Excerpt
Two-Thirds of Rhode of Island's communities depend wholly or in part on groundwater for their drinking water. Responsibility for protecting Rhode Island's groundwater resources is shared by federal, state, and local governments, with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) Division of Groundwater and Freshwater Wetlands taking the lead role at the state level (5).
The Groundwater Protection Section of the division is developing and implementing a comprehensive program to protect groundwater resources. As part of the program's development, RIDEM has made extensive use of geographic information system (GIS) techology to develop a groundwater data base and distribute information derived from these data to state and local officials for groundwater protection planning.
Rhode Island's state regulatory programs include those regarding waste disposal, underground storage of hazardous materials, and hazardous waste generation and storage.
These are, however, only part of the response needed to ensure that groundwater supplies are protected adequately. Improper waste disposal at facilities will always be a threat, and state regulations cannot fully control spills and leaks of potential contaminants and nonpoint pollution, which have caused significant groundwater degradation. Local governments, with authority to restrict threatening land uses, must …
Footnotes
Carol Pringle Baker is the groundwater applications coordinator with the Rhode Island geographic information system, Environmental Data Center, Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, 02881. Ernest C. Panciera is a senior environmental planner with the Groundwater Protection Section of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, 291 Promenade Street, Providence, 02908 Trade or brand names are included for the benefit of readers and do not imply endorsement by URI or RIDEM. Tin's article is contribution No. 2519 of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experimental Station, University of Rhode Island, Kingston.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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