Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
prevention measures in many cases depend on the effort of the community as a whole,
rather than on the efforts of the managing institution. Most probably, the combined
approach for financing such activities will be most appropriate. It would require the direct
managing institution (local authority) to organize and implement diffuse pollution
abatement programs, and to provide for partial funding based on the “beneficiary pays”
principle. On the other hand, the managing authorities at catchment and national level
should acknowledge their responsibility in supporting such types of activities through
different means, such as:
• Provision for a national framework of necessary regulatory instruments, to serve as a
guide and direction for the local by-laws and regulations;
• Provision of financial support for approved local programs;
• Provision of technical and expert knowledge support during the preparation and
implementation of the program.
One important point of the financing of any program for pollution control and abatement
is its economic viability. In some cases, where pollution has already being identified and
generated by upstream users or previous generations, it would require the implementation
of costly abatement measures, and the program could have an adverse economic impact
on the whole development of the area. In such cases, the designated uses of the water
bodies should be revised and the corresponding regulatory documents put in place in
order to provide for a staged, long-term pollution abatement measures. Very little
research has been done with respect to the levels at which pollution could be allowed to
happen for a certain period of time, and the widespread economic impacts of the different
rate of implementation of pollution abatement measures. Present practice shows that
these types of decisions depend on the discretion of the managing authorities at national
and local level. Therefore, there is a need for high standards of expertise in the field of
pollution control, which would allow for a proper assessment and evaluation of the
specific conditions.
6.3
Urban development and diffuse pollution
Diffuse pollution is closely related to different types of land use practice and source
control abatement measures could achieve a considerable reduction of this type of
pollution in existing urban centers. The development of new urban areas should consider
and envisage source control measures at the design stage. The implementation of this
principle would require new philosophies and approaches in urban planning and
development, as well as the introduction of regulatory documents and codes of practice,
outlining specific measures, corresponding to the specific local conditions.
In the light of sustainable development, the introduction of measures as decentralized
wastewater systems, and environmental buffer zones, would require specific planning and
design approaches, where wastewater could be treated, reused or disposed locally,
eliminating the need for wastewater transportation at long distances. The local treatment
facilities could be linked with appropriate measures for diffuse pollution source control
and incorporated into a dual-purpose environmental corridor or buffer zone, which could
assimilate excess pollutant material and serve as a recreational facility. Such types of new
urban developments, based on the decentralized approach to wastewater transport and
