Stormwater runoff brings many problems besides polluting the Bay. It causes a chain reaction of negative events such as killing the native life in the watershed, causing diseases in humans, polluting the air, and loss to the economy. It’s more than simply making the water look repulsive. Stormwater runoff hurts the Bay, and there are simple everyday actions citizens can do to benefit to the Bay. The government can only do so much to protect the Bay. Citizens can build ourselves, volunteer, and participate in Bay cleanup activities to help solve this problem. Polluted runoff is hazardous and just like an iceberg, the tip doesn’t seem too bad, but if you look under the water it is a bigger problem than expected.
Polluted runoff is water from …show more content…
Deterioration of the Bay solely has generated lost jobs, poor health, and dirty water. It has become obvious that allowing the Bay to get worse is more costly to both the economy and our personal living conditions. Blue crabs are the most iconic of all the Chesapeake’s fisheries, approximately one-third of the nation’s blue crab harvest grows from the Bay. Commercial oyster businesses hire thousands to catch, sell, shuck, and ship them. Oysters also help recover the water quality because they are filter feeders. An individual adult oyster can pump 50 gallons of water a day, which purifies out chemicals, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments. Both blue crabs and oysters are degrading because of the Chesapeake Bay’s poor water quality (Pelton pg ). The seafood industry will eventually crash and the families that it sustains and the money it brings in will go down with it. The seafood industry brings in 3.39 billion dollars in sales, 180 million in income, and has created 34,000 jobs every year. Seventeen million people’s health relies on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Forests in the watershed filters, drinking water for 75% of the inhabitants that live there, that’s thirteen million people (Pelton pg). When the economy and the health of millions of people are at stake, the government will come into the
Polluted runoff is water from …show more content…
Deterioration of the Bay solely has generated lost jobs, poor health, and dirty water. It has become obvious that allowing the Bay to get worse is more costly to both the economy and our personal living conditions. Blue crabs are the most iconic of all the Chesapeake’s fisheries, approximately one-third of the nation’s blue crab harvest grows from the Bay. Commercial oyster businesses hire thousands to catch, sell, shuck, and ship them. Oysters also help recover the water quality because they are filter feeders. An individual adult oyster can pump 50 gallons of water a day, which purifies out chemicals, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments. Both blue crabs and oysters are degrading because of the Chesapeake Bay’s poor water quality (Pelton pg ). The seafood industry will eventually crash and the families that it sustains and the money it brings in will go down with it. The seafood industry brings in 3.39 billion dollars in sales, 180 million in income, and has created 34,000 jobs every year. Seventeen million people’s health relies on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Forests in the watershed filters, drinking water for 75% of the inhabitants that live there, that’s thirteen million people (Pelton pg). When the economy and the health of millions of people are at stake, the government will come into the