MakingWaves - Water Week Special Edition

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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MakingWaves Water Week

Theme for 2017: Nonpoint Sources of Pollution

Although Water Week 2017 is coming to a close, celebrate water every day and be a steward of New York’s waters all year long!

Today’s topic: Stewardship of NY’s Waters


Did you know?

  • New York State has more than 87,000 miles of rivers and streams, nearly 7,900 lakes and ponds, nearly 600 miles of Great Lakes coastline, over 1,530 square miles of estuaries, 120 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline, as well as underground aquifers, to protect and conserve. 
  • Billions of dollars have been spent over the past 30 years on nonpoint source pollution abatement and control projects and more people are aware of how their actions on the land impact our water resources. This has led to significant water quality improvement, but more work remains to be done. The Division of Water invites you to work with us to keep pollutants from nonpoint sources out of our water.     

Test your water knowledge

In the MakingWaves header above, there is a picture of volunteers installing a Best Management Practice to reduce the amount of pollutants reaching the river. What practice is being installed? (Answer is below)  


Learn more

On DEC’s website, you can find information about:


Answer: The volunteers are planting a riparian buffer along this river.  Riparian buffers are lands bordering streams, rivers, lakes or ponds that are planted with vegetation to protect water from pollution.