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Our urban and suburban development yields miles of paved roads and acres parking lots. Rain water runoff from these surfaces has now become a major source of water pollution in our rivers and streams.  How can we slow down the flow? Trees are a big help. Their leaves [...]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Botanic Garden produced this 9-minute video, Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In.  The video highlights green techniques such as rain gardens, green roofs and rain barrels to help manage stormwater runoff.  Learn more about protecting water quality.
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When it rains, water flowing over land picks up dirt, oil and grease, fertilizers, pesticides and other pollutants.  In some areas, this water flows into storm drains that eventually discharge into our lakes and streams. In other areas, it flows directly into surface waters. Either way, polluted rain water can impact water quality and wildlife [...]

Are you tempted to clean up fallen trees and branches on your lakeshore property after a storm? Believe it or not, these fallen items are actually important components of lake habitats! Above the water, fallen trees and branches provide a place for ducks and turtles to soak up the sun; they may also be used [...]

Shoreline habitats around lakes – both on land and in shallow water – provide important habitat for fish and wildlife. Healthy plants along shorelines also protect water quality by absorbing and filtering pollutants carried from land by wind and rain.
Viewer Tip: When lake shorelines become too developed, they may no longer be able to support [...]

Urban areas have more buildings, roads, parking lots and sidewalks than rural areas.  These hard surfaces trap heat, raising temperatures in cities by as much as five degrees Fahrenheit.  Higher temperatures in cities – known as “heat islands” – can increase the amount of energy used for air conditioning, increase air pollution levels and raise [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 84 lakes in the Xeric Region (covering portions of 11 western states and all of Nevada) to characterize the condition of more than 802 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

37 percent of lakes in the Xeric Region are in good [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 155 lakes in the Western Mountains Region (covering the Cascade, Sierra Nevada and Pacific Coast ranges, the Gila Mountains, and the Bitterroot and Rocky Mountains) to characterize the condition of more than 4,100 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

More than [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 65 lakes in the Northern Plains Region (covering western North and South Dakota, eastern Montana, northeast Wyoming and a small part of northern Nebraska) to characterize the condition of more than 2,600 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

Just one percent [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 128 lakes in the Southern Plains Region (covering central and northern Texas, western Kansas and Oklahoma, and parts of Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico) to characterize the condition of more than 3,100 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

Only 34 percent [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 137 lakes in the Temperate Plains Region (covering eastern North and South Dakota, Iowa, western Minnesota, parts of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, western Ohio, central Indiana, Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin) to characterize the condition of more than 6,300 lakes throughout the area. [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 148 lakes in the Upper Midwest Region (covering northern and southeastern Minnesota, two-thirds of Wisconsin, northern Indiana and most of Michigan) to characterize the condition of more than 15,500 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

More than 90 percent of lakes [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 116 lakes in the Coastal Plains Region (covering the Mississippi Delta, north along the Ohio River, Florida, eastern Texas and the Atlantic Seaboard to New Jersey) to characterize the condition of more than 7,000 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

47 [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 116 lakes in the Southern Appalachians Region (covering ten states from northeastern Alabama to southern Pennsylvania and highland parts of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma) to characterize the condition of more than 4,600 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

42 percent of [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 93 lakes in the Northern Appalachian Region (covering all of New England, most of New York, the northern half of Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio) to characterize the condition of more than 5,000 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find?

More than half [...]

About 80 percent of the shoreline on the Great Lakes in the United States is privately rather than publicly owned. That means most of the shoreline is vulnerable to impacts like water pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus in lawn fertilizers which can encourage algae build-up.  The rapid flow of rain water runoff into the lakes [...]

Earth Gauge Video is available for this tip.
Have you ever thought about where the rain water running off a large parking lot goes? Typically, this rain water runoff, which picks up motor oil and other pollutants, flows into storm drains that lead to our rivers, streams and lakes. One-inch of rain falling over a large [...]

Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) remain a key problem across the Great Lakes region.  CSOs occur when pipes carrying both sanitary sewage and rainwater overflow into streams, rivers and lakes during heavy rains. The Great Lakes account for 70 percent of CSOs in the United States, according to the International Joint Commission. Detroit is the leading [...]

Every time it rains, thousands of pounds of pet waste left outside wash down storm drains and carry disease-causing organisms into our local water bodies that can impact water quality and make the water unsafe for drinking.  Harmful bacteria and nutrients from pet waste can turn fertile waters green from weed and algae growth.  This [...]

Did you know that you can help the Gulf of Mexico without traveling beyond your driveway? Our region is part of the Texas Gulf Coast watershed, an area of land that drains rain water and river water into the Gulf of Mexico. When it storms here, rainwater carries pollutants like fertilizer from farms and lawns, [...]