Nonpoint source water pollution, 1987-2017
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Nonpoint source water pollution contributes to the contamination or deterioration of bodies of water. Nonpoint source pollution is caused by broadly distributed and disconnected sources of pollution. These sources can include rain and snowmelt runoff, spills, leaks, sediment erosion, soils containing fertilizers and pesticides, sewage overflows, croplands, failing septic tanks, and more. By contrast, point source water pollution is caused by single and identifiable sources, such as pipes, ditches, factories, sewage plants, and more.[1][2]
Types of nonpoint source pollution
- See also: Clean Water Act
Nonpoint source pollution can include the following:[3]
- Animal production and feedlots
- Farming and croplands
- Shoreline erosion
- Land development
- Sewage overflow
- Failing septic tanks
- Solid waste disposal
- Coal mining
- Oil and natural gas extraction
- Mineral extraction
- Atmospheric deposition (such as falling particles)
- Runoff containing pesticides, sediments, fertilizers, phosphorus, and more
Chemicals or substances from nonpoint sources that can contaminate bodies of water may include oil, nitrogen, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, bacteria, sediments, phosphorus, heavy metals, and others.[3]
Regulation
In 1987, Congress amended the federal Clean Water Act to establish a nonpoint source water management program for states. Section 319 of the Clean Water Act requires state governments to establish programs to manage nonpoint source water pollution. Under the act, states identify bodies of water affected by nonpoint sources of pollution and enact management practices to limit pollutant discharges from these sources.[4][5]
Pollution prevention
Individuals, businesses, farmers, and others take the following actions to prevent or reduce nonpoint source water pollution:[6][7]
- Dispose of chemicals and oils in local drop-off sites
- Keep various materials, such as water containing chemicals or sediment, out of storm drains
- Maintain septic tanks to prevent failure or malfunction
- Keep farm animals from directly accessing streams, rivers, or lakes with fencing or by providing alternative sources of drinking water
- Use buffer strips to prevent soil in farmland from entering nearby streams
- Properly apply and store human-made fertilizer or animal manure
- Dispose of manure so that it is not stored for long periods of time
- Create a riparian corridor (a buffer consisting of vegetation between land and a stream) to prevent erosion and filter pollutants from stormwater
- Use of fertilizer with low or zero phosphorus
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Water Glossary, N," accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "What is Nonpoint Source Pollution?" accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Indiana Department of Environmental Management, "What Is Nonpoint Source Pollution?" accessed March 9, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Clean Water Act Section 319," accessed April 7, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Section 319: Nonpoint Source Program," accessed May 11, 2017
- ↑ Indiana Department of Environmental Management, "What You Can Do To Reduce Or Stop Nonpoint Source Pollution," accessed June 1, 2017
- ↑ Fairfax County - Virginia, "Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention - Identify and Prevent It," accessed April 8, 2017
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