Wherever you live in Virginia, you are part of a community and part of a watershed.

As our communities grow, so does nonpoint source pollution. Every year, more houses are built and more land is developed. As Virginia’s forests, fields and wetlands continue to be transformed into the urban, suburban and rural communities of 21st century America, we add more waste and lose more acres of the natural filtering system that has kept our waterways clean. The effects are showing up in our polluted waterways. We all add nutrients, pathogens, toxic substances and sedimentation to our waterways. We pollute the quality of the water we drink, the water we play in and the water we fish in, just by the simple act of living. With every new community, the problem gets exponentially bigger and it becomes more important to act individually and together to maintain the health of our waterways.

If we first identify the problem associated with urban, suburban and rural development, and embrace solutions to help solve them, NPS pollution in our communities and watersheds can be checked and controlled.

List of problems:

Urban/Suburban/Rural Development