Effects of Runoff

Surface water runoff pollutes the Puget Sound with 14 million pounds of toxic chemicals annually.


Petroleum pollution in the runoff from roadways is equivalent to 70,000 cars emptying their tanks straight into the Puget Sound each year.


Pollution in runoffs is directly correlated with the diminishing size of aquatic habitats.


Large quantities of phosphorus from fertilizers is known to trigger algae blooms. Toxic algae blooms can contaminate water supplies for humans. Algae blooms are also known to respirate all of the available oxygen in a system thus decreasing the fitness of other organisms. This can potentially disrupt delicate food chain systems in our oceans.


Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), can be found in seafood food sources because of runoff. The presence of PCBs is a number one priority chemical of concern to human health. PCBs also effect wildlife mortality rate and reproduction success negatively, such as in the case of Osprey and Heron.

Human beings are being directly effected by the pollution that we create yet we still are holding back and not making any changes to help the system. Here is a figure that compares and contrasts what a healthy water system should look like compared to a polluted one. We are directly disrupting ecosystems around us.