Implementing nonpoint source pollution programs:

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Implementing nonpoint source pollution programs: Insights frominterviews with agency professionals

ABSTRACT

Nutrient pollution from agriculture remains a leading cause of water quality impairments inthe United states despite decades of policy interventions. the authority to implement waterquality policies falls to states, with significant variation in the development and execution ofprograms designed to reduce nutrient pollution. Few studies have evaluated how statesimplement these programs, limiting insights into how policy actors can improve the designand delivery of water quality policies. state agency professionals have unique insights intothe implementation of programs designed to address nutrient runoff. here we report oninterviews with agency staff involved in six water quality programs across three Us states.

Weasked interviewees to reflect on the implementation of each program and sharerecommendations for how policies could be adapted to other states or contexts. Respondentsidentified several insights relevant to successful policy implementation. they stressed theneed for strong partnerships between state and local agencies, robust technical tools formonitoring and compliance, and adaptable strategies that account for regional and operationaldifferences.

agency staff noted that voluntary policies are more politically feasible but lesseffective, while mandatory policies can achieve broader compliance when robust enforcementmechanisms are in place. in addition to implementation challenges, agency staff were askedto reflect on the equity implications of agricultural policies. Many programs fail to account forbarriers faced by small-scale, minority, and underrepresented farmers, including limited accessto land and resources. this research provides actionable insights for policymakers, emphasizingthe importance of balancing flexibility and resource allocation to create more effective andsustainable water quality programs.I

NTRODUCTION

Despite years of effort, policies to reduce non-point source pollution have had limited successin improving water quality (Dubrovsky andHamilton 2010; Lintern et al. 2020). More thanhalf of US stream and river miles and 40% oflakes are still considered impaired (US EPA2024b).

Agricultural runoff is the largest sourceof pollution to rivers and streams and the thirdleading source for lakes in the United States (USEPA 2024a).States have implemented voluntary and regu-latory approaches to reduce the impacts of agri-culture on water quality. These includeencouraging farmers to adopt best managementpractices (BMPs) such as cover crops and riparianbuffers (Liu et al. 2017; Schramm et al. 2024;Shahady 2022) and regulating nutrient manage-ment by mandating the quantity or timing offertilizer application.

Efforts to document theimpact of state-level nonpoint source pollutionprograms have proven challenging due to theinability to identify specific sources of water pol-lution, lag times between policy interventions andmeasurable nutrient reduction impact, and theresources required to monitor water quality out-comes (Tomczyk et al. 2023). A

dditional chal-lenges include insufficient monitoring orenforcement, low adoption rates, limited resourcesto oversee or execute programs, and investmentsin practices that are ultimately ineffective.© 2026 the author(s). Published with license by taylor & francis Group, llCCONTACT Bonnie l. Keeler keeler@umn.eduSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at

https://doi.org/10.1080/00224561.2025.2597160.https://doi.org/10.1080/00224561.2025.2597160this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution-nonCommercial-noderivatives license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/),which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon inany way. the terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.ARTICLE HISTORYreceived March 12, 2025revised June 23, 2025accepted July 8, 2025KEYWORDSbest management practices;compliance; implementation;nonpoint source; nutrientpollution; semistructuredinter

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Taxonomy

• Water Pollution
• Pollution
• Groundwater Pollution