The Metrics of Organized Abandonment: A Critical Examination of Regulatory Failures and the Production of Water Pollution in the South River

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) performs limited water quality monitoring and narrowly relies on point pollution regulation to uphold the Clean Water Act. Environmental regulations are limited in their capacity to achieve sustainable improvements to water quality, as their arbitrary and flawed development can prioritize the political interests of the state over universal water quality protection. The subjectivity of regulations has been obscured by the false objectivity imbued by measurements that they are based upon, which facilitates a laxity in regulation contributing to the organized abandonment of South River. Grassroots efforts have been critical to attaining greater state water quality protection for the South River.