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Over the last century, the construction and management of large dams and stream-flow diversions, and periodic drought have resulted in significant declines in stream flow of the lower Rio Grande in the Big Bend region. Reductions in mean annual flow and peak discharge have resulted in channel narrowing by the formation of vertically accreting inset floodplains. Narrowing has been temporarily interrupted by infrequent large dam releases greater than 1000 m3/s that have temporarily widened the channel; however, after each of these events, narrowing has resumed. Prior to 1942, floods of this magnitude occurred approximately once every 4 years and maintained a wide sandy channel. Since 1942, they have occurred 4 times. The decline in frequency of these large floods has resulted in a channel approximately 50% narrower than in the 1940s. Since the most recent channel widening floods in 1991, the channel has narrowed between 35 and 50%. In two large floodplain trenches, we observed between 2.75 and 3.5 m of vertical accretion during the same period. Additionally, nearly 90% of bare active channel bars have been converted to vegetated floodplains. Since 1991, the cross section channel area at the Johnson Ranch gage has decreased by approximately 30%. The reduction in cross section area and the invasion of non-native vegetation have resulted in higher flood stages, flooding at lower discharges, and continued vertical accretion. Channel narrowing has negatively impacted the native and endemic aquatic ecosystem through the loss of ecologically important habitats such as backwaters, side channels, and low velocity portions of the channel. Reductions in cross section area and resultant increased flood stages have also endangered historic cultural sites within the Big Bend region. Restoration efforts are currently underway within the region without a clear understanding of these historical channel changes and why they occurred. Our reconstruction of historical channel changes shows that the most significant periods of channel narrowing occurred during drought and increased stream-flow management. Management practices also appear to have enabled the invasion of non-native riparian species, which promoted sedimentation, bank stabilization, and additional channel narrowing. In order to restore historical measures of channel width, management options include non-native vegetation removal, common low magnitude dam releases that provide flood disturbance and prevent vegetation establishment, and large dam releases in excess of 1000 m3/s that create and maintain a wide channel. Vegetation management is expensive; and time consuming, and managed dam releases are politically unpopular and expensive, however, without the management of non-native riparian species and reinstatement of portions of the historical flood regime, ecological restoration will be difficult.

Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia e gestione delle risorse biologiche ; Nell'ultimo decennio è cresciuto notevolmente il livello di interesse, da parte del mondo scientifico e delle istituzioni coinvolte nelle scelte politiche e gestionali, riguardo alle tematiche legate alla conservazione ed alla riqualificazione degli ecosistemi acquatici. Ciò ha portato allo sviluppo di un sistema normativo che regola il settore delle acque in Europa e in Italia sempre più orientato verso uno sviluppo sostenibile e una gestione integrata delle risorse idriche. Per quanto riguarda l'Europa, l'ultimo traguardo di questa evoluzione è rappresentato dalla Direttiva 2000/60/CE (WFD), che costituisce una legge quadro di riferimento sulle norme che regolano il settore delle acque, il cui fine ultimo è migliorare lo stato degli ecosistemi acquatici e prevenirne l'ulteriore deterioramento. In Italia le disposizioni della WFD sono state recepite con l'emanazione del D.Lgs. 152/06, ma sono ancora molte le lacune che, soprattutto per quanto riguarda gli aspetti tecnici e metodologici, devono essere colmate per un recepimento definitivo. La ricerca svolta si inserisce in questo contesto in quanto ha riguardato l'analisi della comunità macrobentonica e la caratterizzazione idromorfologica, geologica e chimico-fisica dei fiumi vulcanici della Provincia di Viterbo. Questi corpi idrici costituiscono un tipo fluviale (piccoli fiumi Vulcanici, IdroEcoRegione = HER14) del tutto peculiare sia a livello nazionale (Centro Italia) sia a livello europeo. I risultati emersi hanno messo in luce una comunità macrobentonica poco diversificata e peculiarmente omogenea determinata principalmente da caratteristiche naturali quali ad esempio la poca diversificazione in termini di mesohabitat (alternanza Pool-Riffle) e in termini di microhabitat. Queste caratteristiche biologiche ed ambientali sono accentuate dalle pressioni di tipo antropico legate ad un uso del territorio prevalentemente agricolo. La ricerca, inoltre, inserendosi nel contesto normativo che regola il settore delle acque, si presenta come un primo caso di implementazione a livello nazionale della direttiva europea 2000/60/CE. Essa infatti fornisce indicazioni di tipo metodologico e applicativo su tutti gli aspetti che regolano il monitoraggio delle acque superficiali, con particolare riferimento alla valutazione dello stato ecologico, ottenuta mediante analisi della comunità macrobentonica. Fine ultimo della ricerca è stato la messa a punto di un sistema di classificazione dello stato ecologico per la tipologia dei piccoli fiumi vulcanici mediante applicazione e messa a punto di un indice multimetrico (ICMi Intercalibration Common Metrics Index), individuato durante il processo di intercalibrazione tra i diversi paesi membri della CE . I risultati hanno mostrato come l'ICM garantisca una classificazione dei corsi d'acqua coerente sia con le pressioni di origine antropica che con le richieste dalla direttiva, rappresentando un significativo passo in avanti nelle analisi di monitoraggio rispetto ai precedenti metodi utilizzati in Italia. ; The studies and analysis carried out by research institute, agencies and governmental authorities during last decade have been deeply focussed on conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystem. Moreover, regional and local recommendation, directives and laws have been set to protect water resources, improving the management of aquatic ecosystem. At EU level, the reference directive is represented by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC, which provides guidelines for establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. At Italian level, implementation of WFD 2000/60/EC has been carried out by means of D.Lgs 152/06, even if lot of WFD technical issues has not yet been developed. In such context, the study concerns the Tuscia's macroinvertebrates communities and hydro-morphological, geological and chemical physic characterization of siliceous (volcanic) streams and the definition of a peculiar ecotype of keen interest both in EU and Italian region. Our findings indicate a typical macroinvertebrates community with low biodiversity due to hydro morphological characters such as low microhabitat diversity and uniform riffle pool sequence; such biological and environmental features are increased by a large agricultural diffuse pollution. The peculiarity of the study is that it is one of the first cases of implementation of WFD in Italy. It represents a local guideline for methodological and operative actions about the monitoring of freshwater, particularly on evaluation of ecological status through the analysis of macroinvertebrates community. This methodological approach leads to the setting up of an existing classification system of ecological status in accordance to Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC based on the application of Multi Metric Index (ICMi – Intercalibration Common Metrics Index) defined during the EU Member States' intercalibration process. The results of the study enhance that the ICM permits a WFD compliant classification of ecological status and its implementation represents a significant improvement with respect to traditional analysis methods.

Opportunity costs incurred in devoting the areas of MFR to agroforestry, grassland and timber production and combinations of them as well as the willingness to accept incentives of farmers to promote conservation were evaluated using the Net Present Value approach and contingent valuation. The main goal of the study is to determine the economic implications of different management options in the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR) in the Philippines. Economic linkages between the local people and the conservation program in the area were also assessed. In this study, it was found that the analysis of the different options for MFR indicates that the conservation of remaining natural forests in tandem with agroforestry in all open ares yielded the highest stream of benefits. Therefore, appropriate strategies that would further integrate local economic concerns in agroforestry and natural forest conservation are necessary. It is recommended that the local people and the government seek optimal management opportunities in the conservation of MFR by partnering in the further development, restoration, and protection of the reserve.

Flood management planning by the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) on Pajaro River and Correlitos Creek changes from the first levee design in 1945 to the most recent planning actions in 2004 as reflected in flow calculation and project design. The scope of project objectives expanded from the initial flood control project to the more recent whole watershed management study. The Pajaro River experience reflects the trend in flood management from 1945 to current day from single objective engineering methods to regulate flood flows in specific reaches of the river to a more holistic watershed management approach with multiple objectives. The European Union's Water Framework Directive and Flood Directive are models for multi objective planning, which work together to improve rivers and streams to good ecological status. By looking to the previous channel restoration occurring in the European Union, and the influence of the good ecological status requirement of the WFD and FD, Pajaro River can incorporate some of the multiple objective planning measures currently being implemented in the European Union.

