http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotic_system_ecology
Pollutant sources of lotic systems are hard to control because they derive, often in small amounts, over a very wide area and enter the system at many locations along its length. Agricultural fields often deliver large quantities of sediments, nutrients, and chemicals to nearby streams and rivers. Urban and residential areas can also add to this pollution when contaminants are accumulated on impervious surfaces such as roads and parking lots that then drain into the system. Elevated nutrient concentrations, especially nitrogen and phosphorus which are key components of fertilizers, can increase periphyton growth, which can be particularly dangerous in slow moving streams.While direct pollution of lotic systems has been greatly reduced in the United States under the government’s Clean Water Act, contaminants from diffuse, non-point sources, remain a large problem.
Pollutant sources of lotic systems are hard to control because they derive, often in small amounts, over a very wide area and enter the system at many locations along its length. Agricultural fields often deliver large quantities of sediments, nutrients, and chemicals to nearby streams and rivers. Urban and residential areas can also add to this pollution when contaminants are accumulated on impervious surfaces such as roads and parking lots that then drain into the system. Elevated nutrient concentrations, especially nitrogen and phosphorus which are key components of fertilizers, can increase periphyton growth, which can be particularly dangerous in slow moving streams.While direct pollution of lotic systems has been greatly reduced in the United States under the government’s Clean Water Act, contaminants from diffuse, non-point sources, remain a large problem.
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