Nonpoint Source Pollution Awareness: Word Search Puzzle

Target Grades: 6-9

To do the word search, first read these paragraphs then find the words listed below.

The United States has made tremendous advances since Congress passed the Clean Water
Act in 1972 to clean up the aquatic environment by controlling pollution from industries and
sewage treatment plants. Today, nonpoint source pollution remains the nation's largest
source of water quality problems.

Sometimes referred to as polluted runoff, nonpoint source pollution occurs when rainfall,
snowmelt, or irrigation runs over land or through the ground, picks up pollutants, and
deposits them into surface waters or introduces them into groundwater.

The most common nonpoint source pollutants are sediments and nutrients. Other common
nonpoint source pollutants include pesticides, salts, oils, and excess fertilizer.

The watershed approach is the preferred way to restore a stream, river, or lake. It looks
beyond the water body itself and examines the entire drainage area, including all the
potential sources of pollution that drain into it.

Water conservation uses practices and technologies that limit water use in the bathroom,
kitchen, laundry room, lawn, driveway, and garden. Conserving water reduces the demand on
existing water supplies and limits the amount of water that runs off the land. Runoff should
also be minimized by using low impact development techniques. These techniques work
with the natural landscape and native plants to soak up more rainwater so that the soil is
better able to absorb water.

Low-impact development solutions include rain gardens and green roofs, which treat
rainwater as a precious resource. Other ways to control polluted runoff include:

•	erosion control techniques such as silt fencing around construction sites,

•	next to water bodies, establishing areas of land called riparian areas, which include
diverse species of plants that can help filter out pollutants, and

•	xeriscape landscaping, which incorporates native plants that minimize maintenance
needs.

Finally, many local groups organize volunteer monitoring efforts, which provide information
that can help government agencies understand the impacts of nonpoint source pollution and
solve problems. Working together, we can all make a difference.


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Can You Find These Words or Phrases?

(Circle each one in the Word Search box below)

Conservation
Environment
Erosion
Fertilizer

Low Impact Monitoring

Nonpoint Source
Nutrients
Pesticide
Pollution
Rain Gardens

Riparian
Runoff

Sediment Water

Watershed

Xeriscape


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