Agricultural nonpoint pollution control: Voluntary or mandatory?

Excerpt

ODING more of what has been done in the past to control agricultural nonpoint-source pollution is not going to suffice. Voluntary participation in soil conservation programs will not reduce agricultural pollution to socially acceptable levels. Mandatory controls of some sort are necessary and likely will be forthcoming. The research community and federal agencies can best serve the public interest and the needs of farmers by developing information upon which to design efficient mandatory programs to abate nonpoint pollution from agriculture.

More of the same won't work

For 50 years there have been federal programs to reduce soil erosion, and concern about wind and water erosion was expressed long before that. The efforts by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and other agencies in administering a number of programs to reduce soil loss from farm and ranch land certainly have had some positive effect. Part of that effect has been to protect water quality. But the major emphasis in erosion control programs has been to preserve the productive capacity of American agriculture. The goal of most soil conservation plans has been to reduce topsoil losses to sustainable levels: five tons per acre per year on most soils throughout the …