Ground Water Protection Council
|
Key Message
Ensuring enough quality water to support various land uses and
economic development can be the driving force toward increased
ground water protection efforts at the local level. As uses change from
rural to urban or agricultural to suburban lifestyles, we must pay
careful attention to how we modify the natural environment. Landuse
decisions that fail to consider the long-term quality, availability,
and susceptibility of ground water resources create conditions that
contribute to loss of ground water recharge, overuse of water
resources, and human health and ecological impacts resulting from
ground water contamination. On the other hand, land-use practices
that protect and conserve water resources and maintain or even
increase aquifer recharge are key to maintaining long-term water
availability and economic vitality.
Land-use planning and development decisions must routinely take
into account such factors as the location, quality, yield, vulnerability,
and recharge potential of aquifers and the projected availability of
water for the long term. To be truly effective, this information must be
incorporated into local comprehensive plans and policies. Fortunately,
there is a growing body of land-use tools that provide effective ways to
protect ground water and the environment, as a whole, and to
maintain and improve our quality of life.
But it is essential that local decision
makers have access to these tools and that
they apply them to land-use planning,
zoning, and land acquisition decisions.
When they do this, they can effectively
protect and sustain their local ground
water resources.
A ground water spring emerges from a group of
trees at the base of Fredrick’s Hill in Middleton,
Wisconsin, and flows south through a marsh to
Lake Mendota. The marsh is being surrounded on
all sides by housing developments. There is concern
that paved surfaces and increased ground
water pumping will threaten both the spring and
the wetland.
Photo: Copyright © Louis Maher
|
why land use matters to ground water...
Each time the use of a land area
changes, it can affect the hydrologic
makeup of the landscape. Highways,
shopping centers, housing
developments, industrial sites,
businesses, agricultural operations, golf
courses, feedlots, waste disposal sites,
airports, ski slopes, and sewer systems
(to name a few) have the potential to
directly or indirectly impact the quantity
or quality of both ground water and
surface water.
Local governments
need mapping information, such as recharge areas and
aquifer vulnerability, as well as land use information that indicates
potential sources of contamination in order to plan
effectively with ground water resources in mind.
Morris Land Conservancy 2003
"The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land."
Luna Leopold
Former Chief Hydrologist, USGS
|
Recommended Actions
To Congress:
- Support and provide funding to the USGS and
state geologic surveys and water resource agencies
to support increased ground water resource
characterization. The availability of this kind of
information will enable local and state governments
to direct development in ways that are
compatible with the quality, availability, and sustainability
of water resources.
- Include ground water protection targets and continue
to provide funding for federal conservation
and revitalization programs (e.g., Environmental
Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Reserve
Program, Land and Water Conservation Fund,
Army Corps of Engineers water resources funds,
Urban Parks Restoration and Recovery program,
EPA Brownfields grant program, EPA watershed
grant programs, NOAA Coastal and Estuarine
Land Preservation programs).
To Federal Land Management Agencies (e.g., BLM, Forest Service, USDA):
- Direct program efforts toward managing lands in
a manner that is protective of ground water;
specifically focus conservation and protection programs
on preserving land within critical ground
water recharge and source water protection areas.
To USGS:
- Support and conduct mapping of ground water
resources for use by local governments.
- Support and conduct research to provide a scientific
basis for understanding how specific landuse
practices and land-use changes affect ground
water, emphasizing local community needs.
To USEPA:
- Enhance EPA Smart Growth/low-impact development
outreach and assistance activities and materials
to support ground water protection to the
same extent as surface water protection, including
the following:
- Support research to provide a scientific basis for
understanding how specific land-use practices
and land-use changes affect ground water.
- Encourage state water-quality programs and
local governments to utilize available land-use
tools to protect ground water.
To Governors and State Legislatures:
- Enact legislation to develop state criteria for local
governments to incorporate ground water and
source water protection elements into zoning regulations
and comprehensive planning processes.
To Local Governments:
- Ensure that land-use policies and plans recognize
and incorporate the protection of ground water
resources as integral to sustaining the long-term
social, economic, and environmental health of
our communities.
Wolf River (a small alluvial river) in the Holly Springs
National Forest near Ashland, Mississippi. The Wolf River rises from ground water at Baker's Pond, north of Ashland, and flows northwest
into Tennessee. The river area is home to a large variety of species that are dependent upon good quality water and is fed by
the Memphis Sands Aquifer, which is used as a drinking water source for metropolitan Memphis and other Mid-South communities. It
is one of many rivers in West Tennessee and Mississippi that prompted the Chickasaw to call the region “the land that leaks.” The
Wolf’s fragile wetlands retain water long enough for it to be absorbed into the ground and serve as natural filters to cleanse polluted
waters before they reach the aquifer.
Photo: Steve Davis
|
|