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The population of the United States is expected to reach nearly 400 million people by the year 2050, and Texas and Florida are among the States with the fastest growing populations in the country (U.S. Census Bureau 1997). Suburbs and rural areas are expanding. As a result, the needs for recreation, timber, clean water, and other forest benefits are also increasing. Although the current trend is generally toward improved water quality in the United States, uncontrolled land-use practices may alter this trend. Loss of wildlife and vegetation, erosion of soils, and nonpoint-source pollution of groundwater and surface water will result in a trend of degrading water quality. According to the study Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources, "there are enough scientifically documented declines of species abundances and extinctions of aquatic species that are direct results of human activity to indicate that present water-use and development practices cannot continue" (Mac and others 1998). It should also be noted that although this Chapter did not focus on estuarine and coastal resources, a number of studies indicate that due to population increases, water quality in coastal regions is likely to significantly degrade in a number of areas, including the South (Mallin and others 2000, Dame and others 2000). Understanding cumulative downstream impacts is essential to assessing the likely future of water quality, especially in these coastal regions.
The likely future of water quality in the South depends on the success of future mandates, specific programs, and initiatives to promote water quality improvements. Some of the major programs are described in the following Sections.
In 1998, President Clinton announced a new clean water initiative to speed the restoration of the Nation's waterways. This initiative, called the Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP), aims to achieve clean water by strengthening public health protection, targeting community-based watershed protection efforts, and providing communities with new resources to control polluted runoff. The intended purpose of CWAP is a reemphasis of the original goal of the CWA, which was to achieve "fishable and swimmable water for every American" (Clean Water Action Plan 2001). The CWAP builds on existing programs and proposes new efforts that support partnerships between Federal, State, and local levels. These efforts include financial assistance and incentives to aid in the restoration of aquatic systems within watersheds. Four areas identified as imperative to the success of CWAP include: (1) a watershed approach, (2) strong Federal and State standards, (3) natural resource stewardship, and (4) informed citizens and officials.
One of the key objectives of CWAP was to encourage States and Tribes to work together with the public to identify watersheds that do not meet water-quality and other natural resource goals and watersheds that are in the most critical need of restoration and protection. This objective would be accomplished through the conduct of Unified Watershed Assessments (UWAs). UWAs represent some of the first coordinated efforts to develop common priorities to restore and protect water quality. The designation of these watersheds would use common criteria within one of four categories, as described below (Clean Water Action Plan 2001).
· Watersheds in Need of Restoration: These watersheds do not meet clean water goals, and are considered priorities for restoration. States and Tribes have developed subcategories to further prioritize watersheds in need of restoration based on the degree of vulnerability or threat to water quality conditions. These include: (1) Highest restoration priority--those watersheds determined by States to be most in need of restoration, and (2) Other restoration needed--the remaining watersheds in need of restoration.
· Watersheds Meeting Goals, Including Those Needing Actions to Sustain Water Quality: These watersheds meet clean water and other natural resource goals and standards and support healthy aquatic systems.
· Watersheds with Pristine/Sensitive Aquatic System Conditions on Land Administered by Federal, State, or Tribal Governments: These watersheds contain pristine water quality, other sensitive aquatic system conditions, and drinking water sources that are located on land administered by Federal, State, or Tribal governments. These areas include currently designated and potential candidate Wilderness Areas, Outstanding Natural Resource Waters, and Wild and Scenic Rivers.
· Watersheds with Insufficient Data to Make an Assessment: These watersheds lack significant information or the critical data elements needed to make a reasonable assessment.
Once prioritized, each State and Tribe must develop restoration action strategies, a long-term schedule, and a description of the information used to base priority decisions through their UWA. States that share a watershed, such as in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, are encouraged to exchange information and work closely to reach common goals (Natural Resource Conservation Service 2001).
The UWA designations for individual watersheds (8-digit HUCs) in the South were compiled to identify the specific watershed restoration and protection priorities based on certain factors such as water quality. Figure 5 provides a graphic representation of this information. Table 9 summarizes this information at the State level. The information that is presented in Figure 5 is similar to that shown in Figure 4 (IWI data), but UWA data focuses on restoration priorities of watersheds established by individual States.
