Non-Regulatory Approaches to Development on Karst

When attempting to regulate land use to protect groundwater quality and to prevent karst hazards, regulatory approaches most often form the focus of the efforts. For example, a zoning overlay for water supply protection may serve as the cornerstone for local source water protection programs. However, zoning and local ordinances fail to address many of the indirect effects of urbanization in karst regions. State statutes, limits on local authority and local political considerations often constrain the effectiveness of these regulatory approaches. Public outreach, voluntary incentives and non-regulatory approaches promise more effective control of land use and deleterious effects of uncontrolled growth in sensitive karst areas. For example, both conservation easements and nonpoint source control/agricultural assistance programs generally center on the improvement of riparian vegetation and open space protection. However, these tools prove just as effective in helping achieve the goals of source water protection and hazard mitigation in karst areas. Reorienting emergency response and training exercises towards these goals require only minimal adjustments to existing programs and promise cost effective results. This paper reviews proven non-regulatory tools including conservation easements, purchase of development rights programs, transfer of development rights programs, low impact development and conservation subdivision design. The authors then show examples of how some of these tools may be used to achieve source water protection and karst hazard mitigation goals. Finally, the paper suggests ways that local governments may achieve the level of communication and cooperation at the local and regional levels needed to successfully implement these non-regulatory tools. The authors conclude that in many settings these non-regulatory tools promise better results for less monetary and political cost than the more often used regulatory tools.