EcoPartnership on water quality management and ...

EcoPartnership on water quality management and conservation in the U.S. and China Nada Marie Anid, Marta Panero, Chunmiao Zheng, and Jie Liu Citation: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 7, 041516 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4929535 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4929535 View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jrse/7/4?ver=pdfcov Published by the AIP Publishing Articles you may be interested in Introduction to Special Topic: U.S.-China EcoPartnerships: Approaches to Challenges in Energy and Environment J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 7, 041401 (2015); 10.1063/1.4932402 The Yangtze-Mississippi river EcoPartnership: Bringing together two great rivers J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 7, 041513 (2015); 10.1063/1.4929596 Foreword: U.S.-China EcoPartnerships: Approaches to Challenges in Energy and Environment J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 7, 041301 (2015); 10.1063/1.4929547 Bi-national research and education cooperation in the U.S.-China EcoPartnership for Environmental Sustainability J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 7, 041512 (2015); 10.1063/1.4928742 Social Influence and Water Conservation: An Agent-Based Approach Comput. Sci. Eng. 7, 65 (2005); 10.1109/MCSE.2005.21

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JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 7, 041516 (2015)

EcoPartnership on water quality management and conservation in the U.S. and China Nada Marie Anid,1,a) Marta Panero,1,b),c) Chunmiao Zheng,2,d) and Jie Liu2,c),e) 1

School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, New York Institute of Technology, 1855 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, USA 2 Institute of Water Sciences, Peking University, Room 1004, Wangkezhen Building, Beijing 100871, China (Received 5 May 2015; accepted 14 August 2015; published online 28 August 2015)

New York Institute of Technology, Peking University, Wuhan University, the International Society for Water Solutions of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and an industrial partner HDRjHydroQual formed an EcoPartnership in 2013. The partners are jointly advancing innovative water quality models, real-time water monitoring tools and information systems, water scarcity and hydrologic simulations, and techniques for water management during hydraulic fracturing. These goals are being pursued through a combination of pilot demonstration projects, research on the next generation of technologies, and practical training and community outreach (through conferences and workshops). This comprehensive approach will help foster water quality, management, and conservation in China and the U.S. C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4929535] V

PROJECT CONCEPT AND GOALS

By the end of their participation in the EcoPartnerships program in the next 3 years, the partners aim to deploy the Modular 3-D Transport Model for Multi-Species (MT3DMS) contaminant transport model and the integrated web-based groundwater management tool (IWB) beyond the initial pilot scale. The partners will also advance the state of the art of real-time monitoring sensors and information systems. In the medium term, the goal is to have these tools and techniques adopted by water conservation managers throughout China and the U.S. GAPS AND OPPORTUNITIES

In the United States, about half of the nation’s agricultural irrigation and domestic water use, as well as nearly one-third of the industrial water needs are met from groundwater. This makes groundwater a vitally important resource and has prompted the development of protection programs at federal, state, and local levels. China is experiencing incidents of groundwater contamination, deterioration of groundwater quality and continuous decline of the water table caused by the overdraft of aquifers. Both countries are facing severe droughts13 and inefficient water consumption practices. This EcoPartnership offers substantial and timely solutions for practitioners to advance groundwater quality, supply, and conservation. When it comes to groundwater management tools, the solutions developed by this partnership are unique. The MT3DMS is a groundwater transport simulation system developed by Dr. Chunmiao Zheng at the Institute of Water Sciences of Peking University (PKU). MT3DMS has a)

[email protected] [email protected]. Present address: Director, Strategic Partnerships, SoECS, NYIT. c) M. Panero and J. Liu contributed equally to this work. d) [email protected]. Present address: Director Institute of Water Research, Professor, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. e) [email protected]. Present address: Associate Professor, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. b)

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a comprehensive set of options and capabilities for simulating advection, dispersion/diffusion, and chemical reactions of contaminants in groundwater flow systems under general hydrogeological conditions. Add-on packages can be used to simulate more sophisticated multi-species reactions. MT3DMS has been widely used in many parts of the world and has become an important tool in groundwater pollution control and remediation. New improvements, such as the add-on package to address the solute transport in unsaturated zone, are being made to MT3DMS during this Ecopartnership, and short courses and training on this system are planned to enhance its capabilities. At the same time, IWB is being developed by the Green Technologies Laboratory of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT’s) Entrepreneurship and Technology Center (ETIC), in collaboration with Wuhan University. This tool combines data from various water table Global Information System maps with Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) or Geophysics Magnetic Resonance (GMR) techniques. Water table GIS maps for a specific region may be collected and aggregated from diverse sources, coded and converted to a common web-based platform. The IWB will be used by local communities in arid regions in China to identify locations where groundwater is most abundant, therefore improving the siting and sustainability of water wells. Groundwater conditions and supplies, however, vary from one area to another, and the social, economic, and institutional settings of China and the U.S. are different, so it is important to properly tailor the tool for specific applications. PILOT PROJECTS

