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WATER QUALITY PLANNING FOR THE DELAWARE ESTUARY ‐ AN EXAMPLE 1
Author(s) -
Whipple William
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1975.tb00682.x
Subject(s) - surface runoff , environmental science , urban runoff , water quality , pollution , estuary , stormwater , water resource management , effluent , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental planning , unit (ring theory) , environmental engineering , engineering , ecology , geotechnical engineering , mathematics education , mathematics , biology
The Delaware Estuary has been intensively studied but the planning for water quality control is very unsatisfactory, including the most recent interagency plan. Earlier planning by the FWPCA and the Delaware River Basin Commission was better; but this planning appears to have been halted and perhaps superseded by the provisions of PL 92–500. The Tocks Island reservoir planned to maintain minimum flows may never be built on account of environmental objections; but the consequences of such a decision are not being faced. Meanwhile recent research indicates that urban runoff will be a major influence possibly adding a load of as much as 500,000 lbs. of BOD in a single storm. Unit costs of treating urban runoff pollution are very high, due to its extreme variability. Artificial aeration or oxygenation may provide a more economical means of improving the dissolved oxygen regimen, as compared to primary treatment of urban runoff, or tertiary treatment of effluents. In any event planning on a regional basis is desirable in the Delaware and elsewhere, and Pl 92–500 may need to be changed to facilitate it.