CEA Toolkit 2: Use of GIS
Moderator: Sam Atkinson
Presentations
Aquatic Habitat Modeling Via Watershed Data Using GIS Modeling
Presenter(s): Samuel Atkinson, James Kennedy, Jamie Slye, David Johnson, Barney Venables
The Trinity River flows through the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, Texas, USA, providing an opportunity to examine the effect of urbanizing watersheds on aquatic habitat quality. This river has a high wastewater treatment plant effluent to river flow ratio during late summer months, which may provide insights into the cumulative effects of watershed development on the rivers of semi-arid regions. This paper provides evidence that aquatic habitat characteristics can be predicted based on easily accessible watershed characteristics.
Habitat Equivalency Analysis GIS Tool (HEA-DCGIS) for Calculating Ecological Restoration and Rehabilitation of a Cumulative Impact Frame of Actions
Presenter(s): Giuseppe Magro, Stefano Scarpanti, Stefania Pellegrini
HEA is N.O.A.A. methodology determining compensation for environmental resource injuries. A Dynamic Computational GIS tool (DCGIS) is here improved for spatial application of HEA estimating cumulative impacts on ecological resources and to determine appropriate level of compensation. Ecological damages are characterized in terms of indicators by which it is possible to plan a service-to-service compensatory restoration. The HEA-DCGIS tool methodology is powerful for assessing cumulative environmental impacts generated by different actions.
Enhancing Cumulative Effects Assessment in Canada: A GIS-Based Tool for Federal Project Identification
Presenter(s): Joseph Ronzio, Nick Sanders
A GIS-based tool for informing cumulative effects assessment was developed using data from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry. The results of the study demonstrated that the Registry is a rich source of data best suited to issues scoping, large-scale conservation or land use planning, and predicting cumulative effects on a regional and project-specific level. The available data is useful for planning CEAs and the authors provide insight on modifications that could improve the decision-support capability.
Evaluation of Cumulative and Synergistic Impacts in the Hydropower River Basin Inventory Studies (HRBIS)
Presenter(s): Denise Matos, Silvia Helena Pires, Paulo César Menezes, Daniel Oliveira, Luciana Paz, Katia Garcia
The HRBIS aims to select the best alternative for the river basin head division scheme of a hydropower project, considering the energetic, economical and socioenvironmental aspects. This paper presents the methodology developed to incorporate the socioenvironmental analysis together with the other dimensions, under a multi-objective focus. It emphasizes the procedures for the evaluation of the cumulative and synergistic impacts of the group of hydropower projects in the different stages of the studies, as well as the correspondent indicators.