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Abandoned wells

Abandoned drainage wells and abandoned water wells on vacant farmsteads are of particular concern for agriculture. Abandoned wells can present both safety risks and a direct conduit by which groundwater can be contaminated by surface runoff. A number of states have incentive and/or regulatory programs to cap or seal abandoned wells.

Abatement

Reduction in Emissions.

Ability-to-Pay Principle

A principle of taxation in which taxes are based on the income or resource-ownership ability of people to pay the tax. The income tax is one of the most common taxes that seeks to abide by the ability-to-pay principle. In theory, the income tax system is set up such that people with greater incomes pay more taxes. Proportional and progressive taxes follow this ability-to-pay principle, while regressive taxes, such as sales taxes and Social Security taxes, don't. The logic behind the ability-to-pay principle is that taxes are collected by the government to finance public goods that provide benefits to all members of society. And because taxes are a diversion of resources from the household to the government sector, it makes sense to tax, or divert income away from, the people who actually have the income.

Abiotic

Nonliving. Compare biotic.

Ablation

The process by which ice and snow waste away owing to melting and evaporation.

Absolute Advantage

The ability of a producer to produce a higher absolute quantity of a good with the productive resource available.

Absolute Ownership Doctrine

“This doctrine, also known as the English common-law doctrine, was first stated in the English case of Acton v Blundell in 1843. This doctrine is based on the concept that each landowner has complete ownership of the groundwater under his land just as he does the soil and minerals. A landowner, therefore, has unlimited right to use groundwater and to interfere with his neighbor’s supply of groundwater through normal use activities subject only to the general prohibitions against waste, malicious interference, or negligence. Even though this doctrine refers to absolute ownership, it does not create an enforceable water right; since no legal action can be taken to prevent injury produced by the activities of others. Thus, the doctrine constitutes a simple rule of capture. The doctrine of absolute ownership was developed at a time when groundwater movement was considered unpredictable if not totally incomprehensible. Therefore, it follows that a landowner who is legally entitled to everything beneath his property, should not be legally responsible to others for the adverse effects of groundwater pumpage which could not be anticipated in advance.” (ISWPTF, 1989) The Illinois Water Use Act of 1983 statutorily rejected the absolute ownership doctrine and adopted the Rule of Reasonable Use for groundwater.

Absorption

The entrance of water into the soil or rocks by all natural processes. It includes the infiltration of precipitation or snowmelt, gravity flow of streams into the valley alluvium (see Bank storage) into sinkholes or other large openings, and the movement of atmospheric moisture.

Absorption of radiation

The uptake of radiation by a solid body, liquid or gas. The absorbed energy may be transferred or re-emitted. See radiation.

Abundance

A term that applies when individuals can obtain all the goods they want without cost. If a good is abundant, it is free.

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