Waste or Resource: A Policy Perspective on the Environmental Uses of Recycled Water
Abstract
Amidst emerging water shortages and conflicts in the United States, the advancement
of technology and the redevelopment of resource management policies are changing the
way that we look at water resources. Water use efficiency and recycling are becoming
essential parts of water quality protection and water use allocation at the federal
and state levels. However, major barriers to the use of recycled water still exist
in many forms.
Policy and regulation of recycled water vary tremendously between regions, states,
and municipalities. One theme that stands out is the management of recycled water
as a waste. With dwindling freshwater supplies resulting from quantity and quality
issues, recycled water viewed as a resource may become a more viable and widely used
option, allowing for broader uses. Major federal regulations including the Clean
Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act govern water quality, pollutant discharge, and
source water protection and have important implications for the regulation of recycled
water. By examining pertinent federal statutes, this paper identifies policy barriers
to the environmental uses of recycled water, and proposes solutions to several of
these issues based on relevant state case studies.
California, Florida, and Washington have made great strides in creating regulatory
frameworks for water recycling. Specifically, these states have produced effective
regulation for environmental uses of recycled water including stream and wetland augmentation
and groundwater recharge. Finally, this paper provides a set of broad recommendations
that may serve as steps to consider recycled water as a resource. These recommendations
include using language and definitions of terms to make important distinctions, and
considering exemptions and alternate permitting processes to avoid conflicting or
duplicative regulatory practices.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2170Citation
Blandford, Kelly (2010). Waste or Resource: A Policy Perspective on the Environmental Uses of Recycled Water.
Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2170.Collections
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