Introduction

Surface water runoff is almost an invisible killer. It's not a topic that most people think of when they think of pollution. People and the media focus on greenhouse gases, air pollution, and the like. But runoff into our waters will prove to be a hard issue to overcome.


Polluted runoff is a major threat to the Pacific Northwest. Surface water runoff is the amount of precipitation on land that will ultimately reach streams and larger bodies of water.This runoff collects numerous pollutants along the way such as;

• oil
• grease
• antifreeze
• heavy metals
• pesticides
• fertilizers

One major cause of runoff is the abundant presence of concrete. Concrete disallows precipitation to be taken back up into the system by evaporation. The more an area urbanizes the more it damages the habitat around it. 

Here is a video from Komo 4 News that personally shows the effects of surface water runoff occurring in the Puget Sound.