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and public lands. After some significant pollution incidents, the state increased regulation of unconventional gas development, making Pennsylvania’s regulations
some of the strictest in the country. In some areas, such as the Tioga State Forest,
gas well development occurred on lands previously mined for coal and suffering
from acid coal mine drainage. Southwestern Oil and Gas partnered with the Tioga
County Concerned Citizens Committee to install limestone channels in the Tioga
State Forest to mitigate acidification caused by historical deep coal mining activities, restoring parts of the Tioga River and Fall River to trout-bearing status.
Requiring environmental restoration or mitigation for natural gas development permits does not negate the risks of development, but it can reduce the overall burden
on the environment.
On the other side of the country, California, no stranger to water scarcity, is
breaking new ground with its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
established in 2014. Where the federal CWA is essentially silent on groundwater
resources, California’s state action created local Groundwater Sustainability
Agencies throughout the state that are charged with avoiding “significant and
unreasonable” reductions in quality and quantity of the state’s groundwater
resources. In addition to exploring the role of markets and big data as tools for
improving groundwater management, a coalition of southern California actors is
exploring groundwater net metering schemes, where a framework similar to that
successfully utilized in the residential solar photovoltaic sector would reward
landowners for efforts they undertake to recharge groundwater aquifers. Agricultural
management is also largely state and local. Compliance with State Pollutant
Discharge System Permits for point-source pollution and implementation of best
agricultural practices to minimize non-point source pollution reduces negative
impacts on water resources from food production.
Research has shown that avoiding over-application and choosing appropriate
timing of fertilizers, as well as maintaining vegetated riparian buffers around
streams, can significantly reduce agricultural nutrient loading. Sediment traps in
drainage ditches, which allow for the pooling of water and settling of suspended
sediment during heavy precipitation events, can also be effective. County-level Soil
and Water Conservation Districts provide critical educational programs for farmers
and individualized technical assistance in creating manure management plans and
runoff reduction strategies.
In the Finger Lakes region of New York, the tourist industry is built on clean
lakes, bucolic scenery, and more recently, wineries, breweries, and local foods.
While farms benefit from the climate-moderating effect of the lakes, they typically
do not draw water from the lakes (relying on groundwater wells instead) and are not
impacted by the water quality in the lakes the way lakefront owners are. Harmful
algal blooms threaten the health of the lakes, and mitigation will likely depend on
significantly increasing the participation of upland farmers in the management of
the watershed as a whole, and the willingness of lakefront property owners and
municipalities dependent on the lakes to contribute financially too expensive measures to reduce nutrient loading from farms. The conundrum created by temporal,
geographical, and economic separation between nonpoint source pollution and its
most salient impacts challenges to water resource management throughout the USA,
8 US Governance
and public lands. After some significant pollution incidents, the state increased regulation of unconventional gas development, making Pennsylvania’s regulations
some of the strictest in the country. In some areas, such as the Tioga State Forest,
gas well development occurred on lands previously mined for coal and suffering
from acid coal mine drainage. Southwestern Oil and Gas partnered with the Tioga
County Concerned Citizens Committee to install limestone channels in the Tioga
State Forest to mitigate acidification caused by historical deep coal mining activities, restoring parts of the Tioga River and Fall River to trout-bearing status.
Requiring environmental restoration or mitigation for natural gas development permits does not negate the risks of development, but it can reduce the overall burden
on the environment.
On the other side of the country, California, no stranger to water scarcity, is
breaking new ground with its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
established in 2014. Where the federal CWA is essentially silent on groundwater
resources, California’s state action created local Groundwater Sustainability
Agencies throughout the state that are charged with avoiding “significant and
unreasonable” reductions in quality and quantity of the state’s groundwater
resources. In addition to exploring the role of markets and big data as tools for
improving groundwater management, a coalition of southern California actors is
exploring groundwater net metering schemes, where a framework similar to that
successfully utilized in the residential solar photovoltaic sector would reward
landowners for efforts they undertake to recharge groundwater aquifers. Agricultural
management is also largely state and local. Compliance with State Pollutant
Discharge System Permits for point-source pollution and implementation of best
agricultural practices to minimize non-point source pollution reduces negative
impacts on water resources from food production.
Research has shown that avoiding over-application and choosing appropriate
timing of fertilizers, as well as maintaining vegetated riparian buffers around
streams, can significantly reduce agricultural nutrient loading. Sediment traps in
drainage ditches, which allow for the pooling of water and settling of suspended
sediment during heavy precipitation events, can also be effective. County-level Soil
and Water Conservation Districts provide critical educational programs for farmers
and individualized technical assistance in creating manure management plans and
runoff reduction strategies.
In the Finger Lakes region of New York, the tourist industry is built on clean
lakes, bucolic scenery, and more recently, wineries, breweries, and local foods.
While farms benefit from the climate-moderating effect of the lakes, they typically
do not draw water from the lakes (relying on groundwater wells instead) and are not
impacted by the water quality in the lakes the way lakefront owners are. Harmful
algal blooms threaten the health of the lakes, and mitigation will likely depend on
significantly increasing the participation of upland farmers in the management of
the watershed as a whole, and the willingness of lakefront property owners and
municipalities dependent on the lakes to contribute financially too expensive measures to reduce nutrient loading from farms. The conundrum created by temporal,
geographical, and economic separation between nonpoint source pollution and its
most salient impacts challenges to water resource management throughout the USA,
8 US Governance