As 2012 is about to end, I wish to draw attention to the 40th Anniversary of 33 U. S. C. §1251 et seq. (1972).
Commonly known as the “Clean Water Act”, this piece of legislation brought forth “the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.” (U. S. EPA)
That being said, I move from my last blog post concerning the
Oil & Gas Industry practice of “Fracking” to another source of groundwater
and surface water contamination – “Nitrogen Pollution”. This has both geogenic as well as
anthropogenic sources. However, it has
been determined that high contaminant levels of nitrates (NO3-)
measured in Rural area water sources are a direct result of Agricultural Industry
practices.
Below is a video documenting the problems associated with Nitrate
pollution. A link is provided to the report
discussed in the video from the Center for Watershed Sciences at the
University of California, Davis (UC Davis).
Finally, I end on a positive note with a link to the Nitrate
Groundwater Pollution Hazard Index website, which discusses the “Hazard Index Concept”, and suggests better
management practices (BMPs) in affected rural areas.
This site has been made available by the Center for Watershed Sciences,
as well as the Agricultural & Natural Resources Division of the University
of California System (UCANR).
Problem:
Following the Trail
of Nitrate Video
(UC Davis - March 13, 2012)
(UC Davis - March 13, 2012)
Addressing Nitrate in
California’s Drinking Water
(HARTER et al., 2012)
(HARTER et al., 2012)
Potential Solution:
Nitrate Ground
Pollution Hazard Index – Water Quality Program
Center for Water Resources, UC Davis
University of California Division of Agricultural &
Natural Resources
http://ucanr.edu/sites/wrc/Programs/Water_Quality/Nitrate_Groundwater_Pollution_Hazard_Index/
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