Environmental Assessments
LEI provides assessments for citizen groups needing assistance in management of environmental issues. LEI provides education on applying a management approach focusing on the empowerment of local citizens in finding solutions for environmental protection and restoration. Too often, firm mandates from a government authority do not fit a local situation. The best approach is for citizens to work with government and private industry to cooperatively find solutions to environmental issues. Solutions to environmental problems cooperatively developed with local citizen involvement, government and/or private industry is an approach that will be more effective than a model of mandated programs from a central government. All that is generally needed to make this approach work is some education and technical assistance to the citizen group. LEI helps develop approaches where government and private industry can work with local citizens in identifying and implementing local solutions to environmental problems. For water quality, this approach would have the following general steps:
- defining the beneficial uses of specific waters,
- identifying the water quality required to support these uses,
- assessing the total amount of pollution that can be assimilated before uses are impaired,
- specifying tradeoffs between treatment by private industry versus controls on nonpoint pollution sources such as farms, and
- selecting appropriate environmental indicators to monitor effectiveness of pollution control programs.
LEI’s membership contains water resource professionals with backgrounds in environmental education and engineering. The LEI membership uses their skills on projects to help educate citizens on these approaches and provide technical assistance as needed. The skills of LEI members cover the educational, technical, and policy aspects of water quality protection. Most LEI members have extensive backgrounds in environmental education. Several LEI members have the technical skills to conduct water quality assessments, including modeling specific waters. Other members have the policy development expertise that could be used to help citizen’s work with governments in developing new approaches to water quality management.
LEI Environmental Assessments
| project name | country | status |
|---|---|---|
| Pesticide Use Limits for Protection of Human Health in Inle Lake (Myanmar) Watershed | Burma | completed 2002 |
| Modeling the Response of Phosphorus Loading to Lake Villarrica, Chile | Chile | completed 2000 |
| The Effect of the Košice Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Hernad and Hornád Rivers | Slovak Republic | completed 1999 |
| Applying the Total Maximum Daily Load Process to Control Phosphorus Entering Ruzín Reservoir | Slovak Republic | completed 1998 |
| Controlling Ammonia Pollution in the Upper Hornád River Watershed | Slovak Republic | completed 1998 |