Stormwater runoff is generally recognized as the single largest threat to water quality in the United States, whether in a rural or urban setting.  Rain is not the problem.  But the pollution that rainwater picks up as it runs over manmade surfaces pollutes our swimming holes and poisons our drinking water.  Surges in rainwater that are channeled directly into our waterways through storm drains increase the magnitude of floods.  Stormwater runoff alters the amount, quality and temperature of water in our rivers and creeks.  Stormwater runoff fundamentally changes the natural circulation of water - the hydraulic cycle that most people learned in elementary school.

In 2004 the Congressional Research Service (Congress' in-house scientific experts) reported that 50% of water pollution problems in the U.S. are attributed to stormwater runoff.  The damage caused by stormwater runoff is largely incremental - not as evident as the brown water pouring from an industrial pipe or black smoke from a power plant.  There is usually no single project, no single polluter to blame.  The best solution to stormwater runoff, then is to address the problem where it falls.  Fortunately, the Clean Water Act offers everyone a remedy.  Citizens can petition state environmental agencies to require developers to get stormwater permits that make clear what technologies they must use to control polluted runoff from a site.  They can also file suit in federal court.

What's In Stormwater Runoff?

Pollutants in stormwater runoff are substances that accumulate on paved - or impervious - surfaces during dry periods and are washed into waterways by rainfall:

- Oil, gas, grease and other residues from automobiles and gas stations, including cadmium from tires and asbestos from brake linings.

- Metals such as copper, lead, and zinc from abandoned mines, industrial sites, building and paving materials, and industrial farms.

- Animal and human waste from leaky sewage and septic systems.

- Fertilizers and pesticides.

- Sediments and soils washed from construction sites, farm fields, lawns and river banks.

- Chemical spills and chloride used to de-ice roads.

- TRASH, TRASH, TRASH.  Litter from the roads enters your creeks and streams!

© Cate White 2005, WATERKEEPER Alliance