A series of IWB and MT3DMS pilot projects are planned to take place in both countries. The pilots may also include solutions identified during technical workshops hosted by the EcoPartnership, such as artificial wetlands. Such opportunities for a more comprehensive approach are under evaluation, but the IWB and MT3DMS work alone will provide critical impacts. A pilot project is being conducted in Beijing, which is experiencing a severe water shortage due to the rapid increase in water demand and a prolonged drought that started in the late 1990s. Groundwater accounts for over 90% of Beijing’s drinking water supply, and is therefore critical to its sustainability. However, groundwater pollution, especially by toxicants from industrial and waste disposal sites, has posed significant health risks to the population of this megacity. An experimental site has been constructed in the southeast of Beijing. More than 50 monitoring wells have been installed and a series of tracer experiments are being conducted to collect in-field data for studying the contaminant transport in aquifers. MT3DMS will be applied based on the field data from this experimental site in the year of 2015 and greatly help with the understanding of how the aquifer heterogeneity affects the contaminant transport underground. Lessons learned will be applicable to drought-affected areas in the United States, and used to refine the assumptions/algorithms of MT3DMS. Another pilot project is planned for the Gansu province near the Gobi desert, an arid region in China with limited water and a fragile ecosystem. This project includes an educational water conservation and training component to prevent water wells from being depleted. It is unique because it brings together diverse stakeholders to improve underground water detection and conservation, and to investigate a promising technology that addresses a most pressing issue in arid areas of northwestern China. Lessons learned from work on Long Island, a region facing salt water intrusion and thus compromised groundwater reservoirs that provide most of the drinking water on the island will be brought to bear. Local authorities in both countries will work with the partners to apply the IWB tool for improved groundwater management in each area. The EcoPartners are also exploring joint research on, and potential field implementation of, real-time water monitoring tools and information systems, including sensing networks and other information and cyber-physical systems employed for rapid response to contamination incidents, or for long-term assessments, such as tracking erosion of the coastline as has been carried out in Dubai, which may be applicable to China and the United States (e.g., Louisiana).


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RESEARCH

Our EcoPartnership’s member universities are working on research projects to advance the knowledge base about water resources, ranging from improved understanding of the groundwater/water dynamics using novel technologies; to innovative systems-based models that integrate subsystems models of hydrology, biology, climate, socioeconomics, and engineering, to model water scarcity, as well as technologies that enable the development, evaluation and application of such trans-disciplinary systems models; to research on sensors and sensing networks for improved real-time water quality monitoring and analysis; as well as data-integration and processing framework, at scales ranging from small mobile devices to large-scale cloud computing platforms, to model water scarcity and population migration under different long-term (100–150 yr) climate change scenarios. TRAINING AND OUTREACH

To advance the work of the partnership, the team periodically convenes diverse stakeholders to discuss the best means for supporting groundwater protecting, monitoring, and training. An initial “Water Management and Global Challenges: Advances in Technology, Innovation, Health and Policy” conference held in Beijing on October 16, 2012 was an important precursor that informed the concepts to be pursued by the EcoPartnership. The major topics included global water challenges and solutions, innovations impacting global health, water policy and management, the water-energy nexus, information systems for water resources, as well as breakthroughs in water science and engineering and case studies highlighting best practices. After joining the EcoPartnerships program in 2013, a follow-up conference was held in Beijing on April 17, 2014 on “The Water-Energy Nexus: Sustainability and Global Challenges.” This event explored issues ranging from the interlinkages between water and energy, supply and demand constraints, allocation systems, energy efficiency, and water quality monitoring and groundwater modeling. The next day, the EcoPartners hosted the workshop “Clean Water Matters: Challenges and Research Perspectives” at Peking University. The interdisciplinary nature of the “Clean Water” workshop resulted in a broad-based research framework drawing from academia, the scientific and academic community, and entities that focus on the advancement of science and technology, including national agencies, foundations, and corporate partners (Figure 1). The key outcomes and recommendations from those events are summarized below. Water quality modeling for megacities and rural areas

