Surface Water Quality: Have the Laws Been Successful? [Hardcover]

Ruth Patrick (Author), Faith Douglass (Author), Drew M. Palavage (Author), Paul M. Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1992

To evaluate the success of US environmental laws over the past two decades, the author examines the aquatic life of river systems in the Delaware Valley, Texas and Georgia - the only areas in the USA where she found enough biological data to determine trends over time. Although tracing the impact of environmental laws is difficult, Patrick found that for these three water systems the results were generally positive. However, if society as a whole wants effective environmental legislation, organizations must take on a more systematic and orderly approach to data gathering. Patrick argues that in monitoring the waters, one must study protozoa, algae and worms as well as fish, oysters and shrimp; one must track amounts of metal as well as low concentrations of oxygen. In proposing options for the future, the author predicts that the cost of such monitoring will be higher than present expenditures, but the cost of lax control will be even greater.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (July 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691087695
• ISBN-13: 978-0691087696
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,494,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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