October 18, 2016
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The environmental organization River Connect has issued a report titled:
Protecting and Restoring Flows in Our Southeastern Rivers: A Synthesis of State Policies for Water Security and Sustainability
River Connect cites a range of threats to river flows in the Southeast.
The organization states that the Report addresses:
- A comprehensive set of policies
- Scientific foundations of water budgets
- Supply management
- Flow protection
- Demand management
- Management of the built environment
The policies in the following five Southeastern states are examined:
- Alabama
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
River Connect also offers recommendations and models for how it believes the referenced state policies should be strengthened. Some of the state policies discussed include:
- Water budgets – policies relating to gathering and utilizing information on how much water has been used and returned to the river basins
- Security – understanding developing water budgets
- Managing supply – policies relating to management of water supply and river flows including water withdrawal permitting and tracking, interbasin transfer evaluation and water planning
- Flow protection – policies relating to both science-based environmental flow criteria as well as mechanisms or policies to apply the criteria including water allocation and withdrawal permitting policy and water quality standards
- Reducing demand – policies relating to water conservation efficiency, including managing water loss and integrating conservation and efficiency into withdrawal requirements
- Built environment – policies relating to reducing the demand for water including creating more natural systems in the built environment that contribute to and replenish streams and rivers
The Report also includes a discussion of the water laws and regulations in the referenced states.
A link to the Report can be downloaded here.
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