Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply

Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-02-17

Total Pages: 569

ISBN-13: 0309172683

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In 1997, New York City adopted a mammoth watershed agreement to protect its drinking water and avoid filtration of its large upstate surface water supply. Shortly thereafter, the NRC began an analysis of the agreement's scientific validity. The resulting book finds New York City's watershed agreement to be a good template for proactive watershed management that, if properly implemented, will maintain high water quality. However, it cautions that the agreement is not a guarantee of permanent filtration avoidance because of changing regulations, uncertainties regarding pollution sources, advances in treatment technologies, and natural variations in watershed conditions. The book recommends that New York City place its highest priority on pathogenic microorganisms in the watershed and direct its resources toward improving methods for detecting pathogens, understanding pathogen transport and fate, and demonstrating that best management practices will remove pathogens. Other recommendations, which are broadly applicable to surface water supplies across the country, target buffer zones, stormwater management, water quality monitoring, and effluent trading.

Controlling Nonpoint-source Water Pollution

Controlling Nonpoint-source Water Pollution PDF

Author: Nancy Richardson Hansen

Publisher:

Published: 1988-01-01

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 9780891641056

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Citizens can play an important role in helping their states develop pollution control programs and spurring effective efforts to deal with nonpoint-source pollution. This guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process that states must follow to comply with water quality legislation relevant to nonpoint-source pollution. Part I provides background on nonpoint-source pollution. Parts II, III, and IV describe in detail the nonpoint-planning process. Chapter titles are: (1) "Introduction: An Opportunity for Citizen Action"; (2) "A Different Kind of Pollution"; (3) "Identifying Water-Quality Problems"; (4) "Identifying Sources of Nonpoint Pollution"; (5) "Selecting Best Management Practices"; (6) "Establishing Institutional Mechanisms"; (7) "Drawing Up an Implementation Schedule"; and (7) "Monitoring Implementation and Enforcement." References are provided at the end of each chapter. Appendices contain: (1) a listing of offices of the Environmental Protection Agency and states within each EPA region; (2) state water pollution control agencies; (3) nonpoint-source provisions in the Water Quality Act of 1987; (4) report of the Conference Committee, U.S. House of Representatives pertaining to management of nonpoint sources of pollution; (5) state water resources research institutes; (6) major nonpoint-source pollution categories and subcategories; and (7) agricultural chemicals for which EPA has recommended water quality criteria. (LZ)

Nonpoint Source Pollution

Nonpoint Source Pollution PDF

Author: Holly V. Campbell

Publisher:

Published: 2017-08-31

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780415663144

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Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage or hydrologic modification. The term "nonpoint source" is defined to mean any source of water pollution that does not meet the legal definition of "point source" from a specific origin. It is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, including excess fertilizers and pesticides from agriculture, chemicals from industrial processes and mining, and toxic microbes from animal or other waste. These are finally deposited into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters, resulting in harmful effects on drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries and wildlife. This book presents a synthesis of knowledge about, and responses to, nonpoint source pollution through two key themes: the need for technical and policy solutions that meet triplebottom-line sustainability (economic, social, and environmental) and support for effective planning that enhances food and water security for a growing human population. It holistically evaluates the status of the problem of and solutions to NPS internationally by reviewing the latest literature and control technologies. It covers both urban and rural pollution from runoff. Most other books on the subject are narrowly focused on one perspective, such as agronomic or economic. However this book provides an inter-disciplinary perspective, integrating information from agriculture, soil science, hydrology, law, environmental management and public policy, which will therefore serve as a text for a wide range of courses.