LANDSCAPE ACTION PROGRAM 483 



seem both inevitable and desirable. These are the simple rules for 

 the New Conservation. 



Surface water and riparian lands should be utilized only for func- 

 tions inseparable from waterfront locations ports, harbors, marinas, 

 water-related and water-using industries. In the Philadelphia re- 

 gion where there are 5,000 miles of rivers, such uses as would be per- 

 mitted might consume 50 miles of waterfront location. For the 

 remainder agriculture, forestry, recreation, open space for housing, 

 and also institutions would be appropriate. 



Water quality would be regulated by the natural capacity of rivers 

 and streams to reduce pollutants and sewer outfalls would be located 

 in response to this capacity to ensure continuous high quality water 

 for both consumption and recreation. Water quality standards 

 would be defined not by dead bacteria or chlorine but by the num- 

 ber and distribution of living aquatic organisms as advocated by 

 Dr. Ruth Patrick. 



Marshes would be preserved as flood storage areas and wildlife 

 habitats. Filling or development would be prohibited. 



Fifty-year-flood-plains would be prohibited to all development save 

 those inseparable from waterfront locations plus agriculture, forestry, 

 recreation and open space uses. Flood plains are not for people. 



Ground water or aquifers are an invaluable resource. In New 

 Jersey the water below is the valuable constituent of the land above. 

 The factors of percolation, storage, water quality, recharge and with- 

 drawals, flood and drought control should be managed. These re- 

 quire restraints upon land use. Injection wells, toxic wastes, atomic 

 reactors, sewage treatment plants, and similar hazards to water re- 

 sources should be explicitly prohibited and other land uses permitted 

 in relation to their effect upon the water regimen. 



Soils are living systems, the most productive soils are products of 

 geological time and are irreplaceable. Given land abundance and 

 choice, it is recommended that prime agricultural land be prohibited 

 to development. 



Steep slopes and the ridges and mountains they constitute are a 

 major source of erosion and sediment, disequalibrium in water sys- 

 tems, increased turbidity, diminished biotic habitats, natural water 

 purification, threat to flood control structures and reservoirs. Such 

 erosion presents enormous problems and costs for flood control, water 

 treatment, navigation, and channel maintenance. Regulation on 

 steep slopes of 1 2 degrees or more would forbid cultivation or devel- 



