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Chapter 16 Water Pollution
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29
Biology
Undergraduate 1
10/28/2012

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Term
Water Pollution
Definition
The addition of anything that might degrade the quality of the water
Term
Eutrophication
Definition
A process in which excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems feed biological productivity, ultimately lowering the oxygen content in the water
Term
Point Source Pollution
Definition
Pollution from discharge pipes (or smoke stacks) such as that from wastewater treatment plants or industrial sites
Term
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Definition
Runoff that enters the water from overland flow and can come from any area in the watershed
Term
Watershed
Definition
The land area surronding a body of water over which water such as rain could flow and potentially enter that body of water
Term
Aquifer
Definition
An underground, permeable region of soil or rock that is saturated with water
Term
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Definition
The amount of oxygen in water
Term
Biologicak Oxygen Demand (BO)
Definition
The amount of oxygen that microbes living in a body of water use
Term
Sediment Pollution
Definition
Eroded soil that is washed into the water through runoff
Term
Clean water Act
Definition
The main U.S. Federal law that regulates water pollution
Term
Eutrophication end effects
Definition
Three major effects: Extra amounts of nutrients trigger explosions of algae, which block sunlight from reaching underwater plants, causing them to die. Less oxygen is produced when the underwater plants die; resulting in levels of dissolved oxygen lowering substantially. Low levels of oxygen create hypoxia, a situation in which the level of oxygen in the water is inadequate to support life.
Term
Decline in Orgnaisms
Definition
Health of an aquatic system can be assed by looking at what lives there, known as biological assesment, and benthic macroinvertebrates (organisms living on bottom). Over the past few years the size of crabs have decreased an average of 6.2 inches in Maryland. In Virginia and Maryland nearly 120 million oysters were harvested in 1880, now only a million were gathered
Term
Chesapeake Bay
Definition
One of the nations most important bodies of water, and the united states' largest estuary. The bay has the largest ratio of land to water of any coastal water body, in the world. The bay watershed covers more than 64,000 square miles, and includes regions in 6 different states and the District Columbia. The bay is slowly being infiltrated by pollutants that wash off of agricultural lands, suburban lawns, and city streets. Excess nutirents, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and sediment can help explain why the bay is suffering.
Term
Best Management Practices
Definition
Agreed-upon (or EPA-regulated) actions that minimize pollution problems caused by industrial or land-use impacts by The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP). These practices differ depending on the way the land in a given area in the watershed is used. A major component of this restoration involves watershed managment, which is the managing of what goes on in the area around the streams and rivers. Another goal of the CBP is to restore riparian areas, the areas close to the water, by planting vegetated buffer zones that slow runoff and give the rainwater time to soak into the ground.
Term
Land Areas Contributing most to Water pollution
Definition
Nitrate levels in urban and suburban areas are higher than levels in natural forest areas, but defiantly lower than agricultural sites. Even with lower nitrogen inputs than agricultural areas, urban and suburban settlements still contribute significant runoff pollution because so much of their land surface is covered with cement driveways, asphalt roads, and other impervious surfaces that prevent the infiltration of water into the ground below. But these urban and suburban areas still contribute less nitrogen runoff and fertilizer than agricultural areas. On average agricultural contributes about 60% of the nitrogen to the Chesapeake Bay.
Term
water pollution
Definition
the addition of anything that might degrade the quality of the water
Term
eutrophication
Definition
excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems feed ecological productivity
Term
dissolve oxygen
Definition
the amount of oxygen in the water is inadequate to support life
Term
estuary
Definition
a body of water where freshwater rivers meet the sea
Term
point soure pollution
Definition
pollution from discharge pipes (from wastewater treatment plants)
Term
aquifer
Definition
underground region of soil that is saturated with water
Term
turbidity
Definition
the cloudiness of the water
Term
pollution standards
Definition
allowable levels of a pollutant that can be released over time
Term
rain garden
Definition
runoff area that is planted with water-tolerant plants
Term
Clean Water Act
Definition
U.S. federal law that regulates water pollution
Term
managing fisheries
Definition
establish harvesting limits to help overfished populations
Term
protecting watershed
Definition
establish watershed management plans
Term
restoring habitats
Definition
remove nonnative species
Term
reduce pollution
Definition
increase permeable surfaces in urban areas to allow infiltration
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