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Page added on October 8, 2015
The Problem of Agriculture
I was born and raised in North Dakota, a rural state with an economy that historically has been dependent on agriculture, but I knew virtually nothing about the hard work of farming—nor did I understand the way farming creates ecological crises—until I met Jim Koplin. At that time, like most people who labeled themselves as an environmentalist, I thought in terms of pollution in human communities and the need for wilderness preservation. Farming was, well, just something farmers did, not an ecological question. One of the most important contributions Jim made to my education was exposing me to a critique of the increasing industrialization of agriculture, which led me to recognize that there is no solution to environmental problems without facing the problem of agriculture.
That phrase—the problem of agriculture, instead of problems in agriculture—is taken from Wes Jackson, who points out that our species’ fundamental break with nature came roughly 10,000 years ago when we started farming. While gathering-hunting humans were capable of damaging a local ecosystem in limited ways, the shift to agriculture and the domestication of animals meant humans for the first time could dramatically alter ecosystems, typically with negative consequences. While there have been better and worse farming practices in history, soil erosion has been a consistent feature of agriculture, making agriculture the first step in the entrenchment of an unsustainable human economy based on extraction.
Agriculture’s destructive capacity was ramped up by the industrial revolution that began in the last half of the 18th century in Great Britain, which intensified the magnitude of the human assault on ecosystems. This revolution unleashed the concentrated energy of coal (and eventually oil and natural gas) to run the new steam engine and power the machines in textile manufacturing that dramatically increased productivity. That energy eventually transformed all manufacturing, transportation, and communication, not only creating new ways of making, moving, and communicating, but also radically changing social relations. People were pushed off the land and into cities that grew rapidly, often without planning. World population soared from about 1 billion in 1800 to the current 7 billion, which was made possible by the application of those industrial processes to agriculture. Vaclav Smil estimates that 45 percent of the world’s population—more than 3 billion people—would not be here without the Haber-Bosch process, which in the early 20th century made possible the industrial production (using large amounts of natural gas) of ammonia-based fertilizers from atmospheric nitrogen, which greatly expanded food production.
We are trained to think that new technologies mean progress, but the “advances” in oil/gas-based industrial agriculture have accelerated ecological destruction. Soil from large monoculture fields drenched in petrochemicals not only continues to erode but also threatens groundwater supplies and creates dead zones in bodies of water such as the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the loss of vital topsoil, modern farming is a primary contributor to reductions in biodiversity and declines in ecosystem health.
The fact that agriculture is failing takes many by surprise, given the dramatic increase in yields made possible by that industrialization of farming and the use of those fossil-fuel based fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. But this is what Jackson has called “the failure of success”: Production remains high while the health of the soil continues to decline dramatically, and so short-term success masks the long-term unsustainability of the system. We have less soil that is more degraded, and there are no technological substitutes for healthy soil; we are exhausting and contaminating groundwater; and contemporary agriculture is dependent on a finite fuel source.
More and more people recognize these problems, which has meant more produce coming from home gardening, urban farms, and community-supported agriculture. But Jackson points out that about 70 percent of the world’s calories come from annual grains that take up about 70 percent of the world’s cultivated land. That’s why The Land Institute’s research into “natural systems agriculture” investigates ways that monoculture annual grains (primarily wheat, rice, and corn) can be replaced by perennial grains grown in polycultures (mixtures of plants that don’t require new planting every season)—farming that mimics nature instead of trying to subdue it. Jackson points out that when left alone, a natural ecosystem such as a prairie recycles materials, sponsors its own fertility, runs on contemporary sunlight, and increases biodiversity. Natural systems agriculture is one attempt to produce enough food while adding to ecological capital rather than degrading it.
The industrial economy treats the world as either a mine from which we extract what we need or a landfill into which we dump our waste. While there’s no telling whether perennial polycultures are going to be the key to sustainable agriculture, it’s clear that intensifying the industrialization of agriculture is a losing bet. The modern worldview ignores the fact that everything that supports life on the planet operates in cycles. Jackson offers a powerful image of what has gone wrong: The best symbol for nature is a circle; agriculture is a human attempt to square the circle; industrial agriculture flattens the circle into a straight line on the model of a factory’s mass production.
