What’s Polluting Our Water?

Trash, oil spills, runoff – we know there are many different toxins that can pollute our water. But where does this pollution come from, and how can we stop it? Pollution enters our freshwater  from either point or nonpoint-sources. Point source pollution has a clear cause you can point to, like a broken pipe. Nonpoint source pollution is harder to identify, and doesn’t have a clear single source. Nonpoint source pollution is the major threat to water quality today.

How does nonpoint source pollution get into our water? Every time it rains or snows, natural and man-made pollutants on the land are washed into streams and wetlands. These pollutants include pesticides, fertilizers, metals, manure, road salt and motor oil from farms, lawns, roads, and landfills.  Eroded soil from construction zones, logging operations, and land disturbances clogs streams, and bacteria from septic tanks and animal waste runoff can make wildlife and humans sick.

What does this pollution do to a stream? Fertilizer runoff causes out-of-control algae growth, which can “choke” streams by depleting oxygen in the water. Eroded sediment smothers underwater habitats, clogs fish gills, and blocks sunlight needed for underwater plants. Excessive salt and  bacteria can make a stream uninhabitable for sensitive wildlife – not to mention put our own drinking water at risk.

How VA SOS Protects Water Quality

Virginia Save Our Streams mobilizes volunteers across the state to monitor the quality of their local streams and creeks. Volunteers collect critical data and submit it to a central database, which is provided to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. With this volunteer data, the DEQ has information on hundreds of stream sites across the state.

Every state in the US is required under the federal Clean Water Act to report on water quality to Congress in a 305(b) report.  If a state reports that a waterway is impaired or polluted, the federal government can provide funding and other resources to help restore and protect it. Because they regularly visit and monitor the same sites year after year, VA SOS volunteers are often the first ones to discover and report at-risk streams and creeks – ensuring that their site becomes a state priority.