ABSTRACT
In order to have significant effect, water policy must take a holistic approach that considers the physical, social, and economic conditions within watershed, aquifer, and river basin contexts (Chapter 16). One of the key challenges of such an approach is that political boundaries hardly ever closely match surface water and groundwater boundaries (Chapter 3). When designing water policy, this challenge must be addressed and procedures developed to overcome this mismatch in boundaries. Education can be an important input in trying to bridge this difference. However, education can be effective only if policymakers and the public assign a higher priority to water resource issues and come to recognize the highly interconnected nature of our water resources. What people and firms do in one part of a river basin, watershed, or aquifer will impact other parts. This is clearly illustrated by the PFC and Granite Falls case studies discussed in Chapter 16.