Presented at the Fall 2014 Center for Collaborative Conservation (https://collaborativeconservation.org/) Seminar and Discussion Series, "Perspectives on the Poudre: Working River/Healthy River", September 23, 2014, 2014, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. This fall semester's bi-weekly Seminar and Discussion Series focuses on the Poudre River and its watershed, its ecological needs, and how it is used to supply water for agriculture and urban needs. Presenters will highlight their topics and engage participants in dialogue. The series will culminate in a "world café" - campus and community open dialogue about the Poudre. ; Jen grew up playing in lakes and streams in Canada building a life-long interest in aquatic ecosystems and conservation. She pursued this interest in university, completing a Bachelor's of Science in biology and a Master's of Science in aquatic ecology at McGill University. For her Master's thesis, Jen researched the impacts of mining pollution on lakes in northern Quebec. After completing her graduate degree, she continued to pursue her passion for aquatic ecosystems, working on a variety of watershed conservation projects on the shores of Lake Ontario and the coast of British Columbia. While living in California, Jen had the opportunity to work for local non-profits, offering science and policy analysis to help protect water quality and habitat in California's beautiful coastal watersheds. After moving to Colorado in 2011, she began volunteering with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers as a way to get to know some of the amazing places in Colorado. This led to an opportunity to work with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, managing its post-fire restoration program. When not working, Jen can be found hiking in the mountains or along Colorado's many beautiful rivers ; Poster presentation. ; In the summer of 2012, wildfires burned over 87,000 acres of the Cache la Poudre watershed. Based on experiences in other parts of Colorado and the west, it quickly became apparent that a wildfire of this scale and intensity could potentially have dramatic negative impacts on the Poudre River - increased runoff, erosion, and flooding would not only change the ecological stability of the forest but also increase the amount of flows, sediment, and debris being delivered to the river. This, in turn, raised concerns about impacts to health of the river, safety on roads, and impacts to our water supply. In the aftermath of the wildfires over 30 natural resource professionals, local government officials, city utilities representatives, local non-profits, scientists, and residents began planning, prioritizing, and implementing post-fire restoration. This informal restoration collaborative has now evolved into a fully-fledged non-profit known as the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW). CPRW's mission is to improve and maintain the ecological health of the Poudre River watershed through community collaboration. While we are still focused on implementing remaining post-fire restoration needs, we are also launching an effort to work with watershed stakeholders to identify other high priority watershed issues such as how to reduce the risk of future catastrophic wildfires in the watershed. Our aim is to develop a community-driven watershed plan for the upper Poudre River.

Verlagsinfo: This practical and informative book describes how to create aquaculture systems that are not wasteful or polluting, and are self-sustaining. It focuses on the design and development of natural food chains as a solution to the problems associated with fish farming, and offers a design framework for successful ecological aquaculture in all but the most extreme climates. While primarily aimed at people with a freshwater resource, Ecological Aquaculture is also a work of groundbreaking ideas and practices for anyone interested in advances in environmental management and aquatic ecosystem enhancement and repair, aquaculturalists, environmental practitioners, farmers and landowners, growers of ornamental pond plants or designers and installers of reed beds for wastewater treatment. Ecological Aquaculture contains material about environmental project construction that provides useful background information for planning authorities, serves as a reference work for academic research and as a practical guide for conservation programmes, such as the restoration of rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. The book includes two AIDGAP (Aid to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants) freshwater identification guides.

