Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
involved. Also, it could stimulate the willingness to accept the costs for public and
environmental protection.
• Political will to enforce standards is also an important aspect of the process and should
be sought.
5.4
Specific aspects of diffuse pollution regulation
Regulation of diffuse pollution sources is a relatively recent practice in the development
of pollution control instruments, which accounts for a major shift from the application of
the UES approach in most countries to the application of RWQO approach in Europe and
the WACC in USA. The major characteristic of this development is the introduction of an
integrated catchment based management of water resources in general and water quality
in particular, which is linked with specific management programs to achieve
predetermined goals. They are region specific and include specified control and
abatement measures, implementation strategies and means for financial support for the
program execution. This shift in the development of regulatory pollution control
mechanisms is characterized by an evolutionary principle, where existing regulatory
instruments are incorporated in the new legislation, thus combining the UES (emission
approach) into a broader framework, which includes the consideration of both - effluent
discharges and natural water bodies quality, in terms of surface/ground water, soil and
air. Also, it recognizes that the environment is a legitimate user of water and should be
treated as such in terms of quantity and quality.
Regulatory instruments to protect surface water consider as major pollution sources
storm water discharges from industrial activities, major urban centers and major
construction sites. In developing countries informal settlements and illegal connections to
the storm water system are important sources of diffuse pollution as well, which needs to
be addressed. Usually, major discharges of storm water drainage systems are regarded as
point sources and are included in the list of polluters, requiring a discharge permit.
Municipalities are required to develop storm water regulations, which include
instructions and measures for the management of urban drainage systems, and address
both water quantity (flood prevention) and water quality (pollution). These regulations
could form part of municipal by-laws and are usually not legally enforceable.
Diffuse pollution from agricultural areas is controlled as part of the receiving water
quality objective approach. In some specific cases of concentrated animal operations, the
effluents or the runoff could be regarded and controlled as point source pollution.
While surface water regulations, through the discharge permit principle, allows for
some extent of pollutants to be discharged into the environment, based on the assimilative
capacity of the water body, ground water regulatory instruments adopt the principle that it
should not be polluted at all. This principle is based on the fact that ground water in
general has a very limited self-purification capacity and any rehabilitation measures are
very difficult and costly to implement. In the EU, the so-called “precautionary approach”
is applied, which prohibits any direct discharges to groundwater bodies and monitoring of
groundwater quality in the case of indirect discharges (groundwater recharge methods) is
prescribed. Regulatory instruments for groundwater protection should emphasize the
point that, in some cases, measures to protect surface water might lead to the pollution of
