Agricultural management, water quality and ecology: Putting practice into policy

Abstract

Point sources of water-quality impairment have been reduced due to their ease of identification and the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. However, water-quality problems remain, and as further point-source control becomes less cost effective, attention is being directed towards the role of agricultural nonpoint sources in water-quality degradation. Today, continuing water-quality impairment has led to major initiatives to reduce losses