Irrigation-induced water quality problems : what can be learned from the San Joaquin Valley experience / Committee on Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems, Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program.

Irrigation farming--Environmental aspects--California--San Joaquin Valley.

Irrigation farming.

Water--Pollution--California--San Joaquin Valley.

Water.

Water quality--California--San Joaquin Valley.

Water quality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (171 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1989.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When waterfowl began to die from selenium poisoning at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in California's San Joaquin Valley, considerable alarm arose among environmental and agricultural specialists. This new volume suggests that Kesterson is not a unique problem and the events there offer important lessons for the future. Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems uses the San Joaquin experience to suggest how we can prepare for similar problems elsewhere. As one committee member put it, "There will be elsewheres"--trace elements and organic contaminants are being concentrated by irrigation in many river basins. This book addresses how the Kesterson crisis developed, how irrigation can endanger water quality, and how economic, legal, and other factors impede our ability to respond to water quality problems. The committee explores how to study these problems, unraveling complex issues and clarifying the varying perspectives of farmers, environmentalists, scientists, and other key figures. This dispassionate analysis of a controversial topic will be useful to policymakers, resource managers, and agricultural specialists and farmers, as well as specialists in hydrology, water quality, irrigation, law, and environmental quality. It will also be useful as a case study in the environmental policy classroom.

Contents:

Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems

Copyright

Preface

Contents

Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems

Executive Summary

KESTERSON AS AN EXAMPLE OF A BROADER PROBLEM

UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENTIFIC DIMENSIONS OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM

UNDERSTANDING THE INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM

RESOLVING PROBLEMS: ESSENTIAL STUDY ELEMENTS

RESOLVING PROBLEMS: IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING ALTERNATIVES

RECOMMENDATIONS

Planning Issues :Related to Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems

Policy Issues

Responding to Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems: A Shared Responsibility

1 Introduction: Kesterson as an Example of a Broader Problem

WESTERN U.S. AGRICULTURE

THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

The Natural History of the San Joaquin Valley

Differences Between the East and West Sides

KESTERSON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

STATE AND FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT

THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY DRAINAGE PROGRAM

THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY PROGRAM

FUTURE IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE ISSUES

REFERENCES

2 Understanding the Scientific Dimensions of an Environmental Problem

HOW IRRIGATION DRAINAGE ALTERS WATER QUALITY

HYDROLOGY AND SOILS

GEOLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY

FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSIDERATIONS

PUBLIC HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

3 Understanding the Institutional Dimensions of an Environmental Problem

ECONOMIC FACTORS

SOCIAL FACTORS

AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

LEGAL ISSUES

POLITICAL FACTORS

REFERENCE

4 Resolving Problems: Essential Study Elements

ESSENTIAL STUDY ELEMENTS

Recognizing the Problem

Defining the Problem

Data Assessment and Acquisition

Assessing the Data Base

Acquiring Additional Data

Interpreting the Data

COMPLEXITY AND STUDY DESIGN

Descriptive Complexity

Interactive Complexity.

UNCERTAINTY

5 Resolving Problems: Identifying and Evaluating Alternatives

TECHNICAL OPTIONS

Transport and Disposal of Drainage Water

Ocean Disposal

Deep-Well Injection

Source Control

Retirement of Land from Irrigated Agriculture

Management of Irrigation

Onsite Evaporation Ponds

Drainage Water Treatment Technologies

Desalinization Technologies

Chemical and Biological Removal

INSTITUTIONAL OPTIONS

Price Adjustments

Accurate Market Prices

Taxes and Charges

Subsidies

Legal Changes

Constraints on Water Transfers

Constraints on Drainage

Regulatory Approaches

Organizational Changes

Broadening and Redefining Responsibilities

Correcting Other Institutional Impediments

Political and Social Changes

EVALUATING ALTERNATIVES

Evaluation Criteria

Technical Criteria

Environmental Criteria

Economic Criteria

Other Institutional Criteria

The Evaluation Process

6 Recommendations

PLANNING ISSUES RELATED TO IRRIGATION-INDUCED WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS

POLICY ISSUES RELATED TO IRRIGATION-INDUCED WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS

RESPONDING TO IRRIGATION-INDUCED WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS: A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

APPENDIXES

Appendix A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Appendix B Calendar of the Committee's Activities (May 1985 to August 1989)

Appendix C Summary of the Committee's Letter Reports (May 1985 to August 1989)

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9786610214426

9781280214424

1280214422

9780309564168

0309564166

OCLC:

57012207