Water Quality

Stormwater runoff is generated when rain and snowmelt do not soak into the ground but flow over land or impervious surfaces (paved streets, parking lots, and building rooftops), accumulating debris, chemicals, sediment or other pollutants that could adversely affect water quality if the runoff is discharged untreated.

The drinking water we receive from our local drinking water utilities or individual wells comes from ground water, streams, rivers, springs or lakes in a watershed. Although most water requires some treatment before use, protecting this source water is an important part of providing safe drinking water.

Protecting drinking water sources requires the combined efforts of many partners such as public water systems, communities, resource managers and YOU!

The Washington Department of Ecology has information on how they gauge water quality and what the water quality is like in your river or stream.