As water runs over agricultural land, it picks up fertilizers, pesticides, and loose soil.
Water running through feedlots picks up manure.
Water running though streets in urban areas picks up salts, oil, grease, toxic chemicals, heavy metals and loose soil from construction sites. These pollutants wind up in our lakes where they poison fish, suffocate gravel spawning areas, fill in our lakes with muck, feed obnoxious algae blooms and cause winter fish kills. The two key rules we want to focus on are NR 151 and ATCP 50. The new approach to nonpoint pollution control presented in these rules provides an opportunity for local governments and community organizations to work with the DNR basin teams and their County Land Conservation Department staff to define their most significant water quality problems and establish effective programs to protect and improve their local lakes and rivers. They are a big step in the right direction , but to be effective, they need to be stronger in some areas.