20 Years and Counting

This issue marks the 20th anniversary of Erosion Control magazine. In 1993, the Clean Water Act was a mere two decades old. Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) had just begun, and Phase II-which would control nonpoint-source pollution like sediment-was still 10 years away.

What else has changed in the last 20 years? The public has, by and large, become more aware of the causes of environmental problems. The 1970s brought a wave of environmental awareness-spurred by even earlier events, from Silent Spring to oil spills to polluted rivers that sometimes caught on fire-and this newfound concern helped bring about the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency itself. But today, I think, we are even more knowledgeable about specific causes of environmental degradation and what to do about them. Local environmental groups and “Friends of the [fill in the name of a local water body]” get involved with local planning decisions, they actually do watch what goes on at construction sites, and they report what they see. Whether that’s good or bad depends, perhaps, on your perspective, but citizen suits and local watchdogs-people who care deeply about their local waterways-have made a big difference in how environmental policy is shaped and enforced.

Another thing that has changed is the diversity of tools available to us. Scores of new products have come on the market, with more specific uses and more research and development behind them. From hay bales and just a few types of erosion control blankets and silt fence, we now have specialized sediment barriers of all kinds, blankets and mats of dozens of materials and durabilities, bonded fiber matrix and other hydraulically applied products, and a whole range of specialized structural products that go far beyond riprap. The abundance of good products makes the job easier-but also requires more knowledge of what to choose, how to install it, and how to maintain it.

A major trend affecting the industry is the move toward “treating rain where it falls” in the form of green infrastructure or low-impact development practices-infiltrating water onsite rather than collecting and treating runoff in more central locations.

Another trend, still evolving, is the slow move toward watershed-based, rather than jurisdictional, management of stormwater and pollutants. Although it’s difficult to accomplish, and something quite different from the original NPDES permitting process, taking a broader view based on geography rather than political boundaries makes sense. We’re starting to see more of this in areas like the Chesapeake Bay, where so many different cities and states contribute pollutants within the same watershed.

What do you see as the most important developments over the last two decades, and what do you think is coming next for the ESC industry? Leave a comment on http://www.erosioncontrol.com, or send an e-mail to mailto:[email protected].