Pollution in the Watershed
Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) issues permits to businesses that legally dump various wastes into the Saugahatchee Watershed. These are permits for point source pollution (i.e. ADEM can pinpoint a specific pipe from which the waste comes). To find out who has permits to pollute upstream from you, click the approximate area in which you live. This pollution does not include non-point source pollution. Non-point source pollution is pollution whose source is harder to define. It includes things like agricultural runoff, erosion from construction, runoff from roads, and other sources. Water quality monitoring by S.O.S. members helps us measure non-point source pollution. Our data help locate "problem" areas in the watershed that need our help, and this information is also passed on to state authorities.
