ABSTRACT
Environmental Policy Act (1969); the Water Pollution Control Act Amend
ments of 1972; the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977; and related legis
lation in various states. The various mandated planning activities have
required that parts of the natural system, for example, surface water
bodies, ground water systems, atmospheric systems, be analyzed to eval
uate the impacts of human activities on the ambient quality of the re
spective systems and to assess the effectiveness of strategies for achiev
ing and maintaining an acceptable level of "quality.” In other words,
the primary emphasis of natural systems analysis has been within some
"management context," however that context has been defined.