15 páginas, 4 figuras, 3 tablas.-- Este artículo se encuentra bajo Licencia Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial. ; Simple tools and accessible information are needed by environmental planners to select sites for the restoration or creation of wetlands. A flexible suitability model for allocating wetlands is demonstrated in small (20–2,000 ha) agricultural catchments in the semiarid Ebro basin (NE Spain). The model used improved existing data layers (soil and geomorphology), simple geographical transformations (slope and distance to frequently flowing streams) and other created data layers (land use). Detailed scales of data layers (~1:5,000 and <30 m cell-size) are needed to work with small catchments. A deep knowledge of the study area is a requirement for reducing the subjectivity associated with experts' decision. The studied cases proved that 31% of catchment areas were suitable to create wetlands, and another 12% were very suitable. In 11 out of 12 studied catchments 100% of their existing wetlands fell into the area selected by the model as suitable. Most of the suitable area was situated in the lower parts of the catchments examined in the study. There is enough very suitable area in all catchments to fulfil the functional requirements of the wetlands to improve water quality. The model is a simple and useful tool for environmental planning in areas degraded by irrigated agricultural use. ; This work was supported by CICYT (REN2003-03040), Aragon Government–D.G. Investigación, Innovación y Tecnología-Research Group on Ecological Restoration (E61), DGA (CONAID)–CAI (CA1/07), and Diputación de Huesca "Félix de Azara" Grants 2007, Estonian Science Foundation grant No. 6083, and Target Funding Project No. 0182534s03 of the Ministry of Education and Science of Estonia. ; Peer reviewed

The demand for sustainable water management has promoted the development of methodologies for estimating environmental flows (EF). In this paper, the EF in an Andean river (Pance, Colombia) for conservation and a Mediterranean river (Wadi-Zomar, Palestine) for restoration purposes is made. Different methodologies are applied given the objectives for each river. The authors used hydrological indices proposed for watersheds with different water regimes and adaptations and validations were made to the local context. These methods allow for estimating the EF at various points in the river and the assessment of disruption scenarios for decision-making. In the Wadi Zomar River, three sampling points were selected. The water samples were then examined for the presence of pathogens. No one indicator or simple hydrological parameter is entirely suitable for all environmental systems and pathogens. In the base flow conditions, the amount of pollutant load varied temporally according to the amount of load from point sources along the Wadi, and spatially with distance from the same sources. Significant variation was observed in response to the hydrological behavior of the catchment. The assessment for the water quality in the Zomar reflects a potentially serious threat to the environment. The results emphasize the need for regulating the seepage effluent from industries and sewage system along the stream.

While the problem of sedimentation slowly filling dams and reservoirs is innate to the structures, it is especially significant in Mediterranean climates that rely on reservoir storage to mitigate out-of-phase water availability and demand. Reservoirs and their impounding structures have significant impacts on in-stream and riparian ecosystems. Several preventative and mitigation measures have been designed by engineers to limit sediment accumulation and the ecological impacts of reservoirs. Dam removal has been documented to have significant environmental benefits for restoration of aquatic ecosystems and native fisheries but may also lead to eroded floodplains, impaired downstream habitat and loss of flood control capacity. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes goals and guidance designating "heavily modified water bodies" and achieving "good ecological potential," but definitions of these terms are not clearly defined. In addition, sediment management is not explicitly addressed in WFD guidance, thus contributing to limited guidance on how reservoir sedimentation should be managed in Mediterranean climates. As a European Union member state and a Mediterranean-climate country, surface water and reservoir management in Portugal is undergoing several changes through actions to achieve WFD goals. We examine how WFD management guidance for reservoirs and their ecological status is currently being considered throughout Europe and in Portugal specifically.