48 Comments on "The Problem of Agriculture"
James Tipper on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 8:45 am
“last half of the 18th century in Great Britain, which intensified the magnitude of the human assault on ecosystems.”
As opposed to the previous system without industrialization with routine famines.
“We are trained to think that new technologies mean progress, but the “advances” in oil/gas-based industrial agriculture have accelerated ecological destruction.”
I’m pulling out my Nobel prize.
penury on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 9:41 am
As usual the problem is”Too damned many people.” When any organism outgrows their environment this will happen. Catch 22, if you do not use the “best” practices less food is grown, if you do then the air,water and soil are destroyed.
makati1 on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 10:11 am
“We have less soil that is more degraded, and there are no technological substitutes for healthy soil;…”
Not many of today’s Western farmers know what healthy soil is supposed to look like because they have never seen any.
makati1 on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 10:12 am
James, “Routine famines” kept the human locusts in check. Another, even more devastating one is on it’s way. Be patient.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 10:15 am
Every time we make an amazing new invention that will solve all our problems, humanity responds with increasing their numbers.
And that, i guess, is our real problem on this planet.
It is not just agriculture that is industrialized.Today even humanity is optimized by the medical industry to give a better yield.
Much lower child mortality, cures for diseases, express intervention in case of epidemies.
Nature hasn’t got a chance.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 11:20 am
The newly given nobel-price for medicine achievements, was given to the discovery of a therapy for malaria, which of course is great for all those who have malaria.
Seen from my point of view though, it’s just another way of humanity aggressively pushing into natures pristine areas, that untill now has been prohibitive for “civilized” people, and therefore relatively unharmed by culture.
If humanity no longer have to take malaria into consideration, the last untouched natural areas in Africa is under severe threat.
masquernom on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 11:38 am
Malthis versus the economists. So far, the economists are winning. But will Malthis be right in the end? And how long till the end?
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 12:20 pm
So far agricultural progress has produced more people, but lower life quality. Thats why we have immigrants from countries that actually have made progresses but also,sad to say, have a huge majority of dissatisfied inhabitants.
The “undoubtable” aim of scientific and agrocultural development would be better life quality for every body, but in most cases that doesn’t seem to be the case.
My guess is that Maltheus theories are starting to kick in, although in different way.
People don’t revolt because of hunger any more. They protest because of their social condition. It’s not hunger that will ignite the next global problem. It’s social overload that makes people migrate from disorganised countries.
Pennsyguy on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 12:53 pm
Humanity will overcome the limits of exponential growth on a finite planet when we start to create energy.
Davy on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 12:57 pm
Claman food issues will be the tipping point. Social issues can be smoothed over if you keep the masses fed. Let them get hungry and you have a failed state on your hands. Yes I agree currently it is social overload. Soon it will be hunger and famine.
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 1:04 pm
James Tipper, there are still routine famines and have been for the entire history of industrialization. Almost half the world lives on $2 a day and 1.3 billion of those live on $1.25 many of these folks are malnourished – now that’s progress. Oh, and the 85 richest people have more money than those 3.5 billion combined. More progress. How did this happen when a barrel of oil has the equivalent of 10 – 11 years of human labour?
Famines since 1850 – Global View
http://ourworldindata.org/data/food-agriculture/famines/
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 1:18 pm
Richard Manning – Interview
Journalist and author of
“Against The Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdr-maH3jtc
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 1:27 pm
Davy@ : “Let them get hungry and you have a failed state on your hands”
Allrigth, but the great migration has allready started, even though there is no real hunger situation present.
Their states have failed allready, and they are leaving without any obvious life-threatening situation at hand, at least for the american/mexican situation.
And yes, hunger and famine comes later.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 1:53 pm
apneaman@ : there are still routine famines.
Honestly, where do find these routine famines?
