It is well-documented that certain pollutants are associated with specific land use types. Suspended particulates degrade water quality by reducing light penetration, increasing turbidity, blanketing sessile benthic organisms and creating problems for aquatic filter-feeding and gilled organisms.
Blue areas indicate land uses for which there was insufficient data to conduct the analysis.
Green areas indicate land uses that are not sources for suspended particulate pollution. This includes undeveloped and natural areas. The red to deep red land uses offer the greatest risk of high suspended particulate concentrations in runoff from the area. Please click on the map for a larger view. The map at left shows wetlands and the relative risk to each for receiving suspended particulate pollution.