Non-Point Source Pollution and the Clean Water Act: Policy Problem and Professional Prospects

Successful implementation of water-qualitymanagement requires accurate scientificknowledge of water systems and sound judgment about environmental policy. This dual requirement calls for interactions between water scientists, managers, and policy experts who can jointly interpret and synthesize the data necessary for decision-making. With regard to non-point source (NPS) pollution in the United States, this set of interactions is increasingly structured by the mandates of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This paper examines the need for broadly trained water-resources specialists and how this need has been influenced by the CWA and institutional restructuring in the federal government. NPS Pollution and the CWA The overarching goal of the CWA is to restor