This session contributed to advancing the understanding of hydrologic processes and water quality evolution. Participants discussed the challenges in the modeling of groundwater contaminants transport for improved monitoring, as well as new approaches for identifying contaminant sources (e.g., ModGA14 code for contaminant source identification; substance flow accounting; industrial ecology), considering both urban and rural aquifers. Conclusions and recommendations include: •

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To accurately model water scarcity, new systems-based models are needed that integrate hydrology, biology, climate, socioeconomics, and engineering factors, inputs and data. Measurement technologies that enable model calibration and the development, evaluation and application of such transdisciplinary systems models are also needed3,10,11 (Figure 2). Models grounded on theory-driven experimentation and multi-scale testing are recommended for long-term monitoring, intelligent guided remediation (e.g., hydraulic fracturing sites), and better understanding of fundamental processes in sub-surface systems. Scaling-up challenges need to be addressed, in particular, when moving from nano-scale lab experimentation to fieldscale simulations. Using wireless sensor networks and real-time, a continuous data feed can enhance monitoring efforts.3 Improved management and monitoring tools and technologies are needed for the effective detection and prevention of water infrastructure failures and/or the prioritization of maintenance


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FIG. 1. Participants at the “Clean Water Matters: Challenges, Research and Education Perspectives” workshop, April 18, 2014.

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and rebuilding projects. Comparative studies and projects in sister cities (e.g., in New Orleans and Shanghai) are recommended. A promising approach to water purification is the use of “artificially created wetlands,” which require less area than natural wetlands, has low maintenance fees (as compared to treatment plants) and can easily address 70% of the water purification process, which minimizes the construction and operating costs of the complementary waste treatment facility. Scale-up of current pilot projects under varying conditions is an important next step towards vetting this approach.6 Improve on models to understand the transport of pollutants through the environment such as dynamic water quality simulation models, and industrial ecology15 approaches, as well as an experimental study of the transport of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in run run-off, which

FIG. 2. Systems-based modeling framework with water as the core (courtesy of J. Liu).


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provides their spatial distribution and correlates with activities in urban centers, energy consumption, and meteorological conditions.7,12 Water scarcity and hydrologic challenges

Participants in this session explored the fundamental hydrologic challenges and water scarcity issues affecting countries across the globe. The discussion took into account the impact of climate change on water supply and critical zone processes, and feedback loops. Participants considered new advances to enhance water resource availability predictive models and tools to signal resource depletion. Conclusions and recommendations include: •

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Multi-disciplinary perspectives, place-based16 science and observations representing actual phenomena at the site, as well as research collaborations are recommended to advance the state of the art of watershed science. New collaborative information technologies and data formats (GIS mapping, dynamic grids, Google fly over information) can improve data access and research collaboration, and thus increase the predictive capacity of watershed models. The Consortium for the Advancement of Hydrological Sciences, Inc. (CUAHSI) provides access to its Hydrological Information System—a data-sharing platform for investigators working on sites that face comparable challenges, such as watersheds in the United States and China. A surface water–groundwater exchange integrated model is being applied at the Heihe River Basin, which is part of the pilot study area of Gansu province. This second largest endorheic river basin in northwest China faces severe water scarcity challenges due to intense agricultural demand and climate change. The model uses temperature as a tracer of water exchange (measured via distributed temperature sensing using fiber optics as well as airborne thermal infrared remote sensing techniques). Combined with hydrological data, temperature offers an independent constraint for calibrating coupled surface water-groundwater models (Figure 3). This provides the foundation for understanding surface water and groundwater interactions. A hydrological model that integrates climate scenarios may be used to estimate the effect of higher temperatures on stream flows. Trends indicate that climate change is affecting snowdominated water systems that are shifting to rain dominated regimes. In this context, water systems are increasingly dependent on precipitation over short periods rather than on snow melting through the spring and summer months. This model may be applied to the western United States and northern China. A model to understand the impact of climate change on natural springs has been developed to analyze sub-surface water resources, in particular, natural springs, and applied in China, Tanzania, and Ecuador is relevant to the United States. Remote sensing can improve observations to monitor precipitation and thus springs recharge rates, given changes in climate conditions. Most water scarcity models assume that available water is “blue” or fresh water. Water pollution, however, effectively reduces the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Pollution induced water scarcity (gray water) should also be taken into account, thus the significance of integrating water “quality” parameters into scarcity models was emphasized. This integrated approach may be employed to develop water scarcity indices, useful to educate the public about the need or water conservation.

