Excerpt
GROUNDWATER protection has become a major environmental issue in many parts of the United States and will remain so into the next century. Compelling evidence continues to reveal that pollutants from both urban and rural areas are reaching groundwater aquifers that serve as water sources for half the nation's population (90 percent in rural areas). The public is becoming more alarmed about reports of toxins and pesticides in water wells, especially in environmentally sensitive areas.
In response to this concern, governmental agencies at all levels are beginning to research and develop plans and programs to protect groundwater supplies. These plans and strategies recommend that local governments play a vital role in implementing a groundwater protection strategy.
The Olmsted County Comprehensive Water Management Plan and the process used to develop the plan are unique in several respects. First, a strategic planning approach was used by (1) analyzing the existing background data, (2) developing a mission statement with specific goals and policies, (3) developing a valid system of priorities among many competing programs, (4) focusing efforts on the most critical …
Footnotes
Gunnar Isberg is director of the officer of Strategic Planning and Management, Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.
- Copyright 1991 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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