I know where they are, I just want you to say it, because they are so totally self inflicted, that you can’t blame anybody else for them
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:13 pm
Sure claman, just like your stupidity and ignorance are self afflicted. You’re making the claim that they are self inflicted, not me. I just pointed out that they exist and that there is a great disparity of resources and wealth. You came rushing in with the blame game and “just world” rhetoric, so prove it asshole.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:41 pm
apneaman@ You still havn’t said where those famines are. You prove it, not me.
JuanP on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:46 pm
Hunger stats: http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger
More than 400 million people have starved to death in my 46 years on this planet. More than three million children under the age of five starve to death every year according to official UN statistics.
People claiming we have conquered hunger or that famines are a thing of the past are living in lala land. Thousands are starving to death this instant all over the world. More than a billion people are hungry right now. Almost 50 million Americans need food stamps to get by. Progress?
JuanP on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:48 pm
Claman, You are an ignorant, arrogant prick!
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:51 pm
apn :Asshole here: In the southern parts of sahara there are more or less constant civil wars going on, where people are starving.
Not because outsiders won’t help, but because the some participants won’t allow help to get into the country.
It’s cool from here
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 2:59 pm
JuanP : For gods sake tell me where are those hunger situation today ?
Southern Sahara is one place, but it has its own reasons. Where on earth today will you find people starving in a major scale with out the world responding .
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 3:20 pm
claman, very vague. Outsiders? Help? Some participants?
claman, btw you know those folks who got shot at college last week? It was self inflicted – they picked the wrong country to be born in with the wrong parents with the wrong religion – “totally self inflicted”.
I already provided a link, try looking at the left hand column bright boy.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 3:49 pm
Apn:“totally self inflicted”.
I admit that was a little to much, or maybe even wrong. I a’m sorry.
My point is that it is realy hard to help the people in south sahara as the situation in this area is a total mess.
But if we look at the world as such, I cant really find hunger areas where they don’t get any kind of help or relief at all
Boat on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 5:24 pm
So when was peak death by hunger by capita. Bet a nickle it isn’t now.
The vast majority of hungry people live in developing regions, which saw a 42 percent reduction in the prevalence of undernourished people between 1990–92 and 2012–14. Despite this progress, about one in eight people, or 13.5 percent of the overall population, remain chronically undernourished in these regions, down from 23.4 percent in 1990–92. As the most populous region in the world, Asia is home to two out of three of the world’s undernourished people.
There has been the least progress in the sub- Saharan region, where more than one in four people remain undernourished – the highest prevalence of any region in the world. Nevertheless, the prevalence of undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa has declined from 33.3 percent in 1990– 92 to 23.8 percent in 2012–14, although the number of undernourished people has actually increased.
Hunger continues to take its largest toll in Southern Asia, which includes the countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The estimate of 276 million chronically undernourished people in 2012–14 is only marginally lower than the number in 1990– 92. Eastern Asia (where China is by far the largest country) and South-eastern Asia (including Indonesia, Philippines, Mynamar, Vietnam and others) have reduced undernutriton substantially.
Latin America has the most successful developing region record in increasing food security.
The target set by the Millenium goals was to halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015. For developing countries as a whole, the goal was to halve the proportion of hungry people from the base year(s) of 1990-2, or from 23.4% to ll.7%. As the proportion in 2014–one year before the year the goals are supposed to be achieved–is 14.5%, the goal is unlikely to be met, although there has been significant reduction. As can be seen from the table, East Asia, South East Asia, and Latin America and the Carribbean regions have met the goal.
World Food Summit target. The target set at the 1996 World Food Summit was to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015 from their number in 1990-92. Since 1990–92, the number of hungry people in developing regions has fallen by over 200 million, from 991 million to 790.7 million. However the goal is 497 million (1/2 of 994 million), which means that the target will not be reached.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 6:09 pm
Boat@ “Hunger continues to take its largest toll in Southern Asia, which includes the countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.”
Boat, these are interesting numbers, and in many ways what I was looking for.
