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What's Wrong with Stormwater Runoff?
Hernando County is one of the
fastest growing areas in the
country. With that growth comes an
added burden on our water supply
and recreational waterways.
Hernando County
citizens must do their part to
ensure that our area's growth
doesn't spell doom for our
precious, yet fragile environment.
A major contributor to contamination
of our waterways is polluted
Stormwater. Stormwater is pure
rainwater plus anything the rain
carries along with it. In urban areas,
rain that falls on the roof of your
house, or collects on paved areas like
driveways, and roads is carried away
through a system of pipes or ditches.
The stormwater flows directly from
streets and gutters into our rivers,
lakes and coastal waters. Straight
from your street to waterways
inhabited by fish, frogs and other
aquatic animals and plants.
When polluted stormwater reaches
our waterways, it has many
long-lasting, negative
effects on aquatic plant and
animal life. This pollution also
impacts other wildlife that use
the water or eat the contaminated
seafood. This includes humans.
Some of the Potential Effects of Polluted
Stormwater are:
Sediment
and
other
debris
clog
drains
and
waterways
causing
flooding.
Stormwater
pollution
can
harm
aquatic life
and
make
fish
inedible.
Polluted
stormwater
can
pose a
health
risk
to
people.
If we don't stop the pollution,
one of our most valuable resources
- our waters - will
be lost forever. Please remember,
ditches and storm drains are not
 connected
to the sewer system. They flow
directly into streams, lakes,
rivers, estuaries, bays and the
Gulf of Mexico. This means that
stormwater is not cleaned or
decontaminated before it flows
into our waterways.
Whatever you
put in ditches, street drains and
on your lawn, goes immediately
into our recreational waters
whenever there is a significant
rain. We must all take
responsibility for keeping
pollutants out of Hernando
County's waters.
Types of Stormwater Pollution
There are three main types of
stormwater pollution:
Litter - such as cigarette butts, cans, paper
or plastic bags. Chemical pollution - such as detergents, oil or fertilizers. Organic pollution - such as leaves, lawn and garden clippings, animal droppings, and dirt.
This ends up discharging into
waterways as sediment, sludge and
solids. These can sometimes be
removed by pollution traps and
ponds, but the most effective way
to reduce this problem is to
prevent pollution entering the
stormwater system in the first
place. The traps don't catch all
the silt or litter, and they don't
stop chemical pollutants at all.
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