AUBURN DAM: A CASE STUDY OF WATER POLICY AND ECONOMICS1

ABSTRACT: This paper provides a critical analysis of the Bureau of Reclamation's Auburn-Folsom South project in California. While this massive $1.5 billion project is temporarily halted for redesign for earthquake hazard, it is timely to examine its justification on economic grounds. The key finding is that several major benefit categories, irrigation and recreation, have been grossly overstated. In addition, the Bureau failed entirely to estimate the cost of use on the free-flowing American River, or a probability-weighted estimate of catastrophic loss. Revised estimates indicate that the project is not economically justified. In addition, the project has unattractive distributive effects. The implications of this case study for current revisions in U.S. water policy are explored. The Auburn study basically provides support for the U.S. Water Resource Council's draft manual of procedures for evaluating federal water resource projects.     

REAUTHORIZING THE CLEAN WATER ACT: LOOKING TO TANGIBLE VALUES1

ABSTRACT: The degree of progress achieved under the 1972 Clean Water Act is reviewed by reference to traditional measures of program implementation, and to evidence of tangible, or “real-world” progress, such as beach closures, drinking water contamination, fishing bans and advisories, species health, and habitat degradation. Significant progress has been made in reducing pollution from point sources, but large point source releases of toxic and other pollutants remain. Little progress has been made in addressing runoff pollution, and in protecting aquatic habitats. Clean Water Act reauthorization should focus on pollution prevention to reduce further the release of toxics by point sources, a new program of mandatory but flexible controls on sources of runoff, and watershed protection programs to promote habitat protection and restoration. Economic factors should be considered in Clean Water Act programs, but must be balanced against scientific and governmental factors as well.     

EVALUATION OF CONSUMER NOTIFICATION UNDER THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT1

ABSTRACT: The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 as amended in 1986 requires that consumers be notified when maximum contaminant levels are exceeded in their community water supply and when prescribed testing and treatment procedures are not met. A review of communication theory indicates that for the message to be effective (1) it must be received by the intended audience, (2) it must be attended to by that audience, (3) it must be understood, and (4) it must be accepted and acted upon. A review and analysis of existing research evaluating notification programs administered under the Safe Drinking Water Act indicates (1) that receipt rates have been highly, variable, (2) that attention to the message has usually not been directly assessed, (3) that levels of understanding, while variable, have usually been minimal, and (4) that acceptance, though not often directly measured, seemed higher than expected. These results, while critical of past notification programs, indicate that understanding and acceptance can be increased if receipt and attention rates are increased. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for improving receipt and attention rates, for increasing understanding, and, most importantly, for increasing acceptance and community action for upgrading local water treatment and quality.     

THE COSTS OF CONFLICTING ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: A CASE STUDY IN MILWAUKEE1

ABSTRACT: The history of the Milwaukee water pollution abatement program is examined as a case study to investigate the costs of conflicting environmental policy. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the Milwaukee case is described as a milestone in U.S. water pollution abatement policy which will help preclude the type of environmental policy conflict which has been found to be so costly to Milwaukee. The implications to U.S. water pollution abatement policy of the 13-year history of conflict in Milwaukee are presented.     

A CASE STUDY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT AMENDMENTS1

ABSTRACT: A general model of the policy implementation process is utilized to facilitate a discussion of the way Section 208 of PL 92-500 is being carried out on an areawide basis. A study of four “208 areas” in the “New York-Philadelphia corridor” highlights the operation of several variables used in the model. The varying political and socioeconomic conditions in geographic areas which have similar water quality problems are leading to the evolution of vastly different implementing structures, or institutional arrangements. The analysis suggests that these differences may have important implications for the success of the program in each of these areas. A major underlying theme is that such problems are characteristic of the 208 process nationwide and reflect general difficulties associated with managing water quality in a federal system.     

INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE WITH STORM WATER POLLUTION PREVENTION REGULATIONS: THE CASE OF TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY FACILITIES IN CALIFORNIA AND THE LOS ANGELES REGION1

ABSTRACT: Pollutants in urban storm water runoff, a significant and increasing fraction of pollutants in some waters of the U.S., originate from multiple activities. The industrial sector, one source category, is subject to federal and state-level storm water pollution prevention regulations, primarily General NPDES Permits that rely heavily on facility operators to identify themselves and develop appropriate site-specific pollutant controls. Degree of compliance is not readily determined and enforcement is inhibited because no publicly-available inventories contain data necessary to comprehensively identify facilities required to comply. This research evaluates the first stage of compliance, facility self-identification, concentrating on the motor-vehicle, transportation industry category using data at three scales: statewide, regional, and local or watershed. Data for California statewide and for the Los Angeles region show about 8 percent to 15 percent of motor-vehicle transportation facilities have complied with first-stage requirements. However, facility-specific evaluation in one Los Angeles County watershed suggests less than 50 percent of facilities in the industry conduct industrial activities of the kind covered by regulations; others need not comply. Results show strong variation by industry category. Second-stage compliance, follow-up reporting, is also evaluated for the Los Angeles region. About 17 percent to 34 percent of facilities completing first-stage requirements have also completed second-stage requirements.