...paper observes the negative and harmful effects of water pollution and storm water runoff on the environment and the surrounding community. The most common form of water pollution is sediment runoff. It then goes on to explain the research and effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BMPs) and their positive effects. BMPs are conservation practices that can preserve or improve the state of the environment. The argument stated in this essay refers to the use of storm water regulations in the United States. Most regulations are too strict to allow for any conservation practices because they can be very costly and ineffective if carried out improperly. If the storm water regulations are rewritten to allow for BMPs, then the state of commercial and non-commercial water sources could be greatly improved. The Importance of Rewriting Storm Water Regulations Think about all the bodies of water on our planet. Every river, lake, stream, and is essential to the way our world functions. Unfortunately, our society has done very little to preserve these water sources and as a result, our rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans are suffering from many forms of pollution. Every oil spill, discarded water bottle, and obstructive dam continually add to our already-polluted waters, and very little is being done to reverse this problem. The most prominent issue being studied today is storm water runoff. The collection of fine sediments, chemicals, and debris, are a serious pollution concern...
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...Pesticides Name Institution Course Pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats. Because of the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in food production, people are exposed to low levels of pesticide residues through their diets (Agency, 1972). Scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of the health effects of these pesticide residues. Results from the Agricultural Health Study, an ongoing study of pesticide exposures in farm families, may be found at http://aghealth.nih.gov. Other evidence suggests that children are particularly sus DDT PESTICIDES DDT was one of the first chemicals in widespread use as a pesticide. Following World War II, it was promoted as a wonder-chemical, the simple solution to pest problems large and small. Today, nearly 40 years after DDT was banned in the U.S., we continue to live with its long-lasting effects:Food supplies: USDA found DDT breakdown products in 60% of heavy cream samples, 42% of kale greens, 28% of carrots and lower percentages of many other foods.Body burden: DDT breakdown products were found in the blood of 99% of the people tested...
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...Names: Lab #6, Floods and Runoff Part I –Flood frequency ESS 315 A flood is any relatively high flow of water over land that is not normally under water. Floods occur at streams and rivers but can also be caused by high rainfall or snowmelt as well as high tides along seashores, high groundwater levels, dam failures, and high water levels in lakes. Floods happen naturally in rivers as a response to hydrologic, meteorologic and topographic factors. Dams, levees, channelizing rivers, development of agricultural, urban, and suburban areas, and deforestation also effect floods. In this section of the lab you will become familiar with the nature of river floods, the problems that are created by flooding, and potential solutions. Discharge is defined as the rate of stream flow at a given instant in terms of volume per unit time at a given location. Discharge can be calculated from the equation: Q = A *V where Q= discharge (in cubic feet per second, cfs, or m3/s) A = cross-sectional area of the wetted channel (width of the channel at a given location multiplied by the depth of the water at that location) V= velocity of the flow (in ft/s or m/s) Flood frequency (the average occurrence of flooding of a given magnitude, over a period of years) is based on the maximum discharge for the year at a given point. Recurrence intervals or return periods are generally used to characterize flood frequency. A recurrence interval is the average time interval (in years) between the occurrence...
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...Puget Sound, and some local strategies that have scored successes. We have designed this kit to stimulate public discussion of effective techniques and crucial issues of educational reform. It is intended for teachers, parents, principals, administrators and anyone interested in improving public schools. Photo by: Susan Zox How To Use This Guide This guide can be used either with a DVD of the two-hour documentary, POISONED WATERS, or with the special DVD clip reel of program excerpts. The guide is broken into several sections. On pages 1 and 22, you’ll find a description of the main elements of the program. Pages 2-21 set out ten topics for discussion, selected to highlight important issues in protecting our waters. For example, stormwater runoff, agricultural pollution, new chemical contaminants, how grass-roots action can force a Superfund cleanup or control development. Each topic is covered by a two-page write-up and suggested questions. A matching video segment illustrates the issue. Select a topic and read the summary. Watch the matching segment on the DVD of excerpts. If you have a DVD of the full program or a special DVD that contains additional Puget segments, the DVD is chaptered to make it easy for you to locate each video segment. After reading the topic write-up and viewing the matching video clip, you can then read and discuss the related questions with your group. We hope the discussion and this program generate new ideas for...
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...Watershed Test Answer the following questions on your “Ghetto Scantron Sheet.” When you finish, turn in your test and remain quiet until others are finished. 1. Which of the following lists contain only the EPA’s important beneficial uses for watersheds? A. Agriculture, Urban Development, Drinking water B. Urban Development, Recreation, Fish and Shellfish consumption C. Fish and Shellfish consumption, Aquatic Life habitats, Drinking water D. Swimming, Boating, Canoeing, Rope swinging, Cleaning stuff. What Federal agency is responsible for assessing and monitoring the bodies of water in the U.S.? A. Environmental Precipitation Association B. Environmental Principle Agency C. Environmental Protection Association D. Environmental Protection Agency What Act of Legislation gave them the power to monitor and assess our nation’s watersheds? A. Clean Air Act of 1972 B. Clean Water Act of 1972 C. Clean Air Act of 1792 D. Clean Water Act of 1792 If a body of water receives a level 1 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty If a body of water receives a level 3 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty If a body of water receives a level 5 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty 7. Which of the following is NOT an example of a watershed? A. Trinity River Basin B. Cooper Creek River Basin C. Lake Ray Roberts...
