The Need for Regional Water Resource Management

Abstract

Controlling pollution means setting goals for our relationship with the environment and finding ways to reach them. In the control of water pollution, government and state standards may prevent lethal conditions but do not express our hopes. We hope to achieve, in each instance, a vigorously functioning aquatic ecosystem, capable of degrading wastes to something harmless. A vigorous ecosystem is one in which diversity has been maintained. Stress results in simplification-for instance, reduction in the number of species present. Simplicity means instability. With fewer species, the loss of each becomes more damaging. From a simple business point of view, reliability and stability in a stream's ability to handle waste discharges are highly desirable. Maintenance of species diversity is therefore economically useful as well as being on more general grounds expressive of our goal in pollution control. Large scale environmental quality control has been strongly resisted by our society because it suggests further bureaucratic restrictions, particularly on the rights of individual property owners. There is no question that these dangers exist and are significant drawbacks. It is only when one examines the alternatives that acceptance of environmental quality control becomes conceivable. As an illustration, let us examine the consequences of lack of control first upon the individual property owner and second upon an industry or corporation. In our increasingly affluent society large numbers of citizens are able to finally realize their dreams of a summer cottage on a lake. After a fairly exhaustive search, Mr. Average Citizen has finally found an unspoiled lake, surrounded by forests, and with clear, deep water plus good fishing. Mr. Citizen buys an acre on the shoreline of this lake and immediately begins construction. Usually he places his cabin right on the lake shore cutting down a sizeable number of trees in the process and bulldozing the ground cover down to the waterline in order to grade the land. Any restrictions on choice of building site and the preservation of the local environment would probably be greeted with indignation, after all, he paid for the lot Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Vol. 71, No. 4, 1968. Published March 24, 1969. * Address September, 1968-Biology Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061