All good efforts start with a game plan.
Successful sports teams all have a game plan going into the game. The commentators sometimes say "sticking to their game plan" or "taking the opponent out of their game plan" is the key to winning the game.
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The game plan gives direction, consolidates individual talents and efforts into a team initiative, sets goals and objectives, identifies key players, coaches, their strategies and their roles, and milestones to measure success.
This could be considered somewhat analogous to the Kansas Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Plan. Here are excerpts describing an overview of the plan.
Clean Water Act
In 1972, the United States Congress passed amendments to the federal Water Pollution Control Act, referred to at the time as PL 92-500. This legislation set the nation on a course to clean up the nation's water resources. In the 28 years since passage of PL 92-500, the statute has been amended several times and is now known as the Clean Water Act.
In 1972, pollutants discharged from cities, industries and large animal feedlots were the priority. These pollutant sources, referred to as point sources, are required to have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and have for the most part implemented the pollution control requirements stipulated by the conditions of the NPDES permit. While control of pollutants discharged from point sources has resulted in substantial improvement in the quality of lakes and rivers, many of these water bodies still suffer from pollution problems. These remaining pollution problems are mainly caused by nonpoint pollutant sources.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has defined a nonpoint pollutant source to be any source of pollutants that is not required to have an NPDES discharge permit. While precipitation runoff from the land surface is the most common nonpoint pollutant source, spills and leaks from motor vehicles and machinery, atmospheric deposition or fallout, and failing on-site wastewater treatment systems are other nonpoint pollutant sources. In fact, virtually everything we do for work or pleasure can be a nonpoint pollutant source.
Specific pollutants addressed in the plan include those from surface water: fecal coliform bacteria, Atrazine, total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, phosphorus and nitrogen; and in groundwater: nitrates, Atrazine, MTBE and selenium.
Pollution control guidelines
As a result of the nonpoint source pollution problem, Congress established Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Section 319(h) is a grant program designed to assist states' implementation policies and programs for control of nonpoint source pollution.
To be eligible to receive these grants, states were required to prepare a nonpoint source management program that:
Identifies the best management practices and measures needed to reduce nonpoint source pollutant loadings.
Identifies the programs to be used to achieve implementation of the identified best management practices.
Requires development of an implementation schedule.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment Bureau of Water Watershed Management Section (previously Nonpoint Source Section) is the agency receiving Section 319 funds. The section is responsible for preparation, implementation and maintenance of the Kansas Nonpoint Source Management Plan that the Environmental Protection Agency approved in 1989.
In 1996, the EPA and the 50 states cooperatively developed a set of criteria for upgrading state nonpoint source management programs. The criteria, known as the "Nine Key Elements," are intended to increase the states' capacity to address nonpoint source pollution.
In December 2000, the EPA approved the updated-and-revised Kansas Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Plan. The Management Plan is a great source to find more information on water quality conditions in your area, agencies responsible for permitting activities involving water uses, rights and quality, what Kansas is doing to clean up and protect water in Kansas, and where to get assistance to address water quality concerns in your area. The updated management plan also is intended to reflect changes in the Kansas nonpoint source pollution control program that have occurred since the original 1989 management plan.
Although this a rather lengthy document with multiple appendixes, it is an excellent resource for how the state of Kansas is working to protect and restore our water resources for present and future generations.
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