Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act

Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2001-11-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309133025

Recognizing the importance of wetland protection, the Bush administration in 1988 endorsed the goal of "no net loss" of wetlands. Specifically, it directed that filling of wetlands should be avoided, and minimized when it cannot be avoided. When filling is permitted, compensatory mitigation must be undertaken; that is, wetlands must be restored, created, enhanced, and, in exceptional cases, preserved, to replace the permitted loss of wetland area and function, such as water quality improvement within the watershed. After more than a dozen years, the national commitment to "no net loss" of wetlands has been evaluated. This new book explores the adequacy of science and technology for replacing wetland function and the effectiveness of the federal program of compensatory mitigation in accomplishing the nation's goal of clean water. It examines the regulatory framework for permitting wetland filling and requiring mitigation, compares the mitigation institutions that are in use, and addresses the problems that agencies face in ensuring sustainability of mitigated wetlands over the long term. Gleaning lessons from the mixed results of mitigation efforts to date, the book offers 10 practical guidelines for establishing and monitoring mitigated wetlands. It also recommends that federal, state, and local agencies undertake specific institutional reforms. This book will be important to anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the "no net loss" issue: policy makers, regulators, environmental scientists, educators, and wetland advocates.

Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program

Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2020-12-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309679702

New York City's municipal water supply system provides about 1 billion gallons of drinking water a day to over 8.5 million people in New York City and about 1 million people living in nearby Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, and Orange counties. The combined water supply system includes 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes with a total storage capacity of approximately 580 billion gallons. The city's Watershed Protection Program is intended to maintain and enhance the high quality of these surface water sources. Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program assesses the efficacy and future of New York City's watershed management activities. The report identifies program areas that may require future change or action, including continued efforts to address turbidity and responding to changes in reservoir water quality as a result of climate change.

New Strategies for America's Watersheds

New Strategies for America's Watersheds
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 1999-04-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309064171

Emergence of a toxic organism like pfisteria in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay has focused public attention on potential hazards in our water. More importantly, it has reminded us of the importance of the entire watershed to the health of any body of water and how political boundaries complicate watershed management. New Strategies for America's Watersheds provides a timely and comprehensive look at the rise of "watershed thinking" among scientists and policymakers and recommends ways to steer the nation toward improved watershed management. The volume defines important terms, identifies fundamental issues, and explores reasons why now is the time to bring watersheds to the forefront of ecosystem management. In a discussion of scale and scope, the committee examines how to expand the watershed from a topographic unit to a framework for integrating natural, social, and economic perspectives as they share the same geographic space. The volume discusses: Regional variations in climate, topography, demographics, institutions, land use, culture, and law. Roles and interaction of federal, state, and local agencies. Availability or lack of pertinent data. Options for financing. The committee identifies critical points in watershed planning to ensure appropriate stakeholder involvement and integration of science, policy, and environmental ethics.

Swimming Upstream

Swimming Upstream
Author: Paul A. Sabatier
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2005-04-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780262264754

In recent years, water resource management in the United States has begun a shift away from top-down, government agency-directed decision processes toward a collaborative approach of negotiation and problem solving. Rather than focusing on specific pollution sources or specific areas within a watershed, this new process considers the watershed as a whole, seeking solutions to an interrelated set of social, economic, and environmental problems. Decision making involves face-to-face negotiations among a variety of stakeholders, including federal, state, and local agencies, landowners, environmentalists, industries, and researchers. Swimming Upstream analyzes the collaborative approach by providing a historical overview of watershed management in the United States and a normative and empirical conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating the process. The bulk of the book looks at a variety of collaborative watershed planning projects across the country. It first examines the applications of relatively short-term collaborative strategies in Oklahoma and Texas, exploring issues of trust and legitimacy. It then analyzes factors affecting the success of relatively long-term collaborative partnerships in the National Estuary Program and in 76 watersheds in Washington and California. Bringing analytical rigor to a field that has been dominated by practitioners' descriptive accounts, Swimming Upstream makes a vital contribution to public policy, public administration, and environmental management.

Entering the Watershed

Entering the Watershed
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 512
Release: 1993-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Entering the Watershed is the product of a two-year project established by the Pacific Rivers Council to develop new federal riverine protection and restoration policy alternatives. It recommends a comprehensive new approach to river protection based on principles of watershed dynamics, ecosystem function, and conservation biology -- a nationwide, strategic community- and ecosystem-based watershed restoration initiative. The book: describes in detail the existing level of damage to rivers and species analyzes flaws and gaps in existing policy provides the framework necessary to develop new policies outlines the scientific underpinnings and management strategies needed in new policy makes specific policy proposals

Integrated Watershed Management

Integrated Watershed Management
Author: Isobel W. Heathcote
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2009-02-17
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0470376252

An integrated framework for water resources management It has been said that "water is the next oil." A strong global consensus has begun to develop that effective water management must start at the watershed level, and that water management actions must be taken in the context of watersheds, and the human communities in them. Integrated Watershed Management: Principles and Practice, Second Edition presents a flexible, integrated framework for watershed management that addresses the biophysical, social, and economic issues affecting water resources and their use. Comprehensive in scope and multidisciplinary in approach, it equips readers with the necessary tools and techniques to develop sound watershed management policy and practice—from problem definition and goal setting to selecting management strategies and procedures for monitoring implementation. Ten years of practice have demonstrated that the core concepts presented in the first edition of this book remain true and important. This Second Edition is fully updated to reflect current practice and recent experience in watershed management, including: New coverage of strategies for the selection and evaluation of public engagement processes Sampling, data management, and computer simulation technologies Recent legislative changes International watershed issues Many new case studies Water resources planning and management is not just a technical challenge; it is also a social challenge, and an opportunity. It is, ultimately, a framework for human societies to shape, protect, and improve the environment in which they live. Providing a rational framework for the development of water resources management strategies, Integrated Watershed Management, Second Edition is a one-stop resource for upper-level students and professionals in environmental science, natural resource management, and environmental engineering.