Gaps in basic information about water quality hobble attempts at all levels of government to improve the quality of our nation’s water resources.  

James Boyd on Information about
U.S. Water Qualiy

This effort must be authorized under the Clean Water Act and be appropriately funded. We recommend that, using amendments to the Clean Water Act, you seek authorization to increase appropriations by 10 percent per year over the next 10 years to support the states’ responsibility for water quality assessment and management in their rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

Additionally, we recommend that you initiate an interagency cooperative investment program for the research and development of new technologies to improve the quality and affordability of ambient water monitoring.

James Boyd centers his research on law and regulatory economics, including liability law, water quality regulation, ecological benefit assessment, environmental enforcement, and land use management.

Leonard Shabman centers his research on studying market incentives in environmental management, including water supply and quality, flood hazard management, river restoration, fishery management, and public investment analysis. He is former director of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, and a professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Polytechnic University.

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