Coordinating US Water Policy: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
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Transcript Coordinating US Water Policy: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
Adam Reimer
Postdoctoral Research Associate
W.K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
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Webinar Outline
Brief history of U.S. water policy
Major federal water laws and agencies
Ongoing and emerging challenges
Recent policy trends and innovations
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Overview of Water Policy
Two traditional threads
Water use/
consumption
Water quality
Policy fragmentation
State vs. federal
Increasing:
coordination
landscape-scale
management
public involvement
ecosystem restoration
adaptive management
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History
Colonial-1850: local control and
abundance
1850-1900: expansion, transport
1900-1950: water supply
infrastructure
1950-1980: Environmental era
1980-2000: Devolution,
experimentation, and collaboration
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Clean Water Act (CWA)
Passed in 1972
Two major mechanisms:
Designate uses and WQ standards for
waterways
Regulate point sources of pollution
National Pollution Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES)—national permitting system
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Other Federal Laws
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
Public drinking water standards
Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund
Water Resources Development
Act (WRDA)
New bill in conference now
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Water Agencies
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE)
Traditionally focused on navigation,
flood control
Manages 25% of U.S. hydroelectric
power
Bureau of Reclamation
Provides water storage for
irrigation, drinking water,
recreation
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Water Agencies
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Primary federal agency in charge of water
quality
Administers CWA provisions, including:
NPDES
List of impaired waters
Technical, financial resources for pollution
reduction
CWSRF & DWSRF
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Water Supply
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Water Usage by Sector
Municipal supply:
residential &
commercial uses
4%
3% 1% 1%
Power Generation
Agriculture
11%
49%
Non-domestic Public
Supply
Industrial
31%
Livestock and
Aquaculture
Mining
2005 USGS data, last year federal estimates are available
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Water Supply: Surface Water Rights
Three traditional state
doctrines
Riparian rights (eastern
states)
Water rights part of
property
Prior appropriation
(western states)
“First in time, first in
right”
Hybrid systems (Great
Plains & Pacific coast)
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Water Supply: Groundwater
Groundwater policies
disconnected from surface
water
Some states combining
ground- and surface water
policies
Typically first come, first
served policies
Mostly privately developed
Groundwater depletion
serious concern
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Groundwater depletion between 1900 and 2008 (source: USGS)
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Water Supply: Emerging Issues
Prior appropriation: no efficiency
incentive
Use it or lose it
States adjusting policies
Increased pressure on existing
water supplies
Population growth
Increased per capita use
Aging infrastructure
State, local (and private) systems,
with federal support
Clean Water Action (cleanwater.org)
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Water Supply: Efficiency and
Conservation
Mostly state/local effort thus far (EPA
technical support)
Water loss management
Water reuse and recycling programs
Market mechanisms
Cooperative water management
Conjunctive land use and water
planning
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Water Supply: Climate Change
Girvetz, Roy, and Maurer (Tetra Tech Consulting). 2010. Water sustainability in the contiguous United States. Evaluating
Sustainability of Projected Water Demands Under Future Climate Change Conditions, Natural Resources Defense Council.
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Water Quality
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Water Quality
Environmental
movement of 1960s
changed perception of
water
Initial concern with
point source pollution
Heavy metals, sewage,
petrochemicals, PCBs
CWA, NPDES
40 years after CWA, still
significant impairment
Impaired Waters of the US:
100,000 miles of rivers and streams
2.5 million acres or lakes
800 mi2 of bays and estuaries
55% of streams in poor condition for
aquatic life
(source: EPA)
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Water Quality
Nonpoint source (NPS)
pollution
Variety of sources,
difficult to identify
Nutrients (N&P),
sediment, road
chemicals
Now major source of
water impairment
Source: NOAA
25% of streams with too
much N
40% of streams with too
much P
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http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/dead
zone/general.html
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Emerging Pollutants of Concern
Household chemicals with uncertain impacts
Pharmaceuticals
Household cleaners
Personal care products
Widespread
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Emerging Pollutants of Concern
Kolpin et al. 2002. Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams,
19909-2000: a national reconnaissance. Environ. Sci. Tech.
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Water Quality
1990s transition to holistic WQ
management
1992 CWA amendments: Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
Whole water body management
Determines uses, calculates acceptable
pollutant levels
Apportions levels to various actors
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Water Quality
TMDL process addresses PS
and NPS
Mandatory limits for PS, only
voluntary for NPS
Watershed-based, cut across
political boundaries
Public involvement
Courtesy NRCS
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Coordination and Collaboration
Agencies increasingly
working together
Federal-state-localprivate collaboration
Integrate water supply
mgmt, WQ mgmt
California Federal-BayDelta Program
(CALFED)
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Watershed Management
•Management by basin,
rather than jurisdiction
•Goes hand-in-hand with
coordination and
collaboration
•Targets NPS
•TMDL process
•Citizen involvement key
•Civic watershed groups
related to implementation
of TMDL plans1
1Hoornbeek,
J., Hansen, E., Ringquist, E., and Carlson, R. 2013. Implementing
water pollution policy in the United States: Total Maximum Daily Loads and
collaborative watershed management. Society and Natural Resources 26: 420-436.
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Public Involvement
Public awareness of
water issues
Multiple use
management
EPA 319 Program
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Ecosystem Restoration
Hundreds of years of water system modification and
degradation
Loss of ecosystem services:
Flood control & storage
Water filtering
Wildlife & fisheries habitat
Storm protection
Example: Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan
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Adaptive Management
Experimentation in
policy design
Importance of
monitoring,
flexible
administration
Response to climate
change
Courtesy: Government of British Columbia
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Questions
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