I would like to ask you a question though.
When the statistics about the nutritional state of a population were made, did they also take in account that malnourished people might be infected with intestinal parasites, that notoriously make them look thin and skinny.
They might actually get enough food, but the parasites would take the lions part.
It’s just a question and you seem informed, so…?
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 7:10 pm
boat@ An incredibly high rate of indian people are infected with intestinal parasites, which could give false results when it comes to malnourishment.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-3156.1998.00175.x/pdf
I guess it is the same pattern all over south asia
green_achers on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 7:31 pm
Remedial tutorial for those who forgot: “Peak” means the most ever. It’s the decline after peak that’s the problem. Multiple sources will tell you that the unrest in the MENA began with food shortages.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 7:48 pm
green_achers @
In libya food shortages yes, famine no.
In syria: food shortage yes, famine no.
Peak food has probably been here, but lack of food is not even near. It will come eventually, but I think you will have to wait decades for that.
Davy on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 8:00 pm
Sorry Clam, that sounds reassuring but does not pass the reality test. You have 4 things happening. Population is growing 80Mil a year. The global economy is stagnating and is in danger of serious decline. The oil situation is unstable from multiple peak oil dynamics. Climate change is increasingly responsible for food production losses.
Food is economic. Food is oil. Food is climate. More people need more food. You are naïve to think famine instances are the issue. The issue is systematic, global, and climate related. We are two bad harvests away from widespread hunger. We are one oil war away from widespread hunger. We are one economic collapse away from widespread hunger.
This situation has never before been so serious and dangerous but the sheeples continue to graze as if food is sacred an non-negotiable. Nature does not negotiate.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 8:08 pm
If the world is running out of food, we could cut down on production of animal protein. That would give us some years.
If that is not enough we could stop producing empty calouries like wheat and corn, and focus on more nutritional crops.
We could even stop producing crops for ethanol. Bingo: many extra years of world food.
But the food crisis will come as the world population keeps rising – just not now.
Worldwide there is no emidiate lack of food.
claman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 8:15 pm
Davy@ Basically iI think we agree, most of all because it is half past three in the morning here in sweden. Sleep tight
Davy on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 8:18 pm
Clam, sleep tight, stick around our board it is nice to have people from around the world chime in.
makati1 on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 9:04 pm
Claman, Most of the world’s food crisis is man-made and, specifically, Capitalist made. “For profit” rules who eats and who doesn’t in the 21st century, not so much Mother Nature, yet. The world produces enough food for it’s billions, but it wastes enough to feed at least a billion of us, every year.
I would guess famine is coming to the EU and Sweden in the near future as the ‘locust’s from the south’ spread into the EU. I hope you are prepared for it. You can thank America for that problem.
I noticed that Sweden has the same problem as the US. Only 2% of your population are in farming. Most in “services” or industry. I also noticed that you too import food. I also noticed that Germany is your largest trade partner. Interesting.*
Welcome aboard. ^_^
*https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sw.html
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 9:07 pm
claman is that a traditional Swedish name? I have that Swedish blood in my veins. Great grandfather’s family name was Kalin or Kahlin. I like to pretend my way back ancestors were the Viking raiders and traders that Russia was named after and maybe one of them was a mercenary for the Byzantine empire. They could have been dirt farmers or fishermen, but that fantasy sucks.
apneaman on Thu, 8th Oct 2015 11:59 pm
MEGACANCER ~ Exploring the pathology of industrial civilization.
