DID YOU KNOW?

Polluted Runoff

In a 1996 survey of the nation’s water resources, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that when rivers and streams are impaired, 13% of the environmental damage comes from urban polluted runoff. When lakes and reservoirs are impaired, urban polluted runoff accounts for 21% of the decline in water quality.

Lawn and Garden Care

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 70 million pounds of pesticides are applied to lawns every year. (Source: Urban Pesticides: From the Lawn to the Stream, Tom Schueler) Applied improperly, these chemicals can pollute local water resources.

• Two-thirds of all homeowners perform their own lawn care. (Source: Urban Pesticides: From the Lawn to the Stream, Tom Schueler)

• An average acre of maintained lawn receives an annual input of five to seven pounds of pesticides a year. (Source: Urban Pesticides: From the Lawn to the Stream, Tom Schueler) Applied improperly these chemicals can pollute local water resources.

• Home gardeners use on average more pesticides per square foot in their gardens than farmers do in their fields. (Source: Handle with Care, Terrene Institute)

• As little as one teaspoon of certain pesticides rinsed down a storm drain is enough to show up as a pollutant in local streams. (Source: Homeowner's Guide to Pesticide Use Around the House and Garden, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension)

Automobile Maintenance

• Just four quarts of oil from your car's engine can form an eight-acre oil slick if spilled or dumped down a storm sewer. (Source: Homeowner's Guide to Protecting Water Quality and the Environment, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension)

• Do-it-yourselfers across the country drain about 200 million gallons of used motor oil from their cars every year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that oil from one do-it-yourself oil change can ruin a million gallons of fresh water - enough for 50 people for a year. (Source: Colorado Recycles)

Pet Waste

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks bacteria as the most widespread contaminant in the nation's assessed rivers and streams, polluting 76,397 miles. (Source: Natural Resources Defense Council’s Web site - www.nrdc.org.) A major source of the pathogens is polluted runoff, of which pet waste is a component.

• In 1996, 38 percent of all Colorado households owned one or more dogs, for a statewide total of 934,000 dogs. (Source: The American Veterinary Medical Association) Pet waste, when not properly disposed of, can contaminate local water resources.