Using Market-Based Tools to Protect and Improve Water Quality in Kentucky

Market-based tools are first suggested in the 1960s considering how society could achieve long-term reductions in pollution without causing an undue burden on the economy. Instead of the government imposes controls (i.e., limiting the right to pollute), market incentives governed by economic principles could be used to guide individual players’ behavior. One of the strategies is to let polluters reallocate the pollution they generate among themselves, or in other words, they decide who actually does the pollution abatement. Those with high costs pollute more (abate less) and those with low costs pollute less (abate more). This type of reallocating through trading could save large amounts of money.

Reinventing Water-Landscape Monitoring and Management in the Age of Geoenabled Environmental Sensor Webs and Social Networks

Future humans interacting with water in Kentucky will bring to their experience not only the panoply of expectations, assumptions, background knowledge, and past experiences but also ultra-smart gadgetry which will shape the outcome of the event. The technoscapes inhabited by human communities and individuals are over imposed on the natural rhythms which hydrology obeys, providing opportunities for sensorial fusion. An ongoing evolutionary explosion in diversity, mobility and interconnectedness of sensors is manifesting itself as the Internet of Things, all denizens of the “Cloud”, allowing the citizen scientist to easily generate georeferenced sensor information. This augmented, hybrid sensorial ecosystem challenges us to rethink how we tap into big data, mostly unstructured, representing the status of water systems, and how we extract relevant information.

The Martin County Coal-Waste Spill and Beyond

In the aftermath of the October 2000 Martin County coal waste spill, which leaked over 300 million gallons of coal waste into two creeks, local residents expressed concerns related to water contamination. This chapter outlines the series of actions taken by government agencies and the local water district, many of which eroded confidence in the safety of public water supplies and decreased trust in government. Based on over ten years of research and engagement on the issues raised by this disaster, we reflect upon the lessons learned by this disaster and subsequent government, media and citizen action in response to it. We conclude that high levels of civic engagement and local newspapers are key factors to promote democracy, justice, and resilience at the community level.

The Waters of Kentucky

This chapter follows water through the hydrologic cycle in Kentucky and shows how water shapes the land and supports the life. It describes and quantifies precipitation, stream flow runoff, groundwater infiltration, and surface water storage in ponds, lakes, and wetlands. Water use and wastewater production and treatment are discussed. Suitability of soils and geology for septic systems are analyzed. Flooding and floodplain management issues are presented. The chapter illustrates our responsibility to maintain this vital resource for all life in the Commonwealth.

Introduction

Water and the processes driven by water are often essential in defining how we identify different regions, as well as issues across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Water in Kentucky: Natural History, Communities, and Conservation is about the past, present, and some aspects of the future of water in the commonwealth. The volume’s overall objective is to explore the variety of ways water shaped and continues to shape life in Kentucky through telling both the biophysical and the historical and con temporary stories of water’s impact. By reading this book, you should gain an improved understanding of the role water had and continues to play in each of our daily lives....

Water and People at the Confluence

Kentucky’s waterways carry a history of the landscape as well as life-sustaining water. Watersheds are any area of land draining water to a common water body, and the quality of the water body reflects human activity and natural processes. The Cane Run watershed is a polluted watershed in central Kentucky. A watershed-based plan was created by investigating the current status of the watershed and making plans to improve its conditions. Some progress has been made to improve the Cane Run watershed. Effective watershed-based plans require scientific inquiry as well as social considerations of the citizens in the watershed.

Who Pooped and How It Was Found

Tracking the sources of fecal pollution in Kentucky streams is an important task to allow for removal of the associated pollution. Modern molecular biology techniques, analyzing the DNA of fecal bacteria, provide cost effective methods and make fecal source tracking possible for municipalities and non-profit organizations. This is a story of the use of these methods by a collaboration of stakeholders to solve a real world fecal pollution problem in Lexington, Kentucky.

Wetlands of Kentucky

This chapter discusses characteristics of wetlands, where they are found, history of loss and degradation, and regulation and conservation of wetlands. Although wetlands have received much less public attention and research than streams in Kentucky, they are equally important habitats because they perform ecosystem functions that are valuable to humans and wildlife alike. Functions include flood attenuation, filtration of pollutants and sediments, water storage and supply, and wildlife habitat, many of which have human values. The chapter closes with wetland protection successes and efforts to address shortcomings through development of wetland assessment techniques and improved wetland preservation and mitigation.

Springs and the Settlement of Pioneer Kentucky

This chapter describes the role that mineral and freshwater springs played in the settlement of Kentucky. Springs served as the focal points of a network of trails created by bison and used by Indians and early settlers. Springs provided water supply for many early cities and towns. Nearly every significant community in central Kentucky owes its location to the presence of spring used for the initial water supply. As early settlements grew into substantial communities in the 20th century these springs, with few exceptions, were no longer adequate as primary water supplies. Springs remain important in rural areas for livestock.

The Watershed Atlas Project

The Watershed Atlas project visualizes landscape indicator aspects of multiple watersheds throughout Kentucky simultaneously. By viewing the landscape from a watershed perspective, this atlas is offers new insights into the impact of land use and management decisions on waterways. This atlas seeks to reveal the ways that human influence on the natural environment does not observe political boundaries. A watershed-based approach for making land management decisions takes into account that though cities, counties, and states may appear to be distinct entities, they are connected by ecological features and processes. This atlas can be used as a tool to identify which landscape characteristics are potentially relevant as a guide for future prioritization and management decisions, which may influence waterway quality.