Not Negotiable
“That a civilizational cancer should arise only requires the already existing natural propensity to acquire and store wealth, if possible, and the sudden evolutionary emergence of a second complex adaptive system. A complex adaptive system that can evolve, albeit much more quickly than what is found in the ecosystem (DNA-RNA-Tools) and apply those adaptations against each other (tribes/nations) and against everything else in the ecosystem. Even though great good can be accomplished for Homo sapiens using the organization and tools developed in CAS II, these advantages are temporary and akin to the advantages a cancer has while growing within its parent system. Before the maturing of the technological complex adaptive system, native humans roamed various relatively undefined territories taking resources on a daily basis. Further development of tools made various resources extractable and convertible into human utility. Surveying and fencing and a place to record the information (courthouse) were two adaptations which allowed specific ownership of plots of land and resources above and below ground. Once ownership is established any number of new tools can be used to plunder its wealth. Of course the living ecosystem is almost never seen as wealth because it cannot provide large immediate rewards to the limbic system without being consumed in short order. The enzymatic tools are brought in to mine, pump, clear and begin the catabolic process with the “wealth” flowing to the property owner. The wealth is only temporary, the long-lasting intergenerational wealth (intact ecosystem) having been destroyed in favor of immediate satisfaction.
Why does the technological system continue to grow without hesitation even though signs of parent system degradation and ill-health abound and catastrophic collapse is projected? I think it is because the limbic brain can ignore complex arguments and go about its business seeking rewards until the amygdala actually rings the alarm bells and warns of immediate threat. In other words, the limbic brain, the one in control, cannot be impeded from seeking reward until the personal damage resulting in seeking that reward is manifest.”
more
http://megacancer.com/2015/10/06/not-negotiable/
makati1 on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 12:39 am
As if the Us didn’t have enough to deal with:
“Arabic Is Fastest-Growing Language In US As Immigration From Middle East, North Africa Spikes”
http://www.ibtimes.com/arabic-fastest-growing-language-us-immigration-middle-east-north-africa-spikes-2131272
“…Nearly a quarter of people living in the United States speak a foreign language at home, and the fastest-growing languages are Arabic and Urdu, census data from 2014 found, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies. In a four-year period, Arabic speakers in the U.S. jumped 29 percent, while speakers of Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, jumped 23 percent…”
Maybe the phones will soon say:
Push 1 for Spanish
Push 2 for Arabic
Push 3 for Mandarin
Push 4 for English
LOL
Davy on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 4:17 am
Dog paw are you a racist, so what with your comment? I have Muslim friends that are good citizens. Mexicans are hard workers. The Chinese that come here to escape the craziness of Asia, they know will explode soon are also hard workers and highly educated. You want to make it sound like this is a negative situation. It actually points to why America is still a desired destination. On the other hand we see a few fools like your useless type moving to Asia. Good riddance.
Davy on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 4:25 am
Great comment Ape Man as usual. I wonder though if this time there could be a spiritual evolution akin to the Kogi Indians of Columbia. We would have on the one hand a devolution of technical complexity and an evolution of spirit. Our civilization is doomed along with its myth and knowledge that seems reasonable to say. Spirituality is one area of evolution that is possible post bottleneck. We will come out the other side purged of our cancer. We will be changed people and survivors.
claman on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 6:22 am
@makati: Sweden could easily feed itself as long as we have diesel or ethanol. We might get a problem with spaghetti and macaroni that won’t grow in our climate, no matter what we try :-).
But ofcourse, if we get a big locust problem, then who knows what will happen. We are self supplying with meat,fish,deiry,rye (for bread) and marvellous mushrooms. Thanks for the welcome.
@apne: Your ancestors name might have been Carlin or Karlin (kar-leen), which is not an uncommon name.
But you should stop dreaming about your proud viking ancestors. We in scandinavia are a total mix of everything you kan think of. In my closest family you will find chinese, swedish, danish, german, french and american blood. Did I mention that i’m actually danish.
Claman is just a name i made up from my christian name (claus) and “man”.
See you later
Davy on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 6:47 am
Clam, Makati1 is an 78 year old ugly anti-American living in Manila on a social security check. He spends his day spreading an agenda of hate and resentment for the west while talking up the Brics. He is also anti-European. Heads up for a steady steam of that type of agenda. He is truly a bad influence on our board.
