Definitions

This technology assessment makes use of several terms and abbreviations. In order to be precise in the use of terms, the following definitions are provided:

• Sustainability - Seeking to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Pointsource - Pollution from a geographically localized discharge. For example, a smokestack represents an atmospheric pointsource, and a sewage treatment plant represents an aquatic pointsource.
• Non-pointsource - Pollution from a geographically distributed discharge. For example, land application of fertilizers is a non-pointsource discharge of nitrogen and other nutrients.
• Effluent - Any pollution-containing discharge of water from an engineered process such as irrigation, industrial production, or municipal sewage treatment.
• Aquifer - A porous subterranean region saturated with groundwater.
• Surface water - Water available in streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
• Best management practices (BMPs) - Ways in which agricultural production methods can be altered to minimize negative water impacts.