303(d) listed
waterbody: The Clean Water Act, in Section 303(d), requires
states to identify and prioritize waterbodies that are impaired or
threatened by pollution. A state compiles these water bodies and
their pollutants in a 303(d) list of impaired waters.
319(h) grant: Congress amended the
Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1987 to establish the section 319 Nonpoint
Source Management Program to provide federal leadership for state
and local nonpoint source pollution efforts. Under section 319
states receive grant money, which support a wide variety of
activities related to reducing nonpoint source pollution.
Algal growth: caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in surface
runoff due to excess fertilizer or wastewater treatment plant discharge.
Eutrophication: - A process where
streams or lakes receive excess nutrients that stimulate an
overgrowth of vegetation, such as algae. This enhanced plant growth
is often called an algal bloom. When the excess algae die and decay,
the dissolved oxygen in the water is reduced and can cause harm to
other organisms, such as fish kills. The extra nutrients, primarily
phosphorus and nitrogen, come from many human sources. The nutrients
come from fertilizers applied to agricultural fields, golf courses,
and lawns; deposition of nitrogen from the atmosphere; erosion of
soil containing nutrients; and sewage treatment plant discharges.
Low dissolved oxygen/organic enrichment:
dissolved oxygen is required for a healthy aquatic ecosystem because
fish and aquatic organisms require oxygen to survive. Low oxygen is
caused by the introduction of large quantities of biodegradable
organic materials, or organic enrichment (such as livestock waste or
runoff from faulty septic systems), into the water. This reduces the
amount of available oxygen to fish and aquatic organisms. If a water
body has excessive algal growth associated with nutrient enrichment,
dissolved oxygen will be depleted from the water when the plant
material dies and decays.
Macroinvertebrates: Invertebrate
animals that are visible to the eye. Freshwater macroinvertebrates
include aquatic insects, worms, clams, snails, and crustaceans. They
are widely used in biomonitoring programs for assessing water
quality because they are abundant and also very sensitive to
environmental impacts.
Nonpoint source pollutants: Non-point
source (NPS) pollution occurs when water runs over land or through
the ground, picks up pollutants, and deposits them in surface waters
(such as lakes, rivers, or the reservoir) or introduces them into
groundwater (your well, for example). Pollutants may include
fertilizer (nutrients), pesticides, oil and grease from parking lots
and highway runoff, sediment from erosion, acid drainage from mining, and
bacteria and nutrients from livestock waste and faulty septic
systems.
Nutrients: Compounds such as phosphorus
and nitrogen in the form of fertilizers, manure, sludge, irrigation
water, and crop residues are applied to the soil to enhance
agricultural production. When they are applied in excess of plant
needs, nutrients can wash into aquatic ecosystems where they can
cause excessive plant (or algal) growth, create a foul taste and
odor in drinking water, and even lead to fish kills.
Riparian Buffers: - Bands of vegetation
(grass, trees, shrubs, or combinations) that border streams or
rivers. As the name buffer implies, a riparian buffer acts as a
guard between an aquatic environment and a land area, whether the
land is a residential area, development, forest, farm, or natural
area.
Watershed: -A watershed is all the area
upstream or up-gradient of a point on the land; it is the point to
which all that land drains. The watershed also includes all the
water that drains downward under the ground. So, water is
stored and flows through our watershed as groundwater as well.
Normally, watersheds are fairly easy to visualize, as the mountain
or hill ridgelines form their upper-most boundary.
Watershed Plan:
Watershed plans are a means to resolve and prevent water quality
problems that result from both point source and nonpoint source
problems. Watershed plans are intended to provide both an analytic
framework to restore water quality in impaired waters and to protect
water quality in other waters adversely affected or threatened by
point source and nonpoint source pollution.
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