Policies for nonpoint-source water pollution control

Excerpt

POINT-SOURCE water pollution controls alone are insufficient to meet the objectives of the Clean Water Act. Agricultural and urban non-point sources account for more than half of the biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), nearly all the suspended solids, and in some regions, most of the phosphorus, nitrogen, and many toxics discharged into water-ways (6).

Despite its importance, nonpoint-source pollution continues largely unregulated. This is in stark contrast to the attention paid to point sources. For municipal sewage treatment plants alone, federal outlays were authorized at $2.4 billion per year for fiscal years 1984 and 1985. By comparison, funds for cost-sharing and subsidy programs that can reduce agricultural water pollution are minuscule, and most of the programs are directed more at slowing soil erosion than improving water quality.

Section 208 of the Clean Water Act, which requires states to develop nonpoint-source plans, has not resulted in significant water quality improvements either. Although 20 states and the District of Columbia have erosion and sediment control laws directed at urban nonpoint sources, these sources nevertheless continue to be a major source of water pollution.

The failure of existing policies to reduce nonpoint pollution, together with the …