Based on the results of the UWA characterization, 391 individual watersheds, which represent approximately 59 percent of the land area in the South, have been categorized as in need of some level of restoration., Of these, 148 watersheds (25 percent of the land area) are designated as the "Highest Restoration Priority," and 243 watersheds (34 percent of the land area) are classified as "Other Restoration Needed." One hundred ninety four individual watersheds (29 percent of the land area) are classified as "Meeting Standards" and 2 individual watersheds (less than 1 percent of the land area) are considered "Very High Quality." The two "Very High Quality" watersheds are in Mississippi and North Carolina. For 85 individual watersheds (12 percent of the land area) information is insufficient for overall characterization (Figure 5). Georgia has the highest percentage of watershed acreage designated as having the "Highest Restoration Priority," (22 individual watersheds) followed by Louisiana and Virginia (Table 9).
Table 10 presents the same information as Table 9, except the UWA information is aggregated by ecological province. A complete description of the ecological provinces in the South is included in Chapter HLTH-1. The ecological province with the fewest watersheds, the Everglades, has the most need for restoration. Approximately 73 percent of the Everglades Province, which consists of some 5.25 million acres, is in the most critical need of restoration. Watersheds in the Central Appalachian Province have also been targeted for significant restoration efforts. The Outer Coast Province, which is the largest ecological province in the South, contains the highest percentage of watershed acreage categorized as "Meeting Standards" or "Very High Quality".
The TMDL program is identified in Section 303(d) of the CWA. It requires that States, "...determine the total maximum daily loads that would be necessary to bring those waters up to water quality minimums, and allocate those loads among sources in discharge permits and state water quality plans" (33 U.S.C.A. § 1313(d)). USEPA defines a TMDL as "a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources" (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2000b). Included in this amount or "pollution budget" is a margin of safety to ensure that waterbodies can be used for the state designated purposes, such as swimming, recreation, and fishing.
USEPA delegated authority to States to develop and enforce TMDLs and to promote effective nonpoint-source controls (Boyd 2000). The USEPA will reassume authority if individual States fail to develop or enforce TMDLs. State regulatory agencies are also required to determine the steps needed to improve or restore the quality of impaired waters. The development and implementation process for TMDLs is designed to promote stakeholder consensus in technical evaluation and development of management strategies for the identified water-quality problems. The establishment of TMDLs for specific watersheds or subwatersheds is the primary approach to watershed restoration efforts identified as part of the UWA process.
Congress amended the CWA in 1987 to include a two-phase national program addressing stormwater discharges. Under the initial NPDES Phase 1 program, separate municipal storm sewer systems (MS4s) serving 100,000 or more people, and operators of construction activities disturbing 5 or more acres, must obtain an NPDES stormwater permit (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2001d). The NPDES Phase 2 program was finalized in 1999, and is scheduled for full implementation by 2003. The new requirements were established to protect water resources from stormwater runoff in regulated MS4s serving populations less than 100,000 and construction sites that disturb from 1 to 5 acres (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2001d).
A number of stewardship programs have been established to promote good land-use practices, proactive thinking on the part of companies and private landowners with regards to multiresource management, and financial incentives for participation. Specific to forestry activities, the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) recently began a stewardship initiative to incorporate the protection of natural resources. Under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program, water-quality improvement is specifically targeted by implementation of BMPs, approved State water-quality programs, and adherence to State and Federal water protection laws and regulations.
The USDA Forest Service initiated a Forest Stewardship Program, similar to the SFI program, that provides educational and technical assistance to landowners interested in active management of their forests for multiple resource benefits. Another program, the Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP), provides cost-share support for nonindustrial private forest landowners to help them develop and implement Forest Stewardship Plans. Funding through SIP is based on landowner adherence to the plan for a minimum of 10 years. Technical and planning assistance by natural resource professionals is available through the program.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 require States to develop and implement Source Water Assessment Programs (SWAP). These programs are intended to address existing and potential threats to public drinking water quality. Assessments will include drinking water sources and potential threats to drinking water quality for metropolitan areas, towns, schools, and restaurants. Currently, the USEPA has approved 52 SWAPs, which must be implemented by States within 3 years of USEPA approval (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2001e).
The Fishable Waters Act (FWA) of 2000 is a proposed amendment to the CWA introduced to Congress by the Clinton Administration. The objective of this Act is to meet fishable and swimmable goals of the CWA . The FWA was drafted in collaboration with the Fishable Waters Coalition with the objective of restoring the physical and biological integrity of 4 million acres of public waters for fishing and recreation (Izaak Walton League of America 2001). If passed by Congress, the FWA would be a program under the CWA that would allow States to use funds in their Fisheries Habitat Account toward FWA conservation programs .
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content: Benjamin E. West |
created: 21-NOV-2001 |