Excerpt
GROUNDWATER is difficult to manage. The resource is normally inexpensive, innocuous, and invisible. It rarely has a strong lobby in state or national capitals. Unlike surface water, which attracts a diverse constituency, groundwater can be only slightly more salient than Antarctic mining treaties. When it does become an issue—because of declines in quantity or quality—it can have the ferocity of an awakened giant as the public demands to know: What happened? Why didn't your agency do something?
Groundwater poses a major challenge to environmental managers. As in the case of other resources, however, it can be managed wisely and effectively. Here are 10 precepts from environmental administration that can help groundwater managers:
1. Adopt a management by objective approach
Goals can be accomplished only after they have been set. What are your goals for groundwater management? Is it managed to maintain quantity, maintain quality, or both? Itemize goals for each aquifer in your agency's jurisdiction.
Agency resources are always limited. Unless you manage in a homogenous area, some aquifers will be more important than others. Effective managers distinguish between the urgent and the important and concentrate on the important. In one area, importance may be …
Footnotes
Peter J. Pizor is an associate professor at Northwest College, 231 West Sixth Street, Powell, Wyoming 82435.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.