Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
have a high priority in the planned list of activities. In addition, a successful diffuse
pollution abatement program requires extensive water quality monitoring process and
data collection; therefore, monitoring programs form a substantial constituent of the
activities' list and provide the required information for the implementation of pollution
abatement measures.
The planning stage of diffuse pollution abatement programs would require the
preparation of an implementation plan, which would help in making it more realistic and
enforceable. The plan should provide for well-formulated and concrete activities, clear
benchmarks, or criteria for assessment of the work done, and time frames for the
execution of the activities. Thus, a plan could include the following:
• Formulation of clear objectives and the corresponding activities to achieve them within
a prescribed time frame;
• Listing the possible constraints for the implementation;
• Description of the mechanism of implementation with corresponding benchmarks;
• Providing for funding sources;
• Defining the responsibilities and level of involvement of all stakeholders participating
in the program.
• Monitoring of the plan implementation - it would consist in regular control of the time
schedule and the benchmarks for the plan implementation;
• Comparison of interim results and benchmarks to the initially formulated goals and
criteria; if need arises, the plan might be reformulated or altered to reflect actual
practical conditions;
• Final assessment at the end of the planned period - it should summarize the
implemented activities and results, and lay the foundations for the next planning
period.
Such an approach to the process of planning and the implementation of diffuse pollution
control and abatement programs would be applicable to any program for water resources
management in general. It is important to emphasize the fact that it should be viewed as a
continuous succession of closed loop events for selected time periods. More detailed
discussion of this topic is presented in Chapter 12.
4.3
Public awareness programs and involvement
Public awareness and involvement form an essential part of the efforts to control
environmental pollution. The development of a public awareness program (PAP) as part
of the activities of any organization, involved in water quality management, is a very
important step, in order to streamline the efforts of all stakeholders, prepare a sound plan
of the activities to be undertaken, and provide for the resources and financial backup. In a
PAP we could differentiate two main streams:
• Continuous (on-going) public information/education programs;
• Specific public awareness campaigns related to a defined event or specific objective.
The first step in designing a PAP is to identify the term “public”. There are different
levels of involvement of different sectors of the public, based on technical expertise, job
duties, levels of concern and willingness to invest time and effort. Therefore, different
