Journey of Rainwater

Many people mistakenly believe that water pollution only comes from big factories with tall smokestacks and wastewater treatment plants that discharge pollutants directly through a pipe into our waterways. In reality, much of today's water pollution comes from many sources resulting from our own everyday activities. For example, when we take our dog to go to the bathroom outside and we don't clean up the dog waste, it will get washed into the nearest waterway the next time it rains. Similarly, when we apply chemicals to our lawn or garden to kill bugs or weeds (herbicides or pesticides) some of the chemicals will get washed into local waterways. What do you think happens when chemicals that kill bugs and plants get into our lakes and streams? These chemicals often kill other plants and animals that are important to the health of our waterways. Rain and snowmelt carry dirt, grease, trash and more from roads, parking lots and other hard surfaces into storm drains and ditches, and these empty directly into our waterways. Storm water also carries excess nutrients, like phosphorus, which turns our lakes and streams green and smelly and harms fish. The way to protect and clean our waterways is to make sure only rain - and nothing else - goes into the storm drains and ditches.

What we do in our own backyards and our own communities can make all the difference to the quality of our rivers, lakes and streams.

Stormwater Runoff

A stream before it rains is clear and a boy is fishing.

Water from storm drains flowing out of pipe and into the stream after a storm

The Rain wants to soak into the ground!

As development occurs, permeable ground such as lawns, farmland, woods, forests or meadows get covered by impermeable surfaces such as rooftops and pavement. As a result, less rainwater soaks into the ground and more rainwater becomes stormwater runoff. This increased flow of stormwater runoff can carry more pollutants into local waterways and can also cause flooding. Infiltration is also important because water that soaks into the ground flows underground to discharge from springs into lakes and streams. Water that flows underground to lakes and streams is cooled and filtered in the process. By contrast, stormwater runoff is typically warm and contains pollutants. Thus, more infiltration means cleaner and cooler water in our waterways, and a greater supply of safe and affordable drinking water.

The same stream after a storm. You can see how much excess pollutants such as dirt, grease, and trash the rain carried away before entering a storm drain going into the stream.