Research advances in water management for hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas production

Hydraulic fracturing, which usually extends the life of existing oil and gas wells, requires the use of fluid and materials (sand, additives) to open small fractures in order to stimulate production. Figure 4 shows the basins with assessed shale oil and shale gas formations, worldwide, as of 2013, and many of these basins are in areas facing water shortages. This session explored advances in water management, reuse, and how they might address the potential contamination of groundwater resources if the fluid enters the water supply.


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FIG. 3. Groundwater and surface water temperature profiles. Groundwater maintains constant temperature year round, while surface water temperature shows large variation depending on air temperature. So temperature can be used as a tracer to identify groundwater discharge. Presentation by Jie Liu and Chunmiao Zheng, PKU during the “Clean Water” workshop. Reprinted with permission from Yao et al., “Spatiotemporal variation of river temperature as a predictor of surfacegroundwater interactions in an arid watershed,” Hydrogeol. J. 23(5), 999–1007 (2015). Copyright 2015 Springer Science and Business Media.9


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Participants discussed research directions and models for optimizing the drilling and production water life cycle, as well as potential fixed and mobile solutions. Conclusions and recommendations include: •

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The water energy nexus is most evident in hydraulic fracturing operations, which often takes place in areas that are water stressed. Potential substitutes for potable water include reuse of flow-back and produced waters as long as treatment facilities are available. Local brackish groundwater supplies are another option; however, increased understanding is needed about their exact chemistry17 and potential productivity before determining if they may meet hydraulic fracturing requirements. Drill well practices used in hydraulic fracturing are similar from a process perspective. However, impacts of these operations, which are mostly related to the transport of produced waters, seem to be a function of regional conditions, managerial practices, and regulatory decisions at the local scale.5 A life-cycle analysis at Sandia National Laboratories compares hydraulic fracturing’s water demand against different ways of generating electric power. It offers a holistic view of available water resources, competing usages and costs, along with associated environmental risks. Thus, it may be used to evaluate locations for new hydraulic fracturing developments. Along several regulations to manage water scarcity and imbalances among different provinces in China, new water markets and trading mechanisms have also been setup based on an allocation regime for each province. Provinces that implement water resource efficiency measures or experience more rain are able to sell to those experiencing shortages. While the price of water remains low, it may increase over time depending on total availability.

Information systems for real-time water quality monitoring and analysis

Participants discussed advances in the integration of IT and cyber-physical systems for real-time water quality monitoring and analysis. Research on real-time smart micro-sensors and detection systems can effectively be used for detection, mapping, monitoring, and remediation of contaminated aquifers. Similar systems may be developed for reservoirs and other surface fresh water resources. Participants highlighted optimal network configurations and methodologies to assess sensors networks performance in the field, as well as to reduce errors, such as geo-statistical variance reduction analysis and simulations. Conclusions and recommendations include:

FIG. 4. USGS map of worldwide basins with assessed shale oil and shale gas, as of 2013.


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Various technologies are being tested to improve sensors capabilities and sensing networks assessments, such as: (a) minimizing their power demand while increasing storage and transmission capabilities; (b) enhancing the sensitivity and portability of water sensor systems by improving the design of bio-sensors and micro-fluidic devices; better understanding of cell mechanisms to be used as real-time detection systems (Figures 5 and 6).4,8 A project is underway in China to launch a system of seven high-resolution satellites capable of collecting global information on water resources and other variables (e.g., air quality). Further research is needed to improve data integration and processing frameworks, capable of analyzing datasets collected at various scales over time (from small mobile to satellite data) on variables affecting water availability. Real time sensors, sensing networks, and other information and cyber-physical systems are employed for water quality monitoring and analysis and may be used for rapid response to contamination incidents, or for long-term assessments, such as an existing project to track erosion of the coastline in Dubai, which can render important lessons for China and the United States (e.g., Louisiana). One approach to address sensor node failure and sensing network reliability relies on applying “matrix completion” methods to map or recover data. This approach allows for strategic siting of sensor nodes, thus minimizing costs. Two approaches for missing data recovery have been evaluated on network delay measurements of a global computer network, namely, the iterative doubly non-negative (DN) matrix completion method and compressed sensing approach. Results show that compressed sensing is better suited for recovering measurements in networks

