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Water
Quality: General
Information and Education
EPA
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/topics.html
Abstract: The above address
is the homepage for the EPA. It is easiest to begin here when searching
for water-related sites, since the EPA’s site is quite a maze, and
it’s often true that “you can’t get there from here…”
From the main homepage, click on “water.” That takes you to
the Office of Water page from which you can access other areas including
the Index of Watershed Indicators, Surf Your Watershed etc. These sites
allow you to focus on the health of Georgia’s watersheds in terms
of specific conditions and vulnerability. Information is presented in
easy-to-read graphs. They also show how watershed health scores are calculated
– very helpful. Other topical areas accessible from the main homepage
include, drinking water, ground water, stormwater, surface water, wastewater,
water pollution, water pollution control, effects, legal aspects of, and
water quality monitoring. EPA’s pages provide the best overall picture
of the various aspects of water quality, however you must spend considerable
time searching the site for it to divulge its secrets!
United States
Geological Service (USGS) http://www.usgs.gov/
Abstract: As for the EPA, it
is best to begin with the USGS homepage. This site, while not quite as
extensive as the EPA’s, still contains a bounty of water quality
material that ranges from general to highly scientific information. The
site allows users to focus on specific watersheds, rivers or counties
in their home state. Streamflow conditions, annual average discharge of
major Georgia streams, water use on a county-by-county basis, major land
usage, phosphorus loads, data and trends are some of the specific areas
covered. The site also has numerous publications (e.g., “Water Quality
in the Georgia-Florida Coastal Plain…1992-1996”), color maps
and 3-D graphics available on-line as downloads. You can also order anything
they have as hard copy, much of which is free-of-charge. A “Water
Science for Schools” section provides a template for educating students
young and old about the precious nature of our water resources.
The Groundwater
Foundation http://www.groundwater.org
The Groundwater Foundation
is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about ground
water. This site presents a good overview of groundwater suitable for
the lay person. It defines ground water; provides relevant statistics;
tells how it is contaminated and suggests ways to protect it. It also
discusses wells, how they work and how they serve as conduits for pollution
in some cases. A list, “the top ten ways to conserve and protect
ground water,” and glossary are also included. This foundation also
sponsors the “Groundwater Guardian,” a national program which
encourages community organization and activism relative to protecting
our groundwater resources.
Clean Water Network
Address http://www.cwn.org
The Clean Water Network (CWN)
is an alliance of over 1,000 organizations all of which endorse CWN’s
position paper, the National Agenda for Clean Water (available at the
site). The CWN position paper has three basic elements: 1) prevent pollutuion;
2) protect ecosystems; and 3) strengthen enforcement. The site itself
is an excellent resource for water-related information and features technical
and education information suitable for lay persons and scientists alike.
Issue areas such as polluted runoff, total maximum daily loads, wetlands
etc. are dealt with in a thorough manner. The site also offers a wealth
of papers, fact sheets (e.g., current clean water legislation) and reports.
Most are available on-line; others are available through the mail (some
publications are free; others are available at modest prices). The site
layout is well organized and easy to use.
Georgia Environmental
Protection Division (GA EPD – a division of Georgia Department of
Natural Resources) http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/environ/
The above address is for the
GA EPD home page which is the best place to start your search for water
resources on this labrynthine site. The site is very helpful and is organized
along the following topical breakdown: Georgia’s Environment; Rules
and Laws; Implementation Plans; Outreach; the Regulated Community; EPD
forms; Technical Guidance; Enforcement; and News. Each topic is sub-divided
into specific areas of interest and most of the general topics have at
least one water-related application. For example, under the topic “Regulated
Community,” you will find all pertinent state regulations that apply
to wastewater, well-drilling, water withdrawal and drinking water. Another
of the site’s features is River Care 2000. Compiled by over 70 specialists
from various fields, this initial assessment is the first comprehensive
study of the quality of Georgia’s rivers. Readers can find the text
of various watershed protection plans, download GIS databases and maps,
search for spills, access the state toxic release inventory and much more.
However, as with other large government-run sites, you must be prepared
to spend some time on this site in order to grasp all its possibilities.
To the patient go the rewards!
American Water Works
Association (AWWA) http://www.awwa.org/
An international non-profit
scientific and educational society, AWWA is dedicated to improving drinking
water quality and supply. It claims to be “the largest organization
of water supply professionals in the world.” Its membership of over
50,000 includes scientists and environmentalists, manufacturers, academicians,
regulators and water-treatment operators and managers. The site is organized
topically around various aspects of drinking water and includes numerous
white papers (e.g., lead in drinking water; source water protection; chlorine
for disinfecting drinking water etc), and policy statements (e.g., management
of groundwater; water treatment; protecting resevoirs; flouridation etc).
