Chapter 16. Chapter 16: Water Pollution
What is the makeup of a healthy riparian area...?
Guiding Question 16.4
What are the characteristics of a healthy riparian area, and how can this improve water quality?
Why You Should Care
The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) set the rules and regulations about water pollution and the standards for cleaning up after pollutant releases. Part of the CWA sets the fines for pollution above regulated standards, but the more important component is the creation of best management practices (BMP) to minimize water pollution in the future.
Some BMPs deal with the creation of riparian areas that filter nutrient or sewage runoff before it enters streams or rivers. These areas function as forest buffers or wetlands, where the producers soak up and use the nutrients. Here, the diversity and function of natural ecosystem services solve the pollution problem before it can cause eutrophication in the water.
Other BMPs seek to encourage farmers or industrial sources to change their practices to save money, increase efficiency, or just minimize waste generation. These changes are all voluntary, so there has to be popular support or nothing will change unless pollution rises above the standards.
Test Your Vocabulary
Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Allowable levels of a pollutant that can be released over a certain time period; set by EPA. | |
| The land area adjacent to a body of water that is affected by the water’s presence (for example, water-tolerant plants grow there) and that affects the water itself (for example, provides shade). | |
| Agreed-upon (or EPA-regulated) actions that minimize pollution problems caused by industrial or land-use impacts. | |
| The main U.S. federal law that regulates water pollution. |
1.
Riparian areas are recommended to be forests for which reason?
| A. |
| B. |
| C. |
| D. |
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