FIG. 5. Sensors and Sensing Networks for Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring, based on cell-based lab-on-chip biosensors for rapid screening of toxicants in drinking water. The two figures in the top show the schematic and photo of the biosensor. The sensor is based on the innovative placement of the working electrodes for electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technique as the top electrode of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) resonator. The two figures in the bottom show the schematic views of an enclosed perfusion microfluidic cell culture device mounted onto the biosensor surface. Presentation by Fang Li, NYIT, during the “Clean Water Matters” workshop. Reproduced with permission from Liu et al., “A lab-on-chip cell based biosensor for label-free sensing of water toxicants,” Lab Chip 14(7), 1270–1280 (2014). Copyright 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry and Reprinted with permission from Voiculescu et al., “Study of longterm viability of endothelial cells for lab-on-a-chip devices,” Sens. Actuators, B 182, 696–705 (2013). Copyright 2013 Elsevier.


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FIG. 6. Methods to address sensor nodes failure and sensing networks reliability problems. Missing sensor network data may be “recovered” using a “Matrix Completion” approach. Presentation at “Clean Water Matters” workshop, by Ziqian Dong, Ph.D., NYIT1 (Courtesy of Ziqian Dong).

with sporadic missing information and the DN matrix completion method is more suitable for networks missing blocks of information.1,2 FUTURE WORK

Since the start of the EcoPartnership, refinements to the original work plan and potential additional collaborations have been identified. In terms of pilot projects, the pilot project in the Beijing area will improve the function of MT3DMS by adding the package to simulate solute transport in unsaturated zone as previously it could only simulate transport in the “saturated zone.” The partners are also planning a new pilot for monitoring of environmental parameters and toxicants via a wireless sensor network and comparison with an FTIR system in collaboration with Independent Mitigation and Cleaning/Conservation (IMACC).18 For joint research, the EcoPartnership is exploring options to: (a) develop new modules to simulate complex contaminant transport to improve the function of MT3DMS; (b) develop a multi-scale model of biological system’s functions to simulate and assess how artificially created wetlands vary under different conditions; (c) research to better characterize climate change impacts on water resources, which will be of value for the IWB pilot; (d) develop enhanced blue/gray water footprint models, and tools or metrics to communicate water shortages to the public; (e) establish an integrated approach to estimating energy-water-and atmospheric impacts and implications of transitioning from coal combustion; (f) create the theoretical framework to evaluate aqueous chemistry of brackish water that may be used in hydraulic fracturing; and, (g) research sensor networks (including bio-sensors and microfluidic devices) for real-time water quality monitoring and analyses, including of underground water. As part of the training and outreach thrust of the EcoPartnership, a workshop on “Food, Energy, and Water (FEW) Nexus in Sustainable Cities” will held in Beijing on October 20–21, 2015. The goal is to stimulate basic research on the interdependence of systems involving agriculture, water, and energy, as well as to identify barriers to sustainability in food production, transport, distribution, use, and access in urban environments. Specific objectives are to: (1) build a proposed research agenda that supports active engagement and joint approaches to global FEW challenges in megacities, and (2) form a global FEW research and education community


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and begin to set the grounds for the formulation of some U.S.–China FEW partnerships. The workshop will cover four important research areas: (a) Sustainability and life-cycle assessment challenges in addressing complex systems-based indicators and responses to stressors and coupling those responses to the FEW system; (b) research advances in cyber-infrastructure and cybersecurity for FEW systems protection and the integration of heterogeneous data and uncertainties for systems-based analysis of FEW systems; (c) sensors and information systems for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis and modeling of FEW systems; and (d) technology breakthroughs and approaches for more efficient FEW resource utilization and reuse in cities. CONCLUSIONS

The EcoPartnership program provides an excellent platform for promoting a comprehensive approach to innovations in sustainable groundwater supply, quality, and conservation, ranging from the introduction of technology breakthroughs to joint research on next generation solutions and training and outreach. The partnership catalyzes expert exchanges that would otherwise not have the same level of engagement. The world-class insights gleaned from this large and talented resource pool has in turn been used to assess options for enhancing the scope and depth of our work. The EcoPartnership is on-track to fulfill the objectives envisioned at its launch in 2013, and the results will be profound for service providers and everyday consumers in China and the United States. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The activities of this EcoPartnership are mainly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 91225301 and 41271032) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (PD 14-7643-Environmental Sustainability) as well as the institutional support of the universities represented in this partnership. The EcoPartners are grateful for all the valuable insights received throughout our partnership, in particular, participants at our joint conferences and workshop “Clean Water Matters.” In China, these include representatives from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the China Geological Survey. In the United States, the partners recognize the support and guidance by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and two U.S. National Laboratories (Sandia, Brookhaven). We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the assistance and encouragement received from the U.S. Department of State and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) under the EcoPartnerships program and the bi-national Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework (TYF). 1

