Runoff Runs Deep

By Matt Blazek It travels from streets and rooftops into lakes and rivers, an essential part of nature, yet so very harmful to nature. I'm talking about runoff and the damage it does as well as how it benefits us. Runoff is needed for survival on this planet, but is the largest pollution problem in the Pelican River Watershed today. Runoff is one of the most important components of nature. It is needed as part of the hydrologic cycle. The hydrologic cycle is how we get and keep lakes and rivers as well as how we get our precipitation. Natural, urban, and agricultural are the three different kinds of runoff. Each type of runoff has it's positive and negative effects on our watershed. Runoff is not just water going from field into rivers or lakes. It also includes our sewage as well as erosion. Dick Hecock, head of the Pelican River Watershed, stated that "75-80% of runoff occurs during the spring thaw."

Natural runoff is the only kind of runoff needed for survival. It is what gives us our lakes, rivers, and oceans. This type of runoff also becomes the ground water which we use in our houses every day. Natural runoff occurs whenever we receive precipitation or when the ice and snow melt in the spring in this area. After heavy rains, natural runoff can be very damaging because of erosion. With the wetlands in our watershed erosion can be extremely damaging. Urban runoff is anything that is contributed from cities such as Detroit Lakes. Urban runoff has many different components- any litter on the streets, salt and sand in the spring, residue from factories and cars, and our sewage. After just one half inch of rain all components of urban runoff have been cleaned off the streets and sidewalks. This is enough to do most of its damage. Our sewage ends now up in either Lake Sallie or Little Detroit Lake after having been dumped untreated into Lake St. Claire for 75-100 years. The final type of runoff is agricultural runoff. Some of the major components in agricultural runoff are soil erosion and fertilizers from fields, as well as manure from pastures.

Most of these areas have small streams running through them which causes this runoff. Many of these areas have also been cleared to make space for fields and pastures causing more erosion. There are many different programs and laws in effect trying to control pollution and runoff, specifically urban runoff. In the Pelican River Watershed it is illegal to use fertilizers on lakefront property. There are many more like this law that are nearly impossible to enforce. The programs in effect to reduce and control runoff have been going on for years. Money for these programs comes from every level of government: local, state, and federal. The positive effects of runoff cannot be overestimated and the negative effects cannot be underestimated. In essence runoff is good; we need it to survive. But when human factors are taken into consideration, runoff can become the largest hazard there is in the Pelican River Watershed. We must become more informed about runoff, its laws, and its effects to keep our watershed beautiful.