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...The River as Bridge Rivers have potential resource use and can be used to develop land. The increasing expression of human activity and climate variability on humid, terrestrial hydrologic systems has made the integrated nature of large river basins more apparent. This increased expression results in river bridging. Rivers bridge water and land together, such as oceans and mountains. They mediate between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems which provide a natural habitat for both land and water species. Rivers do this by shaping the lay of the land through erosion, flooding, and meandering. Complex landscapes with fertile floodplains are formed because rivers carry and deposit sediments. Rivers also bridge the environment and culture. Human culture has become one of the determining factors that account for the high variability of the quality and quantity of water at any specific time and place. Humans have shaped rivers for irrigation, navigation, and flood protection. Ancient cultures and societies used river systems to construct elaborate irrigation and flood-control projects that enabled the emergence of cities and civilizations. Rivers travel long distances which help them connect a wide diversity of people and places. This makes them environmentally and culturally rich. Rivers represent the capacity for transformation in many cultures. Rivers and floodplains provide a wide range of ecosystem services. The importance of rivers and streams for freshwater, food, and recreation...
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...1 ESSAYS ON SUSTAINABILITY Thirteen Challenging Essays for Earthlings By Peter E. Black, 2008 Wheels and Water .......................................................page 1 Water and Humans on Planet Earth ................................... 2 Climate, Weather, and Global Warming ............................. 3 A Catastrophic Loss of Species ......................................... 4 The Naked Truth................................................................... 5 Asymmetrical Resource Distribution ................................. 6 Stormwater and Groundwater Runoff ................................ 7 Economy, Energy, Environment ......................................... 8 Drill in the ANWR? No Way! ............................................... 9 The Wonder of Water ......................................................... 10 Buffering Sands of Time.................................................... 11 Ecology and Civilization .................................................... 12 With a Bang, not a Whimper.............................................. 13 © 2008 Peter E. Black, PhD (US Copyright Registration TXu 1-580-484, July 13, 2008 as “Conservation is the Cornerstone of Sustainability”) Distinguished Teaching Professor of Water and Related Land Resources, Emeritus, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 peblack@esf.edu and www.watershedhydrology.com Essays on Sustainability Thirteen Challenging...
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...inability of the storm drains to handle the amount of rainfall. After a heavy rainfall, hillsides comes tumbling down across roads. News reports from all across the country show how flooding occurs, washing away roads, trees and houses. This is a major problem country-wide causing millions of dollars of damage every year. How can this be prevented? There are many ideas to alleviate the problem of such flooding such as using rain gardens, grassy swales, and permeable pavement. A rain garden is a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas allowing the storm water runoff to soak into the ground instead of flowing into storm drains. Rain gardens decrease the amount of pollution entering into creeks and streams by 30 percent. Rain gardens are usually located near a drainage pipe or a roof. The benefits of rain gardens are improving the quality of runoff water, provide flood control, encourage wildlife and biodiversity, ties developments and environments together, and are pleasing to the eye. In 1990, Dick Brinker, a developer building a new housing subdivision in Prince George County, Maryland, created the idea to create rain gardens instead of the traditional best management practices (BMP) pond. Brinker contacted Larry Coffman, the county’s Associate Director for Programs and Planning, Department of Environmental Resources with the idea of using rain gardens. Each property contained a 300-400...
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...MSMA 1.0 Design Standard Urban Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (Manual Saliran Mesra Alam Malaysia, MSMA) 2.0 General Urbanization results in the growth and spread of impervious areas and a diversification of urban landuse practice with respects to the hydrologic and environmental terms. Landuse changes from rural to urban industrial areas cause local runoff impacts on receiving water flow, quality, and ecology. Apart from erosion and sedimentation problems associated with development, it has become increasingly apparent that stormwater runoff contributes to receiving waters a significant part of total loads of such pollutants as nutrients (including phosphorus and nitrogen), heavy metals, oil and grease, bacteria, etc. New, comprehensive, and integrated SWM strategies are now needed to be in line with the government’s drive to archive a sustainable developed nation status in the early 21st century. Such new strategies will incorporate interalia, runoff source control, management and delayed disposal on a catchment wide, proactive, and multi-functional basis. This should result in flood reduction, water quality improvement, and ecological enhancement in downstream receiving waters. To some extent, it should also contribute to improved urban amenity through the application of wetlands, landscape for recreation, potential beneficial reuse of stormwater (especially as a non-potable supply source), and recharge of depleted urban groundwater aquifers to enhance...
