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Fourche Creek Wetlands
About Fourche Creek Wetlands •
Fourche FAQ •
Non-point Pollution and Threats •
Water Quality •
Animals and Plants •
Land and People •
Watershed Profile •
Definitions
Non-point Pollution and Threats
Impervious Surfaces •
What is non-point? •
Floatable Trash
Nutrient Pollution •
Sediment Pollution •
Air Pollution
Impervious
Surfaces
Fourche Creek's watershed is being suffocated by
impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces can be defined
as 'any surface that does not allow passage or admittance
of water through itself'. Examples of the most damaging
impervious surfaces are concrete, asphalt and rooftops.
These types of impervious surfaces are distributed throughout
more than 70% of the Fourche watershed.
Impervious surfaces increase the volume and velocity of
stormwater runoff entering the hydrological system (in this
case, Fourche Creek). This, in turn causes downstream flooding
and massive amounts of land wasting or erosion. Impervious
surfaces keep water from filtering into the soil, which
ultimately reduces groundwater recharge of underground aquifers.
Impervious surfaces increase the amounts of non-point pollution
entering Fourche Creek because of their inability to filter
surface water. The extent of impervious surface area is
possibly the largest threat to Fourche Creek.
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Non-point
Pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency defines
non-point pollution as 'pollution that is caused by
rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground'.
As runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and
human made pollutants, finally depositing them into Fourche
Creek. This puts many different pollutants into the creek,
such as oil and gas, from area streets and parking lots. The
runoff also results in the addition of large amounts of dirt
and sediment entering the creek.
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Floatable Trash
Just about every piece of trash that gets
thrown out of a car window or dropped on the ground in Little
Rock will make its way into Fourche Creek. Trash is one of
the largest problems for Fourche Creek because of its persistent
nature. Clean up projects are on- going, and to date, 6 tons
of floatable trash have been removed from Fourche Creek. So
the next time you're about to toss that cup out of your
window, remember that it doesn't disappear, it goes
somewhere, and here that somewhere is Fourche Creek.
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Nutrient
Pollution
Another serious threat for Fourche Creek
is nutrient pollution. Nutrient pollution primarily comes
agricultural and domestic use of fertilizers. The nitrates
and phosphates in fertilizers over stimulate the growth of
aquatic plants and algae. Fourche Creek is clogged when the
algae die and bacteria begin to break it down. The bacteria
deplete Fourche of dissolved oxygen, which impairs the respiration
of the fish in Fourche Creek.
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Sediment
Pollution
Sediment pollution entering Fourche Creek
is 'composed of solid matter of inorganic or organic
material that originates from the weathering of rocks'.
It derives from numerous human activities including: roads,
construction sites, streambanks, and mines. Sediment is distributed
into Fourche Creek either by wind or water. Once in the body
of water, it is measurable in forms of turbidity, total suspended
solids, and total dissolved solids.
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Air
Pollution
Most people don't know that pollutants
in the air can cause pollution in the water. Particles that
are suspended in the air are deposited into Fourche Creek
when it rains. These pollutants can include mercury, lead,
sodium, nitrates, sulfates, magnesium, ammonia, and chlorides.
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The Audubon Mission: To conserve and restore
natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and
their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's
biological diversity.
Check out our most recent newsletter.
Check out the Winter 2003 newsletter.
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