It also investigates various legislative aspects of drinking water quality
and controls and presents a calendar of various water quality symposia.
Links to many of the sites included in this lists of abstracts are provided.
Wetlands and Clean Water Homepage (Sierra Club) http://www.sierraclub.org/wetlands/
This site, part of the Sierra
Club’s main webpage, deals with issues and regulations surrounding
wetlands and clean water by following legislation and scientific developments
that impact them directly. Current news items, fact sheets, newspaper
articles, reports and Sierra Club position papers are available here.
This site is useful to the lay reader or to someone seeking to follow
an issue’s “paper trail.”
Georgia Adopt-a-stream
Program http://www.riversalive.org/aas.htm
Georgia Adopt-a-stream is a
volunteer citizen action group whose goals are: 1)raise public awareness
of non-point source pollution and water quality issues in the state; 2)give
citizens requisite tools and training that enable them to evaluate and
protect local waterways; 3) encourage partnerships between citizens and
local governments; and 4) to collect baseline water quality information.
Over 36 community/watershed programs have organized Adopt-a-Stream groups
for their area. Funded in part by grants, counties, cities and non-profit
groups, the Adopt-a-Stream program gets training, manuals and technical
support from Georgia EPD. The program itself, however, is not a government
ogranization. The website shows how interested citizens can get involved
in water quality issues in their area. It lists available resources and
educational materials,discusses how to build a watershed alliance and
has appropriate links to helpful sites. The site also tells you what tools
you will need for monitoring and where you can aquire them. Collected
Adopt-a-Stream newsletters are available on-line, and a list of contact
persons is also provided. The Adopt-a-Stream site is a good example of
how the internet serves to facilitate cooperation and focus efforts that
have a net positive effect on the health of our state's watersheds. If
you’re looking to get involved, check out this site.
“Who’s
Water Is It Anyway? A Survey of Georgia Law on Surface Water and Groundwater
Withdrawal Rights”
http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/forums/regional/msg/111.html
This material is excerpted from
the Proceedings of the 1997 Georgia Water Resources Conference. We include
it here because it provides an excellent overview of the various competing
demands for water in Georgia and neighboring states and discusses in detail
the legal issues presented by these demands. Groundwater and surface water
removal rights are discussed along with applicable laws. The paper succinctly
covers the legal complexities involved in multi-state water allocation,
and it is an excellent resource for people interested in water rights
and the law in Georgia.
NEMO Homepage (Non-point
Education for Municipal Officials)
http://www.nemo.uconn.edu/
The following statement appears
on each page of this website reminding readers of NEMO’s purpose
as: “an educational program for local land use officials that addresses
the relationship of land use to natural resource protection.” During
1991-92, NEMO began as a collaborative pilot project to address non-point
pollution in three small CT. tcoastal towns. Collaborators included the
University of Connecticut, Cooperative Extension Service, Connecticut
Sea Grant and the State’s Natural Resource Management Department.
Since that time it has evolved into a highly successful training program.
Their new website is much improved and provides a wealth of information
about NEMO’s educational materials, workshops and training. It also
describes local projects and how to identify and educate local officials
about how land use affects water quality. This is an excellent site if
you have an interest in environmental activism or policy-making. Be sure
to check out their “Supernumerary Policy Panel…”
Educating Young
People About Water (National Agricultural Library/Water Quality Information
Center/US Department of Agriculture)
http://www.uwex.edu/erc/ywc/
This site will be helpful to K-12 educators seeking localized water quality
curriculum studies. Over 100 curricula are summarized online and new curricula
are reviewed and summarized as they arrive. Teachers can search either
by grade level or by water topic. The site also offers guidance in assessing
the merits of various curricula and lists availability of water-related
multimedia resources.
Purdue University http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/
Purdue University maintains excellent water resources pages that have
wide application from basic hydrogeology and groundwater principles to
specific characteristics of state and local watersheds. Their “Know
your watershed” page allows you to download a variety of useful information
about a particular watershed and includes a contact person’s name
and phone number. Other pages on Total Minimum Daily Load (TDML) provide
facts about levels of envorinmental pollutants in various watersheds and
discusses what can be done to address such pollution issues. Their pages
on hydrogeology and groundwater provide in-depth studies of these fundamental
water concepts that are suitable for lay audiences. Purdue has one of
the most expansive and useful water quality sites of any university on
the internet that we’ve found. Take your time exploring this site
and its various links. It is well worth it.
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