“EPA is unable to systematically analyze the value of water to the U.S. economy, resulting in potentially inefficient resource protection and management decisions.”
Inside EPA reports:
EPA advisers, as well as agency staff economists, are signaling that officials face data quality hurdles in their effort to craft a study that quantifies the value of water to the U.S. economy — a concern that may limit EPA’s ability to cite the study’s estimated benefits in any future bid to justify strict water quality controls.
EPA value of waterClick for a letter from the EPA Science Advisory Board to EPA chief Lisa Jackson.
Don’t worry, fracking will turn clean well water into a commodity worth it’s weight in methane, er, gold!
Excellent point, Gamecock!
The EPA shoud be protecting the environment. As far as water is concernened, that means the EPA should be regulating the waste products of human activity (non-Environmental) as they enter the Environment, including the environmental water supplies.
They cannot regulate the rain or snow itself – they can’t even *predict* it using NOAA’s best computers!
They need to recognize that there are several ‘Grades’ of water (to borrow a model from the USDA), from distilled/deionized water (Grade AAA), to bottled drinking water (purified and filtered – Grade AA), to potable water (not very tasty, but safe for human or animal consumption – Grade A), to irrigation water (suitable for food crops – Grade B), to fresh water (suitable for non-food crops, industrial washing, fire-fighting – Grade C), to waste water (may contain substances harmful to living things – Grade D), and ocean water (Grade D with salt).
Each of these has a different value, and they are not interchangeable.
Doesn’t this stuff fall out of the sky?
Sounds like someone on SAB has a wife/kid/friend in a consulting firm who needs some income. Or are they trolling for work after EPA?
Quantify, then regulate. Nothing new here.