Why Water Pollution Prevention is Important
As population increases it becomes increasingly important to participate in activities that help keep our waterways clean and healthy.
Changes in land use, partially due to housing developments and construction, affect the quality of water that drains through the watersheds and into rivers. The increase in impervious surfaces (rooftops, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways) cause an increase in runoff volume and velocity resulting in more flooding and erosion because impervious surfaces prevent water from soaking into the ground and replenishing groundwater.
As runoff increases, more human-made pollution is picked up as it flows across streets, parking lots, lawns, and agricultural areas. In fact, anything found on the ground or on impervious surfaces can wind up in storm water runoff.
How Pollution Affects You
Polluted runoff begins a chain of events that causes many problems in our rivers and streams. Aquatic life and animals feeding from rivers become seriously ill and die. Recreational swimming, fishing, and boating becomes unpleasant or unsafe due to odor, taste and aesthetic problems. Maintenance costs increase because uncontrolled sediment causes erosion and flooding problems. Our drinking water supplies and, therefore, our health is affected by polluted storm water runoff.
This page provides some commonsense practices for builders at construction sites that can help prevent pollution from entering storm water runoff and, ultimately, protect the well-being of our rivers and streams.
