Irrigation-induced Water Quality Problems: What can be Learned from the San Joaquin Valley Experience, Committee on Irrigation-induced Water Quality Problems, Water Science and Technology Board and Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources National Research Council, (Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1989), 147pp.
Understanding environmental problems; administrative procedures; politics; approaches to environmental policy-making; applicable to water resource related problems, and toxic material; written for the first party participant.
Irrigation-induced Water Quality Problems: What can be Learned from the San Joaquin Valley Experience is an examination of the problem of irrigation-induced water quality problems using the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and its build-up of toxic levels of selenium as an example. This work examines the scientific and institutional dimensions of the problem and offers a methods for resolution.
Irrigation-induced Water Quality Problems: What can be Learned from the San Joaquin Valley Experience is required reading for ARSC 5020/7020 as taught by Professor Michael Glantz and Professor Jim Wescoat. This work will be useful to those who are interested in the origins and possible solutions to irrigation-induced water quality problems. The work begins with an executive summary which condenses the contents of the book. An introduction examines the historical use of irrigation in the West, specifically in the San Joaquin Valley of California. State and federal involvement in the Kesterton National Wildlife Refuge is examined. The introduction closes with a focus upon the national irrigation water quality problem and possible future irrigation and drainage problems.
A primer on the scientific dimensions of the problem includes discussions of: how irrigation drainage alters water quality, hydrology and soils, geology and geochemistry, and wildlife and public health considerations. The institutional dimensions addressed include: economic, social and political factors. Agencies and organisations involved in the problem and the legal issues are also addressed.
Two chapters are devoted to resolving problems. The work details the essential elements for a proposed study which should account for complexity and uncertainty in the study design. Evaluating alternatives is seen as another dimension of resolving the problem. Methods for identifying and evaluating both technical and institutional options are advanced. The concluding chapter offers recommendations regarding planning issues and policy issues related to irrigation-induced water quality problems. The text is followed by three appendices which contain biographical sketches of the committee members, a calendar of the committee's activities and a summary of the committee's letter reports.
Irrigation-induced Water Quality Problems: What can be Learned from the San Joaquin Valley Experience offers an initial examination of irrigation-induced water quality problems and recommendations for proceeding toward solutions to the problem.
T. A. O'Lonergan