The award winning Environmental Enhancement Fund developed by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation demonstrates environmentally sustainable transportation projects can be achieved through innovative private and public partnerships. The award winning Environmental Enhancement Fund (EEF) was established by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation (BCMoT) in 2004. The fund was conceived by the Ministry's Executive to promote environmental stewardship in the Ministry and foster partnerships with outside agencies. EEF was initiated as a one year program in 2004, and extended in 2005. In 2006, as a result of its outstanding success and support from other government agencies and non-government organizations (NGO's), the EFF was made a permanent program by BCMoT. The EEF supports BCMoT's commitment to the British Columbia Government's goal to lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management. The EEF is an innovative program that has helped BCMoT highway projects ensure: 1. High benchmarks for environmental stewardship are set and achieved; 2. Environmental Best Management Practices (BMP's) are more results driven and performance based; 3. Partnerships with provincial and federal agencies, First Nations and NGO's are established to ensure environ¬mental sensitive areas and habitats are protected and/or restored, and function on a sustainable basis; and 4. Goodwill, trust and positive working relationships are established and sustained with provincial and federal agencies, First Nations, NGO's, and private landowners. Working closely with other provincial and federal agencies, First Nations, NGO's, including the Nature Trust, Ducks Unlimited, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Land Conservancy of British Columbia, and private landowners, BCMoT has been involved in over 100 EEF-supported projects throughout British Columbia. EEF projects fall under four general categories of on-ground and in-stream environmental projects that directly en¬hance, restore and/or protect fish and wildlife resources: 1. Fish passage improvements and restoration at highway stream crossings through culvert retrofits and replacements, enabling salmon and trout to return to their former levels in previously accessible habitat. 2. Strategic and timely acquisition of environmentally sensitive properties for conservation purposes and protection in perpetuity, with property owned and managed by non-Ministry agencies, NGO's or other organizations. 3. Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement works, in partnership with provincial and federal environmental agencies and NGO's, to: construct salmon and trout rearing habitat and spawning channels; establish water storage to create wetlands or wetted habitat and to augment low summer streamflows; increase habitat complexing and daylighting; restore highway footprint impacts; and enhance riparian areas. 4. Other fish and wildlife projects: including restoration of wild fish populations or wild fish transplants; and wildlife crash mitigation by relocating rare or endangered species, such as Roosevelt Elk, to more remote areas to establish new herds or enlarge existing ones. Many projects have significant spin-off benefits for water and/or air quality. The projects also provide a capital environ¬mental return and are linked directly to the BCMoT's highway infrastructure. Since it inception, the EFF has garnered numerous accolades and awards from Federal and Provincial agencies and high profile NGO's. In 2005, Ducks Unlimited Canada awarded its most prestigious award, the Platinum Award, to BCMoT for environmental mitigation land donations associated with Ministry projects, such as the Vancouver Island Highway Project. Also in 2005, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) presented industry awards to fourteen BCMoT staff involved with highway fish passage restoration projects in the Province's northwest. In 2006, the EEF won the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Environmental Achievement Award. The TAC award, coveted by transportation agencies throughout Canada, provides national recognition of the importance and need of the transportation sector to continue protecting and enhancing the environment. The EEF consistently delivers high value, tangible environmental projects linked to the highway infrastructure, in a cost-effective manner through private and public partnerships that restore and conserve British Columbia's natural resources. Given its success, the EEF model can be adopted by transportation agencies and municipalities to foster environmentally sustainable transportation projects.

