WATER
Over the past several decades, water pollution from municipal and industrial sources has declined dramatically in the United States. Despite this progress, the goals of the U.S. Clean Water Act remain unmet, largely because of the difficulty of controlling non-point sources like deposition from air pollution and run-off from farms and suburban developments.
A major them of Resources for the Future research is the potential for new approaches, like water quality trading and effluent fees, to meet these challenges. In the field, RFF scholars analyze the performance of policy instruments for improving water quality both in the U.S and in other countries. Recent studies have focused on the links between land use policy and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and the performance of effluent fees in Colombia. Other areas of focus are wetlands policy, drinking water, and the valuation of freshwater.