Agricultural Sources of Water Pollution: How Our History Informs Current Debate

Ross, C. & Rupe, M. (2016) Agricultural Sources of Water Pollution: How Our History Informs Current Debate. Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, 17(4), 811-844.

Vermont’s history was like many other states and countries where its early development and success depended upon maximizing the potential of the environment. Unfortunately, intensive use and exploitation of that environment created negative consequences, which seemed minor given the vast wealth of the land, but which were eventually recognized and slowly understood as creating an array of costs and impacts that would need to be addressed at a future time. In the 1800s, Vermont recognized that actions were needed to ameliorate or reverse these negative consequences. While people expressed concern and took actions during that century, George Perkins Marsh, the most enduring voice to focus on these issues, wrote about the significance of the damage to the environment. The 1900s saw policies put in place to address soil erosion, establish national agricultural policy to improve farm profitability, and assure food was affordable. In the 1970s, the federal government passed landmark legislation like the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. These acts represent key elements of the “environmental” movement beginning in the 1970s and leading to further action and involvement on the part of citizens, including Vermont.
In the last ten years, Vermont’s efforts have been characterized by an increasingly collaborative effort between federal and state regulatory agencies, landowners and citizens, and technical experts and scientists. Much of this effort has been aimed at identifying sources, reducing source levels to assimilative levels, and changing practices throughout society to achieve goals for water quality including Lake Champlain.