Petitions from Peripheries of Empire: Louisiana and Québec

As stress on water resources increases from growing human demands and a changing climate, recognition of the need to develop effective strategies for water governance is expanding. Consequently, it is timely to consider the legacy of effective instances of water policy innovation that have been highly influential in water resource management in Canada. We present two historical examples of policy transfer – that is, when policy employed in one jurisdiction is adapted for use in another. The first is the late nineteenth-century adoption of water allocation law in the North-West Territories that was a noteworthy departure from how water had been allocated in eastern Canada. The second is the twentieth-century introduction of conservation authorities in Ontario as regional watershed-based management entities. These examples illustrate how, in an era of expert-driven natural resources management, notions of governance were adapted from Australia and the United States. They also reveal how the biophysically-based policy context of water influences which policy transfer mechanisms are appropriate for lesson-learning. We conclude that the potential for policy transfer and lesson-learning to shorten the policy innovation timeline must be viewed as a critical response to urgent and evolving demands on water.     

Controlling the Waters of Granducal Florence: A New Look at Stefano Bonsignori's View of the City (1584)

ABSTRACT

A striking feature of Stefano Bonsignori's Nova pulcherrimae civitatis Florentiae topographia accuratissime delineata, printed in 1584, is the pre-eminence of the Arno River and the detailed depiction of a variety of often quite minor water-related structures. This large (nine-sheet) map was dedicated to Francesco I de' Medici, Granduke of Florence. Contemporary initiatives and legislation as well as works of art and literature reveal that water management had been an important aspect of the policies of Francesco's father, Cosimo I, whose achievements had transformed the city's landscape and whose efforts earned the Medici ruler the title of Granduke of Tuscany in 1569. Bonsignori's portrayal of urban structures was created as a celebration of Cosimo's architectural legacy, and the depiction of the Arno, with its embankments and riverside structures, along with some of the city's fountains and wells, acknowledged granducal ambition to control its waters.     

塑造河名 构建水权——以清代“石羊河”名为中心的考察

河西地区主要水系之一石羊河及其支流,在历史上曾使用"谷水"、"马城河"、"五涧谷(水)"、"三岔河"等名称,沿用至今的"石羊河"一名迟至清代前中期方才出现。"石羊河"之名,首先出现在流域下游镇番县的地方志中,命名的初衷则是为处于上游武威县境内的河流定名,其指代对象存在逐步明确的过程。上游武威县对"石羊河"名及其指向,经历了从不在意到接受、并有所延展的演变历程。"石羊河"名的出现,与下游镇番县河源水权观念的兴起存在密切关联。塑造河名是上、下游水资源权利关系生成中,下游构建自身水权的策略之一。     

Organic Loss in Drained Wetland Monuments: Managing the Carbon Footprint

Abstract

The recent installation of land drains at Star Carr, Yorkshire, UK, has been linked with loss of preservation quality in this important Mesolithic buried landscape, challenging the PARIS principle. Historically captured organic carbon, including organic artefacts, is being converted to soluble organic compounds and less soluble carbon gases. At the same time sulphur and nitrogen compounds are oxidized to species that are chemically destructive of artefacts and ecofacts. Two of the carbon products, CO₂ and methane, are ‘greenhouse gases’ whose environmental impact can be costed in terms of carbon equivalents, which can be set against an assessment of the gain in agricultural productivity of the land arising from drainage, at Star Carr being the improved cereal crop. Wetland studies elsewhere suggest that such decay processes could be slowed by restoring the historic soil environment, and even reversed to create carbon capture, enabling the farmer to claim carbon credits.     

Acqua minerale di Sangemini: the Italian mineral water industry finds a place at the table

Abstract

Water is an important part of most Italian meals, and Italians are amongst the largest consumers of bottled mineral water in Europe. This article looks at the development of the mineral water industry in Italy from the nineteenth century to present by focusing on the case of Sangemini mineral water from Umbria, Italy. In particular, this article looks at how medical findings became part of a popular hygiene and health discourse that was central to developing a market for mineral water in Italy. Contrary to other international markets, bottled mineral water is still consumed in Italy for its health and nutritional benefits today.     

Paying for water: water pricing and equity in England and Wales

Over the past three decades, the business of water supply in England and Wales has been gradually transforming from the supply of a service to citizens, to the sale of a commodity to customers. The paper provides a genealogy of concepts of efficiency and equity in water regulation over the past thirty years, prior to evaluating the implications for water consumers of one aspect of this process – the shift away from policies prioritizing inter- and intra-regional equalization (implying a principle of social equity) towards policies prioritizing economic efficiency (implying a principle of economic equity) in water charging. In closing, alternatives to the current arrangements for domestic consumers are proposed.     

北部湾与中国近代海界问题

本根据历史事实对北部湾问题及中国近代海界问题进行了分析,提出了一些值得进一步探讨的观点。认为在历史上海界的概念至少包括以下方面,由自然洋流不同流向划分出的不同海域,自然洋流不具有主权意义;由岛屿、沙洲群划分出的海域,作为界限的岛屿、沙洲群也不具有主权意义;由军事防区划分出的不同海域,其界限都以岛屿群、沙洲群为识别标志。     

历史时期疏勒河水系变迁及相关问题研究

疏勒河是河西走廊西部的重要河流,关于历史时期其水系的演变问题,前辈学者已从不同角度予以关注,但在方法与详尽程度方面仍有较大改进空间。本文在充分发掘地方文献的基础上,充分利用游记、考古材料,并结合自然科学相关研究成果,就历史时期各阶段疏勒河流域水系分布状况与演变过程进行了全面讨论,订正了一些广为流传的明显错误,并就其中涉及到的部分古代地名问题提出了自己的看法。     

古代文物丝织品霉斑清除的研究

为了解决故宫博物院库房藏品中部分古代丝织品出现生霉的问题,从对库藏纺织品的病害现状调研入手,了解生霉文物本身的质地、染料成分、以及霉斑形成的环境状况,利用改进的改良型超声清洗方法和弱酸化水溶液,对多件霉变石青色丝织品进行了清洗处理,获得了满意的效果,此法可以在今后的工作中加以推广。     

What if Edward Abbey's “Monkey Wrench Gang” had Succeeded? The Ghosts of Glen Canyon Past,Present, and Future

Across the fiction and non‐fiction writings of Edward Abbey (1927–1989), the anticipated restoration of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River is a recurring theme. This article employs Abbey's polemic for the removal of Glen Canyon Dam to critique contemporary debates on dam decommissioning, water politics, and ecological restoration in Glen Canyon on the Utah–Arizona border. The endeavours (and fantasies) of Abbey's fictional quartet of eco‐saboteurs reveal his radical and anarchical imaginings on how to remove the dam, yet his non‐fiction works often suggest why Glen Canyon should be restored. The politicisation of Abbey's philosophy is explored through (1) organisational, institutional responses to the question of draining Lake Powell reservoir and decommissioning the dam, and (2) how the ideology of Abbey's fictional gang is recast—and plays out—in the actions of environmental activists. This article argues that Abbey remains an important voice in the battle to restore the Glen.