Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
walkways, buildings, cars, trees, and everything else that makes
up the landscape—urban or rural. That gunk, grit, and pollut-
ants in turn likely end up in someone's source water somewhere!
Nonpoint source pollution or NPS (also known as storm-water run-
off), whether from farm fi elds or urban landscapes, taints much of
the water we have.
“Storm water runoff is one of the major water quality and
quantity issues,” says Philadelphia attorney Ken Warren. Runoff
often carries toxic and nontoxic pollutants into streams and
causes degradation. Increased runoff rates and volumes of water
from developments that create impervious surfaces also impair
streams. Unfortunately, existing regulation of storm-water runoff
frequently is inadequate, he adds. The federal Clean Water Act
permitting system controls only discharges from point sources
like pipes and conduits. That encompasses some municipali-
ties' separate storm sewer systems, construction, and industrial
activities.
Warren would like to see national legislation considered that
would give the EPA greater authority to manage storm water.
“It could very well be administered by state or regional agencies.
But some additional arrows in the quiver of the water managers are
defi nitely needed,” he says.
The pocketbook incentive.
Some cities and utilities are trying to
infl uence consumers toward a greener approach to development
and decreased runoff pollution by introducing tiered storm-water
fees. The greater the area of impervious surface on a property, the
higher the storm-water runoff fees. The Sierra Club's Ken Kramer
likes this fi nancial incentive approach as long as there's a lifeline
(discounted) rate for low-income consumers. “Any time you can
use the cost factor in developing different approaches, you have
a better chance of succeeding in your ultimate goal,” says Kramer.
“Some fi nancial incentive to do the right thing or disincentive
to do the wrong thing is needed to push people to change their
behavior.”
Of course, the cash incentive works both ways. Consider
Florida's deal with U.S. Sugar to buy tens of thousands of
acres of land in South Florida as part of a plan to clean up the
Everglades.
