Confronting the Nation's Water Problems The Role of Research (2004) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Setting the Stage
1 Setting the Stage
Pages 15-33
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From page 15... ...
Our institutions appear to have limited capacity to manage waterbased habitats to maintain and improve species diversity and provide ecosystem services while concurrently supplying human needs. In some regions of the country, the availability of sufficient water to service growing domestic uses is in doubt, as is the future sufficiency of water to support agriculture in an increasingly competitive and globalizing agricultural economy.
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From page 16... ...
The threat of waterborne disease, as exemplified by the 1994 Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and subsequent less dramatic events, is constantly present. Nonetheless, it is difficult to perceive the increasing frequency of these problems because water resources management and research tend to be highly decentralized.
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From page 17... ...
Appropriate treatment of drinking water supplies often requires trade-offs that are sometimes not well understood scientifically. For example, membranebased treatment technologies, such as reverse osmosis, that remove contaminants from drinking water ultimately concentrate the contaminants in another medium, the disposal of which would be of environmental concern and could pose a threat to the health and safety of workers who must handle the material.
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From page 18... ...
Army Corps of Engineers to guide dam operations on the Missouri River, which would entail both regular increases in spring flows and reduced summer flows (lower summer flows are intended to support nesting and foraging habitat for least terns and the piping plover, as well as nursery habitat for the pallid sturgeon and other fishes)
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From page 19... ...
. It is widely recognized that wetlands are among the most biologically productive environments and that they provide important environmental services such as flood protection and water quality maintenance (NRC, 1995)
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From page 20... ...
Through a strategic combination of permitting requirements and financial support for the construction of municipal wastewater treatment facilities, dramatic improvements were realized in the quality of the nation's surface waters. Yet, the failure to deal with nonpoint source pollutants has come to represent an important omission in national water quality management.
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From page 21... ...
Unfortunately, although substantial resources have been expended for basic climate change research (e.g., NSTB, 2002) , little funding has been provided to translate these research findings into new and improved methods for water resources planning and management -- an area that has been identified as the weakest element of climate change integrated assessments (NAST, 2001)
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From page 22... ...
It would portend a very difficult future -- one in which the water supplies are not always available or are available only in very limited quantities; water quality continues to deteriorate, reducing available supplies; our ability to devise policies to manage water resources effectively is severely constrained; and we struggle, unsuccessfully, to adapt to climate change. A vibrant and robust research program alone will not be sufficient to prevent all of these scenarios, but knowledge and insight gained from a broad spectrum of natural and social science research on water resources is society's best hope for success.
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From page 23... ...
Lack of appropriability combined with public ownership of the resource makes the justification for public support of water resources research compelling. John Wesley Powell, one of the earliest and most distinguished water scientists in the United States, expressed this concept forthrightly as follows: Possession of property is exclusive; possession of knowledge is not exclusive; for the knowledge which one man has may also be the possession of another.
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From page 24... ...
. He argued that the responsibilities for promoting new scientific knowledge and for developing scientific talent were properly the concern of the federal government because these activities vitally affect the nation's health, prosperity, and national security.
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From page 25... ...
However, historically there had been very few transfers of water rights in western states that have involved actual changes of water use, especially changes from irrigation to other uses. The National Water Commission first identified this problem in the 1970s, after which research that focused on better understanding
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From page 26... ...
Transfers allowed Californians to respond effectively to the drought of 19871993, which saved millions of dollars. A recently completed accord that includes transfers from the Imperial Irrigation District to San Diego appears to have brought a peaceful resolution to a serious conflict among the states using Colorado River water.
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From page 27... ...
to fresh and coastal marine waters -- is one of the major causes of water quality degradation. The many problems caused by excess nutrient inputs include accelerated growth of phytoplankton both in the water column and in the benthos; the dominance of toxic, bloom-forming algal species; decreases in water transparency; the development of hypoxic and anoxic conditions in the bottom waters and sediments, with concomitant mortality of fish and invertebrates; the production of unpleasant odors and tastes; and interference with filtration of drinking water.
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From page 28... ...
Nitrogen Loadings in the Chesapeake Bay In 1983, the first Chesapeake Bay Agreement was adopted, establishing a Chesapeake Bay Program and an executive council to lead restoration efforts within this important estuary. A central element of the program was the setting of targets and timetables for the reduction of phosphorus and nitrogen loading into the Chesapeake Bay.
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From page 29... ...
Finally, research that permits the nation to manage its water resources in more environmentally sensitive and benign ways is more important than ever, given the recognition and value now afforded to aquatic ecosystems and their environmental services. ENVISIONING THE AGENDA FOR WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH Recognizing a compelling need for rethinking the national water research agenda in light of emerging as well as persistent problems, the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council in 2001 wrote Envisioning 3 This can be documented, both nationally and regionally, by dividing water use by GDP, adjusted for inflation.
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From page 30... ...
Conclusions pertinent to the present report include the following: · the challenge of solving the nation's water problems will require a renewed national research commitment, which will include changes in the way research agendas and priorities are established · water quality and water quantity need to be thought of in an integrated fashion, and research priorities should be developed in an integrated fashion · relatively more attention must be given to water-related research in the social sciences and to research focused on the development of innovative institutions than has been the case in the past · research on environmental water needs has emerged as an important player and should remain a major part of the research agenda. As discussed below, the present report expands and elaborates upon on this earlier effort.
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From page 31... ...
2004. Proposed national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants; and, in the alternative, proposed standards of performance for new and existing stationary sources: electric utility steam generating units.
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From page 32... ...
The Report of the Water Sector Assessment Team of the National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
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From page 33... ...
2002. Solutions to nutrient management problems in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA.
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