Laserfiche WebLink
The Link Between Waseesheds and Watersheds... <br />Returning organic matter to the soil, in the form of plant debris, <br />is the link between protecting our watershed and conserving <br />landfill space. <br />In healthy landscapes, water from rain or irrigation percolates <br />through soil that is rich in organic matter and alive with <br />organisms. Living soils absorb and retain much of the water <br />while also fltering out pollutants before the water reaches the <br />aquifer or watershed. <br />For the most part, conventional landscapes no longer provide <br />this cleansing function because... <br />Rooftops, asphalt, cement, and <br />other impervious surfaces, on <br />the one hand, prevent much of <br />the water from ever reaching <br />the soil. <br />2. On the other hand, urban soils <br />that have been mined of <br />organic matter, compacted, <br />eroded, and treated with <br />chemicals are often lifeless and <br />no longer able to function <br />naturally they have lost their <br />ability to absorb much water or <br />to filter pollutants out of the <br />water. <br />3. Water from irrigation and <br />rainfall then washes pesticides, <br />fertilizers, plant debris, pet <br />waste, heavy metals, spilled <br />motor oil and other <br />contaminants from lawns, <br />gardens, roads and parking lots <br />into gutters and stormdrains. <br />4. And once in the stormdrain <br />the water is not treated! <br />5. From stormdrains, the polluted <br />runoff flows directly into creeks <br />and rivers, which are themselves <br />important resources for <br />supporting the diverse and <br />complex array of Bay Area <br />natural ecosystems. <br />6. And, all creeks and rivers in our <br />watershed flow to the wetlands <br />and the San Francisco Bay, <br />where the contaminated water <br />again harms fsh and other <br />wildlife and can cause illness in <br />humans. <br />The EPA hats lasted <br />all creeks in the San Francisco <br />Bay Area as impaired due to <br />the pesticide diazinon. <br />SOURCE: !•H!)Hl hAf /•F:i'//t'//~/~.), RAV AREA WATER POL- <br />LUTION PREVENTION AGENCIES, 2001. <br />A watteshed is all the land in a region from which A watershed is all the land in a region from which <br />waste is collected and hauled into a common water collects and drains into a common creek, <br />landfill. river, lake or bay. <br />6 <br />