Mission 5

Land Use On Water Quality

Modern polution Clean and plentiful water provides the foundation for prosperous communities. We rely on clean water to live, yet right now we are heading towards a water shortage. Changing whether patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution.

Protecting water Dirty water is the world's biggest health risk, and goes on to threaten both quality of life and public health in the United States. When water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, it picks up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash and disease-carrying organisms along the way. Many of our water resources also lack simple protections, creating them vulnerable to pollution from factory farms, industrial plants, and activities like fracking. This can lead to drinking water contamination, habitat degradation and beach closure.

Promotimg water efficency Despite the many existing pressures on our water resources, there are cost and effective solutions that will let us to transform our relationship with water. To address increasing water threats in many places in the world.

Water and climate change From more severe and frequent droughts to unprecedented flooding, many of the most profound and immediate impacts of climate shifting will relate to water. More than one-third of all counties in the lower 48 states will face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as a result of global warming. Other impacts will include sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, harm to fisheries and more frequent and intense storm events. To help communities prepare, NRDC is creating tools that help the public and government officials to better understand and anticipate the water-related impacts of climate shifting at a state, county, and city level. We also promote ways to get rid of wasted energy resulting from inefficient water collection, treatment and distribution.

Preserving water ecosystems Fish, birds and other animals depend on clean water, just as people do. NRDC works to protect and restore important waterways to ensure that there is enough water flowing to keep these places intact and functioning. In the San Francisco Bay-Delta -- the largest estuary on the west coast -- we are stopping unsustainable water withdrawals that threaten endangered fish and their places through a range of litigation tools. We are also continuing to restore water flows to California's second largest river, the San Joaquin River. Through implementation of the historic San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement, an agreement won after 18 years of litigation brought by a coalition of conservation and fishing groups, and led by NRDC, the settlement will restore water flows and reintroduce salmon to the San Joaquin.

What Is Point And Non-point Polution

What is Point Polution The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines point source pollution as “any single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutants are discharged, such as a pipe, ditch, ship or factory smokestack” (Hill, 1997).

Common Cases Of Point Polution Factories and sewage treatment plants are two common types of point sources. Factories, including oil refineries, pulp and paper mills, and chemical, electronics and automobile manufacturers, typically discharge one or more pollutants in their discharged waters (called effluents). Some factories discharge their effluents directly into a waterbody. Others treat it themselves before it is released, and still others send their wastes to sewage treatment plants for treatment. Sewage treatment plants treat human wastes and send the treated effluent to a stream or river.

An example of Point Polution An example of point source pollution is a Industry plant releasing chemicles into the air/water. A way to remimber what point source pollution is that you can point to where the pollution came from and non-point source pollution is that it has many locations and you can't point to all of them.

What is non point pollution Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution refers to both water and air pollution from diffuse sources. Nonpoint source water pollution affects a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind- borne debris blowing out to sea. Nonpoint source air pollution affects air quality from sources such as smokestacks or car tailpipes. Although these pollutants have originated from a point source, the long-range transport ability and multiple sources of the pollutant make it a nonpoint source of pollution. Nonpoint source pollution can be contrasted with point source pollution, where discharges occur to a body of water or into the atmosphere at a single location.air pollutionwater pollution runoffagricultural point source pollution

Examples of non point pollution A: Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water. These pollutants include: Excess fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; Oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines; Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes, and faulty septicsystems; Atmospheric deposition and hydromodification are also sources of nonpoint source pollution.