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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396593
Research Project: Development of Enhanced Tools and Management Strategies to Support Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Water Quality

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: Clean Water Act at 50: Celebrating the golden anniversary of the blue policy

Author
item Smith, Douglas

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/28/2022
Publication Date: 9/5/2022
Citation: Smith, D.R. 2022. Clean Water Act at 50: Celebrating the golden anniversary of the blue policy. Journal of Environmental Quality. 51(5):775-779. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20407.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20407

Interpretive Summary: Both the Clean Water Act and the Journal of Environmental Quality trace back to 1972. The Journal has a strong history of publishing science in support of the Clean Water Act, from basic science used to develop best management practices to address water quality problems to special sections on hot issues of the day and publishing long-term data that provide evidence of success. The objective of this manuscript is to provide a brief overview of how Journal of Environmental Quality has provided a publication outlet for researchers involved in research focused on key Clean Water Act issues and to introduce a special section celebrating the golden anniversary of this blue policy. The special section includes papers that look back historically on the history of biosolids research that began with the advent of the Clean Water Act as well as a forward-thinking paper encouraging readers to think about the implications of the ubiquitous use of lithium-ion batteries and a call to action before tangible problems are realized.

Technical Abstract: Both the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) trace back to 1972. The Journal has a strong history of publishing science in support of the CWA, from basic science used to develop best management practices to address water quality problems to special sections on hot issues of the day and publishing long-term data that provide evidence of success. The objective of this manuscript is to provide a brief overview of how JEQ has provided a publication outlet for researchers involved in research focused on key CWA issues and to introduce a special section celebrating the golden anniversary of this blue policy. The special section includes papers that look back historically on the history of biosolids research that began with the advent of the CWA as well as a forward-thinking paper encouraging readers to think about the implications of the ubiquitous use of lithium-ion batteries and a call to action before tangible problems are realized.