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.

• 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.

Download a printable PDF version of this word search:  NPS Word Search Puzzle (pdf) (218.82 KB)

Can You Find These Words or Phrases?

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