Khaled M Bali
University of California, San Diego, USA
Biography: Khaled Bali is Statewide Irrigation Water Management Specialist with the University of California- Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in the central valley of California. He has been with University of California since 1992. He has statewide responsibilities in designing, implementing, and conducting educational and applied research programs in irrigation, drainage, water management, groundwater recharge, water quality, soil salinity, reuse of wastewater for irrigation and climate smart agricultural practices. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he served as director of UC Cooperative Extension, interim director of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center, and Interim Director of UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. He received his PhD in 1992 in soil physics and MS degrees in 1987 in irrigation and drainage both from the University of California, Davis, and BS degree in soils and irrigation from the University of Jordan in 1984.
Speech title "Intermittent Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge (Ag-MAR) on Alfalfa in the San Joaquin Valley"
Abstract-Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge (Ag-MAR) can be
utilized on agricultural fields to capture the excess water flow
during winter to recharge groundwater. Ag-MAR has been used
successfully to bank water in aquifers during wet years. Alfalfa
is grown on over 200,000 ha in California with nearly 50% of
California’s production in the San Joaquin Valley. Over 80% of
the alfalfa grown in California is flood-irrigated utilizing
gravity-fed surface irrigation systems. On-farm groundwater
recharge on alfalfa utilizing the existing surface irrigation
infrastructures and excess surface water during high winter
flows could be a promising water-saving practice for the
sustainability of groundwater in California. Alfalfa is an ideal
crop for Ag-MAR practices since it does not require any nitrogen
applications after stand establishment.
We utilized existing surface irrigation infrastructure on an
alfalfa field at the University of California Kearney
Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Parlier, California
to estimate the net recharge on a sandy loam soil using
intermittent flooding practices. The alfalfa field had four
irrigation treatments: full irrigation during summer growing
season (March through November), mid-summer deficit irrigation
treatment (March to August and complete irrigation cutoff after
August cutting), winter flooding treatment, and no winter
flooding. Recharge, actual evapotranspiration (ETa), soil
moisture dynamics, and root water uptake were determined during
the recharge period in winter over a three-year period
(2020-2022). Previously fully irrigated treatments in summer,
followed by winter recharge led to cumulative groundwater
recharge of 1448, 1676, and 1422 mm for 2020, 2021, and 2022,
respectively. These applications resulted in a net recharge of
85, 89, and 84% of the applied irrigation water during the
winter period, a significant contribution to groundwater
aquifers. Mid-summer deficit irrigation treatments, followed by
winter recharge, resulted in net groundwater recharge of 1346,
1499, and 1270 mm for 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively,
amounting to 78, 79, and 76% of the applied irrigation water
during winter flooding periods. The utilization Ag-MAR on
alfalfa fields resulted in no significant impact on alfalfa
yield or quality and could provide options for storing more than
50 in of water into the aquifer that could be utilized to grow
alfalfa or other major crops in the region.
Sunil Herat
Griffith University, Australia
Biography: Sunil Herat is an Associate Professor in Waste Management and Circular Economy at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He is the Program Director of the Master of Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control. He is a member of the Expert Subsidiary Group of Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum of Asia and Pacific, managed by the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. A/Prof Herat has over 20 years' experience in waste management, particularly on issues and challenges related to developing economies. He is an expert on training programs in municipal solid waste management, hazardous waste management and cleaner production and eco-efficiency, and circular economy and has extensive experience in training waste management professionals within Australia and around the world. He has conducted training and capacity building programs in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, and Pacific Islands (Fiji). His latest training programs involve tackling marine pollution issues through plastic waste management and waste to energy for Indonesia's government officials. He is also actively engaged in the revision of environmental regulations in Vietnam. A/Prof Herat has an active research interest in solid and hazardous waste management, especially in developing countries. He is an adviser to the United Nations on issues related to managing electronic waste (E-waste) in developing countries with a particular focus on policy development and regulatory aspects. He is also researching issues associated with implementing 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) activities in developing countries primarily related to E-waste and plastic waste regarding policy aspects such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). He is also a contributor to the United Nations publication GEO 6.
Speech title "Circular Economy and E-waste Management: Perspectives from Asia Pacific Region"(Online)
Abstract-Disposal of used electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), also known as E-waste or WEEE, is causing a major problem for many countries around the world. United Nations estimate that the world generated 62 million metric tonnes (Mt) of e-waste in 2022, mostly from the Asian region. Improper recycling of E-waste in developing countries has led to significant environmental and human health issues due to the toxic compounds contained in E-waste. E-waste also contains valuable metals worth recovering. However, environmentally sound management (ESM) of E-waste is either absent or limited in developing countries due to the informal recycling sector dominance and lack of resources. Many countries are in the process of developing regulations based on extended producer responsibility (EPR) concepts. This paper aims to review the current status, issues, and challenges faced by Asia Pacific countries and explore the application of circular economy approach as way forward for the ESM of e-waste.
Yi Huang
Chengdu University of Technology, China
Biography: Yi Huang, female, professor, doctoral supervisor at Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT). She is the academic and technical leader in Sichuan Province, China. She is the deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Synergistic Control and Joint Remediation of Soil and Water Pollution of National Environmental Protection, the member of Chinese Society of Mineralogical and Petrographic Geochemistry, the director of the Soil Fertilizer Society of Sichuan, and the member of the European Geological Union (EGU) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Prof. Huang is mainly engaged in the research of environmental geochemistry and ecological restoration of mining area. In the past ten years, she has presided more than 15 research projects. She has established a new isotope tracer method to quantitatively identify the source of heavy metals, revealed the migration and transportation pathways and the laws of heavy metals in the ecological chain, and created a triple barrier technology to prevent and control the migration of heavy metals in multiple environmental media. She has published more than 110 academic papers, 3 monographs, and authorized 12 invention patents. She was awarded the second prize of National Environmental Protection Science and Technology, and the second prize of Sichuan Provincial Scientific and Technological Progress.