The United States Clean Water Act (CWA) is one of the key legal means in the USA to 'restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters'. Given the pervasive influence of human development and associated climate change in increasing water temperatures in streams of the USA, salmonids are particularly susceptible to reduction in productivity and geographic distribution. Native and introduced, self-sustaining salmonid populations can be found in most of the 50 States of the US. Despite this commonly shared resource, the highly similar temperature sensitivity among salmonids, and the legal imperative under the CWA to provide full protection to the most sensitive uses, the States supporting these thermally sensitive species have adopted a wide range of standards. As these standards are so divergent, even though the protection goal under the CWA applies uniformly to all States, it is clear that water temperature standards have been developed under conflicting interpretations of the best science available or there is a misunderstanding of the level of protection needed. The current EPA Gold Book guidance for development of protective standards, dating from 1973, still recommends the use of MWAT (maximum weekly average temperature) as a means of assigning protective chronic temperature standards to coldwater fisheries. MWAT, applied according to EPA guidance, is typically used in conjunction with an acute upper limit. From its inception, evidence was available to show that MWAT was inadequate to protect against chronic thermal impairment. This review of temperature standards, applied across the 50 States, collectively reveals a set of ecologically based principles that can be extracted from available standards and would provide a better measure of protection. It is deduced that standards might better apply to optimum temperatures for each life-history stage to protect against chronic thermal effects. These should include: geographic identification of core spawning and rearing areas, recognising cumulative warming from multiple sources; a limit on rate of warming or cooling; special standards for salmonids with exceptionally lower specific temperature requirements, requiring natural thermal patterns on a daily, seasonal, and annual cycle; and regulating the frequency of exceedence of standards on a multi-year basis. The diverse temperature standards found in the statutes of individual States to protect fish species with highly similar biological requirements are indicative of the failure of States to provide consistently high levels of protection and of the EPA to ensure State application of the best science through its standards approval process. In addition to appropriate standards, monitoring, listing of streams as water quality impaired, and development of restoration plans are essential to the success in protecting the coldwater fish resource.

Throughout the world there is increasing public awareness of the importance of sustainable water management to meet both growing human demands and ecosystem needs. Predictions of increased climate variability and indicators of ecological and water quality deterioration have made water management a salient political issue, particularly in arid climate regions such as western North America and the Iberian Peninsula. In recent years, substantial effort has been focused on adopting sustainable water use practices and mitigating the impacts to natural rivers and streams resulting from human activities. Yet the restoration of natural biological communities has been more difficult than anticipated. Our inability to effectively restore and protect rivers and groundwater sources are in part due to the scale of environmental damage inflicted upon them, but also are a consequence of the legal and institutional frameworks under which water is managed. Assessments of the current state of the world's water resources suggest that conventional approaches to water management will be inadequate to sustainably balance human and ecosystem needs into the future. Furthermore, as nations around the world struggle with water management challenges, there has been little explicit attempt for one region to learn from the experience of another in approaching common problems. The European Union's Water Framework Directive (WFD) defines a new strategy for meeting human water demands while protecting environmental functions and values and may be helpful in informing water management practices and policies in other regions of the world. In the report we explore how the management approach described under the WFD compares to the legal and institutional system of a California river basin, managed under distinctly different principles and objectives. Through a theoretical application of the WFD, we highlight the critical water management challenges of northern California's Russian River basin and use the Directive's approach to develop strategic recommendations for water management reform.

