Water Quality Research
2000-7-5 10:20:38

  Approved January 21, 1994, by the WEF Executive Committee

Research on water quality enables scientists, engineers, regulators, and other managers of water quality to (1) identify and define existing and potential water quality problems; (2) estimate potential environmental degradation; (3) design control or elimination processes; and (4) prevent or minimize future problems. Research facilitates understanding of the interaction between harmful substances and the natural environment. It leads to approaches for assessing the treat to human health and the environment and for developing methods for environmental protection.

There is growing recognition among water quality professionals that managing total water quality within watersheds is necessary if truly effective environmental protection is to be achieved. Successful implementation of watershed management programs will require an unprecedented amount of new technical and scientific information in order to attain, evaluate, monitor, and maintain specific levels of protection in each watershed.

Defining the Problem

As the need for the benefits derived from research has grown, support from the federal government has been falling. According to the National Research Council, funding for all federal environmental research and development efforts currently totals about $4 billion. Of this amount, only $28 million was spent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for overall water quality research in 1992, down from $67 million in 1980. Practical wastewater treatment technology and process research has declined even more dramatically, from $15.6 million annually in the late 1970's to virtually nothing today.

The water quality research funding that is available goes to support development of regulations, leaving an ever-widening gap in the development of pollution control, elimination, and prevention processes. While support for regulatory development is important, technological development is what will bring about significant progress in restoring and maintaining the quality of the nation's water resources. A more comprehensive and long-term plan which recognizes the value and benefits of both basic and applied research is needed so that scarce resources are allocated where they will achieve the greatest environmental benefit.

Water Quality Research Priorities
The Water Environment Federation established the Water Environment Research Foundation in 1988 because of concerns that water quality research needs were not being met. So far, the Foundation has identified the following priority research needs in the United States today:

£±.Water Quality Indicators
2.Transport and Fate of Toxic Contaminants
3.Surface Water Quality
4.Bioassay and Measures of Toxicity
5.Advanced Wastewater Treatment Processes
6.Risk Management and Assessment
7.Disinfection
8.Pretreatment and Source Control
9.Effluent and Residuals Disposal
10.Watershed Management
11.Biological Treatment Processes
12.Modeling Pollutant Loads
13.Air Emissions

Recommendations
Congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations Must commit the financial, personnel, and technical resources necessary to ensure that water quality research achieves continuing success in addressing water pollution problems.

Federal support for water quality research is crucial. Authorizations contained in the Clean Water Act for EPA's water quality research program have expired and must be reauthorized. Reauthorization will ensure that water quality research is a priority. Reauthorization also will enable Congress to continue providing appropriations at a level necessary to support a viable research effort.

Better coordination of water quality research, especially among federal agencies, is needed. Coordination will help ensure that research is not being duplicated by other federal agencies or the private sector. It also will help ensure that those water quality problems deemed to be of greatest concern receive the most immediate attention.

Congress should authorize and increase its support for cooperative research through mechanisms, such as the Water Environment Research Foundation, which can leverage federal assistance into a wide range of research projects. These projects can add to the scientific and technical body of knowledge concerning water quality issues which then can be applied to specific water qualities problem.

Conclusion
Water quality research must be a priority if the United States is to sustain the momentum in water quality improvement generated over the last 20 years. Through the advancement of science and technology, the impact of people on the water environment will be understood more thoroughly, and adequate and affordable environmental protection will be provided. Only with such research will the vision set forth by Congress in 1972 be accomplished and the important goals of the Clean Water Act be achieved.