACE Levee Safety Program. The case study included a trial application of elements of the US approach to Indian Levee systems in order to stimulate discussion ...
Much of the literature on China's successful adaptation to the policy challenges posed by eco... more Much of the literature on China's successful adaptation to the policy challenges posed by economic development credits two principle approaches, gradualism and local experimentation. However, the extent to which these approaches aid policy adaptation to environmental policy challenges is less well explored. This article examines how these approaches have shaped policy adaptation in water resources management by presenting data on ambitious water policy reforms that are, to our knowledge, new to the English-language scholarly literature. While gradualism and local experimentation have aided in the adoption of economic mechanisms like water pricing reform and water rights trading to regulate water use, institutional reforms have been undermined by an over-reliance on central control and direction. This phenomenon, which we call hierarchy, constrains China's ability to address diffuse, inter-jurisdictional and multi-sectoral water management challenges like nonpoint source poll...
High levels of arsenic in well water are causing widespread poisoning in Bangladesh. In a typical... more High levels of arsenic in well water are causing widespread poisoning in Bangladesh. In a typical aquifer in southern Bangladesh, chemical data imply that arsenic mobilization is associated with recent inflow of carbon. High concentrations of radiocarbon-young methane indicate that young carbon has driven recent biogeochemical processes, and irrigation pumping is sufficient to have drawn water to the depth where dissolved arsenic is at a maximum. The results of field injection of molasses, nitrate, and low-arsenic water show that organic carbon or its degradation products may quickly mobilize arsenic, oxidants may lower arsenic concentrations, and sorption of arsenic is limited by saturation of aquifer materials.
The State of Bihar, India experienced substantial flooding in the Ganges Basin as a result of lev... more The State of Bihar, India experienced substantial flooding in the Ganges Basin as a result of levee (embankment) non performance. As a result of the 2008 failures the Bihar Water Resources Department is examining, as a programmatic model, the US experience in establishing and conducting the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Levee Safety Program. This case model examination is intended to structure a new program for managing the Bihari embankment infrastructure. Similar to many historical flood control initiatives throughout the world, India’s embankment infrastructure shows the effects of aging and multi-purpose use of the facilities. To examine what practices that could be employed to increase the reliable performance of the embankment system; the World Bank facilitated a detailed case history examination of the USACE Levee Safety Program. The case study included a trial application of elements of the US approach to Indian Levee systems in order to stimulate discussion ...
Much of the literature on China's successful adaptation to the policy challenges posed by eco... more Much of the literature on China's successful adaptation to the policy challenges posed by economic development credits two principle approaches, gradualism and local experimentation. However, the extent to which these approaches aid policy adaptation to environmental policy challenges is less well explored. This article examines how these approaches have shaped policy adaptation in water resources management by presenting data on ambitious water policy reforms that are, to our knowledge, new to the English-language scholarly literature. While gradualism and local experimentation have aided in the adoption of economic mechanisms like water pricing reform and water rights trading to regulate water use, institutional reforms have been undermined by an over-reliance on central control and direction. This phenomenon, which we call hierarchy, constrains China's ability to address diffuse, inter-jurisdictional and multi-sectoral water management challenges like nonpoint source poll...
High levels of arsenic in well water are causing widespread poisoning in Bangladesh. In a typical... more High levels of arsenic in well water are causing widespread poisoning in Bangladesh. In a typical aquifer in southern Bangladesh, chemical data imply that arsenic mobilization is associated with recent inflow of carbon. High concentrations of radiocarbon-young methane indicate that young carbon has driven recent biogeochemical processes, and irrigation pumping is sufficient to have drawn water to the depth where dissolved arsenic is at a maximum. The results of field injection of molasses, nitrate, and low-arsenic water show that organic carbon or its degradation products may quickly mobilize arsenic, oxidants may lower arsenic concentrations, and sorption of arsenic is limited by saturation of aquifer materials.
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