The Susquehanna River is home for many: animals, fish and people alike. It is also a key contributor to the Chesapeake Bay, being the largest tributary within the watershed. The pollution of the Susquehanna directly impacts the health of the bay. To understand the importance of the river to the bay, it is necessary to understand what is causing pollution and what solutions can be introduced to lessen the negative impacts. Pennsylvania is a large participant in rural farming as well as urban sprawl, this results in agricultural runoff from farm land and drainage from urban areas that end up in streams that carry directly to the Susquehanna River, untreated. This causes nutrient pollution that alters the chemistry of the water, posing other risks
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Older than the mountains it meanders through, the Susquehanna is the sixteenth largest river in the United States with a course of 444 miles and a basin area of 27, 510 square miles (SRBC Overview, n.d.). The river runs through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland before discharging into the Chesapeake Bay at Havre De Grace, creating the bay’s tidal area. Being the largest tributary to the bay, it is very important that pollution and water quality of the river be monitored closely (About the Bay - Maps - Major Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2016). Additionally, the Susquehanna River is vital to the areas it passes through for various reasons: commercial use, recreational use, tourism and drinking water (More Than Just the Bay/The Susquehanna River - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, …show more content…
In an attempt to counter careless dumping into drainage systems, people with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) encourage gaining permission to paint the words “Chesapeake Bay Drainage” and “Don’t Dump” on storm drains (Education Resources - Storm Drain Stenciling - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2016). A fourth source of pollution found in the region occurs with mining and fracking. Just this past year, a gas spill of 55,000 gallons occurred in one of the river’s tributaries from a nearby pipeline (Boeckel,
Older than the mountains it meanders through, the Susquehanna is the sixteenth largest river in the United States with a course of 444 miles and a basin area of 27, 510 square miles (SRBC Overview, n.d.). The river runs through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland before discharging into the Chesapeake Bay at Havre De Grace, creating the bay’s tidal area. Being the largest tributary to the bay, it is very important that pollution and water quality of the river be monitored closely (About the Bay - Maps - Major Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2016). Additionally, the Susquehanna River is vital to the areas it passes through for various reasons: commercial use, recreational use, tourism and drinking water (More Than Just the Bay/The Susquehanna River - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, …show more content…
In an attempt to counter careless dumping into drainage systems, people with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) encourage gaining permission to paint the words “Chesapeake Bay Drainage” and “Don’t Dump” on storm drains (Education Resources - Storm Drain Stenciling - Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2016). A fourth source of pollution found in the region occurs with mining and fracking. Just this past year, a gas spill of 55,000 gallons occurred in one of the river’s tributaries from a nearby pipeline (Boeckel,