5/22/2016  |   13:30 - 13:45   |  309-310

WATER QUALITY IN NEPAL Nepal is one of the most majestic countries in the world. The west slope of the Himalayan Mountains contains eight 8,000 meter peaks (there are only 14 in the world) and 250 6,000 meter peaks (by comparison North America has only 1 – Mt. McKinley in Alaska). The area of Nepal is only slightly larger than North Carolina in size and has roughly 2.8 as many people concentrated primarily in a few urban areas such as Kathmandu. Much of this beautiful place is unspoiled; however water quality in urban areas is quickly becoming dangerously polluted. Nepal has only one sewage treatment plant. Stormwater runoff and a national disregard for liter are significant issues. In addition effects of non-point sources of runoff, such as agriculture, are poorly studied. For these reasons the future of river systems in Nepal is at a nexus, additionally within 20 years many of west slope catchments will be slated for construction of large dams. There is much to learn about rivers in Nepal and opportunities for professional study and collaboration need to be quickly formalized.

David Penrose (POC,Primary Presenter), Penrose Environmental, penrose.watershed.science@gmail.com;


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5/22/2016  |   13:45 - 14:00   |  309-310

BUILDING TECHNOLOGICAL CAPACITY TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION FOR CONSERVATION OF FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS IN TROPICAL ASIA Measures to conserve freshwater resources in South Asia are successful when the local stakeholders are involved. Here we discuss a novel conservation strategy used in Meghalaya, a state in Indian northeast, that involves building technical capacity of local communities. Though Meghalaya receives highest rainfall in the world and forms catchment area of the third largest river system (Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna), it experiences severe droughts in the summer. The strategy involves partnering with government agencies and higher education institutions to involve members of local communities to monitor rainfall and hydrological parameters such as stage level and discharge. Hydrological data are used in conjunction with fish diversity and abundance measures to understand and quantify ecosystem services. The community water monitoring program is uniform across sites and standardized to ensure quality data which can be used by scientists and governmental agencies for planning abstractions and developmental projects. These efforts are key to conservation of freshwater ecosystems in South Asia where population pressure constrains the extent of natural areas and ecosystems to be set aside as protected areas off limits for human use.

Sonali Saha (Primary Presenter/Author), Miami Dade College, bamboohydraulics@gmail.com;


Amartya Saha ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Archbold Biological Station, riparianbuffer@gmail.com;


Bashida Massar ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), St.Anthony's College, Shillong, Meghalaya, India, mbashida74@gmail.com;


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5/22/2016  |   14:00 - 14:15   |  309-310

BIOASSESSMENT USING AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES AND DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN THE HINDU-KUSH HIMALAYAN RIVERS South Asia is a sub-region of Asia comprising politically the states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It encompasses the basins of rivers Amu Darya in Afghanistan; Indus in India and Pakistan; Ganges in India, Nepal and Bangladesh; and Brahmaputra in Bhutan, Bangladesh and India. This catchment area of the region known as Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) includes the Palearctic and Indo-Malayan zoogeographical realm. Fauna in this region has a sharp faunal boundary, especially in the rivers of Gandaki and Kosi systems in the Central Himalaya. The knowledge of freshwater invertebrates of the HKH region is still very poor, with only a few popular groups like molluscs, some terrestrial insects or zooplankton crustaceans being attracted to scientific interest. The benthic macroinvertebrates of running waters in Himalayan region and Ganga watershed include about 200 families with more than 7000 species. Effluents discharge and water abstraction has been identified as major drivers causing rivers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya at risk.

