1 / 11

Understanding the Clean Water Act: Point Source Control and Water Quality Management

The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 establishes a robust framework for regulating pollutants in U.S. waters through point source control. The CWA targets major water pollutants such as pathogens, toxic organics, heavy metals, and nutrients, while promoting the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This includes permit systems for municipal and industrial facilities, wasteload allocation, and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). The act emphasizes the importance of maintaining water quality standards for safe drinking water and protecting aquatic ecosystems.

adler
Télécharger la présentation

Understanding the Clean Water Act: Point Source Control and Water Quality Management

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Unit 17 Point Source Control Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act of 1972)

  2. Major water pollutants • Pathogens • Organics • Toxic organics • Nutrients • Heavy metals • Sediments

  3. Traditional water law • Riparian rights • Appropriative rights

  4. CWA Point Source Control Program • What is a point source? • Easily identifiable • Concentrated • What is a nonpoint source? • Hard to identify • Diffuse

  5. CWA Point Source Control Program • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) • NPDES permit • http://www.epa.gov/owm/

  6. CWA Point Source Control Program • Wasteload allocation • Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) • http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/tmdl/index.html

  7. CWA Point Source Control Program • Nondischarge permits • Municipal facilities • Industrial facilities • Aquatic toxicity reduction • Pretreatment • Operator certification & training • Compliance & enforcement

  8. Water Quality Standards • Supported uses

  9. Water Supply Watershed Protection • Protects surface water sources of drinking water • Requires land use controls

  10. Surface Water Monitoring Program • Benthic macroinvertibrates • Fish community structure assessment • Fish tissue • Lake assessment • Phytoplankton & algal bloom • Algal growth potential tests • Chemical/physical characteristics • Sediment oxygen demand • Ambient monitoring system

  11. State programs • Most programs delegated • http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/wqs/ • High quality waters • Outstanding resource waters

More Related