In Texas, you can also join the Texas Watch Environmental Monitoring Program and begin monitoring things such as pH and dissolved oxygen in your local creeks and lakes. Many other states have similar programs. I will be monitoring Meadow Lake as soon as I receive a monitoring kit. I have taken the Texas Watch class to become a monitor. I have started picking up trash at the lake because I have noticed a lot of trash coming from the storm drain system into the lake near Settlement Drive.
Rain washes a mix of pollutants off of our streets, parking lots, and neighborhood yards.
Pollutants such as soil, pet waste, motor oil, antifreeze, grass clippings, pesticides, and fertilizers wash into storm drains and eventually into the rivers and lakes without being treated at all. This is in contrast to the wastewater system that takes waste from the drains inside your house to the City Treatment Plant before it enters the rivers and lakes. This polluted runoff kills wildlife and contaminates our waterways. 2.Pick up pet waste. Wrap it tightly in a bag, and throw it in the garbage.