La literatura sobre la historia de los franciscanos en México durante los siglos XVI al XIX va de abundante a carente, abundan los estudios en el siglo XVI y en el XIX prácticamente no existen. El interés de la presente tesis es recuperar la historia de los franciscanos en México hacia el siglo XIX, un siglo que hizo crisis en la orden evangelizadora de América, producto de los efectos negativos de la Ilustración, los conflictos internos de las comunidades religiosas, resultado de la pérdida del carisma franciscano, la secularización de las doctrinas y el golpe de gracia con la aplicación de las Leyes de Reforma a mediados del siglo XIX. En particular se estudia la historia del Convento de Nuestro Seráfico Padre San Francisco de Bucareli, diferenciándolo de la antigua misión de Bucareli, se hace especial énfasis en la presencia de los franciscanos de la Provincia de Michoacán y su gran obra iniciada en 1896 consistente en la construcción del convento con dos patios, una biblioteca, cocina, refectorio, la construcción de un acueducto de más de cuatro kilómetros que conduciría el agua desde el arroyo del plátano al conventito como lo llaman los lugareños, ubicado en una loma distante 100 metros aproximadamente del pueblo. La razón que se ofrece para la construcción del citado convento en la zona del semidesierto queretano es la misma que aporta el M.R.P. Fray Antonio de Jesús Muñoz y Ortiz, delegado general para el gobierno de las cinco Provincias Franciscanas existentes a finales del S. XIX en la República mexicana: procurar el establecimiento de la observancia regular y de la vida común en estas Provincias de su cargo, y hacer cuanto está dispuesta,¿, para que se salgan del estado de postración y abatimiento á [sic] que están sometidos por las circunstancias de los tiempos, y vuelvan a aquel primitivo esplendor y movimiento con que en otros tiempos brillaban¿ y dieron tan abundantísimos frutos de santidad y perfección espiritual en nuestra iglesia mexicana; la apertura del noviciado en enero de 1900 para las cinco agonizantes provincias franciscanas de México, generó un entusiasmo por el establecimiento de la vida común en todo el país, hasta su cancelación con la aplicación de la restauración de 1908 promovida por el M.R.P. Comisario General fray José M. Bottaro. Desafortunadamente, el convento de Bucareli no logró el objetivo de restaurar la vida religiosa en la República Mexicana, pues la crisis de la orden franciscana en el S. XIX se prolongó hasta mediados del S. XX y rebasaba con mucho las posibilidades del propio noviciado. ; Literature on the history of the Franciscans in Mexico from the XVI to the XIX centuries goes from abundant to scarce. There are many studies on the XVI Century and practically none on the XIX Century. The focus of this thesis is on recovering the history of the Franciscans in Mexico in the XIX Century when there was a crisis in this evangelizing order of the Americas. This was the product of the negative effects of the Enlightenment, internal conflicts within the religious communities, a result of the loss of Franciscan charisma, the secularization of doctrines and the final blow ¿ the application of the Reform Laws beginning in the middle of the century. We have especially focused on the study of the history of the Nuestro Seráfico Padre San Francisco de Bucareli Convent, differentiating it from the old Bucareli mission. We put special emphasis on the presence of the Franciscans in Michoacán Province and the great work begun in 1896 which consisted of the construction of the convent with two patios, a library, kitchen, refectory and the construction of an aqueduct more than four kilometers long that brought water from the Plátano stream to the conventito (little convent), as the local people call it, located on a hill approximately 100 meters from the town. The reason given for the construction of this convent in the semi-desert area of Querétaro is the same given by M.R.P. Friar Antonio de Jesús Muñoz y Ortiz, general delegate for the government of the five Franciscan Provinces which existed at the end of the XIX Century in the Mexican Republic: to try to establish regular observance and the common life in these Provinces under his charge and do whatever is necessary¿so that they may be freed of the state of prostration and dejectedness to which they are subjected by the circumstances of the times, returning to that primitive splendor and movement which in other times made them shine.and gave such abundant fruits of holiness and spiritual perfection within our Mexican church. The opening of the novitiate in 1900 for the five dying Franciscan provinces in Mexico generated enthusiasm for the establishment of the common life in all of the country, until its cancellation with the application of the 1908 restoration promoted by the M.R.P. Commissary General, Friar José M. Bottaro. Unfortunately, the Bucareli convent did not achieve the objective of restoring the religious life in the Mexican Republic, since the crisis of the Franciscan Order in the XIX Century continued until the middle of the XX Century and greatly surpassed the possibilities of the novitiate itself

Man-made climate change is affecting water infrastructure in all regions of the world, affecting large numbers of people in their daily life and the development of their societies. As part of the World Bank Water Anchor's analytical and advisory work on water and climate change, consultants have investigated how private sector services to infrastructure may address the challenges related to climate change while, at the same time, improving development opportunities for people. This report, which is one of the outcomes of the work, addresses the role of private providers of non-financial climate change-related services with relevance for water infrastructure. This report investigates to need for additional services with regard to climate change and analyzes the potential for the private sector in providing these services. The analysis focuses on the water sectors likely to be affected by climate change, that is, water resources management, irrigation and drainage, hydropower, coastal protection, flood protection, urban water supply, and sanitation as well as water quality. In addition, opportunities for mutual engagement of public and private agencies are analyzed and the perspectives of market development are explored. The central aim of the report is to deepen our understanding of the opportunities for engaging private providers of climate change services in climate change adaptation combined with socioeconomic development opportunities.