The watershed management approach: potential impacts on fresh water inflows

In the past 20 years, substantial reductions have been achieved in the nations air, land and water. The federal laws that protect these resources have successfully reduced point sources of pollution. However, an integrated environmental management approach, which is now critical to address the remaining sources of pollution, has not been promoted by existing legislation. This has lead to program based organizational structures within the EPA and the states that do not facilitate the inter-program coordination on a watershed level. Consequently, significant gaps exist in our efforts to protect watersheds from the cumulative impacts of a multitude of land and water use activities that affect water quality.