Stormwater & Its Effects

By The Stormwater Toolkit (STK)

Common Questions

Stormwater is any precipitation from natural storm occurrences such as rain, snow, or sleet.

2. Why is it important?

Stormwater picks up chemical pollution on its way to rivers, lakes, and streams.

3. How does this affect you?

This run off pollutes natural water systems and our drinking water.

Stormwater Effects

There are two stormwater classifiers: First are point sources, which is identifiable (pipe or drain discharge pollutant). Second are non point sources, which includes all pollutant within certain geography, like a wasteland.

Main sources of stormwater pollution: sediment, oil, grease, chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, viruses and bacteria from pet waste, litter, and trash.

There are over 7,450 MS4 permits set in the country: How does MS4 combat pollution? MS4 combats pollution through public education and outreach, elicit discharge detection elimination, construct site stormwater run off control, and pollution prevention.

Only 15% of rainwater is absorbed by impervious surface, as compared to 50% by natural ground.

64% of assessed lake acres and 44% of assessed stream miles are not clean enough to support uses such as fishing and swimming

84.1% of rivers in Los Angeles County are impaired by pollution.

It is very important that businesses comply with pollution standards. If you see any dumping of chemicals or waste in rivers or bodies of water, please e-mail us.