ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT The policy issues embraced here are of major concern to the general public and their political representatives. Plentiful supplies of high-quality water must be provided for all uses. Future decisions on groundwater use and preservation will have profound impacts on land use and national economics. A research program to assist in regulation of pesticide contamination must consist of a mix of fundamental and applied projects, and of short-and long-term theoretical, laboratory and field investigations. The research should be accompanied by a strong technology transfer/information dissemination effort and a training scheme capable of producing a new generation of high-quality professionals. An adequate data base backed by welldesigned sampling and monitoring protocols is essential to the development of predictive mathematical models capable of delineating those lands likely to be sources of groundwater contamination. Proposed control measures should be site-and compound-specific. The goals of the research should be to describe the chemical, physical and biological processes controlling transport, transformations, distribution and fate of pesticides and to evaluate their toxicological significance. Eventually, these findings will allow formulation of a rational protocol for protecting water resources founded on fundamental scientific principles and sound economic and policy considerations.
