Current Environmental Issue
“PROTECTION OF GROUNDWATER THROUGH URBAN, AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING”
This link has the official wording and study references recommended by the Canon Envirothon. Please also see the study guide to the left for study materials for the Area IV Envirothon that you will be a part of.
Access to clean and safe drinking water is essential to
a healthy and thriving community. If a safe drinking water source is compromised
or lost, there would be harmful consequences to human health, the environment,
and the economy. These losses can be prevented or mitigated to protect current
and future sources. Once groundwater is polluted, it will remain that way
for decades. The potential for contamination and the high cost of treatment
and expense of locating or developing alternate sources make it imperative
for government entities to adopt and implement effective strategies for
long-term protection. This is especially true for any area dependent on
groundwater as its sole source for drinking water.
Many factors, including increasing populations and extensive development,
put stresses on groundwater supplies. These include the use of pesticides,
fertilizers, animal manure, and storm water runoff which contains metals,
nutrients, salts and other chemicals that can leach into groundwater basins.
Local governmental planning agencies generally focus on priorities such
as land use development (e.g., residential and commercial), infrastructure
needs (e.g., roads, wastewater treatment, etc.), the local economy, and
a good jobs-per-housing ratio. Planning for groundwater protection often
receives insufficient attention for addressing periods of drought, water
conservation and efficiency, pollution prevention, recharge zones, surface
water management and conjunctive use, storm water management, and future
water needs. Due to its nature, most communities have no clear understanding
of how much groundwater is available.
Efforts to monitor and assess groundwater quality and quantity have typically
been sporadic and, while successful in some local jurisdictions and watersheds,
largely inadequate, due primarily to high cost. More reliable, consistent,
and comprehensive data are needed to sufficiently characterize groundwater
quality/quantity to support critical decisions and policies for use, protection,
and management.
Policy makers at all levels of government will be faced with the need to
make difficult decisions regarding alternatives and trade-offs to planning
future development and managing growth:
How do public officials determine priority use when allocating a limited
water supply?
Should urban uses have priority over agriculture?
Should agriculture have a higher priority which may preclude or limit urban
growth?
What about environmental uses such as maintaining instream flows, aquatic
life and habitat?
What is the role of storm water management?
What is the link between threats to both surface and groundwater quality/quantity?
How can they best be addressed?
Who should have jurisdiction to oversee the protection and management of
large groundwater basins for both quality and quantity (e.g., recharge)?
What are the consequences of poor planning, unreasonable decisions, and
lack of effective actions?
How can public officials address future threats to surface and groundwater
resources?