MODULE-4 Land Use Planning

Land Use Plans

Planning for Water Resource Protection

Once local goals and objectives for water resource protection have been defined through a community's Comprehensive and Open Space Plans, management techniques can be developed to carry out these goals. There are many options available to manage existing sources of drinking water contamination and to ensure that future land use activities do not pose a threat to drinking water quality.

Health regulations, zoning ordinances, land acquisition, and voluntary or non-regulatory land use initiatives are some of the options available to local governments to ensure "safe and reliable" drinking water supplies. Health regulations can address environmental impacts of both proposed and existing development. Zoning controls are limited in that they are prospective- they typically apply only to future development and not to existing activities which are exempt or "grandfathered". General police powers are available under a community's home rule powers to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Non-regulatory options may include educational efforts, monitoring, the adoption of certain best management practices, and land acquisition.

Management of water resources requires a mix of strategies, generally grouped as "regulatory" and "non-regulatory". Regulatory options are those that involve government action and include traditional approaches such as zoning, subdivision control, health regulations, and wetland protection. Non-regulatory options may involve government action, but typically are accomplished by organizations and individuals outside of formal government response. For example, land trusts have proven extremely valuable in protecting water resources by acquiring land within delineated watersheds and Wellhead Protection Areas. Although the trust may work in concert with local governments, the trust is an independent corporation acting on its own.

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