User:Madelineewilson/sandbox

Decentralization in agricultural runoff governance
Decentralization refers to the transferring of political power from a large-scale governing entity to smaller and more localized governing bodies. Though this is relevant to many policy areas, the topic has become particularly important in environmental governance. A major environmental problem in the 21st century is agricultural runoff and its impacts. Due to the complex nature of the issue, reducing agricultural runoff, a decentralized approach is necessary in order to be effective.

There are benefits to taking a decentralized policy approach. By giving decision-making power to local officials rather than commanding new rules from a broader governor body, local citizens who are expected to abide by new rules have a greater capacity to participate in creating these rules. With this increased participation, they can create rules more tailored to the specific context of their region, providing insight that representatives from larger governing bodies would not be familiar with.

However, the major pitfall of decentralized policy-making is the difficulty of getting numerous regions to agree to addressing one widespread problem. When one region causes an externality that impacts another region, decentralized policy-making does not have the swift capability a centralized authority would have in enacting change in the externality-producing region.

Previous centralized approach
The first major centralized approach to water quality issues was the Clean Water Act of 1972. This act improved water quality through and emphasis on point-source pollution. Point-source pollution involves a contaminant entering the environment through a specific source, like a pipe. Nonpoint-source pollution involves a contaminant entering the environment through a widespread area, like surface runoff. It is more difficult to identify the source of nonpoint-source pollution, therefore it has previously been difficult to address. The Clean Water Act successfully reduced contamination from point-source pollution, but it was unable to address the problem of nonpoint-source pollution. Pollution from agricultural runoff and other nonpoint-sources has remained a problem, which has led to different decentralized approaches to be proposed.

Example - Lake Erie algae
Lake Erie experiences a problem of harmful algal blooms that are mainly caused by phosphorus runoff from agricultural lands. The abundance of phosphorus and the warm waters provide ideal conditions for the growth of algae. These blooms have negative health impacts on lake users and clog water treatment plant filters, reducing their capacity. Lakewide Action and Management Plans (LaMPs) are a centralized solution through an international agreement with Canada. The Lake Erie LaMP is a document written every two years outlining current problems, pollutants, health threats, action plans, and issues in Lake Erie. Centralized Lake Erie LaMPs are able to identify problems and solutions that reference the lake as a whole, but are unable to focus on local stakeholder groups. This prohibits solutions to be proposed that consider the needs of specific communities and local groups. Ohio Governor Mike Dewine’s water quality plan for Ohio, and acts as a decentralized solution for the algae problem in Lake Erie. H2Ohio plans to combat phosphorus runoff through phosphorus targets in counties and incentives to farmers who participate in specific practices aimed to reduce phosphorus runoff. H2Ohio also plans to create and restore wetlands, which are able to filter and reduce phosphorus runoff. H2Ohio is a decentralized approach that hopes to improve the water quality of Lake Erie through a focus on local communities.

Example - Gulf of Mexico hypoxia
The impacts of nonpoint-source pollution have been keenly felt in the Gulf of Mexico. An abundance of phosphorus and nitrogen carried down the Mississippi river have instigated an ongoing eutrophication process, which results in flourishing populations of aerobic bacteria that deplete the area of oxygen. This vast area devoid of oxygen, labelled the “Dead Zone” is unable to support the typical amount of sea life as the rest of the Gulf, harming the biodiversity of the waterbody and the economies that rely on these sea creatures.

Because this nitrogen and phosphorus influx is largely from agricultural runoff, the approaches taken to limit these nutrients is largely decentralized. However, this approach becomes an issue in that those contributing most to the agricultural runoff (the Midwest), do not feel the impacts as much as the coastal states whose economic vitality relies partly on the health of the Gulf (Louisiana and Texas). For example, one study found that 52% of the nitrogen and 25% of phosphorus arriving to the Gulf are directly from the production of soybeans and corn. These crops are staples of the Midwestern states, which have fewer incentives to reduce their use of fertilizers since the issue of hypoxia barely affects their state due to the spatial distance, but the impacts of decreased agricultural output would largely hinder their economy.