Subodh Sharma (Primary Presenter/Author), KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY, prof.s.sharma@gmail.com;


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5/22/2016  |   14:15 - 14:30   |  309-310

FISHERMEN'S WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR FRESH WATER FISHERIES MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF LAKE ZEWAY, ETHIOPIA A two-stage random sampling techniques was applied to identify sample from three districts surrounding lake. The elicitation method used to value is a single dichotomous choice and open ended follow-up question. Tobit model is used to identify the determinants to willingness to pay. Descriptive result showed that average household size was 4.04, experience of the respondents in fishing was 11.12 years, monthly income from fish was 2339.17 birr/month, age of the respondents was 33.38 years and from the total sample 92.67% were literate and 7.33 were illiterate with average educational level of 5.71 grades. The mean willingness to pay was found to be 36.97 birr/month and aggregating the mean value over total fishermen households will give a total of 37,746.37 birr/month or 452,956.44 birr/year. About 25% of the respondents were not interested to pay. The model result revealed that the income from fish, educational level of the respondent, experience of the respondents, respondent’s perception about lake fishery management are positively and significantly affect willingness to pay. Alternative income of the respondents has negative and significantly affect willingness to pay.

Assefa Mitike Janko (Primary Presenter/Author), Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, asemi2010@yahoo.com;


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5/22/2016  |   14:30 - 14:45   |  309-310

WHITE STURGEON (ACIPENSER TRANSMONTANUS) LARVAE FEEDING ECOLOGY AND PREY AVAILABILITY IN THE UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER, USA White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the upper Columbia River have been in decline for over 60 years and are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Annual spawning produces dispersing larvae; however, recruitment into the juvenile age class does not occur. One hypothesis is that larvae may not find adequate prey. Little is known about diet and prey availability for white sturgeon larvae, especially in Lake Roosevelt. The Spokane Tribe of Indians collected littoral and mid-channel benthic drift samples annually at 9 locations in Lake Roosevelt from 2007 to 2010. Initial results indicate the most abundant invertebrates were small crustaceans (Cladocera and Copopoda); however, in 2009 Chironomidae and Hydridae dominated drift samples. Overall, the average density of invertebrates within the flow was highest in littoral sites and highest upstream, declining downstream. To determine the diet, 591 larvae were collected in July 2015. A total of 14 prey items were found in 9 stomachs, mainly Dipteran larvae and copepods. These data suggest that prey scarcity could be limiting white sturgeon recruitment in Lake Roosevelt.

Ryan Reihart (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Dayton, Reihartr1@gmail.com;


Camille McNeely ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Eastern Washington University , camillemcn@gmail.com;


Andrew Miller ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Nebraska at Omaha, andrewmiller@unomaha.edu;


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5/22/2016  |   14:45 - 15:00   |  309-310

SEDIMENT AND TADPOLES IN STREAMS WITH RUN-OF-RIVER HYDROPOWER PROJECTS The conservation of riverine species requires understanding the effects of altered natural flow regimes, particularly as humans continue to appropriate additional freshwater resources. Run-of-river (ROR) hydropower is an increasing component of energy portfolios, but alterations to sediment transport due to decreases in flow below ROR dams may have deleterious biological effects on primary production and associated aquatic species. We hypothesized that primary production would decrease with higher fine sediment deposition, and in turn impair Ascaphus truei tadpole growth and survival. A. truei larvae are a biofilm grazing specialist whose geographic distribution overlaps substantially with ROR development. We conducted tadpole surveys and quantified biofilm above and below three ROR dams in British Columbia, Canada, during peak summer productivity, and used an in situ mesocosm experiment to measure tadpole growth and survival under three levels of fine sediment deposition. Contrary to our predictions, fine sediment deposition consistently increased below dams and was positively associated with higher organic matter and chlorophyll-a concentrations. While tadpole density decreased below dams, we found little evidence that fine sediment impacted growth or survival.

Danielle Courcelles (Primary Presenter/Author), University of British Columbia, dcourcelles@alumni.ubc.ca;


Rylee Murray ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Simon Fraser University, ryleem@sfu.ca;


John Richardson ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of British Columbia, John.Richardson@ubc.ca;


Wendy Palen ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Simon Fraser University, wpalen@sfu.ca;


Joshua Malt ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Joshua.Malt@gov.bc.ca;


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