Nonpoint Source Water Pollution, Citizen's Primer

What's the problem?

Pollutants enter our rivers, streams and lakes from two primary sources. One is the direct introduction of pollutants into water bodies from specific point sources such as the discharge pipes from factories and wastewater treatment plants. The other is called nonpoint source (NPS) and primarily occurs when water runs over land or through the ground, picks up pollutants, and deposits them in surface waters or introduces them into groundwater. Although less extensive than over land runoff, atmospheric pollutants directly deposited onto water bodies is another type of NPS pollution. NPS pollution is the largest contributor to waters of the state failing to meet water quality goals

Can it be controlled?

Point source pollution can be monitored and subsequently controlled. In contrast, NPS pollution comes from many diverse sources and consequently, controlling it is harder. Because it does not originate from industrial or municipal pipes that can readily be monitored, such pollution has largely been uncontrolled and unregulated. Today, NPS pollution remains the nation’s largest source of water quality problems. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), in their Illinois Water Quality Report 2002 concludes that of the waters assessed, 33% of the stream miles and 92% of the inland lake acres in Illinois need additional NPS corrective action to eliminate use impairments and thereby attain designated uses.

What are the causes of use impairment?

Five individual uses are factored into the evaluation. These are aquatic life, public water supply, fish consumption, primary contact (swimming), and secondary contact (recreation). The potential causes of impairment in Illinois waters have been identified by the IEPA as nutrients, organic enrichment causing low dissolved oxygen, habitat alterations, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pathogens (fecal coliform bacteria), metals, siltation, and suspended solids.

What are the sources of impairment?

The major nonpoint sources of impairment in Illinois are agriculture, hydromodification, resource extraction, and urban runoff (storm sewers). These sources of pollution include excess farm and lawn chemicals that enter groundwater through the soil or into surface waters directly during heavy rains; storm water from paved surfaces in commercial and residential areas; uncontrolled storm water from construction sites; animal wastes; forestry operations; resource extraction; improper disposal of household and automotive products; leachate from land disposal operations and pollutants released directly into the atmosphere.

What are the pollutants?

NPS pollutants include nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizers; pesticides from agricultural lands; bacteria from animal feces; soils from construction sites, eroding stream banks and farmlands; salts from winter road deicing; petroleum hydrocarbons from leaking storage tanks and automobiles; trace metals and toxic chemicals from inadequately protected landfills; and airborne sulfur, nitrogen, PCBs, dioxins, mercury and other toxic metals from power plants, incinerators and cement kilns.

What are the effects?

These pollutants contribute chemicals to our drinking water supply; cause oxygen depletion that affects aquatic life; block out sunlight that reduces plant growth and spawning areas for fish; pose a toxic threat to wild and domestic animal life; and provide for unsafe swimming and recreational areas. In 2001 state regulators issued 2,618 fishing advisories or bans nation wide because of contaminants and these advisories covered 28 percent of the nation's total lake acreage, up from 26 percent in 2000. Some 14 percent of U.S. Rivers were covered by advisories in 2001, up from 10.5 percent in the previous year. These advisories warn consumers that fresh-caught fish may be contaminated with mercury, dioxins, PCBs or other chemicals.

What's the solution?

Education and public involvement are the keys to effective solutions. We all bear responsibility for controlling and preventing NPS pollution. From the individual homeowner to the public official, everyone has a stake in protecting our resources. So the solution begins with us. There are lots of ways to reduce and prevent NPS pollution. You can start by taking a close look at your family’s life style and the practices around your home that might contribute to polluted runoff. Then look at the Big Picture: land use practices in your watershed and local controls necessary for water quality protection.

What Can You Do?

• Conserve water (reduce water used for landscape maintenance, yard equipment and car washing, etc.).

• Use a commercial car wash since they use much less water than home washing and also trap pollutants.

• Learn your watershed address: the streams, rivers and lakes that receive runoff in your community.

• If you have a septic system, every three years pump out the tank and inspect the field for proper drainage.

• Seal any abandoned wells to protect the groundwater and drinking water supplies.

• Use clean boating and fishing practices on our rivers and lakes.

• Don’t litter since it is easily washed or blown into ditches and storm sewers.

• Car pool or take public transportation to reduce air emissions and gasoline leaks.

• Check for drips under your car and repair leaks to keep oils off pavements.

• Properly dispose of (or better yet recycle) used motor oil and other petroleum products.

• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to keep wastes out of landfills and incinerators.

• Use pesticides sparingly and only after considering more natural methods (see the University of Illinois Integrated Pest Management web site at http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/ for assistance).

• Limit fertilizer use on lawns and gardens or use natural fertilizers like compost.

• Only purchase the amounts of yard and garden chemicals needed for the year.

• Seed or mulch areas where soil can wash away to control erosion and runoff.

• Protect all vegetation that grows along ditch and shore lines to provide a "buffer strip."

• Clean up pet wastes to prevent nutrients and bacteria from washing into ditches and storm sewers.

• Never burn yard waste near ditches or lakes since ashes are high in nutrients and are easily blown away.

• Consider using yard waste on-site as mulch or compost.

• On icy pavements, first try chipping ice off. Use salt and sand sparingly.

• Limit hazardous products used by planning your purchases and buying the right amount for the job.

• Share or donate excess household hazardous products or safely dispose of them at collection sites.

• Conserve electricity to reduce power plant emissions.

What Can You Help Your Community Do?

• Organize or join a local watershed planning and management (ecosystem) partnership since problems such as water quality degradation, flooding, erosion, and excessive sedimentation are most effectively addressed at the level of the natural drainage unit, the watershed. Contact your county Soil and Water Conservation District for information on existing partnerships or on how to organize one.

• Encourage these partnerships to develop "best management practices" (BMPs) to implement nonpoint source (NPS) management projects (e.g. shoreline and stream bank stabilization, wetland restoration, storm water and sediment detention basins, terraces, nutrient management, and educational programs) which can be partially funded by Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act.

• Encourage your local schools to apply for Lake Education Assistance Program funds from the IEPA to provide lake related educational materials including equipment to study lakes and transportation to and attendance at lake related conferences and workshops.

• Apply for an assistance grant under the Illinois Clean Lakes or the Priority Lake Watershed Programs to study and implement lake protection/restoration programs for lakes with water quality problems.

• Support agricultural land and animal waste BMPs in your watershed.

• Support wetlands' preservation since they act as natural filters of pollution, provide habitat for threatened and endangered species and flood control.

• Support the creation of storm water utilities and user charge rate structures to provide capital projects and enhanced maintenance for improved flood control, and water quality control and management.

• Encourage land use planning to reduce the effects of urban sprawl.

• Encourage storm water management practices that reduce runoff pollution by allowing water to soak into the ground or by storing it in ponds or by reducing pollutants at their source through land use controls.

• Ensure that construction site soil erosion and sedimentation control ordinances are enforced and that permits are obtained from the IEPA when required.

• Help organize and support community-based Household Hazardous Waste Collection sites.

• Advocate the conservative use of salt and sand for winter road maintenance. Promote the use of anti-icing techniques that apply de-icing compounds before precipitation to prevent ice from bonding to pavements.

If you would like further information about nonpoint source pollution problems and recommended prevention practices, or any of the other programs of the Illinois Water Environment Association, write the IWEA, P. O. Box 337, West Chicago, IL 60186-0337, telephone 630/293-2261.