Z. Dong, S. Anand, and R. Chandramouli, “Estimation of missing RTTs in computer networks: Matrix completion vs compressed sensing,” Comput. Networks 55(15), 3364–3375 (2011). 2 Z. Dong, R. D. W. Perera, R. Chandramouli, and K. P. Subbalakshmi, “Network measurement based modeling and optimization for IP geolocation,” Comput. Networks 56(1), 85–98 (2012). 3 J. Liu, G. Cao, and C. Zheng, in Sustaining Groundwater Resources, edited by J. A. A. Jones (Springer, 2011), pp. 69–87. 4 F. Liu, A. N. Nordin, F. Li, and I. Voiculescu, “A lab-on-chip cell based biosensor for label-free sensing of water toxicants,” Lab Chip 14(7), 1270–1280 (2014). 5 M. S. Mauter, P. J. J. Alvarez, A. Burton, D. C. Cafaro, W. Chen, K. B. Gregory, G. Jiang, Q. Li, J. Pittock, D. Reible, and J. L. Schnoor, “Regional variation in water-related impacts of shale gas development and implications for emerging international plays,” Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 8298–8306 (2014). 6 W. J. Mitsch, J. Lu, X. Yuan, W. He, and L. Zhang, “Optimizing ecosystem services in China,” Science 322(5901), 528b (2008). 7 S. Valle, M. Panero, and L. Shor, Pollution Prevention and Management Strategies for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the New York/New Jersey Harbor (New York Academy of Sciences, 2007). 8 I. Voiculescu, F. Li, F. Liu, X. Zhang, L. M. Cancel, J. M. Tarbell, and A. Khademhosseini, “Study of long-term viability of endothelial cells for lab-on-a-chip devices,” Sens. Actuators, B 182, 696–705 (2013). 9 Y. Yao, Y. Tian, J. Liu, X. He, and C. Zheng, “Spatiotemporal variation of river temperature as a predictor of surfacegroundwater interactions in an arid watershed,” Hydrogeol. J. 23(5), 999–1007 (2015).


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X. Zhang, F. Li, A. N. Nordin, J. Tarbell, and I. Voiculescu, “Toxicity studies using mammalian cells and impedance spectroscopy method,” Sens. BioSens. Res. 3, 112–121 (2015). C. Zheng, J. Liu, G. Cao, E. Kendy, H. Wang, and Y. Jia, “Can China cope with its water crisis?—Perspectives from the north China plain,” Ground Water 48, 350–354 (2010). 12 Y. Zheng, X. Luo, W. Zhang et al., “Enrichment behavior and transport mechanism of soil-bound PAHs during rainfallrunoff events,” Environ. Pollut. 171, 85–92 (2012). 13 As illustrated by recurrent droughts over the last decade in California and Nevada (see: http://ca.gov/drought/ and http:// droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/pngs/current/current_usdm.png), as well as in northeastern China (see: Severe Drought In China’s Northern Bread Basket Threatens Harvests, http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-08-15/drought-innortheast-china-the-worst-in-63-years). 14 The Modular Genetic Algorithm Based Flow and Transport Optimization Model (ModGA) is a simulation-optimization model that can be used for optimal design of groundwater hydraulic control and remediation systems under general field conditions. 15 See for example, Ref. 7. 16 CUAHSI has called for “place-based science and observatories” and hydrologic information systems projects to advance hydrological research agenda. https://www.cuahsi.org/PageFiles/docs/dois/CUAHSI-SciencePlan-Nov2007.pdf 17 Brackish waters are often just evaluated by measuring total dissolved solids, but knowledge about their detailed chemistry is usually lacking. In order to be able to use brackish water instead of potable water more information is needed about content (sulfites versus chlorides), viscosity, etc. 18 Independent Mitigation and Cleaning/Conservation (IMACC) is the one of the largest network of independent restoration contractors in the United States. 11
