Emphasizing how interlinked water systems are, the Audubon Society points to the dangers of runoff from agriculture, forestry, construction and people’s personal yards:
“Each individual household may not produce enough pollution to force a beach closing or cause a fish kill, but the combined output of all the homes in a community can be severe. And, consider that about half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coastline where runoff flows quickly to the ocean. This is why watershed protection — attention not only to the body of water but the area that drains into it — is important.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, which reports that 40 percent of the nations waterways suffer water quality problems, has a detailed watershed database, which allows users to locate which watershed they live in and learn about how polluted it is and what actions they can take to protect their regional water quality.
Recently an EPA contractor, working under the direction of the EPA, pierced a dam releasing toxins into the Animas River in Colorado. The site may or may not become a Superfund site. (Wall Street Journal)
