Environmental Services

We must all remember that healthy watersheds are a vital component in our quality of life. We depend on them to provide us with the water used for drinking, irrigation and industry, as well as for recreation, tourism and wildlife. A watershed system does not just include water. It includes the land upon which precipitation falls and the intricate pathways that allow water to be transported throughout the watershed system. The ways in which the land is used plays a very important role in the overall quality of a watershed, such as residential subdivisions, commerce, industry, agriculture, recreation and conservation.

Percolation plays an integral process in the water (hydrologic) cycle. The process of percolation allows for the filtering out of much of the pollutants and sediments that are interspersed throughout runoff and surface waters and, furthermore, percolation provides increased time for these pollutants to degrade into less harmful substances.

Unfortunately, many developments alter a watershed's land component, reducing its ability to percolate water into the ground. This reduces the ability of the watershed to naturally filter contaminates located in surface waters. Instead, rainfall flows over the surface of the land or throughout the storm drainage system and is allowed to dump directly into the receiving water bodies of the Gulf of Mexico or Boca Ciega Bay, carrying with it a wide variety of organic and inorganic pollutants. Again, we must remember that watersheds are interconnected and anything done within a watershed affects the surrounding area and the adjoining watersheds' water resources.

Individuals can prevent most stormwater pollution. A few commonly known types of pollutants include trash, chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, fertilizers, sewage, oil and petroleum-based substances, many commonly used acids and bases, bacterial or viral contaminants and the soil.

Water pollution is often described and categorized according to its points of origin. Pollution not originating from discharge located at a specific site, but originating from land runoff, drainage, or seepage after a rainfall, is called "non-point source" pollution and it is often difficult to locate its origin. Pollution that can be traced back to a specific point of origin, such as a business or industrial site, is called "point source" pollution. Point-source pollution is much simpler to find, detect and correct.

For more information check out the following pages:

Alternative household products

Red Tide information

Saving paper

State Warning Points

Swales

Trash Pick-up

Workplace Greening