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...Water Resource Plan Evelyn Hillard University of Phoenix My selection of water resource is water pollution. This is cause by different problem when we dump garage, chemicals in the water, oil, and human waste in rivers and ocean. Water pollution have many different causes it makes it hard sometimes to resolve this issue. Sewage is one of the main causes of water pollution. This type of water pollution affects our lives in many ways. Over billions of people on this earth dispose of sewage waste a lot. When you dispose of sewage in any lakes, rivers, and ocean it takes a affect on our health and living condition. Many people do not realize that water pollution is very important and many people can get sick from it. I believe a good management plan will alleviate the problem of water pollution. Water pollution needs to have strict laws of waste and fuel dumping. They need certain people to go out and do testing on these lakes, rivers, and ocean to make sure that no one is dumping anything into the water. We should also have a machine that clean the water every so often. Making sure that it will collect all the trash and waste. The government needs to make s person pay a fine if they get caught polluting the water. I do not understand of where anyone should have a opposing view of water pollution. My view will be making sure that this world stop polluting the water. This problem is for our safety...
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...STORMWATER MANAGEMENT Defining the Problem Stormwater runoff can be defined as “…the water that flows over the land from rainfall during or after a storm event or as a result of snowmelt” (Pyzorha 1994). Generally, part of this runoff will be absorbed through infiltration, while the rest will make its way to streams and lakes. As watersheds experience an increase in urbanization, however, impervious coverage increases, thereby reducing infiltration. Reduced infiltration increases the possibility and intensity of flooding (Booth and Jackson 1997), as well as the likelihood that runoff will become contaminated with pollutants, thereby threatening aquatic ecosystems. The relationship between watershed urbanization and aquatic ecosystem conditions...
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...Imagine going down to the river that goes by your house and not seeing a single living thing in it. This is what life could be like if water quality gets to bad. In Racoon River, runoff from neighboring farms is contaminating the river. People are doing many different things about this. In this essay we will be looking at what people are doing about the water quality of Racoon river and how it will affect the river. Currently, the water quality is not very good. This is mostly contributed to runoff from farms that are neighboring the river. Most of the farms use fertilizer on their crops. This fertilizer contains lots of nitrogen. When it rains, the water carries some of the nitrogen into the river. This would not be a huge problem if those...
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...Pesticides Name Institution Course Pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats. Because of the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in food production, people are exposed to low levels of pesticide residues through their diets (Agency, 1972). Scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of the health effects of these pesticide residues. Results from the Agricultural Health Study, an ongoing study of pesticide exposures in farm families, may be found at http://aghealth.nih.gov. Other evidence suggests that children are particularly sus DDT PESTICIDES DDT was one of the first chemicals in widespread use as a pesticide. Following World War II, it was promoted as a wonder-chemical, the simple solution to pest problems large and small. Today, nearly 40 years after DDT was banned in the U.S., we continue to live with its long-lasting effects:Food supplies: USDA found DDT breakdown products in 60% of heavy cream samples, 42% of kale greens, 28% of carrots and lower percentages of many other foods.Body burden: DDT breakdown products were found in the blood of 99% of the...
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...Soil Protection in South Africa. Soil protection is the protection and management of the quality of soil. It is all about solving the problems of land degradation. It can further be defined as the combination of the appropriate land use and management practices that promote the productive and sustainable use of soils and in the process minimise soil erosion and other forms of land degradation. 3.2.10 Causes of soil degradation in South Africa. Erosion. Erosion is the detachment and transportation of soil materials by wind or water. Soil erosion is a major problem of agriculture in South Africa. Soil erosion is a natural process but it becomes a serious problem when the activities of humans accelerate the process of its occurence. Land degradation caused by soil erosion causes the loss of fertile topsoil and reduces soil productivity. Researches have shown that over 70% of the soil in South Africa has been affected by one form of soil erosion or the other. The annual soil loss due to soil erosion in South Africa is estimated at 300 – 400 million tonnes for each hectare of land. South Africa loses an average of 20 tonnes of soil for each tonne of agricultural products produced. Soil erosion can be caused by water and, or wind. The effects of these factors on the soil are determined by the speed and the soil cover at the time of occurence. It is estimated that 25% of the country is covered by soil that is susceptible to wind erosion. These include the sandy soils in the...
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...over-usage of the river area. One problem is to restore the Colorado River delta (Colorado River Report, 2001). The delta is home to many endangered species. Part of the restoration process is to stop dumping hazardous chemicals into the Delta (Colorado River Report, 2001).Another problem is the water quality in the Colorado River basins. The total maximum daily loads wanted to provide the states to recognize the need for some portion of the natural flow to remain in the channel to improve the water quality. The two major threats to the water quality in the Colorado River basin are salts and selenium. The part of helping the water quality is to monitor and work to minimum the water pollution for these sources such as agricultural and urban runoff. The California 4.4 Plan is a way to equalize the water use that depends on the...
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