Revi on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 9:15 am
Famine could happen soon. One bad wheat harvest and we are all in trouble. The biggest wheat producer in the world is China. If their harvest fails they go into the world wheat markets and buy up all the surplus. Some of the people who rely on that get uppity. Most of the middle east eats wheat. Therefore the price goes up and unrest ensues. It may be coming to a place near you soon. Right now the soup kitchens are feeding three times what they used to. Talk to them. It will surprise you. It’s not as far away as you think…
Davy on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 9:43 am
Food, is a weak link ignored. It will be the number 1 issue in 5 years or less.
claman on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 10:02 am
@davy: I know all of you a little. I have been a hangaround for years. I am familiar with Makati’s situation, becourse sometimes I can be hugely unpopular when i mention my points of view amongst the politicaly correct swedes. Mostly it’s fun, but it can be a little scary too
GregT on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 12:11 pm
claman,
“sometimes I can be hugely unpopular when i mention my points of view amongst the politicaly correct swedes.”
You are not alone my friend. These topics are not well received anywhere. Denial is a very strong human emotional response, right up there with greed.
apneaman on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 1:05 pm
Davy, some folks are already embracing various end times eco spiritual while others are rewriting their local history into mythological nationalistic tales of grandeur. The deep south and Ukraine are two extreme examples that are similar to radical Islam – the violence will follow. I understand that in Texas they are trying to write out some of the more liberal founding fathers by leaving them out of school textbooks altogether. Then we have the techno utopians with their singularity and last second fixes for every problem imaginable – we’re going to Mars!!! 21st century ghost dancing by story telling apes. Anything but an honest discussion. IMO this is what most apes do when there are no real solutions. For most it is the only way they can carry on. We are what we are.
green_achers on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 1:25 pm
2nd remedial tutorial: “Famine” is not required to get major disruption, social unrest, and migration. Same as all of the dimwits who wonder why we haven’t “run out” of oil if we were supposed to be at peak. Now go back and read my last post from the beginning.
Davy on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 3:00 pm
Ape, with no solutions likely possible I wonder why does it matter? Let the Apes frolic before they cross the killing fields.
apneaman on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 3:23 pm
Davy, what matters is to to do the best that you can for your kids for as long as you can. Same as every parent should regardless of place and time in history.
apneaman on Fri, 9th Oct 2015 5:18 pm
Davy, informing your neighbors of things, like in this article below, and collectively pushing your local politicians to do something about it could prove beneficial. Will it stop the bigger issues like AGW and the rest? No, it’s too late for that, but your community may have clean life giving water for as long as possible.
While South Carolina Floods, U.S. Wrestles With Urban Stormwater
“Among the devastating effects of the low pressure storm system that pummeled South Carolina over the weekend was the heavy damage the record-breaking rains caused to water transport and treatment infrastructure, and the release of a tide of contaminated stormwater. Water mains burst in Columbia, the state capital. The Congaree River broke through a levee holding it back from the city’s drinking water supply. Nearly 40,000 people statewide could be without water for days.
The bruising deluge, which South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called a once-in-a-millennium event, focuses attention on the most persistent and troubling water pollution problem in the country—water that rushes off cities, suburbs, and farmland that carries pollutants into the nation’s waters. The South Carolina floods, moreover, come as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to propose new rules tightening stormwater oversight in small towns and cities across the country.”
“The reason stormwater was overlooked for so long can be traced to deeply ingrained thinking about water management in U.S. cities, researchers and advocates told Circle of Blue, where the primary goal of stormwater infrastructure has long been to move runoff away from urban areas as quickly as possible. It is also the result of a regulatory system, designed to address factory and municipal waste coming from distinct point sources, that is ill-suited to effectively manage the quantity of stormwater pouring in from a growing urban landscape during stronger, more frequent storms.
“The permit system is a vestige now. It was developed for earlier sewage and industrial problems,” said Richard Horner, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Washington and a member of the National Research Council board that, in 2008, found deep flaws in the way EPA regulates stormwater. “They are rightly considered to be true point sources, but now it’s spread over the entire landscape. The EPA was not very imaginative when it slapped the same permit program [on stormwater].”
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2015/world/while-south-carolina-floods-u-s-wrestles-with-urban-stormwater/